Logistics drives empowerment

“Everyone should have a space to feel welcome and connected.” This is the driving force behind the Dutch non-profit organisation, Roof for Humanity (RFH). RFH dedicate themselves to building community centres until now mostly in refugee camps, — for people who have fled war and natural disasters, but also for all people who feel disconnected to society. After witnessing the abhorrent living conditions of the refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos in 2015, the founder Narda Beunders decided to help these displaced people and to contribute to a more humane standard of living. She started a crowdfunding campaign to build a community space in Kara Tepe, one of the ‘camps’ close to the city of Mitilini.

Working with refugees, locals and volunteers, Narda built eight interconnected rooms, which soon turned into a ‘living room’ bustling with activities, such as teaching, handing out soup, and even offering haircuts, as well as children playing games. Seeing this positive impact, Narda realised how important a communal space is for stimulating social interaction and personal growth. This inspired her to initiate the founding of Roof for Humanity.

This year RFH is on tour in several countries in Africa to do research, make new connections, widen their scope and built temporary community spaces together with the local inhabitants. The group intends building temporary spaces in three different locations in Namibia especially where children and young grownups don’t have social facilities.

On recommendation from the Namibian embassy in the Netherlands the RFH called on Woker Freight Services to take care of the import and customs clearance procedures for their project vehicle and equipment. The project vehicle was shipped from Agadir, Morocco to Walvis Bay onboard by CMA-CGM, with the Maersk vessel, Cape Town Voyage for the last part of the shipping. After being cleared the van was trucked by Rennies Transported to the unpacking site where the Rennies Consolidated team removed the vehicle from the container. As this was a charity organisation WFS, Rennies Transport, Rennies Consolidated and Namport provided special discounted rates to assist the Roof for Humanity. Narda and the whole team of RFH expressed their gratitude for “this wonderful service and great support.”

Read more about RFH at https://www.aroofforhumanity.com/

More photos...