Monday 14th November.

The Rotary club of Eltham receives advice that the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh has put out an urgent request to their local members for assistance. During the next 4 weeks the following events took place .. .. .. .. ..

Dear Friends,

This is a Rotary inter-club fund raising request. It is being directed to members of the Rotary club of Phnom Penh-Metro and the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh. Areas of Cambodia are inundated and some isolated, due to the flood.

As the floodwater recedes water contamination and therefore disease, will become a major life threatening issue. We can help. A wonderful lady, Esther Ding who is located in the Baray district of Kompong Thom has been acting as intermediary for groups such as ours and helping distribute urgent supplies to the villagers.

She need 'NOW" water treatment (chlorine) water filters, mozzie nets, fishing nets, food (rice) and other items.

We can help! As Service Projects chair at the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, I propose we take up a collection from members of both the Phnom Penh and Metro clubs for the immediate purchase and delivery of these items to Esther.

Hi Peter,

We are able to assist in respect to the problem of contaminated water. Our Rotary Club of , the Rotary Club of of Eltham District 9790, has an ongoing project called AQUABOX which focuses on providing clean water in disaster areas such as currently in Cambodia - please have a look at our website: www.aquabox.com.au

We currently have 108 Aquaboxes (96 Aquabox Gold and 12 Aquabox 30) in our warehouse ready to go (and will be packing more) - we will freight them (FOC) of course) to a nominated airport as soon as we can, (usually take 1-2 weeks). An agency (Rotary or an Aid agency) will need to then take responsibility for the collection, transportation and distribution to the disaster areas.

We will provide the necessary donation and Customs certificates to get them into the country. So far no Customs Duties have had to be paid in areas where we have made donation consignments. If other agencies are used for the distribution we try and get the local Rotary District or Club to "oversee" if possible.

Each Aquabox Gold is capable of providing over 2000 litres of potable water (the filter and tablets remove 99.999% of water borne diseases including cholera and typhoid). An Aquabox 30 is capable of providing 30,000 litres of potable water or the filters and tablets can be used to re supply the other Aquaboxes.
Please let me know if we can assist.

Regards
PP Ian J Thomas
Aquabox (Australia)
Rotary Club of Eltham
District 9790
www.aquabox.com.au
+61 (0) 419178679

Hello Ian,

This is very good news and extremely timely. The flood waters are rapidly receding, and now is the time to ensure drinkable water supplies are in place.

I met with the Baray district aid coordinator, Esther Ding earlier this week and she is now identifying suitable families, med. centres and schools as recipients of the AQUABOX. I will send you the Rotary Club Phnom Penh address and contact details shortly. The biggest hurdle now will be getting the aid through Cambodian customs...quickly. Hopefully some of our contacts here can assist us.

I will take photos of each step of the project, from receipt of the aid, delivery to Kompong Thom/Baray district, the official presentation and villagers receiving the AQUABOX. Of course the entire project will be coordinated by Rotary Club of Phnom Penh and Esther Ding. A question, do you have a PowerPoint presentation showing step by step instructions? We are dealing with simple villagers so instructions must be clear and very straight forward or the AQUABOX will not be used correctly. (I note there are flip chart instructions in each box) we would like to show a 'how to use' presentation on the day the villagers come to collect them. Thank you again Ian, and Rotary Club of Eltham, for making these very important aid items available to the people of Cambodia.


YIR
Peter Gray
Chair, service projects
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh
Friday Nov 14th 2011

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the quick reply. There are instructions (picture gram) in each of the boxes to explain how to use them but I will develop a pp. or similar as well.

In addition the Board has expressed a desire for 2 members of the Rotary Club of Eltham to travel to Cambodia and assist with the distribution - it will also be a great opportunity for us to see things first hand and gather onsite feedback to improve the AB from a user's point of view.

We envisage that we would be in country for about 5-6 days arriving about the same time as the AB's. I also have two "next generation" Aquafilters" (one family and one community) which we would like to bring with us and leave for evaluation (the Aquafilters can be seen on the Aquabox UK website "www.aquabox.org") - the UK are producing these and have asked us to evaluate them in our region.

Please let me know if our intentions are feasible.

YIR
Ian

Hi Ian,

I think having two Rotary Club of Eltham members visit Cambodia is a good idea as it will give them a clear picture of the immediate issues we face.

May I suggest the following? Please don't book anything until I can confirm a firm date for when the shipment will be made available to us for collection. If it is held up...for any reason, it could be for some time.

Also, can you please advise how it will be sent? Via air or sea freight? Once we have the shipping docs available we will approach the port authority and request immediate clearance. Your documentation should show the goods are a donation from Rotary Club of Eltham to Rotary Club of Phnom Penh and of no commercial value. If any further information (on the docs) is required I will let you know.

Please let me know if you require further information.

Best regards
Peter Gray
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh

Hi Peter,

We have 108 Aquaboxes ready to go and at this stage we are looking at Wed 30th November for the consignment to leave Melbourne via air. I will give you the exact transport details early next week.

It will be 96 Aquabox Gold and 12 Aquabox 30 I will need from you consignee details including an address and telephone number for the Airways Bill as soon as you can.

Regards
Ian

Hello Ian,

I have made contact with a friend of mine here in Phnom Penh who is a freight specialist. See his email below. I briefly told him about the shipment and he immediately warned me to be very careful as customs here is a potential mine field. Because Phnom Penh is a minor airport only passenger flights come in, no freight, therefore 9 pallets would cost $$$! Also, Rotary is registered here as a club, not an NGO therefore tax is applicable. If the shipment goes into bond because the paperwork is not correct it could be there for a long time.

Grant, my friend, is sending me names and numbers of people in Melbourne (Mainfreight) who will contact you to discuss the shipment. They will suggest it be sent via Ho Chi Minh City and then road freight to Phnom Penh.
The issue here is having the correct paperwork. If we don't have it....and if we are not following correct procedures, everything stops. Anyway, talk to the Mainfreight people and see what you think.

Cheers,
Peter
Rotary Club of Rotary Club of Phnom Penh

From: "Grant J" <grant@seacamlogistics.com>
Date: November 25, 2011 12:57:46 PM GMT+07:00
To: "'Peter Gray'" <pgray101@gmail.com>

Subject: RE: Rotary gift shipment

Pete,

Do not send this to Phnom Penh by air freight.

There will be a tax problem. And it will be a lot. Very bloody expensive!!I need to organize this to Vietnam and truck it here. Cheap and fastest option, as Phnom Penh only has passenger aircraft.

Please tell the guys not to book it yet. I will get a cheaper price and do it at cost through my ex employer Mainfreight. Please tell them to hold off for a couple of days and let me come back to them with a proposal.

Grant

Hi Ian,

Let's see how you go with the Mainfreight people as they send consignments to Cambodia regularly and know the procedure which must be followed I'm told.

I would prefer not to change the consignee to an address in Kompong Thom as that may complicate matters.

Please consign to:
The Rotary club of Phnom Penh
Lity Yap
Attwood Business Centre
No.23 Russian Confederation Blvd
Sangkat Teuk Thia
Khan Sen Sok
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Lity is a director of the above company and a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh.
If the shipment comes via HCMC, (must not come via BKK) it will be road freighted to Phnom Penh where we will meet the truck, then drive onto Baray, a 3 hour drive north.

We appreciate all that you are doing but of course these things are never straight forward, especially so here in Cambodia as I am now learning. I am sure between your freight people and Mainfreight; you will manage to get the shipment to its intended destination.

Regards
Peter Gray
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh

Hi All,

Please note the attached Draft Air Way Bill instructions. This is how the AWB needs to be made out which my agent will handle anyway. Please note if you send this via another freight company I will not have any control over the shipment and this could potentially cause massive issues and delays. The rates I quoted should be very competitive but feel free to compare with other companies. If you can find a cheaper quote than mine I will match it, no questions.

I'm not sure about the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh., but if they do not have the required company VAT, Patent and Import licence they will not be able to perform customs clearance here in Cambodia.
I suggest to put my company as the consignee as per the attached Draft and we can put the Rotary Club details in the marks and numbers of the AWB section.

This ensures the goods can clear customs quickly without delays and will not affect any adverse Tax issues for the Rotary club.

Peter has known me for 3+ years and we are very good friends and my logistics company has been here in Cambodia for 4 years so I can guarantee the shipment will not have any problems.

As Peter outlined Cambodia has very strict and difficult import procedures and they can delay shipments and cause all kinds of hassles even for Humanitarian Aid for their own people!!!! Sad but true.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I am also waiting on confirmation from Mainfreight if they are prepared to put something towards the cost of the air freight or help out in some way.

Fingers crossed!

Grant

A consignment of 108 Aquaboxes (96 Aquabox Gold and 12 Aquabox 30) today left the Rotary Club of Eltham warehouse in Australia on its way to flood victims of Cambodia.

The consignment is being air freighted to Vietnam where it will be transported by truck to Kampong Thom district where the Aquaboxes will be distributed through the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh - an exercise which will take place as soon as possible.

Advice from aid workers in the area is that the flood waters have started to recede and there a now cases of illness due to drinking contaminated water.

Wednesday 7th December 2011.

Aquaboxes arrive at Baray community, Kampong Thom. Eltham Rotarians Ian Thomas & Peter Roden arrive in Phnom Penh & join Rtn Peter Gray and drive 3 hours north of Phnom Penh to Baray, Kampong Thom. Arrangements for a training and distribution program are put in place for the following Tuesday.

The following day Peter Gray tells Peter & Ian that he is aware of a small village South West of Phnom Penh in Kampong Spoe, that is in need of assistance, and whist it had not suffered severely from the floods, had a serious lack of clean drinking water. An Aquabox 3o was taken to them within two days. On arrival the situation was desperate.

The one well that serviced the village would be dry by the end of the week. The water for this well is supplied by natural run off and was of questionable quality. We met with the village elder who explained that they had lost a child to cholera last week, and that a women had a growth on her chest (possibly a parasite) and one young boy possibly had malaria.

Another woman complained of chest pains when breathing. Arrangements were made to get them to a clinic for assessment and treatment. The cost for this was $15, 00. There is a small river close to the village that is used for collecting water, and washing etc. It is also used by livestock. An Aquabox was set up and the villagers were instructed in its use. Two hours later they were all smiles as they drank clean safe potable water

The following Tuesday the team drove back to Kampong Thom.

Esther Ding, through her contacts had advised villages that a group from Rotary Clubs in Australia & Cambodia would be attending to instruct them in the use of a water purification system known as Aqua Box. This water treatment kit would then be donated to families in need along with other aid that would be of assistance in their daily lives.

Approx 80 locals arrived on tuk tuk tractors, scooters , bicycles and on foot. The local meeting place had been set up in preparation for our visit.

For further information please contact.
Australia
Rotary Club of Eltham
P.O.Box 134
Eltham
Victoria 3095.

PP Ian Thomas,
Chairman Aqua Box Project.
thomas_ij@yahoo.com.
mob: 0419 178 679

Rtn Peter Roden,
peterroden@bigpond.com.
mob: 0417 385 641
Web: www.aquabox.com.au

Cambodia.
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh
President, Bruce Haulley
bhaulley@yahoo.com
mob 011568002

Rtn Peter Gray,
Chairman Club Service Projects
pgray101@gmail.com
mob 092658900

Grant Joyce,
Seacam Logistics
grant@seacamlogistics.com
mob 023223529

Esther Ding,
Baray Kampong Thom
dsiewbing@yahoo.com
mob 012635718

© 2011 Rotary Club of Eltham, Australia. Rotary District 9790.