Port Elizabeth’s Calabash Trust is celebrating the arrival of the 100th container of furniture and equipment.

Included in the container are boxes of toys, tables and chairs for pre-schoolers, benches, beds, bedding, mattresses, pots and pans, as well as chairs and tables for adults, according to Marion Gate of the Calabash Trust.

The donations were collected in the Netherlands by Douwe and Gerry Helfrich, who were so moved during a visit to the Port Elizabeth townships organised by Calabash Tours that they decided to contribute to community upliftment on their return to Holland.

“This shows the power of responsible tourism. Our policy is to ensure that the locals benefit as much from tourism as the company,” says Calabash Tours founder Paul Miedema.

In 2004, the Calabash Trust was the overall winner in the “Responsible Tourism Awards,” as well as top in the Poverty Reduction category.

The Helfrichs collect the used furniture and other much-needed equipment and supplies mainly from Dutch schools and companies, pack it into Safmarine and Deutsche Afrike Linie containers and send them to Southern Africa, where the Calabash Trust handles the distribution.

These two shipping lines on the SAECS service, namely Safmarine and Deutsche Afrika Line, have supported this initiative by shipping these containers at a considerably reduced rate or in some cases free of charge.

The Calabash Trust began in 1998 when Gate, who had recently moved to Port Elizabeth with her husband, decided to take a Real City Tour with Calabash Tours.

She was deeply moved by the poverty and struggle of 70 per cent of Ports Elizabeth’s population and wanted to make a contribution.

She and Miedema then formed the Calabash Trust through which tourists can donate to the schools and projects they visited on their tour.

“Many people, like the Helfrichs, are so inspired by what they see that they want to contribute to improving the lives of the township people they meet on the tour. These contributions are managed in a totally transparent way through the Calabash Trust,” says Miedema.

Over the past eight years, containers filled with equipment, bedding, chairs, tables and even computers have been sent to communities throughout the Eastern Cape and as far as Namibia.

According to Gate, five containers have been delivered to Alicedale, three to East London, six to Hermanus, 10 to Uitenhage, six to Kimberley, nine to Namibia and 61 to schools and communities in Port Elizabeth.

Safmarine sponsored the shipping of all the containers, while the selection of the recipients, the delivery and the unpacking has been handled by the Calabash Trust.

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Media Release for the Calabash Trust
By: Siyathetha Communications -Ed Richardson: 083 656 9757 /041 582 3750
Contact: Calabash Trust paul@calabashtours.co.za www.calabashtours.co.za