Projects

1. BACKGROUND

Following the COVID-19 epidemic and what it brought about in Europe and around the world, the Pierre & Andrée Haas Charity Foundation wished to support a country that is dear to its heart, Senegal.

After receiving a request for help from the Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action, the board members of the Haas Foundation, with the help of the Karamokho Sanoussy Dramé Foundation and its president, Mr. Dramé, decided to finance and deliver medical equipment to two Senegalese hospitals.

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The objective of this mission was to find and finance the purchase of medical equipment to meet the needs of two hospitals located in Senegal, the FANN University Hospital Center in Dakar and the Regional Hospital Center in Kolda.

• To seek and purchase the medical equipment from Swiss or foreign suppliers according to the following rates and availabilities;
• Chartering a means of transport to deliver the equipment to its destination;
• Dispatch and manage the goods from departure to destination;
• Organize the delivery in Senegal and find a collaboration with the Senegalese authorities (Ministry of Health and Social Action);
• Ensure the proper distribution of equipment and manage its transport from the airports to the hospitals;
• Contact the local press in order to get media coverage.

3. SUPPLIER: M3 SANITRADE

The COVID-19 epidemic hit European countries hard and their needs for medical equipment changed rapidly in a matter of weeks. It was not easy to find the equipment requested by the Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action in a timely manner, nevertheless we contacted no less than ten suppliers in Switzerland and abroad.

After several days of searching, we selected the company M3 Sanitrade because they could supply us with material in a timely manner and at prices that were below market prices. In view of the needs of Senegalese hospitals and the capacity of available aircraft, we decided to finance and have masks, gloves, visors and hydroalcoholic gel delivered.

The order was validated on May 11, 2020 and delivered to Geneva airport, at FRACHT, on May 22, 2020. As the hydroalcoholic gel was not packaged according to IATA (International Air Transport Association) standards, we had to rethink the flight and recondition the goods quickly.

4. MANAGEMENT AT THE AIRPORT: FRACHT

The goods arrived at Geneva airport on Friday 22 May for a departure initially scheduled for Tuesday 26 May 2020. Mr. Chabloz, who was in charge of this mission at FRACHT, quickly noticed that the IATA standards were not respected and that it was therefore necessary to act immediately. We therefore ordered the UN certified packaging to recondition the gel during the day.

On Monday, June 26, the FRACHT team and volunteers spent the day making the necessary changes, which allowed Mr. Chabloz to complete the dangerous goods declaration and the MTA (Air Waybill) on time.

The FRACHT Senegal team also helped with the unloading of the goods in Dakar.

5. TRANSPORT : AIR CHARTER SERVICE

The Foundation has selected the company Air Charter Service to handle the chartering of the aircraft and the management of the flight between Geneva and Senegal. Mr Demichelis, Aviation Broker at Air Charter Service was in charge of this mission.

Following numerous exchanges concerning the routing, the quantity of goods and the pre / post flight logistics, the Antonov 26 aircraft was selected.

This aircraft was designed to operate in isolated destinations. It is capable of landing at Kolda airfield regardless of the quality of its tarmac. Its rear loading ramp allows crews to unload cargo without the need of airport equipment.

The flight, initially scheduled for May 25, had to be postponed by one day to allow the pallets to be resized and the hydro-alcoholic gels to be put in UN boxes, thus complying with IATA standards.

On May 26, we took the decision to position the AN 26 from Rome FCO to Geneva GVA. On May 27th, the plane flew from Geneva to Las Palmas with technical stops in Zaragoza ZAZ and Faro FAO. At the end of the day around 15: 00 UTC, the ANACIM (National Civil Aviation Agency of Senegal and the National Meteorological Agency) sent us the flight permit to land in Senegal.

On May 27th, the AN 26 arrived in Senegal and landed at Dakar DSS with 1h18 in advance, initially scheduled at 08: 12 UTC. The loadmaster was very vigilant about the good distribution of goods between Dakar and Kolda. At 11: 44 UTC, the aircraft arrived at Kolda KDA and the teams unloaded the rest of the goods.

The teams of the JT 20h of the Senegalese television made a report on this mission.