SHIPPING MEDICAL & EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES TO FIJI
Medical & Educational Equipment & Supplies to Fiji
Gifted by Rotary Donations In Kind, Adelaide.
Consignee: Viti Spinal Injuries Association of Fiji, Suva.
$943 Raised / $13,000 Goal
Our first FijiLIFE Foundation Project is shipping a 40 ft container of gifted used medical and educational equipment provided by Rotary Donations In Kind in Adelaide to Suva. Having used but up-to-date specialist equipment can mean the difference between life and death for patients being treated in Fiji hospitals. Educational resources are critical to transform the lives of people, or to improve a community’s environment.
Director Gus Raddock will liaise with Dave Cockshell, Manager Donations in Kind, Central Region, Rotary Australia World Community Service. The container will be consigned to Paul McGoon, President of Viti Spinal Injuries Association of Fiji (VSIAF), who will distribute the equipment to charities who have provided us with their ‘Wishlist’.
Gus has shipped 22 containers from Adelaide to Suva from 3rd June, 1999 to 10th May, 2015 through his former organisation, the Fiji Association of South Australia (FASA), so is very experienced to guide the shipment of FLF’s first container from Adelaide to Suva.
We have established our first GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the shipment of our Container No. 1 to Suva and we look forward to your financial support.
Over the next 2-3 months we will work to get the container ready to ship to Suva and enlist the help of volunteers to help load it. However, we are challenged by an extraordinary rise in freight costs for containers shipped to Fiji, from the previous fee of A$3,800 per container to now some $13,000.
SHIPPING COSTS GO THROUGH THE ROOF
A shortage of shipping containers, delays at ports, and a reduced number of ships stopping in Australia are causing problems for exporters.
The Australian Retailers Association’s chief executive, Paul Zahra, told the ABC the high cost of shipping products added to the challenges faced by retailers.
“Shipping costs have quadrupled in the last year, during the course of the pandemic, and most Australian retailers who are doing their best not to pass these costs on to consumers in the short term are seeing their margins heavily squeezed,” Mr Zahra said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced an investigation to see if anti-competitive conduct has led to price rises in the container transport industry.
These increased shipping costs have most likely also raised prices of goods arriving in Fiji.
We expect that these shipping costs will fall over the next few months as countries raise Covid vaccination levels in their populations and adopt a more open trading/travel environment.
In view of these current high shipping costs, FLF has decided to postpone the shipment of our first container to Suva until March, 2022.
We are nevertheless proceeding with fundraising for the shipment and ask for your donations.
To Donate By Bank Transfer:
FijiLIFE Foundation Limited. ANZ Bank SWIFT code: ANZBAU3M. BSB: 014596 Account No. 154776477
We appreciate your donation to the Fiji poverty fight. FijiLIFE Foundation Limited is a tax-deductible nonprofit ACNC Registered Charity (ABN 50-652-805-742) located on the Gold Coast, Queensland. All donations above $2 are tax deductible in Australia. Email: donors@fijilifefoundation.org or call +61 412-069-460. PO Box 365 Southport BC QLD 4215 AUSTRALIA.
© 2022 — FijiLIFE Foundation Limited. ABN 50-652-805-742