A Talk on Trade Aid Boxes by Ken Billington

Volunteers from a Lincolnshire Rotary Club are celebrating the success of their fledgling Trade Aid Box Scheme with the shipping of their latest round of boxes to Zambia.

Since being established by the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven six months ago, the Trade Aid Trust Fund has enabled 30 boxes oftools and materials to be filled and shipped over to countries inneed, giving tradespersons the means to rebuild their lives andtheir communities.

Rotary clubs across Great Britain and Ireland are now bein gurged to get behind the scheme and sponsor the shipping of moreboxes.

Boxes for six trades have so far been developed: Builder,Carpenter, Mechanic, Teacher, Blacksmith and Tailor/Seamstress. Each box is filled with a carefully selected comprehensive collection of brand new tools and equipment suitable for the chosentrade. The boxes are fully sealed and come with a handle and set of wheels to make them easy to transport around a village community.

Since the first Builder box was delivered to South Africa in October 2007 to help establish a local business, the scheme has gone from strength to strength. Four Carpenter boxes have been dispatched to Swaziland to assist with a rebuilding programme and a further twenty boxes were sent to Nairobi, Kenya in February where tools are urgently needed to assist with the reconstruction of a fragile infrastructure following the post election violence. The latest round of Trade Aid boxes recently shipped to Zambia included Carpenter and Tailor/Seamstress boxes which will be used to establish a vocational training scheme.

Grantham Kesteven Rotarian John Asher developed the concept of Trade Aid Boxes after several visits to Africa where he witnessed the frustrations of tradespeople who could not provide for their families.

"These are often people who have lost all their possessionsin a disaster or who do not have the means to purchase what they need to develop their abilities," he said. "If one person is in work, they can support up to 30 or 40 of their extended family, which makes a massive difference to the whole community.

"The boxes help them to remain self sufficient and take an active role in regenerating areas after a disaster or to generate a livelihood for themselves and their families whilst at the same time contribute to their communities in underdeveloped countries.The idea is quite simple, if you give people the tools they need to rebuild their lives, they will," he said.

"Any club that has identified a need for the boxes in a particular part of the world should get in touch."

Boxes, which cost £399, can be sponsored by clubs,charities, schools, groups, businesses and individuals and obtained from the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven. For more information,visit www.trade-aid.org.