After the cancellation of the Dakar 2008 on 4th January, Repsol and the Fundación Dakar Solidario were quick to confirm that the planned delivery of all the medical the medical supplies would still go ahead at the hospitals previously agreed, with an additional idea of keeping the same delivery schedule as initially planned. Several different possibilities were mulled over, from taking the trucks on roads across Morocco and Mauritania to using ships.
Finally last Sunday at 23:30, and in total secrecy – after advice from the governments of Spain, France and Mauritania so as not to endanger the expedition after the terrorist threats – Doctor Xavier Mir, members of the Fundación Dakar Solidario, Jordi Arcarons and the Repsol riders Nani Roma and Marc Coma, travelled 435km from Barcelona to Marseille airport in a convoy made up of two trucks and two cars from the Fundación which transported all the supplies. The convoy arrived at the airport on Monday at 5:45am and at 9am and the supplies were put on an Antonov plane chartered by the Fundación Dakar Solidario. This left for Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, the following day.
The convoy returned to Barcelona the same day, resting just a couple of hours before going to Barcelona airport at 7am to fly, together with several journalists on a charter, to Madrid. There representatives from Repsol and other members of the national press got on the plane, and together with Doctor Mir, Jordi Arcarons, Nani Roma and Marc Coma travelled all day to land in Nouakchott at 9pm, after having made two stops for technical reasons in Málaga and Lanzarote. When they arrived in Nouakchott the group was welcomed by representatives from the Spanisha Embassy and Mr. Ahmed Boubakar, ex Prime Minister of Mauritania for 8 years and currently Mauritanian Embassador in Spain, who personally thanked the efforts made by the Fundación Dakar Solidario to make the supplies reach his country in spite of all the difficulties.
Today Wednesday the programme was full, with visits to the Nouakchott National Hospital directed by Doctor Isselmou Ould Califa, and the Hospital Infantil Pequeño Mauritano – the latter directed by a Spaniard Doctor José Uroz – two health centres that will benefit from some of the supplies taken from Barcelona vía Marseille. Between the two hospital visits the group went to Nouakchott airport to personally participate in the unloading of the supplies onto a trailer which then went to the Spanish Embassy. Once there the supplies was divided into different batches in the gardens of the embassy in an official act in the presence of members of the Mauritanian Government headed by the Minister for Health and Mr. Roger Kalmanovitz, responsible for International Relations at the ASO. Later representatives from hospitals in Nouakchott, Chinguetti, Nema, Ayoune and Kaédi arrived, these collected material and transported it in cars to their respective destinations.
Moreover a container from the Fundación Dakar Solidario was left in Nouakchott, this will be transferred shortly to Senegal – the destination being the Tierry Sabine Health Centre in Dakar and the Louly Benteigne and Thies Central Hospitals.
The Spanish Ambassador in Mauritania, Mr. Alejandro Polanco and the rest of the members of the Spanish Diplomatic Corps gave a reception to the whole Fundación Dakar Solidario group. They were all personally thanked for their efforts and for the determination shown by the Fundación to actually carry out the delivery of the supplies.
Thanks to the collaboration of the Mauritanian and Spanish governments, the Spanish Embassy in Nouakchott, Cooperación Española in Nouakchott and the ASO company that organises the Dakar, it has been possible to make the delivery of 14 tonnes of medical supplies collected by the Fundación throughout 2007.
The supplies had a value of around €400 000.
Of the 14 tonnes delivered today in Nouakchott the most notable material is the following:
50 wheelchairs
20 mattresses
1 ecograph
61 boxes of fungible material
64 boxes of products for desinfection
5 sterilising units
192 boxes of serum
226 boxes of medicine
3 scales for babies
7 boxes of walking sticks
207 boxes of dressings for wounds
374 nutrition boxes
23 boxes of educational material
Javier Inclán de la Cuesta (Director of Sports Sponsor Sponsorship and Motor)
“The primary objective that we had since the Rally was suspended was for our riders, as ambassadors of Repsol, to be supported and helped at all times. And the second objective, very important for us, was the Dakar Solidario. Their will power is what made us reach Mauritania and so comply with our objective”.
Alejandro Polanco, (Spanish Ambassador in Mauritania)
“I value the fact that the Dakar Solidario has been able to reach Mauritania, as it does every year, very positively. Once again it has brought valuable suplies for hospitals in Mauritania, as well as for schools. This is very important, both the commitment shown by the members of Dakar Solidario as well as the commitment of Spain with this country at this difficult time. As the Fundación had planned we at the embassy are going to make sure that the material is distributed as planned”.
Nani Roma
“We have been able to do everything as we wanted, load all the supplies in Marseille and bring it to Nouakchott. Now we will distribute it to different hospitals and therefore everything has gone smoothly. This is a very important part of the project and we wanted to do it personally, and now we have completed the delivery. What we lost when the race was cancelled was the sporting side of things, money, material and spares but now we have helped the people here to have better lives”.
Marc Coma
“What we have done today is the culmination of the whole Dakar Solidario project. After the race was cancelled and we were left without the Dakar the objective was to get the supplies here however we could. Here we are in person because this project had become a personal challenge for all of us involved in it. It is fantastic to see how the terrorist threats have not been able to stop it. We hope to continue doing our bit even though it is just a drop in the ocean”.
