Every bed deserves a second chance
It starts with a phone call. A hospital in Belgium or Spain replaces its equipment. Beds, stretchers, IV poles, wheelchairs: all in good condition, but no longer needed. We drive out, load everything up, and bring it back to our depot. Volunteers sort, check, and prepare the equipment for transport.
Every centimetre counts
Loading a container is a puzzle on a grand scale. Hospital beds at the bottom, bikes on top, medical devices in between. Nothing can shift, nothing can break. Our teams in Belgium and Spain work together with local volunteers every time to use every square centimetre. The more we fit in one container, the more difference we can make.
The heaviest cost is the shipping itself. Moving a 40-foot container across the ocean is expensive. But we know that every euro spent there pays back tenfold in equipment that would otherwise go to waste. It is an investment in health and mobility, not in logistics.
Hands at work
When the container arrives in Senegal, the real work begins. Local teams, coordinated by Moussa Ka, unload everything and distribute the equipment across clinics, health posts, and communities. Beds go to the hospital. Bikes go to nurses and schoolchildren. Medical devices go to health posts that have waited years for them.
It is a community effort from start to finish. Young people from the neighbourhood help carry and unload. Nurses come to pick up their supplies on the spot. You can see it on their faces: this is not charity. This is cooperation.
A bike makes the difference
For thousands of young people in Senegal, a school day starts with a walk of more than five kilometres. They often leave before sunrise and arrive tired in class. Our bike campaign is for secondary school students at public schools who come from families with limited means.
A simple bike changes their lives:
- Less travel time and more time to study.
- Fresher and more focused in class.
- More safety, especially for girls.
- More chances for social contact and a successful school career.
In the Basque Country, Baobab's bike campaign keeps growing. In San Sebastián we work with Tanor Ngam, a Senegalese basketball player, to collect second-hand bikes for Senegal. Together with the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa and the Guardia Municipal, we spread the word and make sure the bikes find their way into the container.
At the Garbera shopping centre in San Sebastián, a permanent collection campaign is running: anyone with a spare bike can drop it off there. We also keep a small stock in Zarautz. Every bike that gets a second life this way brings a child closer to school and a nurse closer to their patients.
A bike changes a school day. Education changes a life.
Carried together, received together
This project is not run from an office. It lives in the hands of the people who load, ship, unload, and distribute. In Belgium and Spain, volunteers spend their free days filling containers. In Senegal, local teams stand ready to get everything to the right place. It is the same philosophy as in all our projects: we bring the resources, the community decides where they go.
Three ways to help
Give your time
Help sort, load, and process equipment. In Belgium, Spain, or Senegal: every pair of hands makes a difference.
Donate equipment or services
Have functional hospital beds, medical devices, bicycles, or professional services that can help? Get in touch. We will come and pick them up.
Fund a container
Shipping is the biggest cost. Every contribution helps get a fully loaded container across the ocean. What you give goes directly to transport.