The majority of the population in Lebanon lives in Beirut. So almost every family is affected by the disaster,“ says Prof. Hans Georg Näder, owner of Ottobock, about the humanitarian aid. The responsible Managing Director (CSO) Oliver Jakobi adds, „Medical care on site is particularly important now. Together with ZUFALL logistics group, our team made the aid delivery possible in a short time. I would like to thank everyone involved for this.“
he Ottobock Global Foundation is coordinating the joint project. „In the first step, the Ottobock plant in Königsee will provide wheelchairs that we will send to Beirut. We will then talk to aid organisations on site about the extent to which further supplies are needed, especially prostheses,“ says Chairman of the Board Karsten Ley. The Ottobock Global Foundation has been supporting children and young people in particular in disaster areas since 2015.
As a long-standing partner of Ottobock, the ZUFALL logistics group from Göttingen is taking over the shipment of the wheelchairs. „We at ZUFALL are also deeply affected by this tragedy, which is why we are very happy to support the relief action,“ explains Florian Grewe, Central Marketing Manager at ZUFALL. His colleague Annette Otte, Head of Sea Freight at the Göttingen branch, adds, „The wheelchairs are loaded into a container at our logistics centre at Siekanger, transported to Hamburg and shipped from there. Due to the closure of the port of Beirut, the shipment will be made via the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, which is about 80 km away. The transit time is expected to be 10 days.“
