In these 10,000 m2 warehouses, next to Mérignac airport, in Gironde, we receive, store and ship nearly 5,000 tonnes of medical and non-medical equipment every year. Inflatable hospitals, 4x4s equipped for sensitive areas but also gowns, gloves and above all drugs.
“Here we are really on so-called sensitive drugs, often vaccination products”, explains Delphine Espieussas, operations director of MSF logistics, in a large cold room in the middle of stamped boxes “Emergency Yemen”.
In this area, everything has been prepared and is ready to go. “Between the when we are going to ship it and when it should happen, it should only happen 96 hours so we are really on a fairly tight schedule for all of our destinations “, says Delphine Espieussas. Destinations such as Yemen, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan, Venezuela, Congo or even Chad.
All the products stored and all the work done in this warehouse in Mérignac can save lives around the world. For the site director, “The teams who work here think about it every day and it is also one of the reasons why we have this commitment and this motivation to work at MSF Logistics”.
And all this is only possible thanks to donations. The association is 99% financed by private donations, which gives it real independence and which explains why the MSF teams are everywhere, according to the financial director of the NGO. “The donations allow us to intervene where the needs are. Concretely, in the Central African Republic or Malawi, we really have an essential role. The fact that it is private donations gives us this autonomy”, insists Patrice Pelé.
Each year, “Médecins sans frontières” receives nearly 2 billion euros from its 7 million donors.