With big slippers to Madagascar

Madagascar is the second-largest island nation by area and, after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo, the fourth-largest island in the world. More than 29 million people live on the island off the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is home to thousands of animal species found only in Madagascar, as well as rainforests, beaches and reefs.

Despite all the country's beauty, there are also downsides: poverty and, above all, inadequate medical care for people in the country—especially in remote villages in the bush. The majority of the population literally fights for survival every day. 67% of people have no access to sanitary facilities, 44% have no access to clean drinking water, and there is one doctor for every 5,000 patients. People lack basic necessities.

Sufficient reason for the DEICHMANN-Stiftung to become active in Madagascar. Commitment to the common good – especially to the poorest of the poor – has always been part of the Deichmann family's identity and defines the purpose of their foundation. The work is characterised by a wide range of social and humanitarian aid projects at home and abroad.

In emergencies, the DEICHMANN-Stiftung provides quick, uncomplicated and targeted assistance. In long-term projects it offers help aimed at self-reliance and enables people in difficult life situations to participate in society.

With these principles, the foundation supports a variety of partners worldwide – annually with contributions in the double-digit millions.

When Jakob Adolf, who has worked for the foundation for years, submitted his request for two highly off-road-capable Unimog to Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, it took hardly two weeks before a solution for an unprecedented aid project was found: two Unimog U 5000 from Mercedes‑Benz Special Trucks' own inventory could be handed over to the DEICHMANN-Stiftung. And then everything happened very quickly.

Jakob Adolf, a former professional pilot who lived in Madagascar for many years and thus came to know the country and its people intimately, was able to get started with his team: FM2 aluminum boxes from Dornier (old NATO standard) were purchased for both Unimog and mounted on the chassis.

This created a lot of storage space on two agile and relatively lightweight all-wheel-drive vehicles, allowing a fully equipped mobile medical clinic to be stowed inside — for a unique mission in Madagascar.

The mobile medical clinic, which regularly travels deep into the interior of the country and thus through highly demanding terrain, consists of eleven medical professionals, two drivers, an IT specialist, a logistician and a cook. In addition to the two Unimog, the convoy also includes fully occupied off‑road vehicles.

Wherever in the country this crew appears, they are welcomed with open arms. “We are confronted with diseases that no longer play a role where we come from. Plague and cholera are just examples,” says Jakob Adolf. “People often die from illnesses that, from our point of view, are ridiculous, simply because they receive no medical help at all.”

Once on site, everything happens very quickly: start the 16-kVA diesel generator, unload the treatment tent, inflate and furnish it, and install the air conditioning. “We need a lot of fresh air above all because of the bacteria. The tent must be permanently well ventilated. Treatment would therefore not be possible in the box bodies on the two Unimog,” explains project leader Jakob Adolf.

The mobile medical aid funded by the DEICHMANN-Stiftung is being implemented in the country together with two partner organizations. Because even mobile medical assistance requires an official license. "People walk up to 30 km when they hear that our Unimog crew has pitched its tent," says Jakob Adolf. The medical crew can even perform dental treatments and minor operations.

Jakob Adolf looks to the future with his team: "Our goal is to work even more closely with local communities, to have them provide a plot of land so that we can at least establish a reasonably permanent medical practice here. We then want to train the most committed residents so that they can diagnose minor illnesses and treat them by dispensing medication. In this way lives can actually be saved and we can, in parallel, deploy the Unimog teams to other regions."