I was wondering if any of you guys had ever taken an SCI "blue bag" to Africa before? I was considering it when I go to Zim in Oct. I have a BUNCH of clothes that I would take, a truckful of ball caps and hats, and was considering taking a bunch of school supplies to the school age youngsters such as pens, pencils, paper, notebooks and such..

Anything in particular I need to know about it? I've never taken one so this would be something new for me as well. Do you cover the excess baggage (if there is a fee) or does SCI help out that end? Does SCI provide the bags? Any other input from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

I found a number on SCI's website to call. I'll see what info they have to pass along and see how to get the ball rolling.

Thanks guys.

When we take clothing and other articles to the villagers on Gordon's concession, we pack them into a bass proshops redhead bag. Never felt the need to advertise for sci

I have come across this and normally the bag comes in empty and is packed with local goodies prior to the safari. We bought the stuff for the bag and had a limit of $200 which went towards a community of 20,000.

Basically everybody gets a band aid which is fairly useful when you want one.

I seem to remember the kids ate them.

I would be interested in feedback on this also. Martin Pieters mentioned several clients who had brought the bags into the Omay and how well received they were in the local village. Basic medical and school supplies are sorely needed by the Tonga people as well as most of the local communities across Africa.

I believe most airlines will accept the blue bag as humanitarian aid and will not charge you excess baggage fees. I believe it is your responsibility and cost to work to get supplies for the bags.

Again, would like to hear from others who have done this!

We took a blue bag and 3 other bags over last year. The airlines SA did not charge us for the 1 extra bag.
We had stuffed animals , school supplies , clothes and some first aid items.
SCI local chapter dropped the ball so we got some help filling the bags from fellow hunters.
I did not write up the experience for SCI .
The value of the contents was about $3000 USD and when we put it out at the children's home it looked really small. Makes for a sad and happy day if that makes sense. We packed the blue bag back into our bags for the return flight and then sent back to SCI. In the future we will just use our own bags and not bother with a blue bag. We figure after 2 trips we ought to know how to pack light .

We took three bags with us to Tanz and Kenya in 2008. Make sure that you call ahead and get clearance from the airlines before you travel. We were ok from US to Amsterdam, but from Amesterdam to Dar after a 2 day layover we had a hell of time, as KLM wanted to charge us for the extra bags, since the number of "free" bags per person was 3 on US originated flights, but only 2 on flights originating in Europe. Also, after giving the supplies to the villagers and a school in Manyara after a big high school soccer game that our kids played in, we also gave the school the bags. SCI charged me $90 a bag. I will be bringing things on my next trip. I won't be doing it in SCI bags.

Scotty:

My wife bought an SCI Blue Bag naively thinking that, for the steep price, it came pre-loaded with humanitarian goods. The reality is, you receive a big, blue empty nylon bag with the SCI logo on it. Basically, you fill it with supplies and SCI gets the glory. We were very disappointed and elected instead to use inexpensive nylon cargo bags and have used the money saved on purchasing more medical and school supplies.

On a side note, it's nice to see that giving back to the local communities is high on the mind of fellow hunters. Good post, Scotty!

How much are the empty bags anyhow??

I thought the idea was not to advertise SCI but to get the carriage for free?

Didnt some of those bags come packed too?? I thought so??

Looks like it was the chapter filling them? I guess the bags were being bought by the chapters, so members could reuse them over again when they hunted?? This from the SCI Foundation website...

"Cooperation with international governments for this and other ongoing SarariCare missions is excellent; however, transportation and shipment of donated supplies can become costly and may temporarily delay deliveries. An innovative approach to help alleviate this problem is the use of “SafariCare blue bags,” which have been successful and have gained membership support.

These blue bags are filled by chapters with medical, educational, and other relief supplies, which are then taken to remote areas of the world by hunters who have planned hunts in these regions. The supplies are delivered directly to clinics and schools for doctors and teachers to utilize. Fortunately, these bags are shipped as luggage to keep both shipping time and costs at an absolute minimum

SafariCare: In 1996 SCI members delivered mosquito nets and other medical supplies to villagers in remote areas of Namibia. This inaugural step started SafariCare, a volunteer health-care outreach program-serving people in need of services to remote communities around the globe. SafariCare "blue bags" are filled by SCI members with medical supplies, clothes, books, toys, virtually anything they can arrange to collect and are able to carry on their trip and through their outfitter or other local contacts. At both the national and chapter level."

quote:

Looks like it was the chapter filling them?

I was niave about that as well. They don't do much unless you are connected at the chapter level. We were not so we got no support.

We are already stockpiling stuff for our next trip , needless to say we will supply our own bags.

Thanks for the replies, gents. From the sound of it it would be easiest just to do this on my own and kindly leave SCI out of it..
I'll just go buy some cheap duffles, load them with clothing and some needed school supplies and hand them out on my own time and dime.

Thank you for the past expierences you've had doing this. I think it'll be well worth it to help out some kids (and adults for that matter) who are truly in need of some of these basic supplies.

fairgame, you are one dry, cocky bastard, but a lot of the things you say make sense!!!

When I go to Africa I try to abide by the traditional ethic of "don't feed the bears"

Ah yes, SCI... first for hunters.

Cheers,

~Alan

The reason why you take SCI bags is because it represents the non-profit SCI Foundation established in part, to provide humanitarian goods, and because the airlines will usually fly it for free since they are aware of the Foundation and they consider it humanitarian goods. I have also obtained a letter from Eva Wilson, who is the SCI Blue Bag coordinator to give to the airlines who want to charge you. The letter explains the mission of the foundation and the humanitarian goods that they try and send all over the world. And no, SCI bags are not free, but are usually on loan from the local SCI Chapter who has previously purchased them. Usually each Chapter has a blue bag humanitarian coordinator. We have taken over 200 lbs of school supplies to approximately 6 communal schools in Zimbabwe, and I feel that doing that has been as big a highlight as the safari. We had our local church women get numerous school supplies, make school bags, homemade dolls and bracelets. The feeling that you get from distributing those supplies is indescribable.

Sounds easier to just pack the excess in my own luggage and hand it out once the hunt is over.. I think I will just forego the Blue bag experience and do the same thing on my own.

The kids there will benefit either way from it. More than anything, I am going to try and take basic education supplies (pencils, pens, paper, etc) for them. I'll hand the extra clothing out to the staff and their families that will be on the hunting crew. A little karma goes a long ways in my book.

Thanks for the input and opinions on the matter.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
The reason why you take SCI bags is because it represents the non-profit SCI Foundation established in part, to provide humanitarian goods, and because the airlines will usually fly it for free since they are aware of the Foundation and they consider it humanitarian goods. I have also obtained a letter from Eva Wilson, who is the SCI Blue Bag coordinator to give to the airlines who want to charge you. The letter explains the mission of the foundation and the humanitarian goods that they try and send all over the world. And no, SCI bags are not free, but are usually on loan from the local SCI Chapter who has previously purchased them. Usually each Chapter has a blue bag humanitarian coordinator. We have taken over 200 lbs of school supplies to approximately 6 communal schools in Zimbabwe, and I feel that doing that has been as big a highlight as the safari. We had our local church women get numerous school supplies, make school bags, homemade dolls and bracelets. The feeling that you get from distributing those supplies is indescribable.

Thanks for the info!! Cant believe some of the replies!!! "Dont feed the bears"

quote:

"Dont feed the bears"

words to live by my friend, trust me.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
and because the airlines will usually fly it for free since they are aware of the Foundation and they consider it humanitarian goods. I have also obtained a letter from Eva Wilson, who is the SCI Blue Bag coordinator to give to the airlines who want to charge you. The letter explains the mission of the foundation and the humanitarian goods that they try and send all over the world.

Damnation guys, we might be onto something here with regard to excess baggage costs..... all you do is buy or even better borrow the bags, pack your gear in 'em and get all that excess baggage waived.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL FIRST FOR HUNTERS!!

Shakari,
I'm glad you said it because I was thinking it,to damn funny,we both must be warped.
Wesley

We took a SCI Bluebag to SA 3 years ago. Filled it with school supplies. SA Airlines flew it over free once they saw we had in the bag.

quote:

Originally posted by 505 gibbs:
When I go to Africa I try to abide by the traditional ethic of "don't feed the bears"

Care to elaborate on that

quote:

Care to elaborate on that

what are some of the reasons that you should not feed bears?

quote:

Originally posted by wesley timmerman:
Shakari,
I'm glad you said it because I was thinking it,to damn funny,we both must be warped.
Wesley

I guess so.

Some things are just TOO FUNNY to pass up huh?

Sorry Steve, they check the contents of the bags! Nice try, though.

We took 2 to Namibia in '07 filled with stuff for students at the School for the Blind. We got the bags (empty) from our local chapter and filled them ourselves with help from folks at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. We brought over some things that were really needed and not readily available over there and we were happy to do it. The kids and teachers were very grateful and the Secretary of Education send a representative. We had no problems with any airline from US to Germany to Namibia. All in all, for us a positive experience. Don't much care whether SCI gets props for it or not; we did it for the kids.
kh