[OLPC-Philippines] Customs and Shipping: Community, we need your help!

[Ryan Letada]

Hello all,

Hope all is well. Preparations for our upcoming OLPC deployment is underway,
and we are truly thankful for all those who are pitching in! Special
shoutout to Kiran Budhrani and Ana Banaag who helped with the Training
Sessions! Many of you requested to join the training, but unfortunately, we
couldn't accommodate all of you. I promise there will be other opportunity
to pitch in with Lubang and other deployments.

However, we need to make another call for help. This time around we need
help with navigating *Philippines Bureau of Customs*. So far, our project
sponsors have raised enough funds to purchase 100 XO laptops for two schools
in Lubang, Mindoro. However, there is a strong possibility that customs may
charge us up to *40 percent* of the value of the *donated laptops*. This is
an additional $9200. This is simply unacceptable :(

There are a couple of challenges to take into consideration:

   1. Only one option for Cargo Forwarder: DHL
   2. Port of Origin: Shanghai
   3. XO Laptops cannot be delivered within mainland China. Laptops must be
   delivered directly from the factory to the Philippines.
   4. We are also exploring delivery of laptops from (Shanghai -> Hong Kong
   -> Philippines)

So dig deep into your networks :) If you are knowledgeable about customs, or
know anyone that can help, please contact us at *rletada at ekindling.org*. We
would truly appreciate your help.

Thanks again community - we could not do this without you!


-- 
Ryan L.
eKindling Team and Coffee-Addict
www.twitter.com/ekindling | www.ekindling.org

" A mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a flame to be kindled" - Plutarch
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