TPG

Luis Rivera

Shipping Supervisor

TNT Logistics North-America

Luis Rivera delivered clean water – and baseball equipment

Aguavilla, Puerto Rico As a shipping supervisor for TNT Logistics’ contract with Hewlett-Packard in Puerto Rico, Luis Rivera takes pride in delivering the right goods when and where his customer needs them. But the satisfaction he gets from running the shipping operation pales in comparison to how he feels about his work for the World Food Programme (WFP).

Rivera joined the company three years ago when Hewlett-Packard outsourced its logistics operations to TNT, and he was among the first team of eight volunteers who spent three months working with WFP’s school feeding programme.

Rivera and Sandra Moneta of TNT Argentina worked with schools in Nicaragua. Their first task was to determine what the schools needed to be able to provide healthy meals to students. “The first thing we saw was that there was no electricity and no water,” recalled Rivera. “It rains a lot in Nicaragua, but the water is used for so many purposes it’s no longer good for drinking. Supplying electricity would have been difficult, but water we could do something about.”

Rivera and Moneta proposed installing water collection tanks, simple water filters and working stoves at each school. Then, working with local WFP staff and parents, they successfully installed those three items at a school with about 80 students. Having clean water and a functioning stove for cooking the cereal, rice and beans WFP provides meant children got hot, nutritious meals. “For many of these kids, this is the only food they get each day,” said Rivera.

Clean water and stoves are not the only items lacking at the schools. “A class of five kids might have two pencils and one notebook to share,” said Rivera. When Rivera and Moneta arrived, the children played baseball with a stick and a ball of yarn, using their hats as baseball gloves. “ Nicaragua loves baseball, and the kids love to play it after lunch,” said Rivera. After meeting the students’ need for food, Rivera and Moneta wanted to give them something more, so they asked their colleagues back home to donate money to buy some real baseballs, bats and gloves. “Of course we should take care of their health and help them study, but they are kids. They also need to play.”

Rivera’s work with WFP has reinforced his bond to TNT. “My colleagues and I work in Hewlett-Packard’s facilities,” he said. “Our building doesn’t even have a TNT sign on it, but being involved in the Moving the World partnership made me feel part of something very big, something great. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”