A Big Dream Fulfilled!
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN NIGERIA
OVER 500 Witnesses were at the noon meal at the Bethel Home in Nigeria on February 9, 1994, when the waiters wheeled in the ice cream for dessert. “What is the occasion?” some wondered aloud. “Not only ice cream, but such a variety—vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and pistachio!”
“Four-color ice cream! It has a special significance,” announced the one presiding at the meal. “It is to celebrate our change to four-color [full-color] printing!”
The thunderous applause that followed was not simply for the ice cream in the dining room. It was in appreciation of the new printing presses in the factory that had already begun to produce the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in full color. Full-color printing was now a reality worldwide. Nigeria was the last of the large printing branches to be converted to full-color printing—a move that had got under way in the mid-1980’s. With the March 15, 1994, issue of The Watchtower, two-color printing had become a thing of the past in Nigeria.
The two new Koenig and Bauer Rapida 104 printing presses had come from the Netherlands branch. Along with the presses came other printing equipment: plate scanner, folder, stitcher, trimmer, and sheeter. In all, it amounted to 130 metric tons of equipment.
Printing Presses That Float on Air!
With the decision to send the presses came the problem of how to ship them. Thirty-five-ton presses do not fit in a suitcase! Bernd Sauerbier, who organized the shipping from the Netherlands, said: “We had to think about how to transport the machines in the best way to protect them from damage.”
Normally such presses are shipped in huge wooden crates. However, the brothers feared that wood might not be strong enough to withstand the rigors of sea travel along with dockside loading and unloading. A cheaper and more secure alternative would be to send them in 40-foot-long steel shipping containers. But how do you move such huge machines in and out of containers? Brother Sauerbier said: “This was a challenge because we had no experience in loading printing presses into containers. Even the company that manufactured the presses had no idea how to ship them in this way.”
The solution involved the use of air cushions, also known as air-filled modules. These air cushions are unimpressive to look at, but they do a mighty work. They are flat units made of aluminum and rubber, somewhat larger and heavier than a briefcase. Compressed air is pumped through them and is propelled downward. This lifts the air cushions slightly above the ground along with whatever rests on them.
In this way, even the units of a printing press weighing many tons can be supported on a thin cushion of air. They hover, floating on air! Once a unit is lifted off the ground, it is easy to push it by hand to wherever you want it.
The Witnesses laid hardboard on the floor of the containers so that it would be smooth enough to use air cushions inside them. They also had to make sure that the floor of each container was absolutely flat. Once the machines were inside the containers, the brothers fixed steel rods to the sides and the top of each container to make the cargo more secure. It took two weeks in August 1993 to load all the units into the containers.
On December 29, 1993, at 6:00 p.m., the first five containers arrived at the Nigeria Bethel complex. The brothers were waiting, eager and ready to begin the exacting work of off-loading. They worked through the night until daybreak. Since the machinery had been packed on air cushions, workers pumped in pressurized air, and piece by piece, the units glided out of the containers. Cranes then lifted each unit onto a specially built platform at the factory entrance. Again the air cushions were put to work, and as a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers watched, the machines were pushed by hand to where they would operate.
Delighted Reaction to Full-Color Magazines
At 7:45 p.m., on February 3, 1994, the presses turned out the first English language full-color Watchtower printed in Nigeria. Soon the presses were also printing magazines in Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, and French.
As the first copies became available to those living at Bethel, what was the reaction? “I was elated!” exclaimed one. “Its attractiveness surpasses by far any other publication produced in this country.”
Another said: “Just as soon as they were available, I obtained 20 copies, which I mailed to my family and friends. I can’t wait to use them in the field.”
Still another, when asked how she felt about the new full-color magazines, replied: “Just splendid! This is another evidence that Jehovah cares for everybody worldwide!”
So as the workers at Bethel savored their four-color ice cream, they thought about full-color magazines. It was, as one expressed it, “a big dream fulfilled.”
[Pictures on page 21]
Units of the printing press weighing many tons were supported on a thin cushion of air