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Requests for medical emergency flights can sometimes be vague and are often unpredictable, making the decision to respond or not a difficult one to make.
Life or death decision Because of recent severe weather, lots of people needed help, so my flying schedule for the day was pretty full. I had just left Lumi airstrip with nine patients on board, when I received an urgent radio call. A teenage boy in Busilmin had been badly burnt and was in a critical condition. I asked for more information, but all I received back was, ‘Critical in Busilmin. Cannot get through to them on the radio. Telefomin weather is dark.’ Busilmin, an hour’s flight to the Central Highlands, sits at an altitude of 5,100ft. The airstrip is well hidden and, in bad weather, it’s one to avoid. To proceed, I’d have to cancel the rest of my flight schedule and get more fuel. I would also need to fly the patient to Telefomin where there was the possibility of bad weather, with no certainty of a successful
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rescue or landing! The stakes were high. I prayed to God and, with His help, decided to go ahead. I offloaded my patients at Vanimo, filled up the fuel tanks and set off to save the teen hoping it wouldn’t all be for nothing.
A formula for disaster Thirty minutes into the flight I got a call from Telefomin saying there was heavy rain there and more was sweeping in towards Busilmin. But this is the tropics, where the weather changes quick and often. So, I continued on with that hope. As I approached the Highlands, cloud had built up in front of me and I could see vast rain clouds pouring over Telefomin. I couldn’t see much else, just a few breaks in the clouds below. The GPS on the plane is near useless in the mountains so I needed to navigate by what terrain I could recognise. Time for a quick prayer. And, as is usually the case after a quick talk with God, He showed me the way. As I approached the mountain airstrip of Busilmin, I could see it was raining — a formula
Main // Loading the patient into the plane as the community watches Far-left // About to board the plane Left // Men carrying boy on a bush-stretcher
Is it safe to save a life?
Paul Woodington is an MAF pilot serving in Papua New Guinea. This story is based on his account of a day that gave him a lot of anxiety. Photos Paul Woodington
for disaster. At 86 miles an hour, I managed to land the four-tonne aircraft on the side of the mountain where the grass hides the rocks underneath.
My heart sank I was thankful to arrive safely, but there was no one waiting for me. My heart sank. Where was everyone? I looked down the slope towards the village and eventually saw the whole community making their way up the steep incline. I also saw the village leader approaching. At first, I thought he was going to give me a hard time, but then he said, ‘I thank you for coming. You have saved this boy’s life. He has a bright future ahead of him. Bless you!’
What had actually happened to him? The 18-year-old boy had fallen into a fire two days ago. He’d used his hands to break his fall — burning them and his leg on the flames and hot coals, causing serious injury. Without help, such injuries often lead
to disfigurement or, if the wounds become infected, death. Half an hour later, I finally caught sight of the boy, who was in considerable pain. Four men were carrying him on a bush stretcher. After getting the patient on board, the four stretcher-bearers collapsed on the grass; their chests heaving from exhaustion.
The best job in the world! Although the weather was hardly better than before, it was still possible to take off. Telefomin Hospital was soon visible below, enjoying a brief burst of sunshine. We’d made it! But I knew I needed to leave quickly if I was to make it home safely. Storms were building around the mountains again, so the MAF ground staff at Telefomin unloaded the teen quickly and sent him to hospital. I have the best job in the world. I work for God, and today I saved the life of a young man with a bright future. I felt as though I’d been rewarded having been able to see such a difference being made.
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BECS WALKER OF MAF YOUTH VISITS
UGANDA Ever since I joined MAF, my imagination has carried me across the globe whenever I explain how our little planes soar over deserts, jungles and mountains. Last November, however, I got the chance to actually experience the incredible, life-saving work that MAF’s doing in Uganda!
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Photos Rebecca Walker
narrowly avoiding the open sewage tunnel at the edge of the road, I was painfully aware of just how true it is when people tell me their horror stories about the dangers of overland travel in Africa!
What’s a refugee?
Stepping on to the deep red soil of Uganda, I heard the distant sound of people singing joyful hymns through the night, smelt the deliciously smoky aroma of food cooking on an open fire, and saw the cockerels that act as an early morning wake-up call to help you catch that essential MAF flight.
There are more than 1.1 million South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. (A refugee is someone who’s been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.) Can you imagine having to leave the UK to escape from danger? Leaving your home, your possessions, your school, parents, siblings or friends – forced to seek help and safety elsewhere.
The bumpy reality of overland travel
How is Uganda helping with the refugee crisis?
Each time we travelled by land across Uganda, we experienced the tremendous challenge of bumpy roads which made it almost impossible for us to stay in our seats while the jeep dodged and swerved around giant potholes, alarmingly fast traffic, and thick mud tracks. As I peeked though my fingers after
We flew the 500-mile trip with MAF to the northern town of Arua – the 90-minute flight saving the passengers a gruelling 8-hour road trip. While we were there, we met some of the incredible partners MAF flies to the refugee settlement camps. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) opened the Imvepi refugee settlement in February
All // Kids Becs met in the refugee camps
2017 when the neighbouring camp reached its 135,000 people capacity. As we drove through the settlement, I was amazed at the organisation and structure of such a massive operation. I was also overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people, with men, women and children as far as the eye could see. Upon arrival, families are given a plot of land where they can build temporary homes. These are made of mud walls that have baked in the intense heat of the sun. The thatched roofs are often covered in clothes that have been left out to dry. It’s a scene that’s fairly typical in South Sudan, and I feel comforted that the refugees in Imvepi are able to create a little bit of home, despite their desperate situation.
their daily rations of rice and beans. Each refugee receives only 15kg of food aid per month from the UNHCR, so imagine the difference it would make if they could include onions, peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and courgettes in the diet of their growing families. CRESS also provides healthcare, finance and basic education. A typical ‘classroom’ in Imvepi contains more than 600 children. According to Regina, one of the South Sudanese refugees, ‘The war meant we had nothing left in South Sudan. God brought us here so that our children could get an education. But it is one lesson a day and we need more teachers.’
How does MAF help?
Regina's daughter, Nice, is 17 years old. She fled South Sudan with her mother and siblings when the civil war broke out. CRESS provided Nice with a business start-up loan that enabled her to set up a convenience store for her neighbourhood within the camp. (Scan the video to visit her shop. Don't know how? See page 10.)
MAF provides flights for organisations such as World Food Programme and the local Ugandan charities that make a huge difference at the front line of the Refugee crisis. MAF aircraft transport their staff, volunteers, medical supplies, humanitarian aid and emergency food rations to the one million South Sudanese refugees in desperate need of our help. As we were taken to meet some of the people who’ve benefited from an MAF flight, we received a tremendous welcome. Imagine a large mud hut bursting with singing and colourfully dressed women dancing – the children giggling and peering through gaps in the mud wall to see what’s going on, as the joyful sound explodes out through the walls.
What difference can teens make?
Educating refugees to be selfsufficient Ugandan charity CRESS works tirelessly to help with the trauma and pain suffered by nearly all the children, teenagers and adults in the settlement. CRESS provides training so women can grow a variety of vegetables to improve
Thanks to the partnership MAF has with CRESS, we were able to meet Nice and hear many more incredible reports of how CRESS has helped to rebuild, empower and have a positive impact on the lives of the many South Sudanese refugees currently living in Uganda.
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YOUNG REFUGEES IN ADJUMANI // UGANDA
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Hannah Montgomery Britton Forney
Zoe Vine
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WHEN MAF Y O U T H M E T //
Teens in Ugand a During Becs’ trip to Uganda, she got to meet some MAF teens whose families serve there. Here’s what they got chatting about…
Life before Uganda — Indonesia Becs: What was the best thing about growing up in Indonesia and what was the hardest bit? Britton: I really liked the freedom and the animals. I would just play in the jungle all the time with my friends. I really miss that. And the people were cool too and the food was really good. Becs: What was the hardest thing? Hannah: The fact that it was so remote is probably the hardest thing because you couldn’t get a lot of things there. For instance, you couldn’t get cheese or brown sugar, chocolate and… oh yeah, milk — there’s no milk there. It was all powdered and imported. Hudson: We were kind of cut off from the rest of world. There was no one else there. So, basically, you either had friends within MAF or your neighbours, and that was it.
Indonesian food Becs: What was the food like? I’m a big foodie! Britton: It was really spicy and super tasty!
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Jasmine Montgomery
Becs: What was your favourite? Hudson: I’d help make egg-rolls called ‘loempias’. They were good. Becs: And that was the best thing?! Britton: They had a lot seafood because we were on a small island, so it was really easy to get. Hannah: We also had a lot of weird food there as well. Becs: Give me an example — the weirder, the better! Hannah: In the villages, we’d eat more traditional food. They’d serve you pig fat with no meat at all — literally just the fat! There were also snails, and you’d suck them right out of their shells. Britton: They’re not as disgusting as you’d think. Hannah: We would also have grubs, which are like little fat worms. You’d find them in the jungle and eat them. Also, in the city, we drank soup through a straw made of a cow’s bone with the marrow still inside it — that was interesting.
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Moving to Uganda
Ugandan school life
Becs: What’s been your MAF journey so far?
Becs: So, you guys go to school here? You all go to the same school?
Britton: We were in Indonesia for nine years until we came to Uganda, where we’ve lived for the last five years. Hannah: In Indonesia, we lived in two places. We were in Balikpapan, which is a small island, for the first year – where mum and dad were at language school. No one spoke English, so they had to learn to speak fluent Indonesian. Then we went to Tarakan for eight years. Becs: Wow! So, why did you end up moving to Uganda? Hannah: We ended up moving because there wasn’t a school there that we could go to. We used to go to a school which only had 11 kids and I was the only person in my grade. So, we moved mainly because of that. The school was made up of MAF kids. Becs: Did you have anything to compare that to? Had you been to school in the US? Hannah: We don’t remember anything other than Indonesia, so that’s the only thing that we knew apart from being home schooled before that — so that’s the only thing we can compare it with.
Ugandan life Becs: What’s been the main difference between moving from Indonesia to Uganda? Hannah: The main difference is that you can do a lot more stuff here. Britton: They have malls and theatres here that you wouldn’t find in Indonesia. I don’t know if it’s the most different thing, but that’s what comes to mind. Also, the contrast between rich and poor here is so big — there are some really wealthy people and also some really poor people. Uganda’s actually the third poorest country in the world, but you’ll still find some really rich people here.
Hannah: There are more schools you can go to, it’s just that we all go to this one school. There’re two main Christian schools in Uganda and the one we go to is the bigger one — Heritage International School. But it’s still quite small compared to an American school. There’s about 50 people in our high school. Jasmine: It goes from pre-kindergarten all the way to 12th grade [ages 2-18]. Becs: So, what subjects have you chosen? Ariela: I’m doing World History and English Literature. Becs: What subjects are you guys doing? Hudson? Hudson: I don’t have a choice in 9th grade except ‘elective’. So, I get to choose one. Hannah: It’s like before GCSEs, basically. Becs: Okay, so do you know what subjects you want to choose? Hudson: Physics and Math. Britton: He’s a smart guy. Becs: Clearly! Hudson: Because I want to be a pilot, so you need that stuff. Becs: What makes you want to become a pilot? Did your dad inspire you? Hudson: It’s given me the idea, but it’s still my motivation, I guess, and I’ve seen what it looks like. Becs: And do you know what type of pilot you want to be? Hudson: Probably a military related one. Probably a helicopter pilot, rather than a plane. Becs: Zoe, what are you doing at school? Zoe: My elective is Art. Becs: And do you know what you’ll want to take?
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Right// A Cessna 208 on the ground in DRC Far-right // Hudson Forney out flying with his Dad, Dave!
Zoe: I have no idea! Becs: Is there quite a mixture of people who don’t know what they want to do and people that know what they want in your school? Several together: Yeah… Hannah: It often feels like there’s a lot of pressure from the school to know what you want to do. Even in 9th grade they’ll be asking you what you want to do! Becs: You’d surely be changing your mind all the time! I did that a lot!
Pressures and struggles Becs: With all these pressures in mind and concerns about mental wellbeing in the social media age, do you guys feel well supported? Ariela: There are lots of teenagers that struggle with mental health problems — even in our school. I know quite a lot of girls who struggle with what they look like and they compare themselves to other people on social media. Becs: Do you think it’s a very western thing or do you think Ugandan girls are also going on social media and encountering the same struggles? Ariela: Yeah, I’d say so. Zoe: Everyone has access to social media if they have a phone with Internet, right? So, everyone is vulnerable to low self-esteem — it’s a problem for people here as well. Britton: In our school, we have good youth pastor type people and teachers who are really open and ready to talk about anything. They’re constantly saying, ‘We’re here if anyone needs to talk to us.’ Hannah: It doesn’t feel as though there’s this awkward teacher-student relationship. It’s more of a community!
Flying with MAF Becs: Have any of you been on any flights with MAF?
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Hannah: During last year’s Christmas holiday, we went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and spent about a month there. We stayed in the community and got to know MAF’s partner organisations. My dad’s an aircraft maintenance engineer and the hangar is based in Uganda, but our group visited the DRC. Becs: Have any of you flown to see any of the projects our partners head up? Britton: My dad is a photographer as well as a pilot and he always takes pictures whenever he’s flying people. So, we get to see a lot of that. Ariela: I’ve been on a few taxi flights. I’ve been with my dad to different places, picking people up and dropping them off. You get to see lots of different places and meet lots of different people.
Mutual support Becs: As MAF teens, do you feel there’s enough support? How do you think we, as MAF Youth, can support you more? Britton: Like financially? [laughter] Becs: No! [laughter] Hannah: Praying is good and we can pray for them too. People in the UK will be going through issues like ours, even though they’re slightly different. We’re all kind of missionaries in our own places. If we can all help each other and pray for each other that would be great!
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