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A STORY ABOUT POOP!
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A TRIBUTE TO SOUL SURVIVOR
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A WIN A M CINE N O TRIP 4 E PA G
The stench of adventure Having a stool or urine sample taken is always an odd experience. What could anyone possibly want with that? For the Madagascar Medical Expeditions (Madex) team of students from Manchester University, agonising over numerous samples of poo and wee is crucially important in containing bilharzia.
It’s a pretty grim disease Bilharzia, also known as schistosomiasis, is a disease caused by tiny worms living in freshwater snails in several countries across Africa and Asia. The worms multiply inside the snails before entering water and coming into contact with humans. They then burrow their way under the skin and continue to grow and multiply inside the gut, making the victim feel tired and bloated. In some cases, the disease causes death, although most victims will probably only experience regular diarrhoea and bloody poo. It’s safe to say that bilharzia is a pretty grim disease!
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Mud, poop, adventure ‘It’s not a very glamorous job,’ laughed Hannah as she sat analysing poo samples in a dark wooden hut with Tiger balm lodged firmly up her nose. She was part of the first student-led expedition in 2015.
Back then, the team had attempted to reach the isolated communities in Marolambo using public transport, but this resulted in four gruelling days of travel by roads that were more like sticky clay and a final trek that was more like army bootcamp — only far worse! ‘It was like nothing I’d ever seen,’ groaned Hannah as she recalled the night when they encountered three trucks that were stuck in the mud – causing a major road blockage in pitchblack conditions. ‘There was no option but to get out and walk the final section for about 12 miles.’
The project grows wings Since then, the Madex teams have used MAF aircraft to expand their research and educate and treat infected kids in Madagascar’s Marolambo district.
Far left // Madex team 2018 Left // Analysing poo samples in Marolambo Top frame // Snails taken from the Nisovolo River Bottom frame // The 2015 Madex team trekking through the jungle
‘Without MAF, we couldn’t really do this project,’ explained Caitlin from last year’s team. In 2015, when the team realised they could fly with MAF, it sped up the pace of research dramatically — enabling them to treat thousands of children who’d been affected. Since then, flying with MAF has been a ‘nobrainer’, and has led to the teams being more adventurous with their investigations.
More snails, more poo In the summer of 2018, a fresh team returned to Marolambo and did a number of things to move the project forward. One of these was to spread awareness of bilharzia through the school system with the help of Madagascar’s Minister of Education. ‘It’s very difficult to try and get the population to realise they have the symptoms, because so many people are infected. The people have come to believe that it’s normal,’ explains Kate — one of the medical students who led the expedition.
Another part of the research involved seeing how the positioning of the snails along the Nosivolo River was impacting the spread of the disease. ‘The actual equipment for hunting down snails, which is pretty hi-tech, is a pole with a sieve on the end of it!’ admits Dan, the project’s ecologist. And, of course, there was more poo! The team continued analysing stool samples from Malagasy children to help build on the findings made on previous expeditions.
Proud to partner The team hopes that people will become more aware of bilharzia and how to avoid it, resulting in a better quality of life! MAF is thrilled to partner with these incredible individuals who, year-on-year, get their hands seriously dirty to help get rid of a tropical disease that’s become commonplace in remote Malagasy communities. Soon Bilharzia will be banished for good from Madagascar!
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W H E N M A F Y O U T H M E T //
Lise and Rahel Missionary Kids (MK) and best friends Lise Barendse and Rahel Schlatter, graduated from secondary school in Uganda in June 2017. Since then, they have moved on to the next stage of their lives in their home nations of the Netherlands and Switzerland. But what's it like leaving home when you've grown up overseas and your home is — well — MAF?
feel like I’m Dutch. I also don't feel like I am particularly Tanzanian, or Ugandan. Our family moved to Kampala, Uganda, when I was eight, and I remember the huge contrast. There were supermarkets in Kampala, which was a rare sight in rural Tanzania. There were traffic lights, paved roads and thunderstorms that sounded like explosions. It was a hard adjustment to make!
What was life like as a MAF kid for you both?
Rahel: I was almost three years old when my family moved to Dodoma, Tanzania. Even though it's the capital city, back then it was just a small town. I grew up walking barefoot, biking around town, barbecuing, climbing rocks and riding on the roof rack of our car. I often get told that I grew up as a bush kid! When we moved to Kampala in 2009, it was quite a change! Tall buildings, cars everywhere and supermarkets!
Lise: I was born an MAF kid, in a Kenyan hospital. My parents had already been living in the Tanzania programme for over two years, with my twin siblings, because my dad is an aircraft maintenance engineer. I spent my childhood years in Dodoma, Tanzania. It was a wonderful childhood. I’m always thankful that I had a garden I could safely play in, and that I barely ever had to wear shoes! Tanzania was my home for eight years, Uganda for ten, and the Netherlands, up till now, has only been my home in the summer. My parents are Dutch, but I don't
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What was school like? Lise: We started school pretty much straight away after moving. My parents had enrolled us into an international school for the
Main // Dave and Becky Waterman Left // Dave in the MAF hangar in 2005 Right // Dave working on the upgrade of a Cessna 208 Caravan
first time in our lives. Everything was so different. One thing I remember was that students were allowed to bring juice to school which, in my old school, was strictly forbidden! What I loved about international school was the fact that I got to learn about so many different cultures. I have had Muslim, Catholic and Sikh friends. (I could keep going but that would be a pretty long list!) I’m very thankful that my parents decided to expose me to such a diverse atmosphere.
What’s it like making friends as an MK? Lise: One thing that has always been difficult is that there are lots of goodbyes. Some people only stay for a few years because their parents move to another country. Starting a deep friendship always begins with asking how long you will get to spend with them. However, I have had Rahel by my side since 2001. Our families moved to Uganda from Tanzania around the same time, so we’ve been able to be best friends for 16 years!
Rahel: Since 2009, I have made lots of new friends, and many of them have moved away. As a missionary kid you get used to that. But, in my experience, some of the shortest friendships have also been some of the best. When you meet another MK, it's an instant connection — someone who understands what your life is like. That being said, Lise is still the same friend I've had since kindergarten, so I know how rare that is and how lucky I am.
What’s the future looking like? Rahel: This summer I graduate, and this means leaving my home country for university. And yes, I say ‘leaving my home country’ because that's what it is for me. I will be leaving behind all my friends and a country that has been my home for almost nine years to move to Switzerland. It will be a new culture, new weather, new people, and I know it won't be easy. But I have never once wished that I didn't grow up as an MAF kid in Africa. My childhood gave me some pretty amazing friends and memories, and I wouldn't ever want to change that.
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COUNTRY MADAGASCAR CAPITAL ANTANANARIVO POPULATION 25,683,610* MAF PROGRAMME EST 1989
*July 2018 statistic taken from the CIA World Factbook
MAROLAMBO // MADAGASCAR
PHOTO MARK and KELLY HEWES
A O T L L E W E R FA
l a v i t s e f l s p e c ia SEE MAF Y O U T H WA LL FOR INST RU C T I O N S
What we to at the got up Soul Survlast ever ivor!
We’ve had loads of fun being at a number of events this summer! Big Church Day Out, Wildfires, Limitless, a few schools and some church events, but without a doubt Soul Survivor has been a firm favourite year after year. We’re going to miss Soul Survivor loads now that it has officially ended, but we’re so grateful to God for what He’s done through that festival. We’ve loved every year we’ve been able to setup shop in the Tool Shed and meet so many people and make so many friends! Huge, huge thanks to Mike Pilavachi and the Soul Survivor team who have served us and the thousands of young people, who have been faithfully pointed to Jesus over the last 26 years! 10
PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Bedroom door prayers : ip t t op
Cut out prayers
Stick 'em either side of your bedroom door
Pray that the Bilharzia disease will stop being a problem in Madagascar and that God will help the Madex team with their continued research.
Pray for Rahel and Lise’s amazing friendship and that, even though they are in different countries from each other, they will stay connected and support each other from afar!
Pray as you leave and enter your room*
Remember Samaritan’s Purse’s cleft lip programme in your prayers so that less South Sudanese people will encounter abuse because of the way they look.
Use these blanks to pray for friends, family, school - whatever you like!
*If you tend to leave your door open, stick the prayers on either side of the door frame instead!
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Smiles for a better future 3 ½-MINUTE READ
A cleft lip or palate is a gap or split in the upper lip or roof of the mouth. It happens when parts of a baby’s face haven’t joined together properly in the womb. Without surgery, it can be very difficult for those with a cleft lip to eat, talk and sometimes hear. In the UK, it’s super easy to get a cleft lip operated on whether at birth or in later life. Failing that, having a cleft lip is unlikely to spark up any abusive behaviour in other people — perhaps a bit of stick from the school bully at most.
Horrific abuse In South Sudan, things are very different. For those in remote communities an operation is hard to come by and those who have a cleft lip often suffer horrific abuse because of the way they look. Fortunately, Samaritan’s Purse (SP) is changing the lives of those who many see as one of the lowest in society. Cleft lips occur in 1 in every 600 births in South Sudan — and the numbers are increasing. Although the surgery is pretty simple, the treatment isn’t widely available. And that’s where SP comes in.
Enter Samaritan’s Purse In 2011, SP programme manager Karen Daniels had the situation highlighted to her and was asked to do something about it. So, she helped set up a yearly clinic at Juba Teaching hospital in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, offering the operation. Because it would be much harder to set up multiple clinics in remote villages, SP used its aviation programme to bring the patients to the clinic in Juba. The organisation, with its team of surgeons, nurses, specialists and chaplaincy staff, runs the programme for a week. During that time, patients from 12 remote communities board flights to Juba to receive treatment.
day and carried out 130 operations! Although kids and babies tend to make up the majority of cleft lip cases, back in 2011, the Samaritan’s Purse team were treating patients as old as 65. Eight years on and 600 surgeries later, the oldest patients operated on this year were in their forties. The impact speaks for itself!
Simple flight, simple surgery It’s also been an honour for MAF to not only have worked alongside SP on this project this year, but to have also seen the fruit of flying so quickly. Men and women around South Sudan were being given a better quality of life because of a simple flight and a simple surgery.
Flying through tragedy However, this year Captain Brian Stotzfus, Head of the SP aviation programme, was tragically killed in a plane crash unrelated to the project. On top of that, SP’s plane had to be sent away to respond to the Mozambique cyclones in April, which left this year’s clinic at a stand-still. It was time for MAF to step up to the plate! So, in April, 4 MAF pilots made 22 separate flights to bring patients to Juba Teaching Hospital. The patients were flown in one day, had surgery the next, and were flown home the day after. By the end of the week, the team had seen about 20 cases a
Cutout // A cleft lift patient post surgery Left // Samaritan's Purse programme manager Karen Daniels Top // Cleft lip patient on his way to get surgery Above // MAF pilot Michael Beath with patients and family members Background // Icons by Gyan Lakhwani. Noun Project
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MAf Y utH SNAPC HAT PRAYE R POR TAL MAF te en
s been p in Uganda h a raying for yo ve u!
Lauren201000
Results day in August! Hoping I get into university.
Zoe in Uganda Dear God, I thank you Lord for this opportunity that Lauren has, and I pray that she would know that you will be with her every step of the way in this new chapter of life. Help her to seek peace in you and not fear what comes ahead of her. I pray that she would get into the university that she needs to go to and that you would use her wherever she goes to spread your love. Amen.
abaa.xx My friends dad is going for brain surgery today and I know it’s in God’s hands, but pray for a speedy recovery and for the surgery to go well.
Ariela in Uganda Dear Jesus, I pray that you would guide Aba’s friend’s dad through this surgery and encourage both him and his family through the scary process they’re going through. I pray that you keep the whole family strong and faithful in you and your ability to heal and protect. Amen.
golphert3 ‘I live in a non-Christian home but I'm a Christian and I've just come back from a mission trip and just need some prayer for readjusting to life please
Abi in Uganda Dear God, I thank you for the many ways that you are working through Georgia to magnify your love. I pray that you would strengthen her in this time of transition. And fill her with your Holy Spirit. I thank you for the opportunity she has to shine your light to those around her, and I pray that you would continue to glorify yourself through her testimony. Give her boldness and strength to continue to live for you in the midst of trials and let her be ever confident in your love for her. God, I pray that you would give Georgia the words to speak and the power to break strongholds in your name. Let her be as a beacon of light which cannot be hidden. I also pray that you would protect and minister to your daughter’s heart as she continues to draw closer to you. Above all, I pray that your will be done. Amen.
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A STORY ABOUT POOP!
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A TRIBUTE TO SOUL SURVIVOR
A WIN A M CINE N O TRIP 4 E PA G
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