MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 2019
NEWSPAPER OF MAF SOUTH AFRICA
REACHING THE ISOLATED
IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU MAF flights took place soon after category 3 Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira in Mozambique on Thursday 14 March. Your efforts helped make this possible and we are so grateful. Page | 04 A DOCTOR’S REPORT The Vhembe District alone currently has a backlog of over 800 patients waiting for cataract surgery with a waiting time of over one year. The flights that you make possible helps to alleviate this burden of disease. Page | 09 YOU HELPED BRING PEACE When members of the body of Christ are isolated in their suffering, reaching them with love and encouragement means so much. Thank you for helping us send Tobias Meyer to South Sudan. He is making a huge impact in reaching the isolated. Page | 10 “We saw many people on rooftops and others clinging to trees. The floodwaters had completely submerged homes. These photos really opened the eyes of the world to what’s going on.” Rick Emenaker Disaster Response Staff
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CURRENT VACANCIES MISSION PILOT Madagascar Don’t miss out this opportunity, contact us now. Visit www.mafsa.co.za
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COMMUNITY NEWS SA
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MAF is an international Christian organisation whose mission is to fly light aircraft, and to use other technologies to bring help, hope and healing to people in some of the world’s poorest communities. Every four minutes an MAF plane is taking off or landing somewhere in the world to assist missions, churches, aid and development agencies, and other local groups to transform lives and share the love of God.
FROM THE CEO
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cyclone to hit Africa. In such a time of suffering, together, we were able to reach Mozambican people with food, medicine, equipment, personnel and hope. Be encouraged and receive our heartfelt thank-you! You have made a great impact on the lives of people when help was so imminently needed.
THANK YOU During a disaster, people are looking for hope. When Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira, Mozambique, the world watched images, taken from MAF aircraft, in horror. It was regarded as the worst
You made it possible for over 70 flights, carrying Christ-filled people to reach over 16 different destinations across Mozambique. We were overwhelmed by the generous donations of South Africans and others around the world. Our disaster response team was dispatched in response to the second cyclone – Kenneth and we were onhand to provide immediate assistance because of the surplus funds that were raised. During this time, we have witnessed great unity across
Jaso n Bo u w man
DISASTER RESPONSE
the body of Christ. It reminds me of what Paul says in Galatians that, “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”. It is love that together we spread, every time a flight takes off and lands.
CYCLONE IDAI MOZAMBIQUE Your partnership with MAF made it possible to reach our neighbours in such a time of suffering. It is the prayers, donations and unity of MAF supporters and partner organisations that made it possible for the people of Mozambique to be reached. Together, we were able to conduct survey flights, transport medicine, food, equipment and personnel. Thank you!
The programme in Mozambique continues with normal flights. There is a journey ahead of rebuilding homes and livelihoods. And there are food security concerns as the cyclone damaged many of the crops during harvest season. Please stand with us in prayer for people who have lost loved ones and who are now journeying through the rebuild. It is only in unity that we can make a real lasting impact. Thank you for making this possible.
222 PAX
Maxine Holman CEO of MAF SA
16,058 KGS CARGO
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VOL. 2, NO. 2 , WINTER 2019. MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP Design/Editor: Gabriella Szabo Printer: Insights Publishing Mission Aviation Fellowship is the official newspaper of MAF SA Articles may be printed with acknowledgment. If you no longer wish to receive MAF news, please advise us at maf@mafsa.co.za Front cover: Courtesy LuAnne Cadd.
PLEASE NOTE When donating to a missionary family, reference the missionary families’ surname as well as your name and surname. Please don’t post cash, the envelopes are often tampered with.
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MAF LOGO LIVERY 2012 - CMYK Mission Aviat ion Fellowship June 2012 Jason Bouwman
SERVE WITH US AND LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN
CRITICAL POSITIONS
CRITICAL POSITIONS
CRITICAL POSITIONS
Deputy Operations Manager South Sudan
Experienced Mission Pilot Madagascar
Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Uganda
Could you co-ordinate flight and ground operations in some of the worlds toughest environments? Our aircraft operate in some of the most unpredictable environments in the world.
The candidate will have a minimum of 1000 flight hours of PIC time (in commercial flying) and be qualified to fly the C182 and C208 aircraft. Essential: ICAO Commercial Pilots License with instrument rating
ICAO Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Licence is required. Our aircraft land on some of the most challenging terrain you can imagine. We operate mainly Single Engine Turbine and Single Engine Piston aircraft.
VISIT WWW.MAFSA.CO.ZA OR CONTACT NATALIE AT RECRUITMENT@MAFSA.CO.ZA TO ENQUIRE
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. DON’T MISS OUT
YOU’RE INVITED Save the date
14 September
Fly in, drive in or walk in. Bring the family! There’ll be aircraft, food and fun! - Aviator’s Paradise Airfield, Brits -
MAF FLY-IN COMMUNITY DAY QUESTION & ANSWER BOX We would like to invite you to ask the questions you may have about MAF and we will anonymously post the answer in the next edition. Email maf@mafsa.co.za subject line: MAF Question What is the size of the global MAF fleet? Collectively, our fleet of 132 airplanes serve over 2000 non-profit, church, and humanitarian organisations.
?
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DISASTER RESPONSE
MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP
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MAF flights took place soon after category 3 Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira in Mozambique on Thursday, 14 March. Because of your prayer and financial investment, you helped to bring the goodness of God in a time when showing love and meeting people’s needs means so much. Jaso n Bo u w man
IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU STORY BY GABRIELLA SZABO PHOTOS BY MAF FIELD PHOTOGRAPHERS AND MERCY AIR
WE ARE GRATEFUL There is so much trauma and fear during a natural disaster. People are feeling out of control. They face the possibility of death while, at the same time, they’re dealing with the reality of having lost friends and family, their homes, their livelihoods and a future that needs completely rebuilding. For most, survival becomes the only way of living. You helped make it possible to reach the Mozambican people, our neighbours, during such a time of suffering. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be able to complete the task assigned to us. Our supporters were willing to bring physical help alongside us, to pray, and to give. Over R100,000 was raised in less than two weeks for the disaster response effort.
On behalf of the MAF global team, we would like to thank you. You are an essential part of our disaster response work, and we are overwhelmed with your efforts.
QUICK RESPONSE Category 3, Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira in Mozambique on Thursday, 14 March. It was regarded as the worst cyclone to hit Africa.
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From the Top: The wake of Cyclone Idai. People stranded on high places to find some respite. Our partnership with Red Cross in our response. The opening of the airstrip in Buzi, to give access to a Samaritan’s Purse field hospital. Right: MAF staff work together with Mercy Air to deliver aid.
Rick Emenaker of the MAF disaster response team explains the sheer scale of the effects: “When we first flew over, we said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is a sea!’ And it turned out to be an area approximately 24 km by 130 km wide, which is usually an area of dry land. We were quite shocked by it all.” Our disaster response team was dispatched before the cyclone hit. John Woodberry, MAF’s global disaster response manager, along with his team, continually assess the threat a storm might pose. Preparedness enabled an
immediate response and alerted governments, NGOs and other disaster response teams across the world to act fast.
“We saw many people on rooftops and others clinging to trees. The floodwaters had completely submerged homes. These photos really opened the eyes of the world to what’s going on,” Emenaker says. MAF conducted survey flights and worked with Mercy Air, the Mozambique government, Food for the Hungry, Samaritan’s Purse, Red Cross, and other aid organisations to help deliver food, medicine, shelter, and personnel.
BUZI AIRSTRIP The government clinic in Buzi was destroyed by the cyclone. Samaritan’s Purse agreed to set up a mobile field hospital to provide for the medical needs of the community. For this to happen timeously, the airstrip at Buzi needed to be reopened. Steve Simpson, one of MAF‘s disaster response staff, who was part of the airstrip development explained that “the process, in my experience, would take at least six to twelve months with multiple requests from civil aviation to change various things. But this airstrip went from an overgrown grass field that hadn’t been used in years, to an officially approved airstrip in a period of five days”. He continued, “The surgical unit of the hospital was set up in the afternoon and I heard that around 9 pm that evening a woman came in with complications during pregnancy and they were able to perform an emergency c-section. She was still in critical condition but expected to recover just fine. Without the hospital, the woman would have likely died from blood loss as the closest access to
medical care is in Beira, which is a good four to five-hour drive. Although the true road conditions are still unknown and travelling at night would have been fairly dangerous.” The airstrip will provide longlasting benefits. In the future ongoing support will be made possible by air. Medicines, personnel and equipment can be transported quickly and safely. The alternative would be a long and possibly dangerous journey by boat or dirt-road.
A JOINT EFFORT Reaching the people of Mozambique would not have been as successful without the joint efforts of all the people who were willing to pray and give, and so many like-minded organisations working together to make an impact in the name of Christ. Mark Liprini, one of MAF’s disaster response staff, reported that “we work with folk from all nations, each of us working hard and passionately in our arena of operations, holding meetings, dealing with issues, planning strategies, marching out to aircraft for deployment...”. Our work still continues in Mozambique with our programme based in Nampula. Please pray with us for the Mozambican people trying to rebuild their homes and lives following the cyclone, for protection from illness, both for the local people and those there to assist. Give thanks to our God for making so many things fall into place and giving MAF the ability to assist. Praise Him for the many supporters who stepped up to fund this work. A traumatic experience can become a testimony of God’s provision and great love. Thank you for helping us show the love of Christ in meeting people’s needs when disaster strikes. May we continue to reach the isolated people of Mozambique.
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MAF LOGO LIVERY 2012 - CMYK Mission Aviat ion Fellowship June 2012 Jason Bouwman
DISASTER RESPONSE IN MOZAMBIQUE
FUELLED BY PRAYER MAF SOUTH AFRICA WINTER 2019
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PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARIES Families from South Africa are working in third-world countries across the globe, to bring the love of Christ to the isolated.
SONS AND SLAVES
BRAD & MICHELLE VENTER | PNG | Pray for Nathan, Hailey and Megan that they continue to grow in their walk with the Lord and put their faith into practice. Pray for wisdom for their parents to lead and guide their hearts. Pray for Brad as he is very busy with his flying schedule and his duties as Flight Ops Manager.
TOBIAS MEYER | SOUTH SUDAN Tobias continues to be a blessing to the team in South Sudan. Please pray for the safety and protection of all our missionaries in this area with the uprising that is occurring. Pray that a God ordained leader will be raised.
GRANT & EMILY STRUGNELL | LESOTHO Give praise to God for the Basotho people who were able to manage the day to day operations of Pulane Children’s centre without Grant and Jane present. Continue to pray for Grant as his flying increases. He recently had eight landings in one day in seven different places.
MARK & LORRAINE LIPRINI | DISASTER RESPONSE Pray for the Liprinis potential move to Uganda where Mark will be based. Pray for the move and saying goodbyes to family, friends and South Africa. May all go smoothly and the transition be easy.
KIRSTEIN & AMELIA COMBRINK | TANZANIA The Combrinks are in RSA for furlough; they then go onto the UK. Pray for safety in their travels and strength as they travel with two young children. Pray that they would connect and make good contacts with their church visits.
Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1 NIV For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:14 NIV Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Deuteronomy 10:14 NIV
Do you have the mind of a slave or a son? Paul, in Galatians and Romans speaks about our sonship. For so many reasons we should have the mind of a son. The story in Luke 15:11-22 looks at a slave or son mentality. By the second sentence of the story, a picture is drawn of an entitled son, whose character is wrapped up in one quote: “Father, give me my share of the estate.” This type of son only sees his needs and wants, and only speaks to his father about his needs and wants. After squandering what the father has given to this son, the son realises that being a servant in his father’s house would be better than the immature and wild life that he currently lives. He has been humbled. We are told about this change in character in one of his quotes: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” This son is no longer saying, “give me”, but rather “make me”. The father doesn’t say, “Yes you are right, you’re not worthy to be my son but my servant”. Rather, he reconfirms him as his son in an extravagant and public way, gives him royal gifts and throws him a party. Unfortunately, his older brother has a slave mentality. This brother is the kind that obeys all the commands; he slaves for God and for “good” works. He doesn’t see it, but his attitude toward his father is, “you owe me” and “why do I not get what others are getting?”. Why do we know this? Because his quote says it all: “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” If we think we are ever “slaving” for God, we should stop. If we are ever concerned about what others are receiving, we should check ourselves. God isn’t a slave-driver, or a respecter of persons, and He doesn’t owe anyone. As His children the Father says to us, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Choose to be a son who knows that “we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”.
PRAYER NOTES
MAF LOGO LIVERY 2012 - CMYK Mi ssi o n Avi at i o n Fello w sh i p Ju n e 2012 Jaso n Bo u w man
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MAF LOGO LIVERY 2012 - CMYK Mission Aviat ion Fellowship June 2012 Jason Bouwman
PRAY FOR OUR PROGRAMMES MAF serves in several countries around the world with the vision of taking Christ’s love into the most remote places on earth.
LIBERIA
CHAD
SOUTH SUDAN
Pray for safety during the rainy season which begins in May and ends around October. Flights are full.
Pray for boldness and blessed relationships with missionaries. Pray for God to hide them under His wings as they go out to love
Pray for peace and for the leadership to be led by God. Pray for the public to seek God’s face. Praise God for His protection.
TANZANIA
KENYA
ANGOLA
MADAGASCAR
Pray for the leadership and government to be willing to approve more airstrips. Pray for breakthrough over this ongoing point.
Pray for the women who have endured abuse. Pray for the missionaries who are working to show them the love of God.
Pray for the Word to be preached in churches and for people to turn from mixed teaching and to follow the Truth.
Pray that this shamebased culture sees the worth of man through God’s eyes and not man’s eyes. Pray for a change in hearts.
MONGOLIA
TIMOR LESTE
PNG
MYANMAR
Mongolia’s air pollution is harmful, especially to children. Pray for healing over the people’s bodies and for solutions.
Pray for medevacked patients to hear God’s heart in the medical care-packages that they receive on each flight.
Pray for violence to end and for jealousy to cease. Continue to pray for those who have been affected by violent crimes.
RAC
MOZAMBIQUE
LESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA
Pray that God’s kindness is shown through the missionaries based in *RAC programmes. Pray for complete joy.
Pray for healing for those suffering from the wake of the cyclone. Pray for broken-hearts to heal and for hope to arise.
Pray for the gospel to be heard and for minds to be transformed. Pray for people to read and practise the Word.
Pray for more doctors to be willing to serve in the most rural areas of South Africa. Pray for our country’s leadership.
*Restricted Access Countries
UGANDA
Pray for strength for the many organisations we fly to bring hope and practical help to refugees.
Pray for partnerships with local businesses and missionaries as we begin to develop the airstrip. Pray for God’s favour.
PRAYER NOTES
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REACHING THE ISOLATED AROUND THE WORLD
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FLYING FOR LIFE
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“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord.“I will protect them from those who malign them.” Psalm 12:5 NIV
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Flying for Life, MAF South Africa’s local initiative, flies to bring sight to the blind. The Vhembe District alone currently has a backlog of over 800 patients waiting for cataract surgery with a waiting time of over one year. FFL helps to alleviate this burden of disease.
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A DOCTOR’S REPORT
STORY BY HETTIE KRUGER PHOTO BY JONO WOOD
It is with the same magnitude that patients’ lives are changed that the outreach also changes the lives of its volunteers.
It is estimated that nearly half of avoidable blindness can be accounted for by cataracts. The World Health Organisation has estimated that 20 million people worldwide are blind from cataracts in both eyes, of which 90% reside in developing countries. In South Africa’s rural population, it is estimated that there are more than 27 000 patients going blind each year as a result of cataracts. These statistics reveal a profound societal economic impact through the loss of productivity.
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history as being one of the first hospitals in South Africa to offer ocular surgery in the early 1900s.
Today, the hospital still serves the community by offering an estimate of 600 cataract surgeries per year. This is only possible with the generous donations of Flying for Life’s supporters. The regular supply of materials needed to The flights that you help to make possible perform cataract surgery provides enable volunteer medical staff to operate a lifeline for ophthalmology in on people who are on the waiting list. Significant improvement in the quality of Limpopo, without which cataract social and economic wellbeing can be well surgery at the hospital would have within reach for the community in Venda. been impossible. The outreach at one of the hospitals in the Vhembe District supplements one of only three ophthalmic centres in the Limpopo Province public sector. The Vhembe District alone currently has a backlog of over 800 patients waiting for cataract surgery with a waiting time of over one year.
The Flying for Life Venda outreach helps to alleviate this burden of disease by providing approximately 150 cataract surgeries per year. The magnitude of this project impacts the community on a large scale as some of these patients have been blind for many years and will now be able to contribute to their family instead of being taken care of. In addition to organising monthly surgical outreaches, surgical supplies are also donated to a nearby hospital*. The hospital, established by Swiss Missionaries in 1899, has a rich
It is with the same magnitude that patients’ lives are changed that the outreach also changes the lives of its volunteers. In August 2017, I incidentally got to know about the outreach from colleagues at a hospital in Limpopo where I was stationed during my community service year as a medical doctor. I attended the first outreach out of curiosity, and the experience sparked an interest in ophthalmology and a passion for the rural community of Limpopo. Humbled by the gratitude of patients and inspired by the doctors in the operating room, I took it upon myself to pursue a career in ophthalmology. As a bursary holder of the Limpopo Province, I was subsequently stationed at one of the hospitals and, per special request, was allowed to work in the ophthalmology
department alongside Dr Mathai, one of only a few doctors in Limpopo skilled in ophthalmology. As there are no formal training institutions for doctors in ophthalmology in Limpopo, Flying for Life has been a platform for skills training and academic discussion. Besides assisting with the challenges faced by resource constraints, the Flying for Life team provided a network of support and encouragement to me where I was stationed in a resource deprived setting. At times one would feel overwhelmed and disheartened when working in an environment where the demand for cataract surgery by far outweighs the supply of skilled doctors, nursing staff and equipment. By having regular contact with the Flying for Life team, there was hope and a renewed determination to make a difference in the lives of patients. While I am now recently stationed at St Johns Eye Hospital in Johannesburg as a trainee doctor in ophthalmology, I still attend monthly outreaches to Venda with the Flying for Life team. It is truly a life-changing outreach and once I have completed formal training in ophthalmology I intend to return to the Vhembe District, to continue the good work that Flying for Life has started and, hopefully, to be involved in the training and encouragement of more doctors in order to win the battle against preventable blindness. • • •
*Certain names of hospitals cannot be published. Top: Hettie Kruger Left: A hospital in rural Limpopo
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 NIV C O M PA S S C R E AT I V E S T U D I O I N C 201- 3228 so u th servi c e rd
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When members of the body of Christ are isolated in their suffering, reaching them with love and encouragement means so much. Thank you for helping us send Tobias Meyer to South Sudan. He is making a large impact in reaching the isolated.
YOU HELPED BRING PEACE STORY AND PHOTOS BY THORKILD JØRGENSEN
CONFLICT & UNREST Living in South Sudan comes with security protocols. Curfews and travel restrictions are known by our staff. The conflict that South Sudan has experienced not only leaves a wake of security concerns but much deeper issues of the heart: unforgiveness and bitterness. These two poisons isolate people and can ruin the church, communities, and eventually a nation.
REACHING THE CHURCH Tobias Meyer, one of our pilot-missionaries recently relocated to South Sudan. In March, he flew the Cessna 182 to Pochalla, an area that experienced conflict when political administration came in 2016, and division was forced on the people. Land, children and freedom were taken. The enemy fought to destroy their faith. On board the flight to Pochalla were Kristi Rice and Omot Odiel, missionaries from the church in the capital city. Their purpose was to bring peace and reconciliation to a people who are isolated in their suffering. After a few days in Pochalla connecting with church and community, Kristi and Omot held a three-day Wound Healing Workshop for thirty-five pastors and church leaders. “The workshop teaches Biblical principles of how to understand healing, forgiveness and reconciliation,” Kristi explained. “The purpose was to train the church leaders to become agents of healing and promoters of reconciliation and peace.” The first workshop day was about the Father’s heart. Dramas, reciprocal teaching and discussions showed God’s intention in creation, how division and prejudice entered the world, and how
God brought humanity back to Him. The participants acknowledged this by putting sticky notes on a white board with their own experiences regarding faulty parenting. Elderly members of the team represented fathers and mothers, and the younger participants came up and hugged and wept, feeling the sense of rejection leaving them and God himself hugging them back.
by standing in the gap as the representative of her European and American ancestors who have wronged Africans. Then we invited others to come up and stand in the gap for other groups and those who had been wronged could come up and forgive. Gap-people stood forth and confessed sins that their villages were responsible for and others would come up and hug and cry while forgiving the go-between.”
NAILING BITTERNESS
TRANSFORMATION
On the second day, people gave testimonies of what the first day had meant to them. Looking at John 10:10 they talked about what the thief had taken. The culmination of the day was the Cross Workshop where an opportunity was given to identify pain, anger, sin and forgiveness. The issues were written on small notes and nailed to a cross. Two by two they would pray for each other, and then the notes were taken outside and burnt. The point was that when their issues were given to Jesus (on the cross), he will exchange them with healing and love.
Finally, all the villages were invited to be part of the King’s Table as a Holy Nation. Omot facilitated this by calling the different villages that were represented at the workshop to stand before the others and be blessed with the words: “We bless you, we honour you, and we respect you!”
“With bitterness in our hearts, it is impossible to be salt and light in this world,” Kristi stated. “We have to understand repentance and how to ask for forgiveness.”
STANDING IN THE GAP The third day was about standing in the gap for others (Ezekiel 22:30). Omot explained: “This was about corporate sin. One person could stand in the gap for a group or a person who had offended another group or person. Kristi showed the principle of this
Omot recalled, “At the end of the day, participants expressed how the workshop had transformed their mindset and that this training was important.” After a week in Pochalla, MAF-pilot Tobias, flew a small four-seater aeroplane to Pochalla to bring Kristi and Omot back to Juba. Going to Pochalla on the same aircraft was a Presbyterian pastor who is now planting churches in the Pochalla area. “You know,” Kristi concluded, “people in Pochalla feel isolated, and they considered it a huge blessing to be noticed by the mother church in Juba and that the presbytery would invest in them by sending us over to visit them.” • •
Top: Kristi Rice, Omot Odiel. Right: Workshop exchange at cross drama.
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STORY AND PHOTOS RICHARD CHAMBERS
SOWING SEEDS The flight from the MAF Uganda base in Kajjansi to the northern town of Arua takes approximately 90 minutes, saving its passengers eight hours of unsuitable road travel. Shortly after take-off, the “red earth” of towns and roads more than 10 000 feet below us gives way to kilometre after kilometre of dense green forests. Uganda boasts an abundance of natural resources. And, after three years editing for MAF, I’ve left my desk to see “the pearl of Africa”. MAF Uganda’s Jill Vine is here to guide me, MAF Youth Manager Rebecca Walker and MAF Communications Officer Astrid Rahbek around the Imvepi refugee settlement.
WHY WE FLY At the Arua airstrip, we meet Reverend Alex of one of our partner organisations who provides a holistic approach to what has become Uganda’s greatest import – refugees from war-torn countries; most notably, South Sudan. Its teams teach women to manage general hygiene and reproductive health. They also provide a medical clinic, basic education, help with microfinance and agricultural training. The next two hours are spent in their allterrain vehicle, bumping incessantly along the rutted, earth roads of rural Uganda. This 80 km car journey is the perfect reminder as to why MAF is the preferred method of transport for 2 000 other partner organisations worldwide!
A WARM WELCOME More than one million South Sudanese refugees live in Uganda. Imvepi was opened in February 2017 when the Palorinya
settlement reached its 135 000 capacity. Inside the settlement, Alex escorts us to a building with baked mud walls and a thatched roof. The welcome we receive from the ladies inside is heartfelt, colourful and loud! The singing, shouting and clapping is eventually punctuated by Reverend Jacob – the local liaison for the team in Imvepi. “I give thanks to God for bringing the visitors to where we are today!” he says, and the ladies shout or murmur their agreement.
LESS THAN R100 Like most of the people we meet here, Christine is from Yei, a town served by MAF’s weekly shuttle flights. “The war meant we had nothing left in South Sudan,” she tells us. “God brought us here so that our children could get an education. But it is one lesson a day and we need more teachers.” A typical Imvepi “classroom” contains more than 600 children. Joyce, another lady we met fled her homeland after her husband was shot. She arrived in Imvepi with her four children: Bosco, Eber, Aate and Sara. “My friends from church are here,” she says, “and they look after us. Their children can go to school, but mine do not as I only have money for clothes.” The school fees in Imvepi are 20 000 shillings per child, per term. Less than R100.
FIRST SIGNS OF GROWTH “Yei was a town of kind people,” Reverend Jacob recalls, and you can almost feel the sadness. “They sent their surplus food to the capital Juba. But now it’s a battlefield.”
The team is working tirelessly to help with the trauma and pain suffered by practically everyone in
the settlement. Churches within the settlement have been mobilised to support those in need of prayer and counselling and also provide discipleship lessons. And they are training women to grow a wide variety of vegetables that will improve the food aid “diet” of rice and beans. Each refugee receives 15 kg of food aid per month from UNHCR. Therefore, it is a godsend for those able to supplement such meagre rations by growing aubergines, courgettes, onions, peppers, tomatoes and sorghum. Reverend Jacob turns to our video camera to make a final plea. “We pray that God will help the people who are suffering. We pray that the partnership with MAF continues until these people can go back to their own country.” •
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Top: Members of staff from all the teams helping refugees at Impevi Camp Bottom: Richard Chambers, MAF Pilot Mark Liprini, Rebecca Walker and Astrid Rahbek
