Discovery Magazine - March 2022

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Overseas travel has been difficult of late, so I’m please d you can still enjoy a snapshot of some far-flung, exotic locations throu gh the lens of this Discovery magazine Exploring new places is thrilling and invigorating, espec ially with the latest news from Guinea! At the end of 2021, we received approval from the Guinean government allowing MAF to operate as an international NGO. This was an answer to many prayers and, in January, was followed by the flight of a newly overhauled aircraft from Uganda to Guinea’s capital Conakry.

In Conakry, we will gather new staff, establish a base and develop key relationships with other NGOs. We hope to be fully airborne later this year so, in your prayers, please remember our fledgling MAF Guinea team as they plan — and begin — a high-impact, life-saving servic e.

There are other stories in Discovery which I hope will also leave you feeling inspired, uplifted and motivated to carry on travelling with MAF. I am particularly encouraged by how MAF is provid ing long-term, dependable support which is helping to break the stigma attach ed to conditions such as cerebral palsy (p6).

I also love to hear about new MAF recruits and Mark Draper’s story is touching, poignant and fascinating (p3). It demonstrat es that God’s calling for our lives can begin before we are even born, and that He knows our desires — in MAF’s case, a need for experienced aircra ft engineers.

Whichever story moves you, it’s my prayer that Disco very will leave you with a smile and encourage you to continue your excitin g journey with MAF. Every blessing to you

Chief Executive, MAF UK

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M E E TT H E TEAM

Mark Draper traces his love of aircraft back to his grandfather Leslie Draper — an RAF engineer whom he describes as a ‘kind, humble and inspiring man’ It was at Heathrow airport in 1956 that the Draper family first encountered MAF, many years before Mark was born. Leslie — an RAF radio engineer who also worked for British Airways in its early days — volunteered to help MAF co-founder Stuart King assemble its first Cessna 180 aircraft piece by piece.

In his book Hope Has Wings, Stuart recalls the engineering challenge: 'Here was a crate full of tightly packed components, large and small, with no sign of where they were supposed to fit. With no manual, the BA Christian Union came to my assistance when they were off duty, putting together the carefully designed flying machine.'

It was this four-seater Cessna aircraft that transported Stuart and his young family to Sudan, where they launched MAF’s first African operation.

Today, a combination of coronavirus, uncertainty in the UK air industry and a long-term desire to work for MAF has finally secured Mark his dream job. Mark and Steph are now preparing to fly their own young family to Uganda, where Mark will join MAF’s engineering team in the Kajjansi hangar and Steph hopes to continue practising midwifery.

I loved hearing Grandad talk about aeroplanes. He supported MAF from that first encounter with Stuart King. He would be thrilled to know that I’m working for MAF — he spoke about MAF to everyone he knew. Although it’s a leap of faith, it will be a massive adventure for us, and a perfect way of combining my aviation skills with making a positive difference in people’s lives.

Cuba

Cap-Haïtien

Haiti, Caribbean Islands August 2021 7.2 magnitude earthquake followed

by Tropical Storm Grace destroying 52,000 homes and affecting 1.2 million people 2,700 dead and around 12,000 injured Danita’s Children, Samaritan’s Purse, Missionary Flights International, Agape Flights

Haiti Jérémie

Dominican Republic

Port-au-Prince

Las Cayes

Caribbean Sea

More than 1,270kg of medical and relief supplies

When a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated southwestern Haiti on 14 August 2021, followed by Tropical Storm Grace two days later, MAF helped co-ordinate relief efforts to reach those in desperate need With hospitals overwhelmed and hundreds of people missing, news reports streamed images of schools, churches, offices and homes badly damaged or destroyed by strong winds. Flash floods turned streets into rivers and gang warfare hindered aid reaching the south via main roads. MAF flights became a lifeline to many in a critical condition across the country.

MAF pilots responded immediately, providing aerial surveys, medical evacuations and logistic support. On 20 August, MAF transported doctors, nurses and 362kg of medical supplies for Danita’s Children — a charity based near the border with Dominican Republic — who arrived in Jérémie on the south-west of the island to treat the wounded.

On 23 August, 9 days after the earthquake, MAF pilot Eric Fagerland delivered over 900kg of emergency relief to Jérémie. There he saw locals and many who had fled from the surrounding countryside — desperate to receive medical help for severe injuries including broken backs, broken legs and head trauma. He was able to medevac some of the injured to Port-au-Prince for treatment.

According to UNICEF, around 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, were affected by the disaster, which killed more than 2,700.

Sadly, this is just one of many tragedies which have continued to devastate a nation already crippled by poverty, violence and fear — not to mention the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since 1986, MAF has partnered with mission workers and aid agencies to help isolated and vulnerable communities in Haiti. With 80% of its 8 million population living in poverty, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

From its base in the capital Port-auPrince, MAF can quickly deploy three Cessna aircraft to respond in emergency situations, which have occurred with increasing frequency and severity in the last decade.

Trapped by rough, mountainous terrain and a relentless rainy season which destroys roads and livelihoods, people rely on MAF’s air service to bring relief, provide logistics and carry out medical evacuations in the hardest-to-reach places.

Earthquake strikes Port-auPrince, killing over 200,000

Hurricane Matthew hits southern peninsula, killing 900 — MAF conducts 216 relief flights

President Jovenel Moïse assassinated, destabilising Haiti's government

Earthquake followed by Storm Grace, killing 2,700 — MAF transports 1,270kg of cargo

When you’re in the countryside without any shoes, with only mountain trails and your leg is broken, what do you do? It’s heart-wrenching. I’m so glad we were able to help these people get medical care.

Petrol explosion in Cap-Haïtien, killing 95 and injuring dozens more — MAF medevacs 20 patients

Gang violence surges — two local journalists killed in Port-au-Prince and Prime Minister escapes with his life

South Sudan Ethiopia

Dukana Uganda

While MAF has been described as the ‘backbone’ which enables aid and mission work to reach isolated communities, it’s our partners who make change happen on the ground.

CURE International began a strategic partnership with MAF Kenya in 2020. Since then, we’ve transported teams of medics and orthopaedic specialists to remote locations every few months. MAF can safely fly teams and patients in under two hours — overland travel takes a week.

Kenya Kijabe

Nairobi

Lamu

Numerous treatable conditions such as cerebral palsy, clubfoot and cleft palate are causing pain, stigma and deprivation among Kenya’s most marginalised communities.

However, our partnership with CURE enables medical professionals to provide ‘on-the-spot’ care in rural locations. In 48 hours, the team can assess over 80 patients.

In September 2021, MAF Pilot and Country Director Ryan Cuthel flew a CURE team to facilitate mobile medical clinics in Bura, an isolated community in south-eastern Kenya.

Bura

Tanzania

The CURE team met 13-year-old Arfon, who’d recently received surgery at its hospital in Kijabe. CURE’s Samiel Chege recognised her immediately, and recalled the story: ‘Arfon and her mother Fatuma came to this clinic back in June 2021. It was the end of a busy day, and we were about to pack up, but Fatuma pleaded so we made time.’

The family’s house caught fire while they were sleeping and Arfon’s blankets caught alight. Four-month-old Arfon sustained serious burns. ‘The only thing on my mind was how to rescue my baby from the flames,’ Fatuma told Samiel. ‘She used to suck her little finger, so her hand healed with a contracture.’

Thirteen years later, Arfon was determined to have an operation – and the surgery has been a success thanks to MAF’s partnership with CURE. Fatuma is so thankful.

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CURE’s Special Needs Case Officer Victor provides advocacy and empowerment training because of the complexities facing rural populations: ‘People are fearful of their children accessing services because they think they will be laughed at. There needs to be more education so people learn it’s not about shame or witchcraft. They need to understand that a disabled child has a future.’

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I am very happy that Arfon’s hand is fully transformed, and her dreams are coming true. Now she will be able to hold things in her right hand, that was her dream.

What else can I say? God bless you all.

Cerebral palsy is often caused by prolonged labour.

Women who can’t access medical assistance suffer an anoxic injury — a lack of oxygen which damages the baby’s brain.

CURE’s work has a special significance for Ryan, who led CURE’s clubfoot outreach in East Africa with his wife Anna before joining MAF. It’s thanks to Ryan and Anna that this meaningful partnership was formed — and through Ryan, MAF began flying to a new location in Lamu to facilitate CURE mobile clinics.

The alternative was to drive to Lamu from Nairobi which was at least a day’s drive. This area of eastern Kenya is quite neglected and lacking in services. MAF Kenya was already working with Missions of Hope, so we put them in touch with CURE, and now this mobile clinic in Bura exists and they have access to government hospitals. So much thought and preparation went into this project. It’s exciting to come and see the clinic — there’s clearly a need here.

In 2019, Pastor Jinga’s world changed. Based in the small village of Biaidi in Milne Bay Province, he would be lucky to find an incredibly weak mobile phone signal after walking up a mountain for half a day!

But when MAF installed an HF radio antenna, which enabled clear and reliable communication, Pastor Jinga was finally able to speak to friends, family and colleagues who thought he had died!

Now that the radio is on, what can I say? I have an inexplicable happiness from heaven and I'm just overjoyed.

For nearly 70 years, MAF Technologies PNG has been saving lives, sharing the Gospel and connecting the isolated through the power of technology.

MAF UK Communications Officer Claire Gilderson reports: MAF Technologies PNG launched in 1956, five years after MAF first established its operations in PNG. Australian World War II veterans Claude D’Evelynes, Syd McLeod-Jones and Bob Hartnell set up a radio transceiver, which broadcast the Gospel to radio stations and portable short-wave transmitters used by missionaries across Australia and New Zealand.

It became clear that the people of PNG needed a more reliable communications network. Initially, the team set up a hydroelectric power station to transmit radio from Rugli in the country’s Western Highlands, establishing PNG’s own high frequency (HF) network.

For around 40 years, radio was broadcast from Rugli and hundreds of remote people got to hear about Jesus Christ.

MAF flew in technicians to install radios in very isolated villages across PNG. In 1993, the team relocated to Goroka in PNG’s Eastern Highlands, and they broadcast from a Salvation Army hall until a purpose-built communications centre was completed in 2001.

They were among the first technical providers to develop an HF radio email system for amateur-band radios. It became known as Winlink Global Radio Email, used by NGOs and the government to transmit weather bulletins and emergency relief communications across remote locations.

MAF Technologies PNG extended its communications centre in 2009 and the Learning Technologies Initiative was launched in 2010. This project provided Bible training and resources to remote communities through new technology including Wi-Fi, mobile phones and both audio and printed Bibles.

For the first time in decades, cut-off communities could communicate with the outside world via simple radio technology.

Since 2014, MAF Technologies PNG has installed solar power systems in isolated hospitals and schools — which transforms these communities.

Blessed with abundant sunshine, solar panels are proving to be a reliable alternative to a national electricity grid which suffers from frequent power outages.

Increasing demand for solar energy installations has resulted in a new Solar and Electrical Department at MAF Technologies PNG. In a medical setting, power cuts cost lives, but with solar energy — a continuous power source — surgeons are able to carry out critical operations in a well-lit environment using equipment plugged into an affordable and sustainable source.

Last year, a solar panel installation at Kwaplalim Clinic in Morobe Province, Eastern Highlands, made the difference between life and death.

This clinic is the only place for surrounding communities to access healthcare.

At night, it wasn't uncommon for health workers to treat patients illuminated by light from mobile phones or torches.

During staff shortages, a lone health worker had no choice but to hold a torch between their teeth to see what they were doing.

Following the installation, MAF electrician Brian Baimako reflects on its significance: 'Lives are being saved. New light not only brings physical change, it also brings spiritual and psychological change.

This solar installation symbolises help, hope and healing to everyone in the community.’

Staff and patients now feel safe in the knowledge that the entire clinic won’t plunge into darkness or dysfunction anymore.

Long may MAF Technologies PNG continue to reach and support the country’s remotest communities — saving lives, sharing the Gospel and connecting the isolated.

MAF has been operating Madagascar Medical Safaris (MMS) for over a decade. These flights with multiple destinations last five to ten days, and medical teams can treat hundreds of patients at temporary ‘pop-up’ clinics in very rural locations.

On one MMS flight, pilot Ian Purdey carried not only a health team, but some very special cargo; on transit from the HVM ‘Good News’ hospital to Mananara — a journey that would take four days by road.

Ian reports: A representative from HVM gave us a small box to pass to a doctor; you can imagine our surprise when we opened it to find several rows of glass eyes staring back at us!

As an MAF pilot, you get to fly interesting cargo on occasion.

I’ve seen animals including cats, dogs, chickens and pigs — a church bell and even a quad bike. But as far as odd loads go, I think the eyes have it!

MAF Madagascar’s Country Director Patrick Keller was also on board to help me navigate my first landing at these destinations — and I was very thankful to have his experience and language skills to help the day run smoothly.

While this special cargo was unusual for us, I hope that it was life-changing for the people receiving it. A glass eye will not restore sight, but my prayer is that it will make life a bit more manageable — bringing greater acceptance in their community and increased quality of life.

Will you walk so they don’t have to?

MAF exists because overland travel is not an option for millions of people. Deep jungles, impassable mud roads, armed bandits or imposing mountains prevent the most isolated communities from accessing the services they need to thrive.

So, in 2022, MAF is launching Time in Their Shoes — a fundraising campaign which acknowledges the needs of isolated people across the world.

Walking in this country can be a real joy; a chance to dive into nature, connect with friends and stay healthy. Why not walk a short distance so someone living in isolation won’t have to walk for days?

To find out more visit www.maf-uk.org/timeintheirshoes and embrace a modern pilgrimage that will go a very long way

If walking is not your thing, why not invite one of MAF’s inspiring speakers to come and share about our work?

With a team of more than 100 enthusiastic and experienced speakers, MAF can offer you a free session packed with videos, stories and the latest news from some of the furthest corners of the world.

Perfect for a home group, church gathering or online Zoom event, why not inspire your community and bring MAF’s work to your town?

To book an MAF speaker, please phone 01303 851955 — or 0141 332 5222 if you live in Scotland.

What do you think of Discovery magazine? We’d love your feedback before we begin work on the next issue. You can share your comments with our team on 01303 852819, write to us at the address overleaf, or email discovery@maf-uk.org

MAF and partners are launching new mobile eye clinics in Marsabit and Garissa, in a bid to improve eye health across rural Kenya.

According to Christian Blind Mission (CBM), 80% of blindness in Kenya is curable, but for many nomadic farmers and their families who live far away from any health facility, basic eye care is inaccessible.

They live in remote, poorly ventilated huts with little light, where smoke from open fires damages their eyesight.

In partnership with CBM, Kikuyu Hospital and others, MAF is flying eye surgeons to isolated people. Sight is being restored through simple operations.

The service will also be rolled out to Wajir, Isiolo, Lamu, Mandera and Tana River.

For more info, please visit our website: www.maf-uk.org/eyeclinics

MAF UK Castle House, Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone, Kent CT20 2TQ Scotland Office Challenge House, 29 Canal Street, Glasgow G4 0AD T 01303 852819 E supporter.relations@maf-uk.org

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Johan Brugmans, LuAnne Cadd, Jenny Davies, Mark Draper, Michael Duncalfe, Eric Fagerland, Dave Forney, Zacharie H. François, Haiti Bible Mission, Mark and Kelly Hewes, Patrick Keller, Mwangi Kirubi, Margrit Kündig, Joy Suarkia, Mussa Uwitonze, MAF archive