Even though the number of flights MAF made in 2020 was reduced because of coronavirus, its planes were still able to bring hope, help and healing to 26 of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable nations.
In Kenya, where overland travel can be dangerous by day and treacherous at night, Pilot Daniel Loewen-Rudgers flew a baby boy from Dukana, on the Ethiopian border, to Kijabe Hospital, when the condition of the newborn became critical. According to Daniel: ‘It was a miracle we could fly to a good hospital like Kijabe during the pandemic.’
Two-day-old Barako, who survived an operation that only a couple of surgeons in Kenya were able to perform, became the youngest baby to survive this kind of heart surgery in the country.
Two weeks earlier, in Madagascar, where the people face tropical cyclones, extreme poverty and limited access to healthcare, MAF transported 1,310kg of vaccines and syringes so UNICEF personnel could vaccinate babies in Ambatomainty and Marolambo against potentially fatal childhood diseases.
In South Sudan, where decades of civil war have left vast regions of the country impoverished, MAF planes delivered PPE, food and supplies to Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, where people from different tribes, faiths and ethnicities can live happily together.
MAF pilots also delivered food and cement bags to the refugee camp at Ajuong Thok, where MAF partner Samaritan’s Purse provides water, sanitation, hygiene and food to the 40,640 South Sudanese forced to leave their homes due to violence.
Asia-Pacific
MAF was active, too, in the Asia-Pacific region. In Timor-Leste, where roughly 50% of the country’s children suffer from malnutrition, MAF aircraft brought corn to Atauro Island, following a disastrous crop failure, delivered 430kg of antibacterial soap and coronavirus information packs to more than 14,000 homes in Oecusse, and flew two women suffering pregnancy complications to hospital.
The Christian aviation organisation also flew the President of Oecusse to Dili so he could attend a meeting at Parliament. Arriving at Dili, Pilot Bridget Ingham then turned the plane around and headed for Viqueque to carry out yet another of MAF’s medical emergency flights.
Back in Africa, when four rivers in Uganda’s Kasese district burst their banks, MAF delivered 38,400kg of emergency supplies and food to communities whose schools, homes, farms and health facilities were swept away by flooding – the goods donated by the President of Uganda and various NGOs.
