Strange Last Day…
Today was supposed to be Ryan’s last day flying before we go on Sabbatical, but unfortunately, for the first time in 10 years of flying in PNG, Ryan was rostered to fly, but smoke stopped him from getting off the ground the whole day! A disappointing farewell, as we are very aware of the huge need for MAF’s service, and Ryan was looking forward to his last few flights…
Mass Drug Administration Program
Ryan flew Shiv’s friend, Alice and her health-worker colleagues, out to Tumolbil near the Indonesian border. They were providing training for local health workers and volunteers in preparation for the distribution of drugs to deal with tropical diseases, alongside a childhood vaccination program, planned across the province later this month. Without the MAF plane this health program would not be possible.
Ryan is a Trainer!
After months of waiting for the paperwork Ryan was finally able to start being a training pilot!
Remote Cafe
Starbucks, Bak in PNG. ;-) Ryan enjoyed a cup of coffee in Bak, with his fellow pilot, Capt. Mathias, whilst he waited for the weather to pass.
First Visit to Munduku
We visited Munduku, in East Sepik Province, for the first time. Ryan had to get a self-check to land and Shiv was gifted a hand-made grass hat. But the biggest impact on Shiv was the peace and quiet of this tiny, isolated community…
Supervisor Pilot Training
We spent 2 weeks at MAF’s HQ in Mt Hagen where Ryan completed the Supervisor Pilot (SP) course which will be really useful when we get new neighbours! Being an SP means Ryan can check junior PNG pilots into new airstrips and pass on his knowledge and experience of flying in one of the most challenging countries in the world for almost a decade!
Update on PNG Fuel Situation
We are so grateful to God that MAF PNG Management have been able to source fuel drums from a local PNG supplier again, reducing MAF's costs, which means we can remove the fuel surcharge at Easter and reduce our flying costs for the people we serve…
Church Building Materials Charter
In PNG, one of our most important jobs is flying to support the local Church! Watch Ryan take a load of roofing iron from our MAF base in Tabubil to Selbang, a remote community in West Sepik Province where they are building a new Church.
Yakona - The Joy in the Airplane’s First Landing
We both had the privilege of taking part in a first landing at Yakona airstrip. The community have been building this airstrip for over 30 years and finally they saw the plane come in and bring God’s Word to this remote community!
A Pilots’ Start to the Day
It’s 5.45am on a flying day, before he even has breakfast Ryan has logged on to check the weather forecast for the day ahead. Koda is also trying to make the most of Ryan being at home wanting snuggles and to play. But Ryan only has a few minutes to spare whilst he gets ready to fly through some of the most challenging terrain in the world…
Unexpected weekend in Australia
We enjoyed some luxuries in Australia, like shopping at a supermarket and brunch! It was a great opportunity to get away.
The MAF Mareeba Engineers did a great job on P2-MAF!
Welcoming friends home
When we visited Goroka last week we were fortunate to be there when 2 MAF families returned to PNG.
They were flown home by a Mt Hagen based plane, we had one of the Telefomin planes and Goroka has 2 planes of their own, so we had 4 MAF Caravans in Goroka at the same time (for about 30 mins), a very rare sight.
Tari Base Visit
On a recent visit to Tari base, Henry, our night guard who had a serious motorbike accident back in August, popped in to say hello!
Kiunga Base Visit
Recently I (Shiv) popped down to visit our 2 members of staff at Kinga Base to check on them. I was pleased that the team there have made a few improvements to their base recently. Way to go team!
Ryan flew the American Ambassador
After we got back from our holiday in East New Britain Province, Ryan’s first flight on his first day back was to fly the American Ambassador!
Munbil
Munbil is a village with its own airstrip and some Missionaries who work for “New Tribes Mission” on a Bible Translation and literacy project. Ryan recently has a flight in there where he took in a new Community Health Worker (CHW) and brought out a couple of people who had to go to hospital, they were unwell but not emergencies…
More Telefomin Rainbows!
Ok, so I (Shiv) do a lot of blog posts about rainbows, but they really are quite spectacular here in our home of Telefomin!
Sadly, our cameras will never fully capture for you, the beauty that our eyes can see. You will just have to come visit us and see for yourselves! Or click on this blog post for a peek…
Books for Bak Primary School
In our Easter Newsletter, we included a story about Mr Donifry, the Principle of Bak Primary School. Ryan also took a video of his short interview with Mr Donifrey, so we thought we’d upload it for anyone who may be interested to “meet” this bush-man who has a vision to improve his community at the grass-roots level through education of the children!
By supporting our work with MAF you are enabling books and teachers to reach some of the world’s most isolated communities so their children have a chance at a decent education! Thank you.
Click on the picture, left, to watch a video of our friend, Nurse Rhema, one of the local health care workers who MAF supports and we fly out of Telefomin.