| Five Alive
Projects Page |
|
| Five Alive
Projects Page |
|
|
Recently I attended an air show at Defford where I met a couple volunteers on behalf of Mission Aviation Fellowship. Having never heard of them before they explained that they fly small light aircraft into many areas of the Third World countries, taking aid to the most vulnerable people in desperate need of help. All their finance for aircraft, their maintenance, and programme infrastructural costs are supported by donations and contributions, mainly from Christian supporters, who are also encouraged to support their work through prayer and involvement. All primary staff such as pilots, engineers, and management staff are self supported by friends, family and churches. They asked if I could help and I suggested that we could put something on our website, the following is an extract from their leaflet. Should you require further information please visit their website at www.maf-uk.org. Fron Derek Floyd Flying to thousands more destinations than any airline, Mission Aviation Fellowship is a Christian organisation operating light aircraft in developing countries so that people in remote areas can receive essential help.
Every three minutes, an MAF plane is taking off or landing. Over 120 aircraft at work in more than 30 countries speed physical and spiritual care and hope to those living in isolation. We work in close partnership withindigenous groups, national churches, government departments, missions, local aid workers and international aid agencies.
Where there simply are no roads, where overland travel is dangerous, when time is short, MAF flights make impossible journeys possible, often using basic grass or dirt airstrips. • Omar, blind for eight years, fled conflict in Somalia. At Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, a visiting Christian Blind Mission (CBM) team flown there by MAF operated on him, restoring his sight and offering fresh hope to him and hundreds of others. Dr Alain of CBM shares, `Without MAF services, access to the people in remote areas is not possible.'
When life was at stake for Oba Fusabani, mother of three, dying from a death adder bite in remote Mougulu, Papua New Guinea, an MAF plane became her air ambulance, saving her life. At a clinic in Nyinbuli, southern Sudan, 2 nurses serve to meet the essential healthcare needs of at least 7,000 men, women and children. MAF is a lifeline, especially during the wet season (May - September). Flights bring vital support, supplies and vaccines to the clinic.
flights possible, comes as gifts from people concerned to help ensure others have a better life - both physically and spiritually. For tens of thousands of people, seeing a doctor, receiving help, or having adequate food and clean water happen only when the plane comes. Millions of people living in villages in Bangladesh have very little hope of receiving medical care Rural communities remain cut off due to poor infrastructure, forcing many to live below the poverty line. Daily life had always been a constant struggle for 60-year-old Sonabanu in remote Bhobodia village. Then, already widowed, a second tragedy struck. She was becoming blind. But Sonabanu's son saw a banner in the local marketplace. It announced the arrival of a floating hospital, which `tours' Bangladesh's waterways. With great hope, he took his mother to the hospital. Now Sonabanu exclaims, `Doctors told me that they placed a little magic glass in my eyes. That has brought back my eyesight - and that is the most wonderful thing that could possibly happen to me.' Without specialist city surgeons visiting the floating hospital and performing delicate operations, many like Sonabanu would have little chance of help. And the surgeons come only when the MAF amphibious plane comes, as it lands on the water right alongside the hospital. Mission Aviation Fellowship Castle Hill Avenue FOLKESTONE CT20 2TN>
|
Today, countless men, women and children remain cut off by difficult or dangerous terrain, deprived of basic necessities for a full and healthy life. Our planes enable those who are bringing vital medical, relief and development services, as well as hope and love to many people.
Tanzanian village chairman Leonard Hamas explains: `Without the airstrip and MAF, clinics here would not be possible at all during the rainy season, when Birise cannot be reached by road. There are no other medical facilities nearby.'
A flight of just one hour landing atBundibugyo, western Uganda, brought 2,000 copies of the newly-translated Gospel of Mark in the Lubwisi language, saving a long and dangerous drive across a mountain range.
Passengers contribute a small fraction of the true cost of such demanding specialist flying. The balance that makes