Medivac Flights Now In Season

Well since the last blog post I've done 2 more medivac flights.  Friday night I got my "first" call for a weekend (day off) medivac flight.  It's nice to be able to be in a position now that I can be called upon to do these kinds of flights.  Saturday morning I showed up to the airport surprised to hear that we had a full load to Kepi with less than 24 hrs notice, and I would also have a full load coming home.  I made sure that I had our stretcher on board this time as I didn't want to be caught by surprise like I was with the two patients on Thursday's flight to Kepi. Arriving in Kepi they already had the young girl on a stretcher that I could return the following Monday (today).  The stretcher isn't much more secure then just gently strapping the person to the floor but it is likely a little more comfortable.  Off we went with the patient and other passengers filling the other seats.  All seemed to go well as we returned to Merauke, where the ambulance took the young lady to the hospital.  Monday morning (today) however, shortly after getting to the airport I received news that the young lady had passed away Sunday.

Today I was schedule for a Kepi on my second outbound just like last Thursday with the stretcher and O2 bottle from Saturday all loaded up to return.  When I arrived in Kepi again hoping for a quick turn around, (I had some maintenance that I needed to take care of after the flight home) I again received word that there was another patient that needed to get out to Merauke.  This time a 10 year old boy, that apparently had the same thing or something similar to the young lady I had picked up on Saturday.  So instead of returning the stretcher and O2 bottle it was utilize again.  And I pray this time that the outcome is different and that this boy will get a second chance at life and more importantly get an opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ if he hasn't already.

Sapi

Sapi is the word for cow in Indonesian.  However, today it also happened to be the name of one of my passengers.  His possibly unique name, is not the reason I'm writing and sharing about this flight, but rather how and why he was on board my airplane today.  Since June 14th MAO our amphib plane has been down for maintenance issues.  So in the meantime we have been operating a wheel plane to a few of the locations here that also have runways.  Now many of the locations we typically serve have been without service of the airplane as the river is the only landing option which isn't conducive to the standard airplane.  One of these particular locations called Eci happens to be connected with a road/trail/path to Kepi were there is a runway.  The distance between the two towns as the crow flies or caravan in our case is 50km (30miles).  The road/trail/path (sometimes passable by car, most times passable by motorcycle) winding around a lot so I'm not sure how far the trip is overland.  The construction crews get paid by distance here so the longer the road the bigger the paycheck.  Anyway back to Sapi's story.  I showed up to Kepi on my second of my two outbonds for the day excepting to pick up 9 passengers and some baggage with a good chance of a quick turn around.  Our agent in Kepi is always on top of things which makes my job a lot easier.  Upon arriving to my surprise I was greeting by our agent from Eci not Kepi.  I hadn't seen him since 14th of June when I last flew into Eci with the amphib.  Turns out he had brought a couple of patients that needed more medical attention then what the small local clinics could offer.  The ambulance brought the two patients around to the cargo door.  From what I gathered one patient would need to lie down and be strapped to the floor (something you wouldn't dare do in Canada or the US).  Through conversations as we were getting everyone settled into the plane I come to find out this young man (Sapi) who's leg is broken (had been splinted up) along with other injuries due to a motorcycle accident had just spent 3.5 hours on the back of a motorcycle to get to Kepi from Eci.  I didn't get the back story on the other patient.  He was able to sit but didn't look overly strong himself to have just made the same trip as well to get to the airport to catch a ride into town so to speak.  As I think about what these two men and those that brought them to the Kepi airport had to go through.  The service that our amphib is greatly missed, as the amphib could have picked them up in Eci and saved them what was likely a very grueling trip to the airport this morning.  

Mamit Conference Photos

MAF Papua Conference 2016

  This year we had the privilege of spending a better part of a week in the mountain village of Mamit for family conference. This was the first interior conference that we have been a part and it was a wonderful time, but there was also a lot of work involved from our entire team. Everyone with their belongings, all the food, bathroom supplies, fridges, cooking items, LPG, a water filtration system, and the list goes on and on, was flown in which was quite to undertaking. Some of the guys like Greg who have back grounds in other areas (like electrical and plumbing) besides flying got put to work through out the week. For Greg though it was like coming home a little bit as this was one of his favorite places to fly into before moving to the south coast. So he greatly enjoyed those first minutes after landing as he was able to greet people that he had not see in a while and make that connection with them again.
      It took us over two hours to reach Mamit from our location in Meruake.  So we had the privilege of flying in a day early so that they could use the plane to help shuttle the rest of the people the next day. It was neat to land and see all the people gathered around the top of the airstrip and have them help carry our things. The people seemed to really enjoying having us there in their village. Our kids loved that they could explore and be out doors with all their friends and loved getting to know the New Heights team that had come from the States to lead our conference. I guess that the best way to describe what conference is like for the kids is to think about VBS and summer camp all happening on the side of a jungle mountain. For the older children like Franklin they got to sleep with the New Heights college members that help run things. He loved hanging out with them and enjoyed the freedom of staying up later playing board games up in the dining hall. During the day Isaac was part of the youth group but at night he bunked with his parents. Isaac loved all the silly games that the youth played and being apart of the youth group for the first time.
     I would say that one of the top things that happens for at least the kids is having a snack shop through out the week of conference.  And this year Greg and I had the privilege of running that for the first time. Our wonderful New Heights teams brings a lot of fun candy that we can't get here plus things like beef jerky, wheat thins, mixed nuts, and dried fruit as well. It did mean that we had to work through the conference but it was fun talking with everyone and watching the children enjoy things that they were missing from back home.
     I would say for me though the highlight was singing and listening to messages in English as we do not have that privilege where we live. I think that even Isaac was missing it as well as I caught him singing along which I normally do not see very often. And mixed in with the singing and wonderful messages were a lot of silly games especially during the night meetings. This is also the kids favorite time as the team that cames does a wonderful job incorporating wonderful costumes and games that really go along with what the kids are really into. Last year was a Star Wars theme and this year was a Minecraft theme. However, since our children are older this year Greg and I found ourselves volunteered for way more them we ever wanted by our wonderful children. And I will admit that they got me to do somethings that I would never do in front of people but it brought great joy to them to be doing this kind of thing with their parents.
     And since this years conference was held in a village our family got to experience things that a lot of the time only pilots like Greg get to see. One morning the village came and did a big traditional presentation of food and a large pig to our group that they were going to cook kind of like what we would call a pig roast. Then one of our team building games for the adults was to see what it took for the people to make a quick meal. It took us over an hour to do it in different teams though. I found myself heading down the path with a group of ladies to dig up some different veggies while the guys got a fire going. Now we could only use what they used so we found ourselves digging up veggies with a pointed stick while the guys tried to start a fire the traditional way. It was a fun team building time. And then during family fun night the New Height team got the joy of trying to learn how to properly tie up a pig in the village before it can go into a plane. The kids really enjoyed watching this in action as they have all seen pictures of the pigs being put in and out of the plane but not this part.
     It was a great time interior filled with lots of wonderful memories and a time to reconnect with different teammates that live all over the island. And I will say that we all went home with much stronger leg muscles as you were either walking straight up or down for the entire week.