MAF at work in Malambo

 Exactly two weeks ago today, Andrew's brother Tim arrived in Dodoma all the way from Hong Kong, to pay us a visit and meet his little nephew Joel for the first time. The day after arriving, he was whisked away by his brother Andrew to the north of Tanzania, in the Malambo area. He joined Andrew for 3 days of MAF work amongst the Masai people and was able to observe Andrew at work and help out with some of the practical aspects of the work. Above are are the Parker brothers, ready for action, by the MAF plane usually flown by Andrew...
... and following on from this picture are some of Tim's great photos. (Thanks, Tim!! I appreciate you letting me use your pictures!!). Seeing as I never go on these work safaris, it is always fascinating for the children and I to see a snapshot of Andrew's working life. I thought it might be interesting to share some of them with you as well. Andrew works for 3 days each month up in the north of the country with the Masai, flying their Evangelists and church workers to remote villages to assist them in their work, as well as being available to help out with medical emergency flights should the need arise. There are many rather difficult and remote airstrips to navigate as Andrew flies between isolated villages, but it seems that there is always a warm welcome for the MAF pilot!

 Safety is of paramount importance and part of Andrew's role is to carry out regular checks on the aircraft, sometimes with assistance:

 On a 3-day trip, there is also the need to refuel from the jerry cans kept up in remote Malambo for that purpose- an activity which apparently creates a lot of local interest:

 And here is the MAF pilot at work: meeting and greeting at various airstrips, flying over rugged terrain, organising passengers, making 32 take-offs and landings over the 3 days on dusty, sometimes challenging bush strips, taking the workers and supplies to places where land travel would take significantly longer- it's all in the 3 days' work!

 

 

At the end of the day, the pilot's hut in Malambo provided shelter for the weary pilot and his brother, after a meal shared with a local family in their nearby home. The plane is neatly parked outside- although Andrew and Tim are up at sunrise, to get the day's work underway!