Latest News Archive - Page 9 of 18 - MAF Australia MAF Australia

15,000 Chickens Transported by MAF Timor-Leste

During March 2018, the MAF Timor-Leste Programme only had one aircraft. VH-MQO faithfully flew around the country delivering sick and injured patients to Dili National Hospital for the Ministry of Health. The plane was used by significant government officials like Jose Ramos Horta, former Prime Minister and President of Timor-Leste and Dr Mari Alkatiri, current Prime Minister of the country. Then VH-MQO has transported staff from aid and development organisations around the nation for their work in health care and technology development. And it has carried fifteen thousand chickens to Oecusse.

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Who maintains the many little airstrips we land on? Part 1

Who maintains the many little airstrips we land on? It’s the local communities! It is not an easy task to keep the little bush airstrips in operational condition to comply with the high MAF standards for safety. Keeping the grass cut all the time in a tropical climate, and having a good drainage system to prevent the airstrip from being soggy is very time-consuming. Imagine if your little airstrip doesn’t get a lot of traffic, but you are still having to cut the grass all the time by hand, just in case there’s a medevac or other need.

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Press Release: Five new Cessna Caravans for MAF Papua New Guinea

Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) International are pleased to announce the order of five Cessna Caravan 208 turboprops for its operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the option for purchasing an additional two aircraft. This is the single largest aircraft investment by MAF International in its history. The five aircraft are scheduled to be delivered from Textron Aviation before the end of this year and are expected to be operational in PNG by mid-2019.

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New Hangar Cover for Timor-Leste

When the roof of the hangar in Timor-Leste gets severely damaged by a storm, the staff at MAF Timor-Leste are comforted by the fact that a replacement is already ready and waiting, thanks to the generous support of MAF Australia donors. Here is the story of what happened.

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A Story from Kenya

Describing himself as ‘a jack of all trades, master of none!’ Stan can usually be found working part time as a grader operator and mechanic on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. However in January, his situation was very different: he was on the other side of the world, in a remote area of northern Kenya, where he was able to make use of 5Y-PTL to assist him in meeting his ministry commitments.

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Thank you Jonathan Lowe, Timor Leste

How do you celebrate nearly seven years of leadership and service to MAF and Timor-Leste? That was the question that faced the MAF Timor-Leste team as January 2018 approached and they prepared to farewell Jonathan Lowe and his family who have led the team in Timor-Leste for the past six and a half years.

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Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 15th March)

Following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on February 26th and the many strong aftershocks, MAF PNG has been working hard to bring relief, supplies and medical assistance to those affected. Here is the latest information and some stories sourced from our team on the ground, as of 15th March 2018.

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Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 11th March)

Following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on February 26th and the many strong aftershocks, MAF PNG has been working hard to bring relief, supplies and medical assistance to those affected.

With regards to the information that MAF has compiled about what areas need assistance, Major Rob Mitchell from the Australian Defence Force has commented, “Information from MAF is gold”.

Below are the latest information and some stories sourced from our team on the ground, as of 11th March 2018.

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Mobile Dental Clinic – Papua New Guinea

The people at Niksek had never been to a dentist before. When facing toothache or a mouth infection they just had to hang in there or treat it the bush way to get the aching tooth out somehow or get used to it. Now, in January 2018, two German dentists had brought a mobile dental unit to the people with the assistance of MAF.

“We are so appreciative of MAF and all their staff who made this ministry possible,“ one of the dentist’s Gerhard expressed. “We are so grateful for all their assistance, safe and timely flying and the highly subsidised flights. We could not have done this without MAF as Niksek and Moropote are nestled between the foothills of the highlands and the plains of the mighty Sepik River.”

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Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 7th March)

Following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on February 26th and the many strong aftershocks, MAF PNG has been working hard to bring relief, supplies and medical assistance to those affected. Below are the latest information and some stories sourced from our team on the ground, as of 7th March 2018.

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Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 6th March)

Following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on February 26th and the many strong aftershocks, MAF PNG has been working hard to bring relief, supplies and medical assistance to those affected. Below are the latest information and some stories sourced from our team on the ground.

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Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 1 March 2018)

MAF responds to the Papua New Guinea Earthquake February 2018

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Witness MAF’s Impact from a Front Row Seat

Remo Reugg is staying in PNG as a volunteer for six months. This is the story of a day when he got to see first hand the impact that MAF has.

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Day of Prayer for Peace – 23 February 2018

On Sunday 4th February speaking at the recitation of the Angelus Prayer, Pope Francis called for all people of all denominations and faiths to commit to a day of prayer on 23rd February, praying for an end to all violence but specifically for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both nations are home to Mission Aviation Fellowship programmes where staff have seen first-hand the effects of war on its citizens and all the challenges that brings.

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What it takes – Arnhem Land Medevac

It’s a tale that is told over and over. It is a part of what we do as MAF. What you don’t see when everything runs smoothly is the technical expertise, the briefing, the training, the planning and contingency planning, the consideration of many variables! It’s a day where it all coincided, a day guaranteed to be etched into the memory for pilot and patient.

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Arnhem Land Safari

Students at the Flight Training Centre in Mareeba get a unique opportunity as part of the training programme to go on a remote area safari and visit a MAF operational program. These safari’s give students exposure to flying in remote, isolated, hot conditions and to navigate over often featureless terrain. It takes them beyond the comforts of their local area and forces them to safely plan their flights with changes in weather conditions and limited access to fuel and outback accommodation!

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Overcoming Barriers – All in a Day’s Work in Papua New Guinea

At the end of the day, 30 adults, a child and an infant travelled safely with the Caravan P2-MAG, piloted by Luke Newell; and also about 2 tonnes of cargo were transported from major centres into remote villages. That’s what MAF stands for – overcoming barriers by our aviation service.”

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What Happens When We’re Not There

Here at MAF, we know that our work is important. We know that when we provide access to remote areas that those areas are helped, resourced and receive medical assistance. However, sometimes it is when access is withdrawn for a time – often for unavoidable reasons – that it brings home the reality of our absence.

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Critical Decisions, Correctly Made = Lives Saved

“I send you this email about yesterday’s drama for me and the Wewak team. Elijah was diagnosed with a burst Appendix. When he reached Australia, it had not burst yet, but he was warned he had less than twelve hours to live. Had we not taken the extra steps to save him, he would have died.” – Paul Woodington, MAF PNG

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A MAF Christmas Story, Papua New Guinea 1970

Jim and Ruth Charlesworth served with MAF from the highland base at Wamena in Papua. Jim recently sent through this recount of a memorable Christmas time encounter in 1970.

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