Monday 20 February 2012
Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia
I am now in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. First impressions: it’s HOT, HOT, HOT and HUMID, and therefore a physically demanding place for MAF pilots to work. Thankfully the MAF houses and offices have air conditioning. The land is pretty much flat – flat, red and covered in thin bush land with spindly trees. A complete contrast to PNG.
The programme in Arnhem Land is presently MAF’s biggest, but it’s quite different to other programmes. Part of this relates to the partnership with Laynha Air – an aboriginal company that owns seven small aircraft to service the Yolŋu homelands (settlements) - MAF pilots fly their planes. There is one MAF plane based at Gove (the programme’s base) and additional MAF planes located at outposts throughout Arnhem Land.
Friday afternoon I flew with a team to Baniyala – a homeland on the edge of the sea, about a 35 minute flight from Gove along the coast. The first thing that strikes me is how small the homeland settlements are – there seem to be only a handful of homes, and Baniyala is one of the bigger ones. As we flew I saw a number of airstrips below. Unlike other programmes, the airstrips don’t service a widely dispersed population – just the small community in the immediate area.
Another noticeable difference is that no crowd gathers to meet the plane upon arrival – no excited children come running – in fact no one at all met us when we landed.
Our visit to Baniyala was to hold an outreach event in the evening, following meetings last year at Christmas and Easter. With two aboriginal Christians from Yirkala (near Gove) the MAF staff provides support with travel, equipment and one pilot speaks for a short while from the front of the meeting. Perhaps more importantly, staff have developed close relationships with the aboriginal Christian leaders seeking to reach their own people with the Gospel, investing time outside their duty hours in Bible study and discipleship. In many places, since earlier missionaries were all expelled in the 1970s, the practice of Christianity has included much of the traditional beliefs so many still live in fear of sorcery and witchcraft. Helping to ensure clarity over what is Biblical teaching and what is not is an important part of what the team does here, and recognition of this side of the role has increased the job satisfaction that many of the staff now have – many pilots joined MAF with the specific desire to be ‘missionary pilots’, and sometimes struggle with the absence of overtly sharing the Gospel in their day to day jobs.
Stephanie Gidney's Research Trip to Papua New Guinea
Check out the latest photos from Stephanie Gidney's research trip in Papua New Guinea.
Stephanie Gidney's Research Trip to Papua New Guinea, a set on Flickr.
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Reflections on my time in PNG
My time in PNG is drawing to an end. The last couple of nights have been in Goroka, a town of about 10,000 in the Eastern Province. Part of MAF’s work here is to fly sacks of coffee beans grown in remote villages to the processing plants in Goroka. Coffee is the only cash crop the villagers can grow. There are only two options to transport their harvest to market: walking for a number of days across rugged terrain with 50kg sacks, or MAF. I joined a flight to collect 16 sacks of coffee beans, and spoke with the people about the service. The plane (Twin Otter) had been in the week before and carried out about 2000kg, flying back and forth. In so doing, MAF supports the economy of these communities, enabling people to more easily support their families and earn money to pay for school fees.
Back in Goroka I visited Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship (CRMF), an organization that has served in PNG for about the same time as MAF (six decades), and an important partner for MAF: their radio network has been incredibly valuable for MAF. Each day the different locations report in about the weather and airstrip conditions. With advanced warning of such conditions, in a country where weather can change quickly and dramatically, such communication can save a lot of inconvenience for the pilots (as they can know in advance if conditions aren’t good enough to land in). The main focus of CRMF’s work has been installing and supporting an HF radio, but with developments in technology new opportunities have arisen and they now also provide an IT service. The team is also branching out into providing learning technologies that fit with the aural traditions of the majority of people in the remote communities. With so many expatriate missionaries having left the country, this is potentially a very effective way to support rural pastors and the national church.
Radio communication is essential between the different organizations and with remote communities. Another substantial part of MAF’s flying here are medevacs (medical evacuation flights), and the need for such a flight is usually communicated via the HF radio system. The top two categories (i.e. most numerous) for these are: complications in childbirth and snake bite victims. The impact of these flights – literally saving lives by enabling patients to get to hospital – is clearly evident. During the week there have been at least two medevacs – a lady from Ambunti in labour, and a man in heart failure returning to Telefomin.
The highlight of my visit was staying in Mogoulu with the Hoeys, who I mentioned before. A really lovely couple! What I didn’t previously mention is that the people they have lived among and worked with for over 40 years were formerly cannibals. The government worked hard to end this practice over the past decades, and where people have discovered the love of God the transformation has gone deep. I spoke with a number of the local people, including three women (many speak English), and asked what difference the missionaries had made. One example they shared, quite animated, was that one of them gave birth to twins. In the past this could have been highly dangerous for the woman, as their people weren’t familiar with twins and she would have been considered as having been unfaithful to her husband. Now it is accepted and understood, and she has two beautiful 9 year old daughters.
Afterwards, Tom Hoey explained that in the past it would have been likely that these three women would have still been alive. The people used to believe that when someone became ill it was due to sorcery practiced by women (a weaker form of sorcery compared to that practiced by men, which was associated with people’s deaths). So in the event of sickness a ‘perpetrator’ would be hunted out, killed and eaten. Not surprisingly their lives were full of fear, and they were feared by other tribes (as enemies were treated in a similar way). As I spoke with the people and listened to their stories I was conscious of the emotional challenge of handling what the tradition of these people formerly involved (and I do emphasize formerly) – such an extreme form of violence – with the fact that none of us can fall beyond the reach of God’s love and grace. How easy it is to judge people, particularly when there are vast cultural differences. But of course we are not meant to judge others, and through it condemn them. The individuals I met were gentle and shy, and belong to the same family that I do: we have been given the right to be called children of God.
Back in Goroka I visited Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship (CRMF), an organization that has served in PNG for about the same time as MAF (six decades), and an important partner for MAF: their radio network has been incredibly valuable for MAF. Each day the different locations report in about the weather and airstrip conditions. With advanced warning of such conditions, in a country where weather can change quickly and dramatically, such communication can save a lot of inconvenience for the pilots (as they can know in advance if conditions aren’t good enough to land in). The main focus of CRMF’s work has been installing and supporting an HF radio, but with developments in technology new opportunities have arisen and they now also provide an IT service. The team is also branching out into providing learning technologies that fit with the aural traditions of the majority of people in the remote communities. With so many expatriate missionaries having left the country, this is potentially a very effective way to support rural pastors and the national church.
Radio communication is essential between the different organizations and with remote communities. Another substantial part of MAF’s flying here are medevacs (medical evacuation flights), and the need for such a flight is usually communicated via the HF radio system. The top two categories (i.e. most numerous) for these are: complications in childbirth and snake bite victims. The impact of these flights – literally saving lives by enabling patients to get to hospital – is clearly evident. During the week there have been at least two medevacs – a lady from Ambunti in labour, and a man in heart failure returning to Telefomin.
The highlight of my visit was staying in Mogoulu with the Hoeys, who I mentioned before. A really lovely couple! What I didn’t previously mention is that the people they have lived among and worked with for over 40 years were formerly cannibals. The government worked hard to end this practice over the past decades, and where people have discovered the love of God the transformation has gone deep. I spoke with a number of the local people, including three women (many speak English), and asked what difference the missionaries had made. One example they shared, quite animated, was that one of them gave birth to twins. In the past this could have been highly dangerous for the woman, as their people weren’t familiar with twins and she would have been considered as having been unfaithful to her husband. Now it is accepted and understood, and she has two beautiful 9 year old daughters.
Afterwards, Tom Hoey explained that in the past it would have been likely that these three women would have still been alive. The people used to believe that when someone became ill it was due to sorcery practiced by women (a weaker form of sorcery compared to that practiced by men, which was associated with people’s deaths). So in the event of sickness a ‘perpetrator’ would be hunted out, killed and eaten. Not surprisingly their lives were full of fear, and they were feared by other tribes (as enemies were treated in a similar way). As I spoke with the people and listened to their stories I was conscious of the emotional challenge of handling what the tradition of these people formerly involved (and I do emphasize formerly) – such an extreme form of violence – with the fact that none of us can fall beyond the reach of God’s love and grace. How easy it is to judge people, particularly when there are vast cultural differences. But of course we are not meant to judge others, and through it condemn them. The individuals I met were gentle and shy, and belong to the same family that I do: we have been given the right to be called children of God.
Friday 10 February 2012
Arriving and exploring in PNG
It is hard to believe that I am visiting Papua New Guinea (PNG) – a country that I would never have dreamed I’d visit.
After four separate flights, and around 2 full days of travel, I finally arrived in Mount Hagen on Sunday morning.
Mount Hagen is the main base for MAF in PNG. Even here there is a sense of being remote.
Mount Hagen is a small town set on a small plateau surrounded by rugged hills, with the mountains not so far behind. What first strikes me is the lush, vibrant greenery of the vegetation, with splashes of bright red leaves and numerous exotic flowers. Being at 5800ft above sea level the air is fresh, and it’s certainly not as hot as I expected.
Monday I spent at the hangar and MAF offices, meeting the staff and absorbing a whole lot of information about the work here. In the evening I met Tom and Salome Hoey, missionaries to the Bedamuni people for 44 years. When asking them about the difference MAF has made for their work the very first thing Salome listed is that MAF brings the mail – and has done for decades. Salome wasn’t sure she would have lasted for so long without being able to hear from her children.
Communication remains as important today. Every time I do a research trip I hit problems with communicating with people in the UK. Conscious of the cost of phoning long distance (and my mobile has completely died since I arrived in PNG), I rely on skype and email, but there aren’t always internet connections where I’m staying. Even if there are there are frequent down times or the connection is poor. For staff whose children, grand children or elderly parents are overseas, the ability to regularly communicate is still hugely important.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were packed full of flying out to remote locations (Kompiam, Ambunti, Wewak, Mougolu, Rumginae, Kiunga, Telefomin, Yenkin) to meet partners and the local people ultimately benefiting from the work here. I have spoken with doctors, patients, teachers, missionaries, villagers, students and a government official. Spontaneously, people are commenting how critical MAF is to their work and lives in incredibly remote locations. There is no road network in the highlands. The only alternative is walking, or if you’re lucky going by canoe for part of a journey if you’re near a river. But the distances are also great - Western Province alone is huge. Looking out of the plane window the dense jungle covering rugged terrain stretches to the horizon in every direction – though stunning in its beauty, it also seems impenetrable with the absence of any visible tracks.
Another thing that is clearly evident is that this programme needs more pilots. A number of partners I have spoken with have spontaneously commented as much. The programme is considerably smaller than it used to be, primarily due to staff shortages.
The pilots I’ve chatted with have a huge sense of job satisfaction – a combination of using their aviation skills to serve God and people in need, with the challenges that come with ‘bush’ flying. So if there are any Christian pilots out there who have been considering mission aviation (or if this is the first time it’s come to mind as an option) – please do contact our HR department to investigate further! We want to hear from you!
After four separate flights, and around 2 full days of travel, I finally arrived in Mount Hagen on Sunday morning.
Mount Hagen is the main base for MAF in PNG. Even here there is a sense of being remote.
Mount Hagen is a small town set on a small plateau surrounded by rugged hills, with the mountains not so far behind. What first strikes me is the lush, vibrant greenery of the vegetation, with splashes of bright red leaves and numerous exotic flowers. Being at 5800ft above sea level the air is fresh, and it’s certainly not as hot as I expected.
Monday I spent at the hangar and MAF offices, meeting the staff and absorbing a whole lot of information about the work here. In the evening I met Tom and Salome Hoey, missionaries to the Bedamuni people for 44 years. When asking them about the difference MAF has made for their work the very first thing Salome listed is that MAF brings the mail – and has done for decades. Salome wasn’t sure she would have lasted for so long without being able to hear from her children.
Communication remains as important today. Every time I do a research trip I hit problems with communicating with people in the UK. Conscious of the cost of phoning long distance (and my mobile has completely died since I arrived in PNG), I rely on skype and email, but there aren’t always internet connections where I’m staying. Even if there are there are frequent down times or the connection is poor. For staff whose children, grand children or elderly parents are overseas, the ability to regularly communicate is still hugely important.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were packed full of flying out to remote locations (Kompiam, Ambunti, Wewak, Mougolu, Rumginae, Kiunga, Telefomin, Yenkin) to meet partners and the local people ultimately benefiting from the work here. I have spoken with doctors, patients, teachers, missionaries, villagers, students and a government official. Spontaneously, people are commenting how critical MAF is to their work and lives in incredibly remote locations. There is no road network in the highlands. The only alternative is walking, or if you’re lucky going by canoe for part of a journey if you’re near a river. But the distances are also great - Western Province alone is huge. Looking out of the plane window the dense jungle covering rugged terrain stretches to the horizon in every direction – though stunning in its beauty, it also seems impenetrable with the absence of any visible tracks.
Another thing that is clearly evident is that this programme needs more pilots. A number of partners I have spoken with have spontaneously commented as much. The programme is considerably smaller than it used to be, primarily due to staff shortages.
The pilots I’ve chatted with have a huge sense of job satisfaction – a combination of using their aviation skills to serve God and people in need, with the challenges that come with ‘bush’ flying. So if there are any Christian pilots out there who have been considering mission aviation (or if this is the first time it’s come to mind as an option) – please do contact our HR department to investigate further! We want to hear from you!
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Coming soon: a journey down under
Thanks for following Carolyn's blog during her time in Bangladesh.
Next up: Stephanie Gidney. She is about to visit MAF's operations in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Arnhem Land (northern Australia).
Please do re-visit in the next few days to hear more about her journey to the other side of the world.
Next up: Stephanie Gidney. She is about to visit MAF's operations in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Arnhem Land (northern Australia).
Please do re-visit in the next few days to hear more about her journey to the other side of the world.
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