It happened six months ago and it has been one of the most challenging experiences to write about.
May was a good month, my parents came to visit us in Arusha for the first time, it was wonderful to share our life with them for 3 weeks. They have been my greatest supporters through all the years of working for my pilot's license, preparing for MAF and throughout my time here in Tanzania. Finally, they had the chance to share in our experience here and of course spend time with their grandson.
During the last week of their time here, they even had the chance to join me on a flight and spend two nights in Malambo, a Maasai village where we do outreach with a Bible School.
After finishing the first day's flight, I had just sat down in the pilot hut when my phone rang with a message that came via one of the evangelists I dropped off in one of the mountain villages. A girl in Ole Milei was in labor and experiencing complications. I prepared the plane, did the 5 minute flight up the mountain, then 15 minutes to Loliondo where she could get hospital care and 20 minutes back to Malambo. In less than one hour, I was back in Malambo having coffee with my parents. An hour that possibly meant the difference between life and death for that young mother and her unborn child.
At the end of the last day people came with a sick girl to the pilot hut asking for a lift back to Arusha. It is pretty normal that this happens, it's normally non-emergency patients going from the very basic medical dispensary in Malambo to a hospital in Arusha. However, this girl was in real pain. After a discussion with the health worker and family about her condition, it was decided that we would go for lunch and then she would join the flight with her father to Arusha. So, about an hour later, the family had the girl washed and everyone boarded the plane. About halfway into the 40 minute flight my mom tapped me on the shoulder and indicated that the girl was not doing well and we needed to pray. After arriving in Arusha, the father was wailing in the back of the plane with his daughter resting lifeless on his shoulder. We tried to get help from the airport fire & rescue personnel, but it was too late. It all felt so unreal at the time, but I had gather my thoughts and decide what to do next. I could not leave them in Arusha, thankfully there was still enough time to get back, so we prepared the turnaround and I flew the distraught father and his child back to Malambo. During the flight back, my mind started wandering, thinking if there was anything I could have done differently that could have made a difference. I realized that I needed to increase my scans in the aircraft and do more frequent radio calls to the MAF base in order to stay focused. As we flew over Malambo the father started wailing out loud as the reality set in once more. It was a difficult experience, but the family were thankful that we were willing to try in order to give their child a chance. We later heard that they suspect that she had rabies.
However, this was not the end of the day yet. After landing in Malambo I was approached to fly a sick boy back to Arusha. We went through the process again, speaking with the health worker and the family and loaded the boy on a stretcher into the plane with a family member. This time we also had Elisha, who runs the Evangelism School, and a nurse on board who works with German missionaries who run a primary school in Malambo. They were all very helpful during the flight and helped to get the patient from the airport to the hospital in Arusha. Unfortunately, a few days later we received news that the boy had passed away in hospital.
These were not easy experiences to live through or to share. I spoke with the German missionary who has been working in Maasailand for many years and she told me that children die in Maasailand all the time and we helped by giving these two the best possible chance. It does not turn this experience into a success story, but it does help to come to terms with the fact the I did my best with the resources I had available at the time. One of the lessons I learned through this is to never underestimate the seriousness of a situation. The Maasai often leave seeking medical help until it is almost too late and even then they do not seem rushed because they do not understand the severity of a patient's symptoms themselves.
Perhaps this has not been the most encouraging story to share at this time of the year, but it is the reality of the world we live in. It is the reality of the world into which Christ came in order to give us hope of salvation beyond the realities of this world and we persevere with that hope in our hearts. As we all know, things do not always turn out as we hoped or prayed for, but we know that God is in control despite the state of this fallen world. As we celebrate the Incarnation this year, let us remember the fullness of that message and pray that the whole world will come to know Him.
