One problem about getting behind on blogging is that I end up staring at this screen for hours trying to think back what happened and where to start telling you about it...
So, it was Christmas, New Years, my birthday, my mother's birthday, some friends' birthdays, mother's day, Passion Friday, Resurrection Sunday, April Fool's day and some more birthdays.
During this time I flew people around, on days with challenging weather and on very nice days, I've been happy, sad, friendly, angry, excited, frustrated, disappointed, encouraged, shocked, stressed, relieved, relaxed, tired, energized, clean, dirty, wet, dry, bored, busy and I'm sure a few more. I think I will break them down into a couple of stories of the coming weeks...
The weather makes the flying 'interesting' to say the least, now we are in the rainy season which mostly comes in the form of thunderstorms that build up towards the afternoons. The bases are generally not that low which makes flying underneath a better option than trying to out climb it in a little Cessna. Especially when you hear the big jets at 36000+ feet ask to go off track due weather. You usually have to dodge a few rainstorms along the way and hope your destination is not covered when you arrive.
Once you have arrived safely, a new challenge starts: You have to keep an eye on the weather, a storm early in the day should not be a problem because the strip should have enough time to dry before you want to leave. But what if it's really heavy and soaks everything or if it sneaks op on in later in the day, it can become quite a challenge to get everybody out of a slippery situation. Another challenge is the maintenance of the airstrips, due to the rain it quickly becomes over grown and getting people to clear it before we arrive is not always easy. So, sometimes we have get everybody together to cut some grass before we can start with the day's clinic work. Although we sometimes have to delay, divert or cancel flights and clinics, we still manage to make it to places that are now even more isolated due to the weather.
On Friday morning I heard that a bridge between Arusha and Orkesumet (main town in South Maasai) has been washed away. Later in the day we received permission to use the Orkesument airstrip which we have been struggling to renew for 8 months! Next week we will finally start with the South Maasai Safari (more details about this in another post) and I have already received calls to transport medical supplies and 2 doctors because the town is still difficult to reach.
Please pray for the challenges brought on by the extreme rains, not only for the flying but also for the roads, villages and crops that have been flooded. Pray for enough breaks in the weather that we can reach our destinations and provide services to isolated communities.
So, it was Christmas, New Years, my birthday, my mother's birthday, some friends' birthdays, mother's day, Passion Friday, Resurrection Sunday, April Fool's day and some more birthdays.
During this time I flew people around, on days with challenging weather and on very nice days, I've been happy, sad, friendly, angry, excited, frustrated, disappointed, encouraged, shocked, stressed, relieved, relaxed, tired, energized, clean, dirty, wet, dry, bored, busy and I'm sure a few more. I think I will break them down into a couple of stories of the coming weeks...
The weather makes the flying 'interesting' to say the least, now we are in the rainy season which mostly comes in the form of thunderstorms that build up towards the afternoons. The bases are generally not that low which makes flying underneath a better option than trying to out climb it in a little Cessna. Especially when you hear the big jets at 36000+ feet ask to go off track due weather. You usually have to dodge a few rainstorms along the way and hope your destination is not covered when you arrive.
Once you have arrived safely, a new challenge starts: You have to keep an eye on the weather, a storm early in the day should not be a problem because the strip should have enough time to dry before you want to leave. But what if it's really heavy and soaks everything or if it sneaks op on in later in the day, it can become quite a challenge to get everybody out of a slippery situation. Another challenge is the maintenance of the airstrips, due to the rain it quickly becomes over grown and getting people to clear it before we arrive is not always easy. So, sometimes we have get everybody together to cut some grass before we can start with the day's clinic work. Although we sometimes have to delay, divert or cancel flights and clinics, we still manage to make it to places that are now even more isolated due to the weather.On Friday morning I heard that a bridge between Arusha and Orkesumet (main town in South Maasai) has been washed away. Later in the day we received permission to use the Orkesument airstrip which we have been struggling to renew for 8 months! Next week we will finally start with the South Maasai Safari (more details about this in another post) and I have already received calls to transport medical supplies and 2 doctors because the town is still difficult to reach.
Please pray for the challenges brought on by the extreme rains, not only for the flying but also for the roads, villages and crops that have been flooded. Pray for enough breaks in the weather that we can reach our destinations and provide services to isolated communities.
