10 minutes that could save a life

On the last week of every month we go out to the northern Maasai area and spend a couple of nights there to help a local Bible and Evangelism School by flying Maasai evangelists to nearby villages in the hard to reach mountainous areas or around Lake Natron. One morning, before starting the pick up run to collect the evangelists I dropped off the day before, I was told by the leader of the Bible School that they have received word that there is a very sick girl in one of the villages where one of the evangelists worked. It was good to get this call early as we usually fly with minimal fuel in order to reduce the weight, so I added a few litres in order to fly an extra rotation.

With some low clouds on the peaks surrounding the airstrip, I managed to get in. A messenger came to inform me that they were on their way with the sick girl. After not too long a whole crowd showed up with two men carrying the nearly unconscious girl. The mud that they were all covered in was evidence as to why the journey from the village took a bit longer than anticipated. Loaded, with a couple of family members and another sick boy, we were ready to go, the mountains and the valley to the next village was still covered in clouds and the weather report from the next village, only 5 minutes away but on the other side of the mountain, was vague at best. We managed to get out and over the clouds but had to fly past the destination in order to descend and return under the layer of clouds for another low level approach into another marginal airstrip. All worked out well and we received news of the girl's improvement later on.