In the air at last! With my training now underway, it has been great to be in the air and see not only the country, but also the work that is being done using MAF airplanes. The first two weeks of my training was as an observer pilot, to allow me to get the feel for a "day in the life." In this time, I experienced many different areas of the country, types of airstrips, and community greetings. One of my highlights of these two weeks was a flight to a remote village to pick up Dr. Mills, along with his team of doctors and nurses, after they completed a health patrol. This experience was very special, since it was Dr. Mills' last health patrol after 20+ years of service in Papua New Guinea. In his time in PNG, he built and operated one of the most well-known mission hospitals in the country (the hospital in Kompiam, which is where we did part of our language training). On our arrival in Kompiam to drop the team off, there was a blur of emotions and celebrations. Flower petals were thrown at Dr. Mills, and he was presented with precious watermelons and other fruit as a gesture of appreciation for the work he had done. My souvenir of the day was a 12 kilogram watermelon, since Dr. Mills decided he couldn't eat 20 or more watermelons in the time he had left in PNG!
After two weeks of observing, it was time for me to switch over to the pilot's seat and use the controls for the first time. I had a few days of instruction to prepare for a flight test that would allow me to convert my Canadian pilot's license to a PNG license. This training was a refresher of my training in Uganda, and went well; thankfully, the test also went smoothly which means I can now fly with cargo and passengers.
One day of my training is especially memorable, as it showed me the difference that MAF can make in life and death situations. After spending the morning in the air practicing for my upcoming test, we received a call that there was an urgent medevac in the west of the country. No other pilots were available, so we had to make a decision whether to continue my training for the day or to take the medevac (with my training pilot flying and me as an observer). We learned that a mother had recently given birth to twins and was now losing approximately one litre of blood per hour; she desperately needed a hospital if she and her newborn twins were to survive. My training pilot and myself decided that my test wasn't more important than someone's life, so flew the medevac. We picked the mother and two newborn babies up from a village, as well as another patient who needed medical care, and flew them to the nearest hospital that could provide adequate care. When we arrived in this next town, an ambulance was waiting to transport the mother to the hospital. It really is an incredible feeling to be a part of something so life transforming!
On the "home" side of things, Christmas is fast approaching. In an attempt to make our first Christmas in PNG special (but still have a few reminders of Christmas in Canada), we are planning a dinner on Christmas Eve. With turkeys unavailable, and chickens of questionable quality in the stores, we had to get creative! Yesterday we dropped off a local "haus meri" (house lady, or househelp) at the big market in town to buy a live chicken. While we carried on to do some shopping, she took public transport to bring the chicken back to our compound. Though we are sad to have missed the process, we arrived back home with a freshly killed and cleaned chicken waiting on our counter! We are excited to share our first Christmas dinner in PNG with our neighbours, and plan to finish the evening off with some Christmas carols and gezelligheid.
While these small pieces of tradition do help it to feel more like Christmas, we also know that the most important part of Christmas has nothing to do with turkey or snow. This reminder helps us to realize that despite the things that are "missing" this year, Christmas still has the same meaning. Though it will be with different people, we are looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus -- and pray that His birth, life, and ultimate sacrifice will be made real and relevant in the lives of many throughout PNG and back in Canada. We wish everyone a blessed Christmas and happy holiday season this year!
