P2-AHP, Arrival of a New Plane

MAF Papua New Guinea got a new airplane. This is the 10th aircraft added to our fleet of Cessna Caravans, C208. The registration AHP is witness to its origin and purpose: to fly medical patrols in the Western Province (Aerial Health Patrol).

Roughly double the size of Switzerland the Western Province only has 5 hospitals, 2 of which have a doctor on a permanent basis. That is why the vast majority of people living in the Western Province do not have any access to health services. Several years ago, MAF started an initiative to fly a team of medical personell to a remote village where they attend to the sick and provide health education. Looking for a sponsor MAF partnered with Sustainable Development Programme (SDP). In the meantime this organisation has taken over the whole project and with AHP has already donated the second aircraft for MAF PNG.

Dedication of P2-AHP from MAF PNG on Vimeo.

Arrival of P2-AHP in Mt Hagen

AHP Team in Habi, Western Province

Dr John doing a check-up on an infant

A lot of Firsts in December

Thanks to the pandemic: the constantly changing travel dates have allowed our kids some unique experiences. Not only did they celebrate the first Christmas with a real fir tree and real candles, but they also saw their first snow, built their first snowman, and had their boots filled with goodies from St Niklaus.  

Hiking in the first snow

Frozen pond in our garden

The first snowman ever

What did I get from St Nikolaus

Lots of snow ...

... but all gone by Christmas.
Looking for the perfect tree

Real tree and real candles

Our time in Switzerland

Our time in Switzerland has been both busy and relaxing. We held several talks at churches and other groups, met with supporters and spent time with family. As we did before, we also tried to show our children what and who Switzerland is. So, we visited castles (history), a chocolate factory (trade), walked through the alleys of Bern and traveled to several picturesque places (geography). Below a few impressions.

Our temporary home in the heart of Ostermundigen

Homeschooling continues in Switzerland

A rest with a view - Aletsch glacier

Eating blueberries straight from the bush

The impressive eagle on the Simplonpass

Sunset in Sardinia

Madeleine and I enjoy Sardinia - just the two of us

View down the impressive Lauterbrunnental

Traffic education for our children

25 years ago we've been married in this church

Beinwil am See - Place of our wedding reception

Visit to Lenzburg Castle

First snow of the year - for us it has been 9 years

Klick here for more pictures

Kathy's Walk to a Changed Life – Part 1

It all started with a visit from a YWAM team in Agali, one of the most spectacular places in PNG. Located in the Strickland valley, Agali rests on a plateau with the steep Strickland gorge in front and a high rising mountain range at the back. It is days from any other village and probably weeks from the next town – walking that is. With the plane it is 20 Minutes to Tari and about the same to Tabubil.

Agali looking towards the Strickland Valley

Micha Lucht is a young, enthusiastic German with a passion for Jesus. In 2019, he spent quite a bit of time in Papua New Guinea. First, he came for ten weeks as part of an outreach programme of the Discipleship Training School he attended at Queenstown, New Zealand. Later, he returned for a longer mission: to teach the Discipleship Bible School himself to young Papua New Guineans enrolled at Camp Kalina, situated on the outskirts of Mt Hagen. During a two-week outreach in Agali Micha met Kathy, a local woman, and decided to teach the Gospel in a practical way.

Click here to read the story as PDF

Strickland Gorge near Agali

Visiting Munbil

New Tribes Mission (NTM) is an organisation planting churches in remote areas. The missionaries move to a certain village and live with the local people in order to learn language and culture. Having acquired this knowledge they will start translating strategic Bible passages into the local language in order to teach about our Christian faith.
Joelle had the opportunity to stay with an NTM-family in Yifki. Another two families live in Munbil, just 15 minutes flight to the North-West of Telefomin. We had the privilege to stay with them for a night as a family. It has been an encouraging experience for us all.

Joelle in Yifki

Wii-Super Mario is always fun

Hattons und Allens with some village kids

Last Days as First Officer

Last week I had my first full operational day on the Cessna Caravan. This, after almost 4 months of interrupted training, marks they end of my flying days as a First Officer on the Twin Otter. Though that last flight took place 18 January already I would like to give a quick reflection on the last two month of flying this truly remarkable airplane.
First, we flew a lot of building material into a community called Wobagen. It is only about a 30-minute flight (50nm) from the next bigger town, but the terrain makes it impossible to reach any other way. The building material was bought to build a new church, as the old one is falling apart it being build (as is usually done with houses in the bush) out of material found in the surrounding countryside.

Old church built from bush materials ...

... and new structure with milled timber and tin roof.

Plywood for flooring and inside walls

Second, we flew charters for an organisation called Rotarians Against Malaria, who distributes mosquito nets to remote communities and educates them on how malaria can be prevented. Load after load of bundled up nets were brought to places where malaria is prevalent, together with workers who were to supervise the distribution and run the workshops.

Bundles of mosquito nets for Edwaki

And thirdly, we had some medical evacuations that showed the hand of God guiding where we were unable to control. Find below an article published by MAF PNG and written by Richie Axon, my fellow pilot in Telefomin.

Click here to read the story as PDF

A Holiday to Remember

It is always encouraging to welcome visitors from Switzerland. We have realised that it is hard for most people to really understand how life in Papua New Guinea is, despite our efforts to explain. Once somebody actually sets foot on PNG soil, things are quite different than they imagined – but suddenly it all makes sense.
Because of that, we were pleased to have Madeleine's mother and her two sisters visit at the beginning of February. So, they had the chance to experience first hand what it means to live in Telefomin. And our kids had the chance to see their grandmother, aunts, and godparents in person. Obviously, we used this unique opportunity to do some special things, and then added some holidays at the sea.
Following some pictures:

Hiking in Telefomin

Training to become a selfie pro

Moser sisters with our local guide

Jungle as far as you can see

Destination: Wara Sol

Well earned rest

... and back through the jungle again

Travelling is easier this way: flying to Wewak

Wewak: view from our holiday home

Wewak town black

Waiting for the big wave

Holiday treat: coffee smoothy

Wewak Boutique Hotel: soaking in the pool

Travelling in the 9-seater pickup

Reading, reading, reading, ...

Relaxation pur

On the way back home: transfer in Tari