A New King

In Switzerland we celebrate Epiphany, the day the three wise men (or Kings in Switzerland) visited Baby Jesus. It is on the 6th of January and marks the day when we as a family put our Christmas decoration away. After that the Christmas season is officially over.
On Epiphany Swiss bake or buy a bread made of sweet dough that is formed from small pieces stuck together in a circle. In one of those pieces hides a small King or Queen and whoever gets that piece is crowned King/Queen for the day. Well, this time Markus was elevated to the position of monarch in the Bischoff family, though his powers remained very limited.

Kings' Cake with self-made crown from 2015

It is hard to look dignified, despite an elaborate crown from Joelle

Cessna Caravan Training in Uganda

2019 is going to be a year of great change for MAF in Papua New Guinea. Our current aircraft fleet of tree different types (Twin Otter, Caravan, Airvan) will be reduced to one single type (see following Blog entry). From approximately mid-year will have nine Cessna Caravans only, meaning all pilots will have to undergo type training.
In my role as Crew Training Manager I had the privilege to do this type training with MAF in Uganda. But why travel that far? On the one hand, MAF in Africa already has longstanding experience flying the Cessna Caravan. On the other hand, Uganda operates the MAF Training Centre for the Africa region. This includes a Caravan simulator which makes type training quite a bit cheaper. As MAF PNG will receive the same simulator, I had the opportunity to see first hand how it was used in training.
So, now I am good to fly the Cessna Caravan with a G1000 glass cockpit. At the end of January my training will continue in Telefomin where I'll apply my newly gained knowledge in the mountains of PNG.

MAF Uganda at Kajjansi (near Kampala)

Instructors and students in front of the Grand Caravan

Cessna Caravan Simulator from RedBird: On the outside...

... and on the inside.

Partnership Projects

In January 2019, MAF will launch its third Healthcare Partnership Project. It is special to us as it covers the Western Province, our former work place and one of the poorest provinces in PNG. Read the story below and stay tuned as we will tell more about its impact.

Below the article as published by MAF PNG:

Click here to read the story as PDF

Giving Women a Voice

MAF relief pilot Rick Velvin shares another encounter where God used him to be a catalyst giving PNG women a voice and have their ideas heard – just as he was waiting on the ground for the people who chartered the aircraft doing their job.

Click here to read the story as PDF