April 6th we were supposed to depart Papua New Guinea for Switzerland. However, due to a nationwide travel restriction and a major lockdown of airports along our intended route of travel, we never made it out of Telefomin. Only on April 10th did we leave Telefomin for Mt Hagen, but again it was not by our choice. With all international air travel still impossible we thought of staying in our home in Telefomin until things calmed down and we could journey to Switzerland. However, the PNG government decided to isolate the border provinces to Indonesia, which would have made it impossible for us to leave later on. So, Mt Hagen was a saver place to wait.
And now, 6 weeks later, we still are in Mt Hagen, with no prospect of leaving soon. Living out of a 23kg suitcase each we stay in an empty house at the Kagamuga compound close to the airport. Markus is working in his role as Crew Training Manager in the office, doing the occasional, State-of-Emergency approved flight, while Madeleine has resumed her role as a Family Manager, schooling the children and making sure we can survive on the few things we brought along. The kids are doing great, finding and making new toys (we had no space to pack any) with stuff they find in the surrounding gardens. As there is no complete lockdown, we can actually move about and had the chance to visit a nearby cafe a few times. Also, there is quite a bit of interaction going on on the compound itself, with Bibel study, morning/evening workout, and volley ball being just a few.
All in all we are doing well and hope to resume our travelling in June. By that time, most of Switzerland will be opened up again, too, so that we can actually do our home assignment as planned, including public speaking engagements.
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| Homeschooling for Joelle |
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| Making friends with the compound guard |
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| Niklas doing exercise with colleagues ... |
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| ... and Lucien joins in as well |
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| Homechurch during lockdown |
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| Building a plane with dad |
