Report by Angela Schramm, MAF Partnership and Development Manager in Tanzania
Out of Dodoma there was only one passenger on the MAF Northern Shuttle, a dear old Tanzanian lady. As I walked past, her relatives expressed some relief that someone would be flying with her who spoke Swahili.
Mrs Makombe was interested in every detail of the safety briefing, which I translated to her – but she seemed not the least nervous! When we discovered that she is from Moshi, where my husband and I lived for 14 years, we were both delighted.
We were flying via Haydom Hospital and arrived after a pleasant, uneventful flight, even ahead of time. Asking Mrs Makombe what had brought her to Dodoma, it turned out that her children had arranged for her to see the Chinese doctor in town - hoping he would be able to do something for her leg. Could he? “No, they say I am too old for treatment. I must go home”. Not knowing what her exact problem was, I still made a mental note to talk to whoever would pick her up and tell them about Haydom Hospital and their Christian doctors. Maybe they could help? On arrival I helped her down the steps where a wheelchair was already waiting for her. We parted as friends, and I got the number of her relatives.
In Haydom we had picked up another passenger, BjØrg from Norway. She enthuses about MAF and how wonderful it is
that they are not after the money but really make their flights affordable for Christian ministries.
She then tells me why she is here – it was the third time that she spends her whole annual leave to help as a volunteer at the hospital. Normally in an office job, she hasn’t seen any of the tourist attractions of this country, but comes to serve, doing minor jobs wherever needed. But, BjØrg explains, “I would not be able to come without MAF. I am just a simple person. I could not manage to travel on unsafe roads, I do not even manage to see the sick people while they are treated. But I can help clean the operating theatre and God can use me. I would rather pay a bit more and travel safely than ride in a cheap but unsafe Land Rover. Because of MAF I can come here and help. I love it. I will come back.” It is my turn to be impressed by this unassuming, cheerful lady.
When we fly back from Arusha to Dodoma in the afternoon I am happy to see my friend Andrea among the passengers. She works with street children in Dodoma and is on her way back from Nairobi. Unfortunately, this Monday was not the monthly flight where the plane connects directly to Nairobi, so she had to travel by bus a day earlier. She is a bit exhausted, but happy that the strenuous part of the journey is over now – taking a bus from Arusha to Dodoma would be another 12 hours on tarmac the long way, or 10 hours on very bumpy roads by bus. We will have 1 hour 20 minutes flying to arrive at Dodoma - hardly enough time to exchange all our news!
Rounding up our passengers I meet Shirley and William from the USA, an elderly couple who tell me they have used MAF for “at least” 10 years to visit their mission projects in Tanzania. Since most of the stations are in small villages they would never be able to achieve what they come for by car.
Look at us! At our age we cannot manage bumpy roads anymore. I am impressed by their deep joy and eagerness to get to their work places. Shirley is excited about our information cards in the seat pockets of the plane –
Can you give me something to take home? Everybody keeps asking me about MAF and I don’t quite know what to say, except they are super and help us so much! They have to decline my invitation to our office, their schedule is quite tight and most of the week they will spend out in the bush with their churches. But since they will fly back north with us next Monday, providing them with material will be easy to arrange.
Four small snippets from our shuttle flight. Maybe nothing big, but I am still excited about the stories behind our passenger’s names. Some we may only fly once. We may only play a small part in God’s bigger picture, but I am pleased to find we, as MAF, are a vital link in God’s worldwide ministry!