Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and one of the poorest countries. According to the World Bank an estimated 70% of Malagasy people live on less than $1 per day. There is significant malnutrition, with UN statistics indicating that more than 40% of children under five are moderately or severely underweight. The island is heavily exposed to tropical cyclones which bring torrential rains and destructive floods.
Poor roads and weak infrastructure, coupled with poverty leave many communities isolated. The need for MAF is great; a short flight saves days, even weeks of travel by land. With approximately 19,000 villages in Madagascar and only 92 served by airstrips, there is a challenge to reach many more places and take God’s love and care to those living in isolation. Vast areas of the country remain difficult or impossible to access but our team is widening the radius of operation to reach more people by establishing new airstrips.
MAF’s work in Madagascar began in 1988. The arrival was timely, with flights beginning at a critical time for the development of the country. A very small number of groups were working in Madagascar prior to 1985 but since we began flight operations, several other organisations have entered the country. There is now an expanding ministry both through the existing churches and amongst those who previously have not been served.
Flights today support mission and church organisations in projects including emergency medical flights, primary healthcare, agriculture and forest conservation, education, church-based activities and natural disaster relief following annual cyclones. We also fly for several NGOs and various government departments supporting development work.
In addition to our flight operation, we also run a logistics service and car maintenance programme.
Examples of organisations served by MAF:
· ADRA
· Assemblies of God
· Christian Blind Mission (CBM)
· Gideons International
· HVM (Good News Hospital, Mandritsara)
· Malagasy Lutheran Church (FLM)
· Medair
· Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS)
· UNICEF
· Wycliffe Bible Translators