Some of the MAF national staff in Tanzania

Steven Kolimba - Fuel Store Keeper

Arriving at 07:00, I clean the hanger till 08:00 and then we have devotions there. After devotions I start to arrange the avgas and oil buckets and fill pure drinking water until 10:00. I then give oil trays a wash and send the flight plans to Dodoma tower. It is 11:00 when I give a hand the engineers on their work until 12:15 when I break for one hour. When we get back I resume by cleaning the plane to 14:00 when I start to unload then reload fuel in 5h-NAC until 17:00 when my day ends.

Refuelling


Faraja Kasuwi - Receptionist

Start my computer and check incoming faxes – distribute them to the respect office.
Check bookings emails; reply by inform the customers of flight availability, meeting times and advising them whey they should pay.

I get phone calls during the day which I put through to the correct extensions and also people internally need to call out, so I make those calls too and then put them back through to the person here.

I receive different enquiries about flights and also receive cash from customers paying for services rendered by MAF (flights, vehicle services, IT services etc)

I receive income bookings emails and work and disperse to other colleagues for action. I also inform customers about any changes in meeting times for flights they are on.
I also sell some of the craftwork that we have in reception made by some of the masaai community we serve.

I arrange for MAF staff going out of Dodoma and also arrange for the pilots who might need hospitality whilst they are away from home.


Lusko Musika, MAF Flight Follower in Tanzania
Lusko Musika - Flight Follower

Every day I walk to the office and the first thing is to

- Check my radio serviceability

- Take a look on the white board to find out which plane is flying (departure and destination points)

- Check Notams

- I also have to look for weather reports, covering departures and destination stations

- Check emails and sort them by urgency

After collection of all the above information, I prepare my flight following log ready to take down all the information relayed by the pilot from taxiing to on the ground time with half-hourly position reporting. I have to be listening all the time in case of an emergency or in case any assistance is needed by the pilot.

- In between the above mentioned I prepare flight plans for any medevac which may arise and for the following day’s flights.

- Check and update fuel stock on our safari bases e.g. Malambo, Haydom, Mbeya and Mbesa

When the entire fleet is safe on the ground, before I go home, I have a glass of water and say “God, thank you!”.

Mission Aviation Fellowship

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