Uganda Shuttle - Jill Vine reflects

7 June

I was able to accompany Greg on a shuttle flight to Padere, Morota & then Kabong (in the Karamojo region).

As I spoke to each passenger & learned the variety of ways they each support this country, I felt very small. Small because I could clearly see the bigger picture of all of the vast resources projected by these organizations...it is simply astounding. I’ve heard MAF described as the donkey which carries all of these aid organisations & missions to where they need to go. I also see MAF as a kind of picture frame which helps to frame the work of missions & NGOs, seeing all  the good going on throughout the world but at the same time making their lives tidier & more comfortable by getting them to where they need to go, safely & more efficiently.  

Over & over each person I spoke to mentioned how thankful they were for the role of MAF.

 

Two ladies representing Global Development: "From today until Friday we’ll be with Christian Counselling Fellowship who are helping around 320 single child mothers/school drop outs due to pregnancy, return to school or vocational training.   CCF also take care of girls who have been abducted by rebels & who have been stigmatized by their communities."

It would take a whole day to travel to Padere normally, but with MAF we can start our work after 1 hour of travelling. 

Another passenger was representing Action Contre Faim (Action against Hunger) which mainly works children and have 2 bases in Karamoja…one in Morota & one in Kaabong.  

The only way to Karamoja is to fly with MAF because of security & time.

1. They have a nutrition program to treat malnutrition working alongside the District Health Department partnering also with the Minister of Health & Unicef. 

2.They engage the community in asset based livelihoods through trading cash or food for their labour (eg building roads, dams, growing trees, produce etc)

3. WASH project (Water & Sanitation Hygiene) which installs latrines, incinerators, water points & helps with water resource management.

CUAMM (Doctors with Africa)  have been working in Uganda for 30 years.  Martina is a nurse tutor at a school based in Karamoja (also North of Uganda).

MAF helps because our hospital is very isolated, particularly in the rainy season when the roads are terrible…

Jesuit Refugee Service serve the vulnerable with psycho social support, education, emergency assistance & skills training. They help the refugees integrate for the first 3 months with emergency help: rent, food.  Once UNHCR give them refugee status they can then return to the refugee camps.  Esther Mamuswa remarked

MAF helps us get to far off places, particularly when there’s bad weather.  We also use MAF to fly to our projects in Sudan.

As we flew back to Kampala we had to fly right next to some great white clouds As I peered close-up into these white froths of mist I could see them swelling as humidity was being sucked up into their giant forms. It made me think of the enormity of all of the many people throughout the world who are working to help the desperate, who are building bridges between the developed & undeveloped world…like those huge clouds that rain down blessing onto the earth.