Stretching thin

MAF Pilot Chris Ball flies hoes, nets, seeds and fishing hoots to the village of Mabior for Christian Mission for Development (CMD). CMD helps poor and vulnerable communities in remote areas by providing assistance and education in sustainable farming techniques.

Because many people in South Sudan aren't planning ahead enough to grow sufficient food to last through the famine, CMD is training people in better agricultural practices such as ox-ploughing, crop rotation and bee keeping.

Pastor James Machar works for CMD, and is on hand to help distribute the cargo to those seeking help in an area north of Mabior. Many of them are internally displaced, having fled their own homes due to violence that erupted in December 2013.

Lots of villages across South Sudan have struggled twofold from food shortages. Not only is the poor harvest being spread among the local people, but they are willingly trying to provide for many extra people who have arrived in recent months to take refuge from the fighting.

This agricultural equipment will therefore not only help one resident community, but the many visitors who don't know if they will be here for good. Any resources that arrive by one of MAF's planes are stretched thin in hard times such as these.