In the beginning was the cocoa pod – the beautiful, freshly picked, raw product – grown in tropical equatorial climates around the world, including Papua New Guinea (PNG).
90% of all the worlds Cocoa is produced by small-scale farmers. Some in communities in PNG reached by MAF planes.
From the cocoa pod, the beans are harvested, dried and then flown out for onward processing and eventual export. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that – but you get the gist!
You already know where it ends up! It's available in every corner shop, supermarket and restaurant up and down the country.
Last year Britons consumed more chocolate per person than any other country, (11.5 kg each!) with Fairtrade chocolate accounting for around 12% of annual sales.
Flying for Chocolate
Bags of organic beans are loaded into MAF’s Twin Otter aircraft in the Highland of Karamui in Chimbu province, PNG. Each enormous sack is the weight of an adult man - 70-80kgs.
MAF pilot Glenys Watson has flown two flights in the last couple of months, including one full load in MAF’s largest aircraft, the De Havilland Twin Otter.
Cocoa is a precious cargo for the isolated communities with few resources, besides PNG’s tropical climate and fertile soil.
It’s not the first time we have carried the commodity. Five years previously, in June 2013, MAF arrived to collect the very first crop produced in the area.
Half a ton of the finest highland cocoa beans were waiting at the airstrip when pilot Brad Venter landed.
Quality chocolate
Brad unloaded the cargo on the inbound flight. There was tangible excitement as the parts for a new drying machine were unloaded from the plane.
The first harvest was dried using traditional methods, but the farmers were hopeful of producing much more with the help of this new drying equipment.
Cocoa has been grown in coastal areas and the nation’s many islands for decades, but production was being trialled in the highlands as an alternative to coffee. Initial results were promising – both the quality and quantity were good.
90% of the worlds Cocoa is produced by small-scale farmers
Chocolate communities
The success of the venture is in evidence as the huge hessian bags are loaded onto the plane.
It takes somewhere between 400-500 cocoa beans to make each pound of chocolate, and an individual tree can produce up to 7lbs a year.
Increasing popularity of chocolate in Asia and a growing global market means there is hope for the highland growers that carefully tend and cultivate their trees.
But the cocoa market is volatile and the farmers need all the help they can get. Their products must be flown out of remote communities where it is grown to be processed and turned into the deliciously decadent treat we all love.
MAF will continue 'flying for chocolate' and the communities that depend on it for an income - and as long as there are barriers to overcome.
To celebrate World Chocolate Day we'd love to share some of our favourite MAF recipes!
On 21 February, the United Nations marks International Mother Language Day to recognise the importance language plays in education, development and social integration.
Two German medical students recently spent their semester break volunteering at the Kompiam Hospital, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Magdalena (Leni) Bonleitner recalls their experiences of rural clinics and flying with MAF.
World Radio Day is celebrated on 13 February. Radios are a vital form of communication for remote areas, helping them feel connected to the rest of the world. In late 2019, Lukas Schadegg installed a HF radio for Biadi, Papua New Guinea.
MAF Papua New Guinea (PNG) pilot, Ryan Cole, explains the role which MAF plays in promoting education - just one of the responses to the question, 'what does a MAF pilot do?'
Support Raising and Training Manager Adam Pope speaks to Michael and Nicki Duncalfe
on their return to the UK, following an incredible 25 years of service with MAF Papua
New Guinea (PNG)
Clare and Paul Woodington are based at Wewak, where Paul is one of our experienced Caravan pilots serving the communities in the northern part of mainland PNG
Bonifas P.Korangia, known as Boni, served as a technician missionary for 22 years, until last year when he felt called to take a year off and reconnect with his village.
While husband Neal is hard at work in the MAF hangar, Lois Semanison spends her time blessing the community in Mount Hagen where they live. Many have come to faith through her witness and care.
Many of Papua New Guinea's 800 languages are spoken by just a few hundred people. The Ende language has 700 speakers in three villages around the Upiara airstrip in the South Fly, Western Province.
Radio: a constant and reliable communication channel. Reaching across high mountains and treacherous landscapes, radio communication has been used as a tool to penetrate some of the most remote areas.
When reports began to circulate of a move of God in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, Judith Dupuis, wife of MAF Pilot Michael Dupuis, just had to see for herself!
Almost 3,000 families in the communities surrounding Simbai make a living growing coffee. Frequent MAF flights serve the community's needs and fly the precious cash crop to market.
What can you do with a cargo of solar lights and tarpaulins, Bibles, guitars and tambourines, soccer balls and volleyballs, hinges, padlocks, saws, and spanners...?
Much of the food flown by MAF to remote communities after the recent earthquake was donated by local churches motivated to help their countrymen in need.
Aid has reached remote communities in Papua New Guinea following the recent earthquake. Pilot’s Mathias Glass gives an account of a relief flight he flew to Muluma and Bosavi
Pilot Steven Eatwell flew a medevac and earthquake relief flight to the remote communities of Huya and Bosavi. He brought relief supplies and assessed the condition of the airstrips while he was there.
Recently in Papua New Guinea, short-term Swiss staff member Remo Ruegg's plans for the day took a different turn when one of his neighbours knocked on his door.
Story Remo Ruegg. Photos Remo Ruegg (RR) and Nawi Mabo (NM)
At MAF, we know that when we provide access to remote areas those areas are helped, resourced and receive medical assistance. However, sometimes it is when access is withdrawn for a time – often for unavoidable reasons – that it brings home the reality of our absence.
Paul Woodington, a pilot with MAF Papua New Guinea, recalls a medevac flight which happened just before Christmas 2017. Thanks to quick thinking, good decision-making and trust in God, Paul managed to help two severely ill patients, including the son of a missionary partner, reach the medical care they needed.
In August 2016, Geoff Boer was having a normal day. Just after dinner, disaster struck as he experienced a heart attack. he was flown for treatment the following morning and after surgery, has made a full recovery. Without the quick thinking and acting MAF staff and partners, Geoff may not have survived.
Kompiam Rural Hospital in Papua New Guinea is at the end of a road, inaccessible except by walking or flying, to the people it serves. The area is troubled by tribal skirmishes which have claimed more than 40 lives in the last six months.
As exam season the UK comes to an end - to the relief of children and parents alike - Glenda Giles shares how students in Tekin, Papua New Guinea nervously awaited the arrival of their exam papers.
What's it like to date on the mission field in a culture drastically different to your own? British Siobhain Dales and Canadian Ryan Cole discovered just this...
MAF Pilot Paul Woodington displays professional dedication and personal sacrifice as he battles the jungle to bring the Jesus film to an isolated corner of Papua New Guinea. We hope it encourages you to continue fighting for the Gospel.
A workshop in Papua New Guinea teaches women how to be free from the fear of sorcery and magic through a deeper understanding of who God is. Story and photos by LuAnne Cadd
The mountain village community of Megau came together to build a life-saving medical aid post in just 24 hours. Everything down to the last nail was flown in by MAF
Michael Duncalfe has been flying Twin Otters since 1998, clocking up over 6,500 hours in the process. MAF Partnership Manager – and resident aviation enthusiast – Olly Nunn asks him to share with our supporters why this aircraft is so special
A 23-year-old woman is experiencing labour complications, but as she lives in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, she needed an MAF aircraft to get the urgent hospital care she needs.
MAF women in Papua New Guinea come together a few times a year to pack Care Bags for women we fly for emergency hospital care. Madeleine Bischoff, wife of MAF pilot Markus, shares the joy of blessing two new mothers, with bags and shares their stories.
No more killing: When a young schoolgirl heard that 17 innocent people were about to die, she decided to do something about it. Story and photos Anton Lutz.
Gebrau airstrip in the highlands of Papua New Guinea is finally open, after twenty years! It will be a huge benefit to the economy of this remote community.
MAF's scheduled flight from Wewak was cancelled at the very last minute. But then the phone rang! An urgent medevac flight was required. And Agatha's village was in the opposite direction. (Photos: Ludmer Meiko)
Mandy Glass, our Communications Officer in Papua New Guinea, shared her love of reading recently with 80 high school students through the gift of books.