Photo: Taking off in bad weather!
Have you ever been hungry …… really hungry? And then …… can you remember the feeling …. shaky, loss of power, miserable …. things get blurry and then you rush of to the nearest McDonald’s. Well here ….. people go to bed with that feeling – without food. And ….. getting up the next morning feeling the same way ……. and continue the cycle until God intervenes.
Photo: Mercy Air with Matthias Reuter (Swiss Pilot) made their helicopter available to meet the fixed wing plain halfway. With the helicopter it is much easier to reach difficult areas. This was a huge help and saved many days of driving. Other areas would have been absolutely impossible to reach if it was not for the helicopter.
Photo: Matthias plotting the next stop in what turned out to be flying in storms to get to the cut-off communities.
Photo: Finding fuel is not the easiest job in the middle of the bush. The Mercy Air helicopter team carried some of their own fuel on-board.
Photo: Assessing the hunger situation first hand from the local cut-off communities.
Photo: Helping hungry rural communities takes a huge effort, planning and logistics with expensive equipment.
Hunger has always been part of Africa – specially if you are deep in rural Africa where every cob of maize counts. Where every sweetpatatoe is important. The question however …. and I ponder on this many times a day: Do we just accept the fact that Africa is hungry and that it is just another day …… or do we actually get up and DO something! Dwight Lagore and Andy Kuret ( a volunteer pilot from Switzerland) took of in Dwight’s Cessna to inspect and gain first hand knowledge of the hunger situation in northern Mozambique. There report was astounding. Here is a very short extraction on the report written by Dwight Lagore:
We visited 7 areas in two days: Tambara, Chueza, Chiriza, Mandie, Nhakafula, Chemba and Sinjal. In each of these areas we were able to meet with a delegation of the pastors studying with
us (except in Mandie where they never got the message sent) as well as the local government
officials to get an accurate picture of the conditions on the ground in each area. Due to our extension training schools in these areas, we have had early information on the unfolding impact of the drought, so have been the first to be determining some kind of response.
The government officials, from administrators to Local Chef de postos were so grateful that someone was showing any interest and literally poured out their hearts about the situation in
each area and their concern for the months to come.
The reality is that these areas only started receiving any rain this week, and this is the week
they should be harvesting their grain! In some areas they have planted 5 times after light
showers, only to have the corn dry and die. The result is that now with this late little rain their
seed is finished and so is their food stock. It was sad and humbling to see the roots and water lily seeds the people are surviving on. The water lily seeds are dug from under the water along the Zambezi or lagoons fed by the river and these are infested with crocodiles and hippo, so needless to say getting these seeds out is really only for the desperate. The roots are chopped up and then milled, then they cook this powder and eat it. The resilience and persistence of these people is
quite amazing. Everything in the pictures and as we flew over is beautiful and green, but it is misleading as to the actual state of this drought.
If you want to read the whole report and our STRATEGY to tackle the problem let me know and I will forward the PDF report to you.
We need lots of prayer and guidance. Be our partner today and be part of the strategy and solution. If you want to know more contact us or email us at lovemoz@sg.org.za or dwight@samministries.org
PS: Spesial thanks to our Swiss Pilot, Andy Kuret for the photos taken.