not so silent

During my week on mission trip to Mamoli one of the highlights was to visit local schools. during the day these schools would very quickly become health clinics. I have spent a fair amount of time in schools in my adult life. I have shared many school assemblies with the children, I have been a school governor and helped in classrooms. But Mozambique gave me a whole new insight to what school is like for many children in Africa. At one school we visited there was two brick-built buildings firm and sound, they have no electricity or glass in the windows but they do have good old-fashioned blackboards. Here as always lively engaging children interested in new visitors. But outside on the ground in the sun lay the children’s school books drying out in the 35 degrees heat. The books were wet because of the heavy rain during the previous week. Then we went to another school this one had more children attending and seemed very busy. But it was the first schoo...

As I sat at a small bush clinic in an isolated community in Mozambique something unusual played out. A group of young men emerged into this mainly female community gathering. There were about 8 young boys heading towards manhood, late teens, I guess. They had a hint of that attitude I have seen in young men in England; they stand - no sitting in the dust for this group. They laugh and make fun of each other; it seems they treat life without too much seriousness. I listen but I can only guess what this very foreign language is saying.     But they have gathered within four confident strides of the folding table. Each one in turn takes his place, seated and patient.   For some the encounter is a joke; banter, laughter pushing, but for others the encounter at the table seems to have a misplaced silence. The day is hot, the medical team in action, friends meeting, this is a social occasion for local villages. This is a cheap folding table, small enough to fi...

As part of Mercy Air’ outreach to isolated communities, there have been regular mission trips to Mamoli Mission, in Mozambique, for a number of years now.  A warm welcome The journey began as we left Mercy Air to exit South Africa at Kruger and enter Mozambique at Beira. We stay at the Mamoli Mission base where we have two rooms, a secure place to park the helicopter, and storage for the   A1 jet fuel (always important). The day begins with a shower at 6, knowing you will be soggy with sweat by 10, then breakfast and prayers.   Joel makes a series of phone calls to check people are in place for the day ahead and does the helicopter preflight checks. The aim of the week is to take medical staff from the hospital and health care centers to communities only accessible by air. Each day we take a different medical team to a different community. This might be a school, with a building, with class rooms, but no electricity, but it could also be a ...