2015...

...lies in the past and we are looking back to a very adventurous and challenging 12months. We lived in 4 different countries and moved more than 10 times. Therefore I think it's worth taking a walk down memory lane...

     It all started in autumn 2014 when Deb and I got married. After a Honeymoon trip across Sardinia, France and Belgium we ended up in the northern part of England. For the next 6 months we would reside in a castle and attend a winter Bible School. Capernwray Hall left a huge impact in our lives, we received a vast amount of spiritual knowledge which changed our lifestyle and the way we see things. It also gave us the opportunity to explore places like Edinburgh, Wales and London.

Capernwray Hall, an amazing time

A few days in a wonderful city

10 Day outreach together with a loving church

 

Spending Christmas with our best friends and family in London

    Spring finally pushed the winter away and similarly were we pushed away from Capernwray Hall into a new season, a future full of challenges and adventures waiting to be explored. Therefore we packed our car and headed south to Switzerland and spent April and May with packing our belongings together, sorting out all the required paperwork and of course vaccinations. lot's of vaccinations...

     Then just 3 weeks before departure we got a surprise email informing us, that we won't be able to go to Arnhem Land due to visa troubles. Our alternatives were South Sudan or Papua New Guinea. Final decision was made and we were told to go to Timor-Leste. Where is that again?

    It was also the time to say goodbye. Goodbye to our families, friends, church and Switzerland. For the next two years we wouldn't see any of them unless they visit us.

wonderful but to short

     The 26th May approached with big steps and before we even realized we sat in an Airbus which brought us via Doha and Hong Kong to Cairns, Australia. We arrived 4:30 in the morning and my aviation medical exam was at 9:00. I couldn't get bothered pointing out the directions of the E's which all looked like O's, but I really had no choice :-/

    Our plan was to stay for 3 months in Australia and go through 4 blocks of trainings. 2 were about flying and 2 field training. During this time we stayed in 12 different places and lived out of our suitcases. Most of our training was done in Cairns and Mareeba which is located in the north-eastern part of Australia. While on a 2 week training in Melbourne we managed to get 5 days off and made a road trip on the great ocean road.  

They have summer in the winter and it's called the land down under

Cairns, one of the places we stayed.

The great ocean road

Were very lucky to get that close to a wild Kuala :-)

Training, training and training

     And it was time to say goodbye again. We met many new people and became especially good friends with another Swiss couple which went through the same trainings as we did. But we were excited to finally move to a place where we could settle down for a while and get our first place together as a married couple.
     The beginning was steep. Various events set us under time pressure but the team managed to push us through district- and flight orientation just on time. Daniel loved being back in the cockpit although flying medevacs is a category of it's own. Live and death are often separated by a very thin wall and mistakes can easily lead to a turn to the worse. Deb was busy with homeschooling our neighbors kids and taking care of the the household. She has now a new opportunity to work once a week in a day care facility for people with special needs.

 

They have summer all year round

A medevac from Suai

Little fellas checking out the "machine"

Wet-season makes everything green

In front of our house, wonderful

     What about the future? We don't know. The only sure thing is that there's nothing like a sure thing. The Government bought a brand new Twin Otter last October and is now operating it, heavily subsidized and with a Canadian crew, around Timor-Leste. Other rumors are going around about another new plane... So far MAF is the only organization which can fly medevac and will keep working with the Ministry of Health to bring critical patients from the districts to the Hospital in Dili. 

   To predict MAF's future here in Timor-Leste is challenging but we are happy to serve here as long as we are needed. Deb and I are glad, that our contract for the Timor-Leste program got extended until next September. This gives us time to rest and gather our strength for whatever may come...

Our GA-8 landing in Oecussi, the Twin Otter is waiting to depart

The last edition of "Flying for Life" with an
interesting article abou Timor-Lest