Serving in Haiti

I arrived in Haiti at noon on Saturday March 27th. Since arriving I have kept extremely busy helping the program here operate smoothly. Here are some of the highlights of the last week.

* Helped distribute 11,000 boxes of MRE's to people living more than 50 miles from the capital city of Port Au Prince. These are distributed to Church's, missionaries, orphanages, and to many others. We deliver this food via airplane or use trucks.
* Last Sunday we went to a Haitian church and then for a afternoon trip to the ocean.
* MAF received 6 flights through Missionary Flights International (DC3 and Cessna Caravan), delivering people, cargo, cement mixers, food, Bibles, tents, water filters, and anything else that will fit in the airplanes. I am responsible for taking these items and making sure they are delivered to the intended missionaries and organizations.

I spend another week in Haiti and then next Saturday I depart for Orlando, Florida. I will spend a week at Sun N' Fun representing MAF at the airshow. Please continue to pray for me, and especially for Leslie as she takes care of the family back in Arizona.

Off to Haiti...

Wow, it has been a long time since I updated this thing. I guess life just seems a little more boring here than life is in Africa. I have had great intentions of resuming our family blog but, life has been a tad normal these days I guess.

Anyways, we are well. Leslie is very pregnant and the due date is approaching, only 2 months to go (May 31st). Tomorrow morning I leave to Haiti for two weeks and then to Florida for a week to represent MAF at Fun N' Sun, a large air show.

As I get to Haiti I will be sure to update this blog and facebook to let people know what I am up to. Please keep Leslie and the kiddos in your prayers as I am gone.

Back in the USA

Our family has officially started our first furlough. We left our home in Lesotho on Thursday the 14th at 6:30 AM (Lesotho time). We drove to Johannesburg, flew on to Washington, Denver and then on to Boise, ID. If you figure it out we spent 43.5 hours making the long trip to the states. The kids did great and mom and dad didn't do to bad either. We are still working over jet lag. On Saturday morning I woke up at 1 AM and on Sunday morning I woke up at 4 AM.
Now that we have begun our furlough we have decided to work on updating the blog once again. It has been over a year since the last entry. The kids have grown a ton in the last year and are very excited to be back at home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

so long

Yes, I know it has been a long time since our last post. And like always I can use the excuse that life in Africa is very difficult, there is lots going on, our internet only works some of the time, and any number of things. But in reality I just haven't gotten around to it lately.
Things are going well at work and in the last 2 weeks we have had a family return from furlough back to Lesotho and on Friday the Thiemann's arrived. They are new to Lesotho and it was great to meet them.
Below are some pictures I took last month while we had three airplanes flying at a small airstrip called Lebaking. There are no roads and everything for the clinic has to be flown in. The building you see is not yet finished and is one of about 4 that are being built. All of the supplies are flown by airplane.

Update

We have enjoyed the fact that the weather is starting to get a little warmer here in Maseru. The kids have started to enjoy the outdoors a little more and and still having a blast with our two dogs.
Work continues to go well and is probably the biggest reason for the lack of blogging recently. Things have been very busy. I am currently in the shop responsible for maintaining all 5 of our airplanes in tip top shape. I have also had the chance to have 4 Mission Aviation college students from LeTourneau come to visit and see what Mission Aviation is in the real world. It was a blast and we enjoyed having visitors. We would love to hear from all of you so please keep in touch.
I will have to go back to America in February for three weeks of specialized training to be an instructor pilot in Lesotho. As a result of two break in's in our house over the last year and multiple other break in's and robberies we have decided that Leslie and the kiddo's will go to Flagstaff while I am in Nampa. After my training I will return to Flagstaff for a week and a half before we return to Lesotho. For those of you in Flagstaff we cant wait to see you in February.

Methelaneng Lesotho

Here is a video of Bob Dontje landing a Turbo 206 at Methelaneng.


After a cup of Coffee and a few words with Merrill the missionary in Methelaneng Bob was off to somewhere else in Lesotho.

Nohana Lesotho

Often after we land at the village of Nohana there are several small kids that come to the airplane to get a closer look at what the pilot is bringing to the village. Often I have two little girls who come and sing for me. I don't know the words but the other day I was able to capture it on video. I will try to get a translation and post it soon.

Queen 2 Hospital - Lesotho

Today Evi and I took a trip to the hospital to visit Rorisang and the rest of the children in the children's ward. What a great experience it was for Evi. We spent about an hour visiting with all of the children in the hospital. We became quite the attraction with a croud following us as we went bed to bed. Below are some pictures of Rorisang and some of the other kids we visited.

Crime Triangle

Lately there have been a large number of robberies, muggings, etc around Maseru. Last week the U.S. Embassy hosted a meeting in which several people shared their thoughts and concerns of the current situation. Two leaders of the Lesotho Police force shared for a while and spoke of a specific high crime area in Maseru.
In one corner you have the China Garden Restaurant, in the other you have the World Food Program headquarters, and the final corner in the Peace Corps house. This area was referred to several times. I took this map off of Google Earth showing these three locations. If you look at the map there is one house right in the middle of this triangle. You guessed it that is where Leslie and I live. The only building right in the middle of this triangle.
About two weeks ago we were finally able to get a couple of Labrador's. They have been great and are excellent with kids. Please keep praying for our family and for our friends who have been personally affected by violence in Lesotho.

Rorisang

Another day and another urgent prayer request.
Several weeks ago a precious 9 year old girl was flown from Lebakeng to Maseru in order to go have her leg examined at the hospital. She has a tumor on her knee and thigh that is about 6 times larger than the diameter of her leg. Doctors were afraid that the tumor has spread throughout her body and needed to amputate her entire leg as soon as possible. The mother decided to wait and flew back to the mountains in order to talk to the father about amputating her leg.
We flew Rorisang and her parents back to Maseru on the 18th of April, just in time for the scheduled afternoon surgery. The doctors are not excited about this surgery and as of yet it has not happened. Every day is another excuse about why it has not happened yet. One time the doctor had to go to the bank, and the next time she needed blood before they could operate. Every day is something different.
I have been sharing with Evi about this little girl and told Evi that Rorisang had to have her leg amputated. Evi said that Rorisang would feel better after the surgery because the hospital would give her a nice baby doll or barbie to play with. I told Evi that this hospital was different than Texas Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital and that the didn't have toys for the kids. Evi went to her room and picked out one of her favorite barbie's, a stuffed animal and drew two pictures to hang next to Rorisang's bed. On Thursday I took Evi to the childrens wing of the hospital to meet Rorisang. Evi was a huge hit and the kids along with their mothers loved little Evi. The could not stop talking to her and touching her long blond hair.
Today my friend Justin had a chance to visit. She is still awaiting surgery and her leg is severely infected. Pray that we would have wisdom as to what we can do next to help. Pray for Rorisang, that she would receive a peace that only the Lord could give.

Sick, Sick, Sick

Wow, Things have been crazy around here lately. Almost 2 weeks ago Evi came down with some sort of Flu virus. Eventually as it normally happens the other kid, Caleb came down with the same thing. As a result of Caleb feeling bad he always wanted dad and mom to hold him. That then led to mom being sick for a couple of days, and then last but not least dad is now sick with the same stinkin flu. Actually it has been 6 days and Caleb still is sick. poor thing. Oh and did I mention the circus that went up across the street from our house? normally that would sound like fun; who wouldn't want to live across the street from the circus? But as we are all recovering it would be nice to get some peace and quiet.

Evi playing with her friend after dance class at school


This little boy could not walk after an error at the local hospital that left him with a knee that couldn't bend. These crutches allowed him to walk without scooting around on his hands. Justin (a fellow pilot/mechanic) and I modified these large crutches to fit this boys very small arms and height