PCM News: April 2019

09 April 2019

Cyclone Idai

As most people know, Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique recently.

The main bit of the cyclone is about 2/3 the size of the UK

Strangely enough this was the storms second pass. The first time (the blue dots below) as a tropical depression, it caused a lot of flooding in Malawi and caught Paul at the end of his week with YWAM team in Marromeu on the Zambezi (see previous blog post).

The second time was far more destructive and has been described as the worst weather disaster to affect the southern hemisphere. The photos of the devastation and flooding were widely seen on TV and the internet.

People spent many days on rooftops...

..and in trees

An inland sea was created of 2000sq kilometers and about 1.7 million people were affected across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Mercy Air already had a helicopter in Beira and we went up the day before the storm to move it inland to a less risky place.

This meant that it was the first on the scene after the storm had cleared. It worked tirelessly every day helping to locate and rescue people totally cut off and without food and water.

Mercy Air's fixed wing aircraft got involved by flying relief supplies up from South Africa as well as enabling heli crew rotation. Our second heli joined a week later. Our office soon took on the semblance of a warehouse.

One company, Universal, donated 2.5 tonnes of a nutritional food supplement which we were able to deliver to various locations with our Quest Kodiak.

The Cessna 310 was used for smaller loads and crew supplies.

Supplies for the YWAM team and the orphanage in Beira

It seemed to take a while, but eventually we began to see the international aid community pitch up with some serious heavy metal. The usually quiet airport in Beira has turned into something of a plane spotters paradise.

The Royal Air Force with an A400M

A ridiculously big (and noisy) Antonov 124.

That's a slim looking Boeing 747 cargo in the background

Paul talked his way onto a USAF Hercules and an Antonov 12 - very Russian and quite scary!

Much of the water has receded now and the initial rescue operation has moved into a relief mode. The need for flying is still as great as ever and the battle is now as much with malaria and cholera as it is with hunger and shelter. Food and non food items are being airlifted daily.

Cathy and I will go up again this week to take food supplements and then again next week to work in a field hospital set up near the recently cleared Buzi airstrip in one of the worst affected areas.

Thank you

Paul and Cathy

A short history of us

Not long after we were married we felt that God had some full time work for us overseas. This initially began with a move to Sheffield in 1992 to work for a Christian management training company. Three years later we felt the Lord's prompting that another change was imminent and this led to a move to Africa where we helped set up a youth program with the Lesotho-Durham link in the capital Maseru. An initial three year commitment turned into four after which the youth work was handed over to the nationals.

Then, after feeling God was moving us into mission flying Paul enrolled at a flying school and completed his South African commercial license with an instrument rating in December 1999.

We moved from Lesotho to White River in South Africa in June of 2003 where we now work with Mercy Air. Mercy Air was borne out of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and is a sister, although smaller organisation to the more well known Mercy Ships. We are situated near Nelspruit and provide a service to missions and the development/aid community in the southern African region but mainly serve Mozambique.

We operate four aircraft at present - a Quest Kodiak, a Cessna 310 and two Airbus 350 helicopters which are often used for the relief flights.

When not flying Paul is responsible for flight operations and is Mercy Air's Safety Officer.

Cathy, who is a registered Nurse and Midwife works part time at Africa School of Missions which is a bible college preparing missionaries for overseas service. She teaches in their School of Health and is part of a team which visits a number of rural clinics during the week. She is also helps with the hospitality ministry that Mercy Air runs.

Matthew spent four years at Rhodes University in Grahamstown where he studied photo journalism. He has now flown the nest and is living with his wife in Durban. They have a young daughter named Isabella.