Mission pilot Matt Marples explains how the MAF flights bringing babies to the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda are what he calls 'maximum effort days.'
‘I had seventeen souls onboard as I departed Juba. You would be hard pressed to get more than that in a Cessna Caravan,’ Matt Marples laughs, recalling his flight to Tororo carrying babies with neurological conditions for the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda.
‘Half of the passengers are babies held on laps,’ Matt explains. ‘If you use the standard body weights in the planning – it looks like you are overweight by several hundred kilos – but I’ve closed the doors on both flights I’ve done so far, with weight to spare! The mothers show up small, with hardly any bags.’
The light load allows Matt to carry extra fuel for the roundtrip - saving time and giving him the extra margin he needs. Delays, due to weather, bureaucracy and operational reasons, are inevitably part of the process for pragmatic Matt who, describes the flights as ‘impactful work, but maximum effort days!’
Knowing what’s ahead for his passengers, babies at different stage of hydrocephalus – both early and late diagnosis - Matt tries to ensure things go as smoothly as possible.
‘When I first started flying these patients, I did a bit of research about hydrocephalus, it is eminently treatable – but your quality of life without treatment is horrible,’ he explains.
'The cost of having surgery like this in Juba is so prohibitive that it effectively can’t be done. If that was the only option for the families, it would be very desperate for them. I can imagine, quite vividly, how those families must feel.’
After everyone is on board, a local translator ensures the passengers understand the safety briefing. For most of the women this is the first time they’ve ever flown in a plane.
‘Most of the people that we fly are from quite remote areas so most of them don’t speak English. Trying to communicate with them can be quite a challenge!’ Matt confirms, eager to serve the families the best he can.
‘My youngest son is 5 months old, the age of some of the babies we fly. I can’t imagine how helpless I would feel if he were desperately ill, and there was nothing I could do about it, because the treatment was not available, or too expensive for me to afford. If someone came to me to say: “I can fix him!” It would be a huge weight lifted.
The families are cared for, from the moment they leave Juba until they have recovered from surgery in the paediatric intensive care ward at the CURE Children’s hospital of Uganda. Treatment is provided at no extra cost to families to give the children the best chance possible to live and thrive. OVCI – La Nostra Famiglia’s Usratuna Center in Juba is an essential part of their ongoing care when they return.
It is the second flight Matt has done to bringing babies to the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda.
His first flight with patients was right up to the wire.
‘I had an hour and a half wiggle room if I was going to make it back before last landing time. I’d used up an hour of my margin by the time I left Juba – and lost the remaining thirty minutes clearing customs in Arua!’ Matt says.
‘I made some careful calculations. I picked the exact altitude where I had the right performance and the right direction of wind. If I’d picked the altitude higher or the altitude lower, I wouldn’t have made it back it time.
‘I was fighting some crazy weather, and pulling out every trick I learnt ever, to make the flight run according to plan. I landed at 4.50pm – ten minutes before last landing. It was a real fine pencil day!’
The ability to manage unforeseen circumstances – and learn from them is an essential skill for a MAF pilot.
‘Having done the previous flight, I had a better idea of what to expect this time. I knew where the issues are going to arise and was mentally ready and able to plan accordingly.’
‘This time of year, you have weather against you. We spent quite a bit of time dodging thunderstorms to make the journey as comfortable as possible for the ladies.’
‘As a pilot, I like this project a lot. It’s really easy to see the impact and a really a good reminder of why we are here in South Sudan and what we are here to do. This work slots really nicely into the core of what MAF is. I think all three of our aims of bringing help, hope and healing are fulfilled in this work,’ Matt says.
STORY / SEAN ATKINS PHOTOS / JENNY DAVIES