Recently Flying Mission Zambia Chief Pilot, Rick Rempel, organised a 3-plane flight to the village of WAKA WAKA. A group of doctors and dentists from Singapore needed transport to this faraway rural place in Eastern Province, where they planned to help out in their various fields of expertise. Rick tells us:

Our passengers flew into Lusaka International Airport in the afternoon. Then they transferred from the ‘big bird’ to our little Cessnas

It is the time of year in many parts of the world when the crops have been harvested and the ground is being prepared for fresh seed to be sown. At Chilongolo, Flying Mission Zambia base, the workers are busy getting their portions of land ready.

FMZ takes its responsibility to its workers seriously. They each have an allocation of ground and seed as part of their wage so that they can manage to feed their families during the coming year.

Do you recall reading about a 12 year old called Nicole on these pages? (Read that story in 'Children helping Children'). We wrote about a special birthday she had. She invited MK (Mission Kid) EvaLynn Lott to her party and together all of her friends finished up donating 100 lap boards to the Rainbow Kids who meet weekly at Chilongolo, Flying Mission Zambia base, near to Lusaka. (You can read about them in a number of the web page stories of Flying Mission Zambia. They crop up everywhere!)

Don't be taken in by the flowery pattern: these boots are no fashion accessory! Anyone who has been in 'red-earth' Africa in the rainy season knows well the terror of mud. German-born, Portuguese-dwelling volunteer Bärbel Kautz has already had experience of it in Lesotho. It sticks like glue and won't let your feet go!

Faith Solt, wife of FMZ pilot, John:

Thud, thud, thud. 'That rain sounds really loud.'

I looked out the window and it was hailing. 'I am in Africa, aren't I?'

Oh my! John is flying and on his way back.

After praying for protection, I checked on Spidertracks, the internet flight-following programme that tracks the postion of our planes.

This contribution comes from Ross Wilson, age 6, with a little help from his Dad, Bryan. Bryan is Director of Flying Mission Zambia: 

My Daddy flies people all around Zambia, which means he is away from home a lot.  I don’t like that! It means he is not home to play cricket or swim with me in the afternoon when I get home from school.  Last week Daddy said I could come along on a long flight, way up into the corner of Zambia.  We would get to stay the night at the game farm close to the airstrip then bring some people back the next day.

This is Prince. He boards at MICS, the community school in Macha, rural Zambia. He needs a suitable wheel chair to use around rough-ground Macha. An organisation has kindly donated one. It is in a container in the US of A. It can't be shipped till there are funds. Until it comes, Prince is having great difficulty wheeling around the village and school complex.

Director of MICS, Ronda Krause, says this: