Sometimes it feels like I don’t have any news to share about what has been going on here in Lesotho, but then I look back to our last newsletter and realize there are things to share.
Our last significant update explained the transition we were making with Pulane Children’s Centre. We are very pleased to say that Lineo, Rob and the team who have stepped into our shoes are doing a wonderful job, despite the steep learning curve.
Lineo focuses on using her strengths in her management role. She is so good at making connections with the local staff: encouraging, mentoring, and leading them to continue doing the wonderful job they have been doing. She is such an asset when it comes to understanding child care in the local Basotho context. As expected she is doing things we just didn’t have the knowledge or training to do.
Rob and his leadership team from Liberty Church are likewise doing a great job of staying connected with Lineo to ensure she has all she needs to do her work well.
It is encouraging to see that in the 6 months since we began the transition, the new team is already building on what PCC has been doing over the last 15 years and is taking it to new and exciting places.
At MAF we have not been immune to change. In February, Matthew, our Country Director (the manager of the program here) and his family, moved back to the USA after being in Lesotho for over 10 years. Having older children they reached the stage of needing better schooling options, and so their time in Lesotho came to a close.
This leaves our program with just 4 pilots, one of whom is new and is doing training with me at the moment. Sharing the Country Director’s tasks between those of us holding other positions has added quite a bit to our workload. I now find myself in the role of Director of Operations (in charge of keeping the flying operations running smoothly), Chief Pilot (in charge of all local training for pilots and ground crew) and now about 1/3rd Country Director, taking on some management jobs as needed.
Despite this workload, our program is still doing a good job to meet the needs of our client, the Lesotho Flying Doctors, and doing so safely.
Over the next few months my focus will be to train Luke, our new pilot (pictured above fixing windsocks), and get him flying solo safely and confidently. Having him able to do solo flights will really help ease the load on the other pilots.
In February I spend a few weeks at our HQ in Idaho doing some training to make sure I am up to standard as an instructor pilot. I had a good time and got to focus on retuning my skills from the right hand seat. While I was away Emily’s mom and stepdad, Deb and Duane, visited and kept her and Jane company and helped out with day to day life. We are so grateful to them for the help. Duane impressed many of our Basotho co-workers with how hard he can work on handyman fixing jobs!
Jane is halfway through 3rd grade and continues to enjoy school. Usually the highlight of her week is on a Tuesday afternoon going across the border to South Africa where she attends a gymnastics class. She really has fun and loves it!
Lastly, we have been a little extra busy lately as we prepare to move houses. We have stayed in this MAF house for the last 6 years, but unfortunately it continues to have a significant problem with its underground sewage system. Years ago the water and sanitation company put in a ‘temporary’ diversion, which routes the whole neighborhood’s sewage through our tiny backyard pipe system. It often gets blocked and has become a health issue for us, with no signs that the temporary diversion will ever get properly fixed. As such, we are preparing to move into the house the Country Director just moved out of, just as soon as a few repair jobs are complete.