Our new normal

June 22, 2020 Grant Strugnell

COVID-19 has obviously affected life for everyone. I wanted to take a moment in this blog to share a few day to day happenings around the Strugnell household in a COVID world.

Our MAF team is divided into two teams. Two pilots on each, with the idea that if someone gets sick, the other team is completely separated and can keep working. I am on the ‘Operations’ team, as opposed to the ‘Mechanics’ team. That means either 2 or 3 days a week I am on-call, and the other days I am working from home. Lately we have had a good amount of scheduled flying, meaning a few of those days every week I am going to the hangar to do normal flights as well.

Emily and Jane are at home. Jane’s school remains closed and probably will be until at least after the winter holidays that end in August (is that confusing if you are American? Yes, winter holidays ending in August!)

When I wake up, the first thing on my mind is always a panicked ‘is the coal stove still alight?’ Our house is warmed in winter by an anthracite burning stove. I love this thing, but if you look at it wrong it can go out! Each one has a personality and demands that you treat it exactly right in order for it to provide you with a constant supply of heat. Outside temps at night get below freezing, and inside doesn't stay much warmer if it wasn't for the stove. So, I wake up, stoke the stove and refill it, and then get the coffee pot on.

Jane has really been having fun learning about Lego

Jane and Emily soon arise from the cold side of the house and gather by the stove. It usually doesn't take Jane long to wander over to our living room area to start piecing together a new Lego creation. Since lockdown, we have essentially turned our living room into a full time building area. Jane and I spend lots of time there, making whatever new idea comes to mind.

At some point after breakfast, Emily gets Jane going on some work that her school has been sending. Basic math, writing and coloring flags of African nations. Jane usually fights it for a while and ultimately gives in and does it.

Emily’s day is a dance of constant interruptions and divided attention. Jane’s school, the usual housework, and Pulane Children’s Centre management. That last point shouldn’t be understated. Sometimes I don't even realize how much information she is getting from our staff looking for advice and direction: What should the do about this sick child, for example? Well, for Emily that involves asking all the details, then relaying that to our doctor friend who freely offers advice, and getting that back to the staff in a way that they can act on with their limited resources. That’s just one example. She is always helping the staff make plans, work with the budget, solve problems and offer fresh advice. While the staff do a great job, I know they appreciate Emily’s reassuring guidance on a daily basis.

Between Emily and I, we also do the accounts for PCC, and work with donors and supporters. The Trust that Emily directs actually oversees 4 projects: Pulane Children’s Centre, Thuto Shepherd School, Thuso education fund and the Semonkong sponsorship program supporting older people in the Semonkong area. The trust is in charge of all 4 projects, and while PCC takes up the bulk of the time, the other 3 are financially managed by us.

When I work from home I am typically working on maintaining our safety systems at MAF. That means looking at problems that have been identified in the last few months, and figuring out ways to mitigate the risks on those. Often that involves working on new procedures, improving systems that we use, or taking action on things that need improvement, like working on our airstrips.

At some point in the day, we get out into the sunny big yard we have, and get some jumping in on the trampoline. We are so grateful for our huge garden!

Grateful to have a treadmill for late workouts

Grocery shopping has been an event since Covid-19. While it’s getting better, there was a period where it was hard to get certain items. On a day that I’m not on call, Emily will go and do our shopping. Usually it also involves getting supplies or medications for PCC as well, and so the shopping trip is usually a few hour endeavor.

As the day winds down, Emily and I try and get some home-based exercise done, which is a great way to unwind and warm up!

At first it was hard to adjust to the new normal, having Jane at home full time and not being able to visit friends. However, as the weeks go by we feel more and more how this is now a new baseline, and anything extra we get to do is a bonus. The South African border remains closed, so we are not able to travel to larger cities like Bloemfontein for specific supplies, and that, as well as not seeing friends or family, feels like the biggest and hardest change.

We are certainly not in a position to complain, and we are grateful that we have so much access to things here in Maseru. So, settling into a new normal is really not a big ask if it helps to keep us and others safer.

Pulane Children's Centre news update

June 14, 2020 Grant Strugnell

Click here to be redirected to PCC’s news page.

News written by Emily.

Proactive safety

June 10, 2020 Grant Strugnell

One of the things that makes it tough operating in the environments where MAF serves, is the type of places we need to get the aircraft into. Accessing remote locations, which is one of MAF’s primary objectives, means that airstrips are often in interesting spots.

Some of ours in Lesotho are parallel to the mountains, perched on top of the one level piece of land in the area. Others are built 90 degrees to the mountain, because it was the only place long enough and flat enough. Some are down in valleys, with mountains all around, while others are at the end of a valley, with one way in and one way out. The point is, usually the most interesting and challenging part of the flight is the landing phase.

As such, it’s important that our airstrips are kept in as good a condition as possible. We have certain standards that have to be reached in order to give the pilot every advantage possible when landing. We need standard windsocks, clear white markers where the runway starts and ends, as well as MAF required 50% and 75% distance markers to help us evaluate performance.

As you can imagine, over time these need to be replaced, painted and fixed-up. MAF allocated funds for safety expenditure, and in Lesotho we have chosen this year to prioritize getting all our airstrips fixed-up to above the minimum standard.

Last week, our Chief Pilot Bryan and I took an aircraft loaded up with paint, tools and new windsocks, for a 2 day trip to work on our highest priority airstrips.

We had a very successful time. Working alongside local villagers and shepherds, we replaced 5 windsocks, used 80 liters of white paint, cut grass and replaced signs, to get our airstrips looking shiny and new.

We spent the night camping next to the airplane in one of the most scenic spots I could imagine.

Here are a few pictures to help paint the picture.

Fixing windsock

Windsock sleeping bag?

Kids getting involved

Matekane, one of our most scenic

Overnight stop

Fresh white paint

Painting in progress

Preparing for winter

May 11, 2020 Grant Strugnell

After landing at a remote mountain village last week delivering gas for winter heating, I asked the nurse how cold it had been getting. By his response it was clear that winter was there, and the mountains had decided to skip the unnecessary season of fall and get straight to the point.

He asked what it was like in countries like North America with all the snow and extreme cold in winter, and with my answer (very cold, but you are always warm when inside) I was reminded at the difference between an African winter and a ‘Western’ one: While Africa doesn't reach the -40 deg temps that Minnesota reaches, it does get below zero inside and outside, and that makes all the difference. Sometimes in Africa it seems like you are cold all winter, especially the people in the mountains.

A young shepherd sitting close by to watch the airplane at Semenanyane

There has been a lot going on in the world over the last 2 months. But in the remote mountains, it feels like life as normal. This is probably because they are remote enough that COVID isn't yet a high level concern. It could also be that they have regular day-to-day survival on their mind. Life in the mountains with winter approaching is a tough time. Crops are usually being harvested and stored, with the harvesting taking up long days for whole villages.

Unloading cleaning supplies, gas and clinic supplies

The lockdown in Lesotho has caused everything to slow down. The government department that we fly for, the Department of Health, has also seen a slowing down of their work, as they are restricted like the rest of the world with working from home. As such, we have just being doing emergency and high priority flights. In the last two weeks however, as the most remote clinics get ready for winter, we have had a number of high priority cargo flights.

We can get 3 of the 96kg gas bottles in the back of the C206.

We essentially fill up the plane with as much cargo as we can. This is usually a combination of 96kg (211 pound) LP gas bottles and clinic supplies including drugs and day-to-day necessities. Some places are so remote that we even fly wood and coal to them, as it's the only way to get access to that kind of heating fuel.

I enjoy these flights because I get to be the sole occupant of the plane, and it gives me a chance to review emergency procedures, and practice some vital skills that passengers don't usually enjoy very much! I also get to do something very practical in delivering much needed supplies to the remote communities.