Morulem, Northern Uganda

Last Saturday Simon was flying up some freight (salt, soap and mosquito nets) to Morulem which was requested by a Japanese Doctor working in the area for a short time. This doctor is a nerve specialist working in one of the main hospitals here in Kampala. He committed to working for a year in Uganda whilst his family remained back in Japan.

Simon thought this would be a good opportunity for Joshua to go along with him as it wasn't a long flight plus the second flight wouldn't have any other passengers just freight. Joshua, Zara and I drove out to Kajjansi to meet Simon for his second flight. Joshua was really excited about flying with his Dad. Before I knew it Zara was all excited too and wanted to join her big brother. So it ended up that we all went on the flight. It was supposed to be an hour long but ended up being a lot more than that due to a strong head wind. Joshua was up front with Simon acting as co-pilot while Zara and I were behind playing games. One of them being looking for crocodiles in one of the rivers far below....there were a few objects that looked like crocodiles but they could have been a few other things too.

When we arrived at Morulem we were greeted, as usual, by a crowd of people. Joshua and Zara were the star attractions of the visit as the people pointed and wanted to touch them. Joshua is not into big crowds so he was quite happy to stay in the security of the plane. Zara, on the other hand, waved at the crowd and laughed with them. She was quite the character and would have been swamped if she had come further out the doorway. Simon allowed some of the children on the plane so they could see what it was like and one boy even had his photo taken. It is quite the highlight of the day when a plane lands at the airstrip.

The Dr. was overjoyed to see us come and couldn't help thanking us for the work that MAF does. He said that he had visited all the people that morning that he was going to distribute the soap, salt and mosquito nets to. The distribution would happen that afternoon to about 300 families if I remember rightly.

These supplies that the Dr. had purchased would not have made it up to Morulem any other way that day because of the recent flooding with roads impassable and collapsed bridges. It was a joy to go on a flight again and see the difference that MAF makes here in Uganda as well as all the places round the world.

(Sorry for the lack of photos to back this story up....we left the camera at home due to the fact that we though it was only Simon and Joshua going on the flight....maybe next time :))