Mission Aviation Fellowship bringing vital healthcare to Chad

Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot Patrick Keller recently flew a medical team to Salal, Chad, where 275 patients were able to receive medical treatment in an area with sparse healthcare provision.

It was the sixth visit for Dr Roy Jones and his wife Jane who were accompanied by a small team. They spent 10 days working in the government clinic in Salal, where healthcare is extremely limited and a doctor is rarely available.

Salal is a small, isolated town of around only 550 people, with a further 8,000 people living within a 9-mile radius. The desert climate causes frequent sandstorms.

Joined in Salal by two nurses, the team treated patients with a variety of aches and pains. An ophthalmic nurse also accompanied them and helped treat patients with eye problems.

An interpreter helped translate for the team and also for a vet, visiting Salal to find out how best to help people look after their camels and other animals. He plans to visit the area regularly.

The interpreter also had his own project, bringing 30 trees to plant. There are few trees in the area and he intends to live in Salal for several months to cultivate them, reports Mission Aviation Fellowship.

One patient came to the clinic with a tongue so swollen that she was unable to swallow anything. It seemed she had had a severe reaction to sitting over a perfumed smoking fire.

Dr Jones explained, "Except for her head she had been totally covered by an animal skin 'tent' so that the smoke purified her body. This is often practiced and, evidently, when she had done it in the past her tongue had swollen but not to the same degree.

"This time it had also led to a throat infection which was why she had arrived with the symptoms of dehydration, fever and swollen glands and tongue."

After being put on a drip and given antibiotics, she started to recover, and Dr Jones was able to leave medication at the clinic, which will help the nurses who usually have very few supplies.

Roy and Jane shared, "We were extremely grateful to be able to travel for just 1 hour 20 minutes by plane, and express our sincere appreciation to MAF for all their help and support."

Mission Aviation Fellowship was formed in 1945, and is a Christian organisation whose mission is to use light aircraft in developing countries so that people in remote areas can receive the help they need.

With over 130 aircraft flying in more than 35 countries, every three minutes an MAF plane is taking off or landing, bringing physical and spiritual care where flying is not a luxury, but a lifeline.