Submitted by Michaela Sholes
The next round of ETCHE drops were a success and we are thankful to have our brave pilots safely back on the airfield after playing a game of chicken with some looming thunderclouds! The calls have already started, as communities let us know they have received the packages and ask any questions they might have regarding the information inside. I love hearing the enthusiasm in their voices as they tell us how they were able to use the information from the last drop and then what they are looking forward to in this one! We really do have a great team of communities who are passionate about what they do and are willing to share their thoughts and suggestions with us. 
We have noticed that some community reps do take their roles particularly seriously, which leads to some interesting challenges at times... I received a somewhat frantic call this morning from a community rep, telling me that a person from his community had located the bag before him, but instead of bringing it to him or the Queen Mother as is typical, the person took it into their house and hid it and wasn't giving it to him! He proceeded to ask me very kindly if the airplane wouldn't mind bringing him another one tomorrow? I had to explain to him that it might be a more effective idea to go talk to the person and find out what was behind the rather odd behavior. He agreed that that might be a workable solution, and called me later to tell me that he and a representative from the chief had gone to talk with the person and had gotten it sorted out in the end.During this run the pilots reported a greater number of well wishers than usual. At one village the young people lined up and held their hands up ready to catch the drop. In all villages the welcoming broad white smiles glistened as they were directed skywards. The crew can feel the changes in the communities - positive changes - changes that lead us to believe that there is a growing enthusiasm for learning more about health education.
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