A quiet day at the airfield, but we did get to fly out to check on the progress at Battorkope ready for a landing.... it was a shock - the water level is rising fast and unless they hurry up there will not be enough land left to land on this side of the new year. The water is considerably higher than this time last year and despite our warnings the folks there simply do not believe that the levels will be allowed to do the same as last year....
Back at the airfield, work progresses in the workshop as we undertake essential maintenance.... with some hornet stings to boot!
We hope to be able to land this week at Battorkope... but it is looking not promising.... Approvals for Kete Krachi are needed before we can land there again, and they are still not forthcoming...
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Pilot swimming lessons
Since the AvTech Academy had not officially started, I took the girls swimming at a public pool in a nearby town this week. Now, what sounds like a fun holiday activity – and a cool refreshment from the heat – was actually driven by more serious means: "Learning to swim is good for some of the things we do," says Emmanuella, "like Search And Rescue and flying of the float plane". "And in case of an emergency on water, I can safe my life and that of others” adds Juliet. Hence, It is a strong and inevitable necessity to teach our young future Ghanaian pilots to survive and swim.
Now, while most of us had to be able to prove our swimming skills in Junior High at the latest, swimming is not part of the Ghanaian school curriculum at any stage. Having a large population living around the Volta lake, not to mention those making their daily income on the lake – this bears a high risk of preventable casualties – if only they could swim. In fact, many fishermen cannot swim. Some might have an idea on how to keep their head above the water surface, with techniques that do not necessarily fall under typical, non-exhausting, “swimming”.
Just last week, a heavily overloaded boat sunk not far from Kete Krachi. After hitting a tree stump in the Lake, leading to the capsizing of the boat, and a death toll of around 25, with one person still missing. This unfortunately proves, how a few lessons of the right swimming techniques and improvements of skills (and the adherence to safety on and around water, including the use of life vests), can save lives.
Before starting to work on the girls’ techniques, I asked the girls what they had been shown, seen or tried before regarding swimming. I don’t think “doggy paddle” has made it yet to become a category for the Olympics, has it? We started with the basics of breast stroke: I did some “dry” illustrations, laying on the pool’s edge, to show the movements of legs and arms.
Because of her arm, Lydia could not participate in these lessons – yet. She said "I am a little bit jealous to see what Juliet and Emmanuella are learning, and I cannot practice with them". But she enjoyed watching the girls struggle with their coordination and kept herself busy with splashing water at us, while knowing we couldn’t do the same to her.
Since we were in the shallow pool of standing depth, none of the girls were at risk of drowning and we did some separate practices on arm movements while sitting in the water as well as separate leg movements whilst holding on to the edge. Bringing those movements together was the tricky part.
I took each of the girls on rounds and laps, up and down the pool, holding my supporting hand just beneath their belly to keep them evenly leveled below the water surface. Without the right body tension, there was significant drag under the water; without coordinated movement of legs and arms, their bodies moved unevenly up and down like a boat in a storm, splashing water into their faces and causing abrupt cessation of forward movements. But after a while, both Juliet and Emmanuella, had their “ahhaaa” effect: Keeping your fingers closed gives much more surface to push the water away and move forward; pushing water not only sideward but downwards gives extra lift to keep the head over water; keeping legs and feet under water (or trying to do so), causes less disturbing waves and water splashes – and if all movements are aligned, it is pretty easy to move forward without swallowing water.
However, the ‘coordination and alignment’ is where we will have to pick up our next lesson. While guiding the girls through the pool, I gave them tips here and there. Whenever it was related to the arms or hands, all leg movements stopped. Same when I was guiding their legs, the arms went to almost standstill.
I hope during the next lesson, the girls will gain the confidence and techniques to be able to swim around the pool without a safety hand. And I hope that we can start with crawl strokes – this will be an interesting challenge, since the girls will have to deliberately put their faces into the water…
Submitted by: Jennifer Joksch
Now, while most of us had to be able to prove our swimming skills in Junior High at the latest, swimming is not part of the Ghanaian school curriculum at any stage. Having a large population living around the Volta lake, not to mention those making their daily income on the lake – this bears a high risk of preventable casualties – if only they could swim. In fact, many fishermen cannot swim. Some might have an idea on how to keep their head above the water surface, with techniques that do not necessarily fall under typical, non-exhausting, “swimming”.
Just last week, a heavily overloaded boat sunk not far from Kete Krachi. After hitting a tree stump in the Lake, leading to the capsizing of the boat, and a death toll of around 25, with one person still missing. This unfortunately proves, how a few lessons of the right swimming techniques and improvements of skills (and the adherence to safety on and around water, including the use of life vests), can save lives.
Before starting to work on the girls’ techniques, I asked the girls what they had been shown, seen or tried before regarding swimming. I don’t think “doggy paddle” has made it yet to become a category for the Olympics, has it? We started with the basics of breast stroke: I did some “dry” illustrations, laying on the pool’s edge, to show the movements of legs and arms.
Because of her arm, Lydia could not participate in these lessons – yet. She said "I am a little bit jealous to see what Juliet and Emmanuella are learning, and I cannot practice with them". But she enjoyed watching the girls struggle with their coordination and kept herself busy with splashing water at us, while knowing we couldn’t do the same to her.
Since we were in the shallow pool of standing depth, none of the girls were at risk of drowning and we did some separate practices on arm movements while sitting in the water as well as separate leg movements whilst holding on to the edge. Bringing those movements together was the tricky part.
I took each of the girls on rounds and laps, up and down the pool, holding my supporting hand just beneath their belly to keep them evenly leveled below the water surface. Without the right body tension, there was significant drag under the water; without coordinated movement of legs and arms, their bodies moved unevenly up and down like a boat in a storm, splashing water into their faces and causing abrupt cessation of forward movements. But after a while, both Juliet and Emmanuella, had their “ahhaaa” effect: Keeping your fingers closed gives much more surface to push the water away and move forward; pushing water not only sideward but downwards gives extra lift to keep the head over water; keeping legs and feet under water (or trying to do so), causes less disturbing waves and water splashes – and if all movements are aligned, it is pretty easy to move forward without swallowing water.
However, the ‘coordination and alignment’ is where we will have to pick up our next lesson. While guiding the girls through the pool, I gave them tips here and there. Whenever it was related to the arms or hands, all leg movements stopped. Same when I was guiding their legs, the arms went to almost standstill.
I hope during the next lesson, the girls will gain the confidence and techniques to be able to swim around the pool without a safety hand. And I hope that we can start with crawl strokes – this will be an interesting challenge, since the girls will have to deliberately put their faces into the water…
Submitted by: Jennifer Joksch
Monday, September 12, 2011
Fulani report September 12, 2011.
Submitted by Cindy Gracelyn Yeboah
With a new week came another wonderful class with the students at the Fulani camp! Despite the fact that the adults were unable to attend this week, I was encouraged to have the children to teach at the center. We are so thankful to have the opportunity to work with this community to take charge of their own health and even though we recognize that sustainable change is a gradual process, we are optimistic when looking at how far we have come and the lives impacted already.
As the focus this week was infection control, I introduced the children to small behavior changes in their daily routines to help them avoid potential infections. Many of the behavior changes discussed only require minimal effort and thus encourage sustainability. In this type of environment, small changes have the potential to be a catalyst and affect a much larger picture. Some of the topics we addressed are included below:
· Dental Hygiene: I encouraged the children to make an effort to clean their teeth at least twice a day in order to promote oral health. Children here in Ghana often struggle in the absence of regular visits to the dentist and these small efforts help prevent loss of teeth as a result of tooth decay and other dental disorders.
· Maintenance of their fingernails: The children in the Fulani camp, like many normal children, engage in activities such as climbing trees, playing in the sand, and chasing each other. They are also exposed to environmental factors like cow dung in their living areas due to the camp nature of their community. In order to minimize the effect of germs collecting beneath their nails, I expressed to the children in particular to keep their fingernails cut short. In addition to the germs beneath their nails, longer nails also have the potential to create scratches which can lead to infection.
· Proper Hand-Washing: I explained to the children the need to wash their hands with soap and clean water as often as possible in a day. Hand-washing should be thorough and done long enough to get rid of the germs between the fingers and underneath the fingernails.
· Environmental Maintenance: I discussed with the children about keeping their environment as clean as possible and, in particular, avoiding the rampant cow dung (which they see as harmless). Ideally, their compounds should be swept and kept clean of debris, thus limiting exposure to germs or potential injuries from the debris and cow dung. Due to specific local beliefs regarding the use of cow dung, I felt it necessary to emphasize that cow dung should not be used for the treatment of any insect bites or wounds.
· Appropriate Footwear: Our last topic focused on the need for the children to wear appropriate footwear at all times, but this is somewhat of a difficult topic. Most of the children walk through the bush in order to reach the center, but without any footwear to protect their feet. Wearing closed shoes can protect the children from being stung by poisonous insects or from being pricked by rusted metal pieces, tree branches, and other things laying about the environment that could easily cause wounds and infections.
Next week, we will continue to discuss good health practices with the students and I hope to see more of the adults and older students back to class.
With a new week came another wonderful class with the students at the Fulani camp! Despite the fact that the adults were unable to attend this week, I was encouraged to have the children to teach at the center. We are so thankful to have the opportunity to work with this community to take charge of their own health and even though we recognize that sustainable change is a gradual process, we are optimistic when looking at how far we have come and the lives impacted already.
As the focus this week was infection control, I introduced the children to small behavior changes in their daily routines to help them avoid potential infections. Many of the behavior changes discussed only require minimal effort and thus encourage sustainability. In this type of environment, small changes have the potential to be a catalyst and affect a much larger picture. Some of the topics we addressed are included below:
· Dental Hygiene: I encouraged the children to make an effort to clean their teeth at least twice a day in order to promote oral health. Children here in Ghana often struggle in the absence of regular visits to the dentist and these small efforts help prevent loss of teeth as a result of tooth decay and other dental disorders.
· Maintenance of their fingernails: The children in the Fulani camp, like many normal children, engage in activities such as climbing trees, playing in the sand, and chasing each other. They are also exposed to environmental factors like cow dung in their living areas due to the camp nature of their community. In order to minimize the effect of germs collecting beneath their nails, I expressed to the children in particular to keep their fingernails cut short. In addition to the germs beneath their nails, longer nails also have the potential to create scratches which can lead to infection.
· Proper Hand-Washing: I explained to the children the need to wash their hands with soap and clean water as often as possible in a day. Hand-washing should be thorough and done long enough to get rid of the germs between the fingers and underneath the fingernails.
· Environmental Maintenance: I discussed with the children about keeping their environment as clean as possible and, in particular, avoiding the rampant cow dung (which they see as harmless). Ideally, their compounds should be swept and kept clean of debris, thus limiting exposure to germs or potential injuries from the debris and cow dung. Due to specific local beliefs regarding the use of cow dung, I felt it necessary to emphasize that cow dung should not be used for the treatment of any insect bites or wounds.
· Appropriate Footwear: Our last topic focused on the need for the children to wear appropriate footwear at all times, but this is somewhat of a difficult topic. Most of the children walk through the bush in order to reach the center, but without any footwear to protect their feet. Wearing closed shoes can protect the children from being stung by poisonous insects or from being pricked by rusted metal pieces, tree branches, and other things laying about the environment that could easily cause wounds and infections.
Next week, we will continue to discuss good health practices with the students and I hope to see more of the adults and older students back to class.
Sene river incident
On Tuesday 6th September 2011, during the night, a canoe sank along the River Sene, one of the tributaries to Lake Volta, within the 'Lake Dwellers' zone we are keen to support.
The site of the accident turned out to be just 25km from Kete Krachi airstrip, the site we have been pushing to open for a long time (nearly 3 years). The Krachi Strip is quite usable, but is not yet authorised for service, due to delays in the inspection of the facility, since it is not easy to access.
When we heard the news of this terrible accident (at the time they estimated 35 - 50 dead), it was already nearly 20 hours after the incident, and night had fallen on Wednesday evening. THursday at first light we called NADMO (National Disaster Management Organisation) who oversee these things. We offered to fly a Search and Rescue Mission and to carry two of their people to the Kete Krachi strip, if permission to use it could be secured.
The NADMO team finally arrived at around 4pm on Thursday afternoon, too late to make the flights before sunset. It was decided that they would return the next morning at 06:00.
Two WAASPS/MoM aircraft, 9G ZKT flown by Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi and 9G ZAF flown by Jonathan Porter, each accompanied by representatives from NADMO, left Kpong Airfield on Friday 9th September 2011, routing to Kete Krachi . The girls from Kete Krachi who had already received training on airfield operations and FOD walks were asked to prepare the site for our arrival - demonstrating the key importance of training people from within the communities in case of events that require us to arrive at short notice.
Flight departure was delayed by inclement weather, finally leaving around 08:30 and dodging storms and showers to get to the site. By 10:30 we were safely on the ground at Kete Krachi. The 200km trip by air taking a little over 1hr and 30 minutes - compared to the 12+ hours by road. Reception by the youngsters who had been trained was excellent and they also provided aircraft pushing and crowd control to the highest standards.
Officials at the site arrived and gave us an indication that the accident site was ‘far’ between 50 and 100km away… we were also informed that the boat has sunk close to the shore – a matter of meters.
Based on the currents and other information, it was decided to fly the south banks of the Sene, from the headland that separates it from the Volta. Sadly little accurate information regarding sites of other body discoveries was available.
CH701 9G ZAF was used as the spotting aircraft, flown at this time by Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi with Jonathan Porter as a spotter/photographer. Sadly, we were fuel limited since there is NO suitable fuel at Krachi and our planned fuel dump there cannot be established before the approval for the site is in place. Had we had a fuel dump in place - or suitable fuel available, both aircraft could have flown the mission. Fortunately, the 701 has a 10 hour operational range on eco-cruise, making it able to operate with its own reserves.
Setting off it was quickly evident that the banks of the Sene are remarkably a) convoluted, b) debris strewn and c) hazardous in many places due to trees and stumps underwater – much of this may attributable to the recent higher than usual water levels.
After passing the 60km from Krachi point on the southern bank, the team crossed to the northern bank and headed back downstream, and finally found the accident site, 25km from Krachi on the Northern banks of the River Sene at N7 41.049 W0 15.363.
The stricken vessel was laying on a mud bank, clearly partially above the water line on its muddy standing approximately 800m from the shore, looking at the wreck we assume that it hit a stump.
No survivors nor evidence of victims was found, which was later corroborated as the unaccounted for dropped to one. (no manifests exists for these operations, and it is all based on 'casual reporting') Had we been able to get airborne and use Kete Krachi at dawn after the incident, and had we been informed, it is certain we could have done more....but the challenges in an SAR here are great....
We require more accurate information to be more productive, efficient and effective.
Location: the name of a town that is not on a map and without knowledge of the distance nor shore of the river is of little use and results in extra resources being wasted in clarifying what should be readily available.
Search and Rescue has two components – Search and, amazingly, Rescue. Aircraft are good at searching and clearing areas or spotting those in need of assistance. However, the standard method of reporting a position is by WGS84 Lat/Lon positions. Where the ground teams are not equipped with even BASIC GPS equipment or an understanding of headings and distances it becomes very difficult to share information between the search team and the rescue team; add to that the lack of 2 way radio or even reliable telephone coverage and the chances of survival, even for a spotted, injured person are very slim. We have offered to assist with GPS training and simulation exercises to NADMO.
This is a clear case where an amphibian aircraft with range would have been an asset.... but we cannot operate the fibreglass floats in that zone, it requires aluminium units with large wheels - such as the Zenair floats (which we so dearly wish to acquire - even if only on a 701 at this stage... the 801 would allow us to pick up a victim from in the water, but the cost of acquisition, transport and entry to service is considerably more.
During the SAR component of the mission , a linear track of 260km from Krachi-to-Krachi was covered. Most of the distance accounted for is due to following the convoluted coastline of the River Sene, especially over the marshy and tree-inaccessible areas. The total area covered by the flight was 316Km2 … although considerably more was observed than the encapsulated track represents.
[The SAR mission took approximately 2 hours, and the total flight time for the two aircraft for the day was around nine and a half hours, with a total distance flown of over one thousand kilometers.]
No charges were made to the authorities for this service in the interest of the people and their families who are suffering from this incident. Patricia amazed me with her ability to get in first time at the challenging strip and her flying was of the utmost accuracy throughout - MoM and WAASPS have trained a great crew who can perform, given the opportunity.
The site of the accident turned out to be just 25km from Kete Krachi airstrip, the site we have been pushing to open for a long time (nearly 3 years). The Krachi Strip is quite usable, but is not yet authorised for service, due to delays in the inspection of the facility, since it is not easy to access.
When we heard the news of this terrible accident (at the time they estimated 35 - 50 dead), it was already nearly 20 hours after the incident, and night had fallen on Wednesday evening. THursday at first light we called NADMO (National Disaster Management Organisation) who oversee these things. We offered to fly a Search and Rescue Mission and to carry two of their people to the Kete Krachi strip, if permission to use it could be secured.
The NADMO team finally arrived at around 4pm on Thursday afternoon, too late to make the flights before sunset. It was decided that they would return the next morning at 06:00.
Two WAASPS/MoM aircraft, 9G ZKT flown by Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi and 9G ZAF flown by Jonathan Porter, each accompanied by representatives from NADMO, left Kpong Airfield on Friday 9th September 2011, routing to Kete Krachi . The girls from Kete Krachi who had already received training on airfield operations and FOD walks were asked to prepare the site for our arrival - demonstrating the key importance of training people from within the communities in case of events that require us to arrive at short notice.
Flight departure was delayed by inclement weather, finally leaving around 08:30 and dodging storms and showers to get to the site. By 10:30 we were safely on the ground at Kete Krachi. The 200km trip by air taking a little over 1hr and 30 minutes - compared to the 12+ hours by road. Reception by the youngsters who had been trained was excellent and they also provided aircraft pushing and crowd control to the highest standards.
Officials at the site arrived and gave us an indication that the accident site was ‘far’ between 50 and 100km away… we were also informed that the boat has sunk close to the shore – a matter of meters.
Based on the currents and other information, it was decided to fly the south banks of the Sene, from the headland that separates it from the Volta. Sadly little accurate information regarding sites of other body discoveries was available.
CH701 9G ZAF was used as the spotting aircraft, flown at this time by Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi with Jonathan Porter as a spotter/photographer. Sadly, we were fuel limited since there is NO suitable fuel at Krachi and our planned fuel dump there cannot be established before the approval for the site is in place. Had we had a fuel dump in place - or suitable fuel available, both aircraft could have flown the mission. Fortunately, the 701 has a 10 hour operational range on eco-cruise, making it able to operate with its own reserves.
Setting off it was quickly evident that the banks of the Sene are remarkably a) convoluted, b) debris strewn and c) hazardous in many places due to trees and stumps underwater – much of this may attributable to the recent higher than usual water levels.
After passing the 60km from Krachi point on the southern bank, the team crossed to the northern bank and headed back downstream, and finally found the accident site, 25km from Krachi on the Northern banks of the River Sene at N7 41.049 W0 15.363.
The stricken vessel was laying on a mud bank, clearly partially above the water line on its muddy standing approximately 800m from the shore, looking at the wreck we assume that it hit a stump.
No survivors nor evidence of victims was found, which was later corroborated as the unaccounted for dropped to one. (no manifests exists for these operations, and it is all based on 'casual reporting') Had we been able to get airborne and use Kete Krachi at dawn after the incident, and had we been informed, it is certain we could have done more....but the challenges in an SAR here are great....
We require more accurate information to be more productive, efficient and effective.
Location: the name of a town that is not on a map and without knowledge of the distance nor shore of the river is of little use and results in extra resources being wasted in clarifying what should be readily available.
Search and Rescue has two components – Search and, amazingly, Rescue. Aircraft are good at searching and clearing areas or spotting those in need of assistance. However, the standard method of reporting a position is by WGS84 Lat/Lon positions. Where the ground teams are not equipped with even BASIC GPS equipment or an understanding of headings and distances it becomes very difficult to share information between the search team and the rescue team; add to that the lack of 2 way radio or even reliable telephone coverage and the chances of survival, even for a spotted, injured person are very slim. We have offered to assist with GPS training and simulation exercises to NADMO.
This is a clear case where an amphibian aircraft with range would have been an asset.... but we cannot operate the fibreglass floats in that zone, it requires aluminium units with large wheels - such as the Zenair floats (which we so dearly wish to acquire - even if only on a 701 at this stage... the 801 would allow us to pick up a victim from in the water, but the cost of acquisition, transport and entry to service is considerably more.
During the SAR component of the mission , a linear track of 260km from Krachi-to-Krachi was covered. Most of the distance accounted for is due to following the convoluted coastline of the River Sene, especially over the marshy and tree-inaccessible areas. The total area covered by the flight was 316Km2 … although considerably more was observed than the encapsulated track represents.
[The SAR mission took approximately 2 hours, and the total flight time for the two aircraft for the day was around nine and a half hours, with a total distance flown of over one thousand kilometers.]
No charges were made to the authorities for this service in the interest of the people and their families who are suffering from this incident. Patricia amazed me with her ability to get in first time at the challenging strip and her flying was of the utmost accuracy throughout - MoM and WAASPS have trained a great crew who can perform, given the opportunity.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Kete Krachi Girls Prepare for Re-activation of Rural Airstrip
Ghana has a growing international reputation for its growth in the light aviation sector, including having won several awards and has been the focus of several articles in the international aviation press related to the same. One of the key aspects of Ghana’s developing light aviation sector is that is led and run by principally by young Ghanaian women. Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi, who built and flew an aircraft around Ghana last year, lead a team of pilots to fly one hundred young people from rural areas in March of this year. Students for that event were hand-picked from Techiman, Kete Krachi and the Manya Krobo district.
With the advent of the re-activation of the Kete Krachi airstrip, and with the possibility of selection for a four year programme that includes learning to fly, build aircraft, computing and robotics, five Kete Krachi SHS students, who participated in the March event, have been undergoing a workshop at Kpong Airfield. Kete Krachi is a community with an aviation history dating back over fifty years. The leaders of Kete Krachi have worked hard in the rehabilitation of the airstrip, assisted by a team from Medicine on the Move and with encouragements from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority. Once the strip is approved for use, it will see regular movements, and as such the young people of the community need to learn how to care for their resources.
The ‘chosen’ girls, Freda Fafali Fiakwesi, Ellen Obimpeh, Cate Brabi, Beatrice Sarfo and Deborah Owusuwa had their transport to the event sponsored by the Volta Lake Transport Company, who clearly understand the importance of an airstrip at the mid-point of the lake. This week, each of the young aspirants has undergone an introductory flight with time on the controls of an aircraft as well as learning how to carry out the very necessary FOD (Foreign Object Debris) walks that must take place prior to air-operations at the strip in Kete Krachi. The week long programme is led by Patricia, assisted by Emmanuella Nyekodzi and Lydia Wetsi from the AvTech Academy.
One of the key aircraft that will operate to Kete Krachi is the CH801 four seat STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) aircraft currently being built in Ghana, and the girls have been involved in the production of parts for the engine cooling system called ‘baffles’. A sheet of 6061 T6 aluminium is marked out with the part outline in developed form (flat) and then carefully drilled, cut and filed to shape in preparation for bending and forming into the finished design ready for installation. According to Patricia ‘these girls are full of life; they are serious and are making excellent efforts...’ She continues ‘…considering this is the first time that they have worked with sheet metal, they are all doing really well – and will soon see the aircraft, that they have helped to manufacture parts for, flying into their community.’
The young ambassadors for the remote town are equally enthralled ‘we are learning so much and want to see our airfield being used every month – if not every week.’ they explained. Already two of the young ladies have expressed their desire to learn piloting skills and another is very interested in becoming an airborne health educator to rural communities.
The DCE for Kete Krachi, Kwame Moses Ponye has been very supportive of the initiative and has already organised community inputs to help ensure the success of their community airfield.
Once Kete Krachi is operational, movements between Kpong Airfield and the Kete Krachi facility should soon become a regular feature, opening up new potential for humanitarian aviation and many other developments.
According to Patricia, Medicine on the Move is already planning increased health education and related support activity along the lake, using land and amphibian aircraft, seeing Kete Krachi as a strategic location for safety and operational purposes. Medicine on the Move aims to help train more Ghanaians to learn to build and fly aircraft, under the regulations as laid down by Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, in conjunction with WAASPS Ltd and the AvTech Academy.
With the advent of the re-activation of the Kete Krachi airstrip, and with the possibility of selection for a four year programme that includes learning to fly, build aircraft, computing and robotics, five Kete Krachi SHS students, who participated in the March event, have been undergoing a workshop at Kpong Airfield. Kete Krachi is a community with an aviation history dating back over fifty years. The leaders of Kete Krachi have worked hard in the rehabilitation of the airstrip, assisted by a team from Medicine on the Move and with encouragements from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority. Once the strip is approved for use, it will see regular movements, and as such the young people of the community need to learn how to care for their resources.
The ‘chosen’ girls, Freda Fafali Fiakwesi, Ellen Obimpeh, Cate Brabi, Beatrice Sarfo and Deborah Owusuwa had their transport to the event sponsored by the Volta Lake Transport Company, who clearly understand the importance of an airstrip at the mid-point of the lake. This week, each of the young aspirants has undergone an introductory flight with time on the controls of an aircraft as well as learning how to carry out the very necessary FOD (Foreign Object Debris) walks that must take place prior to air-operations at the strip in Kete Krachi. The week long programme is led by Patricia, assisted by Emmanuella Nyekodzi and Lydia Wetsi from the AvTech Academy.
One of the key aircraft that will operate to Kete Krachi is the CH801 four seat STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) aircraft currently being built in Ghana, and the girls have been involved in the production of parts for the engine cooling system called ‘baffles’. A sheet of 6061 T6 aluminium is marked out with the part outline in developed form (flat) and then carefully drilled, cut and filed to shape in preparation for bending and forming into the finished design ready for installation. According to Patricia ‘these girls are full of life; they are serious and are making excellent efforts...’ She continues ‘…considering this is the first time that they have worked with sheet metal, they are all doing really well – and will soon see the aircraft, that they have helped to manufacture parts for, flying into their community.’
The young ambassadors for the remote town are equally enthralled ‘we are learning so much and want to see our airfield being used every month – if not every week.’ they explained. Already two of the young ladies have expressed their desire to learn piloting skills and another is very interested in becoming an airborne health educator to rural communities.
The DCE for Kete Krachi, Kwame Moses Ponye has been very supportive of the initiative and has already organised community inputs to help ensure the success of their community airfield.
Once Kete Krachi is operational, movements between Kpong Airfield and the Kete Krachi facility should soon become a regular feature, opening up new potential for humanitarian aviation and many other developments.
According to Patricia, Medicine on the Move is already planning increased health education and related support activity along the lake, using land and amphibian aircraft, seeing Kete Krachi as a strategic location for safety and operational purposes. Medicine on the Move aims to help train more Ghanaians to learn to build and fly aircraft, under the regulations as laid down by Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, in conjunction with WAASPS Ltd and the AvTech Academy.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Plans Change..........
As I look back at the past 18 months I can’t help but feel pretty good.
It was March 5th 2010 when I read the following post from Jonathan Porter, “As we finalize the build of the MoM 701, one of the staff went to pick some parts and got a surprise... She took hold of a lovely Royal Python...” He had my attention.
Jonathan listed a website and an address in Okwenya, Ghana West Africa. I took a look at his site and read about MoM and how training young women to build and fly airplanes was changing lives. It was at that moment I decided to stop talking about making a difference and actually do it. I decided to reach out to someone I didn’t know, to help people I’d never met in a country I had to look up on a map. I decided that I WOULD make a difference. I had some basic experience with website design so I thought that was a good place to start. It took some convincing but Jonathan agreed to let me work on his website to see if I could improve it. Since then I’ve been the MoM webmaster.
My plan was to build a site that would make Jonathan’s website duties easier and then be on my merry way. It’s not worked out that way.
It seems I’ve been adopted by the entire staff at MoM…. or have I adopted them? Either way I now have a new family that I love to hear from, worry about and delight in their successes. Just yesterday my wife and I were thrilled to hear that Lydia is now able to operate a wind up radio we bought for her as a physical therapy tool. We were very happy to have Jonathan, Patricia and Jenny in our home for their US trip and hope to see them again next year. If not we hope to see them at Kpong field in the next year or so.
I’ll be with MoM for a long time, doing what I can to make a difference. Sometimes it’s little things like posting messages for Jonathan so he has time to do more pressing things. Other times it’s contacting potential volunteers and chatting about how they can help. Every little bit helps. At the end of each day I know I’ve made a difference in the lives of countless people I’ll never know, and it feels good.
What are you doing TODAY to make a difference?
Clay Hollenback
MoM Volunteer Webmaster
It was March 5th 2010 when I read the following post from Jonathan Porter, “As we finalize the build of the MoM 701, one of the staff went to pick some parts and got a surprise... She took hold of a lovely Royal Python...” He had my attention.
Jonathan listed a website and an address in Okwenya, Ghana West Africa. I took a look at his site and read about MoM and how training young women to build and fly airplanes was changing lives. It was at that moment I decided to stop talking about making a difference and actually do it. I decided to reach out to someone I didn’t know, to help people I’d never met in a country I had to look up on a map. I decided that I WOULD make a difference. I had some basic experience with website design so I thought that was a good place to start. It took some convincing but Jonathan agreed to let me work on his website to see if I could improve it. Since then I’ve been the MoM webmaster.
My plan was to build a site that would make Jonathan’s website duties easier and then be on my merry way. It’s not worked out that way.
It seems I’ve been adopted by the entire staff at MoM…. or have I adopted them? Either way I now have a new family that I love to hear from, worry about and delight in their successes. Just yesterday my wife and I were thrilled to hear that Lydia is now able to operate a wind up radio we bought for her as a physical therapy tool. We were very happy to have Jonathan, Patricia and Jenny in our home for their US trip and hope to see them again next year. If not we hope to see them at Kpong field in the next year or so.
I’ll be with MoM for a long time, doing what I can to make a difference. Sometimes it’s little things like posting messages for Jonathan so he has time to do more pressing things. Other times it’s contacting potential volunteers and chatting about how they can help. Every little bit helps. At the end of each day I know I’ve made a difference in the lives of countless people I’ll never know, and it feels good.
What are you doing TODAY to make a difference?
Clay Hollenback
MoM Volunteer Webmaster
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A NEW COMER AND A POTENTIAL MISSION PILOT….
A young man came to the field recently. ‘I have been reading Fresh Air Matters in the Business and Financial Times’ he proclaimed. ‘I really want to learn to fly after reading your column.’ He then went on to make references from several editions going back a long way as well as recent writings. At times I wonder if writing Fresh Air Matters is a good use of my time, but I realise that it helps to shape policy and, today, that it also inspires new blood into the who concept of aviation.
We chatted about flying and he shared his ambition to be at the controls of an airplane, and that today was his birthday. We flew, and he was excited at being on the controls – I explained to him that ‘should you learn to fly, part of your money and part of your lessons go towards helping MoM to achieve its goal of changing lives one flight at a time’…. He embraced the concept, and, hopefully, will become not only a student pilot, but perhaps, one day, a mission pilot too… for this is where the seeds of success are planted. MoM’s only chance of imbuing the concept of sustainable humanitarian aviation lies in having enough young, inspired and enthusiastic African pilots and engineers, willing to give some of their time to help make it real for their own brothers and sisters.
We chatted about flying and he shared his ambition to be at the controls of an airplane, and that today was his birthday. We flew, and he was excited at being on the controls – I explained to him that ‘should you learn to fly, part of your money and part of your lessons go towards helping MoM to achieve its goal of changing lives one flight at a time’…. He embraced the concept, and, hopefully, will become not only a student pilot, but perhaps, one day, a mission pilot too… for this is where the seeds of success are planted. MoM’s only chance of imbuing the concept of sustainable humanitarian aviation lies in having enough young, inspired and enthusiastic African pilots and engineers, willing to give some of their time to help make it real for their own brothers and sisters.
Monday, September 5, 2011
The challenge of selling a concept in Africa….
Living and working in Africa is not dissimilar to being a door-to-door sales-person. You feel at times as if you are knocking on door after door and there is the this eerie silence from behind the door in one house, a wild dog at another, the man who answers the door with a hatchet in his hand, the person who opens the door and consumes your time endlessly just to have somebody to chat to, and then, out of the blue you walk down the garden path of some little cottage to be met by somebody who opens their arms, welcomes you in and sees the value of what you have to offer, and you are so grateful for that person, for that moment and so you are ready to take some more of the ‘knock and block’ days. As was once said to me, a long time ago when I actually did sell door to door, it is a numbers game. If you give up after one thousand doors, you have not knocked on enough, it is simply a matter of the number of attempts you make to bring it to fruition… Come to think of it there are few helpful phrases from those long ago days when I canvassed for double glazing and sold advertising in brochures for real estate…. Yes, I did.
Never say die, the next one will buy: This applies to the rounds we need to make to get the objectives of our mission to be ‘bought-into’ by the powers that be, and the villages that somehow manage not to want to help themselves…and the potential donors and partners…
Make a friend, make a sale: When we make friends in these communities, we actually have a better chance of selling them on the idea of health care, a friendly approach is a winning approach.
The three NOs! The first NO means, tell me some more, the second NO means hurry up, get to the point, and the third NO means, come back another day, and try again. (that is my most applied motto in this whole activity).
Getting MoM up and running is no different to being a door to door salesman, and at times we want to give up and rest our weary legs, but we know that the correct approach is one of perserverance and keeping focused on the end game, looking for that little cottage…. It is out there, and we need to keep on knocking on doors to make it happen….
Never say die, the next one will buy: This applies to the rounds we need to make to get the objectives of our mission to be ‘bought-into’ by the powers that be, and the villages that somehow manage not to want to help themselves…and the potential donors and partners…
Make a friend, make a sale: When we make friends in these communities, we actually have a better chance of selling them on the idea of health care, a friendly approach is a winning approach.
The three NOs! The first NO means, tell me some more, the second NO means hurry up, get to the point, and the third NO means, come back another day, and try again. (that is my most applied motto in this whole activity).
Getting MoM up and running is no different to being a door to door salesman, and at times we want to give up and rest our weary legs, but we know that the correct approach is one of perserverance and keeping focused on the end game, looking for that little cottage…. It is out there, and we need to keep on knocking on doors to make it happen….
Saturday, September 3, 2011
AERIAL ASSESSEMENT OF BATTORKOPE
Sat 3rd September 2011
This morning a good supporter or MoM and its concepts, Mr H, came to fly. He has not flown in a while and was happy to undertake an assessment flight to Battorkope as his lesson. We cannot get the village on the phone and we really need to assess how they are doing and how they are positioned for the forthcoming flooding of their lands. Excitedly he checked out the plane (he is close to solo, and flies really well). As we lifted off of the ground his smile beamed and the comment ‘I have missed this’ must have been uttered 100 times. We could not take a direct line to Battorkope, the relief clouds masked any clear passage, and so we headed to the North, aiming to pass through a lower valley. With the cloud base lowering the lessons for Mr H were many and he flew each section with care and attention to the little details that make flying here so challenging. A two mile deviation can save your life, literally, you have to learn how to read it all. We passed over a resettlement village and had a lively discussion about how his own tribe were displaced in his part of Africa, and how the Government resettlement villages tend tp fail to reach their intended goals and are quickly brushed under the carpet. (The people whose village is destroyed for the building of a lake are given a house in new village, with land and money for 5 years, but they rarely succeed because the ‘encouragement training’ is not there – the people are basically fobbed off with a pay-out and a lump of concrete…. Sad, but true).
We finally managed a passage through the valley and over the lower ridge into relatively clear skies, cloud base varying between 800’ and 2000’ about the surface.
Battorkope peninsular stood out. The ‘five trees’ that mark the end of their home made runway visible clearly from 5 miles away. We got closer and realised that the lake levels are really not lowering much at all – and we are still three months to ‘high water’. Judiciously they have cleared some lands where we recommended, but the majority of the planting is still in the areas that are likely to be lost in the coming months. As we flew over and around we could clearly see that people were excited to see us – but we could also see incredible amounts of debris in the water, making a water landing totally unsafe within two kilometres of the shoreline, and a water taxi in with the fibreglass floats, a non-starter. We need another solution here – we need to get the 701 and the 801 on amphibious aluminium floats, which is close to $80,000 of floats, and seems very unlikely in the next year.
Their homemade runway is pretty much usable with a couple more days of effort, but that effort cannot be made until approvals to land there can be secured. Landing in a village requires an approval. That takes time, money and the right approach by the relevant authorities – we are close, but not close enough to that becoming useable this year.
The good news is that the majority of the community is still clean and the principles upheld. We know that even just the flight over can keep the momentum going until we can get there in person.
WE may need to set a road trip there – but that is a lengthy and very dangerous drive , with no guarantee we can actually reach the community… we need to borrow somebody else’s big 4x4, and even with that it is ‘not easy’…. But we are good at not easy too!!! (Please Paul J or Martin H, can we borrow a car again, please….) Personally I cannot do the trip, my back is unable to cope with the road – so it will be down to the more able youngsters to get out and visit, and it will be a very long day out… even without incidents on the road…
We got back, and debriefed, flying an assessment mission as a cross-country exercise with a student pilot is part of the integrated approach that enable MoM to actually happen. Without its integration to WAASPS and AvTech, it really could not do very much at all. Today really cemented that component in my mind as an ‘essential link in the chain of sustainable support for ETCHE’
This morning a good supporter or MoM and its concepts, Mr H, came to fly. He has not flown in a while and was happy to undertake an assessment flight to Battorkope as his lesson. We cannot get the village on the phone and we really need to assess how they are doing and how they are positioned for the forthcoming flooding of their lands. Excitedly he checked out the plane (he is close to solo, and flies really well). As we lifted off of the ground his smile beamed and the comment ‘I have missed this’ must have been uttered 100 times. We could not take a direct line to Battorkope, the relief clouds masked any clear passage, and so we headed to the North, aiming to pass through a lower valley. With the cloud base lowering the lessons for Mr H were many and he flew each section with care and attention to the little details that make flying here so challenging. A two mile deviation can save your life, literally, you have to learn how to read it all. We passed over a resettlement village and had a lively discussion about how his own tribe were displaced in his part of Africa, and how the Government resettlement villages tend tp fail to reach their intended goals and are quickly brushed under the carpet. (The people whose village is destroyed for the building of a lake are given a house in new village, with land and money for 5 years, but they rarely succeed because the ‘encouragement training’ is not there – the people are basically fobbed off with a pay-out and a lump of concrete…. Sad, but true).
We finally managed a passage through the valley and over the lower ridge into relatively clear skies, cloud base varying between 800’ and 2000’ about the surface.
Battorkope peninsular stood out. The ‘five trees’ that mark the end of their home made runway visible clearly from 5 miles away. We got closer and realised that the lake levels are really not lowering much at all – and we are still three months to ‘high water’. Judiciously they have cleared some lands where we recommended, but the majority of the planting is still in the areas that are likely to be lost in the coming months. As we flew over and around we could clearly see that people were excited to see us – but we could also see incredible amounts of debris in the water, making a water landing totally unsafe within two kilometres of the shoreline, and a water taxi in with the fibreglass floats, a non-starter. We need another solution here – we need to get the 701 and the 801 on amphibious aluminium floats, which is close to $80,000 of floats, and seems very unlikely in the next year.
Their homemade runway is pretty much usable with a couple more days of effort, but that effort cannot be made until approvals to land there can be secured. Landing in a village requires an approval. That takes time, money and the right approach by the relevant authorities – we are close, but not close enough to that becoming useable this year.
The good news is that the majority of the community is still clean and the principles upheld. We know that even just the flight over can keep the momentum going until we can get there in person.
WE may need to set a road trip there – but that is a lengthy and very dangerous drive , with no guarantee we can actually reach the community… we need to borrow somebody else’s big 4x4, and even with that it is ‘not easy’…. But we are good at not easy too!!! (Please Paul J or Martin H, can we borrow a car again, please….) Personally I cannot do the trip, my back is unable to cope with the road – so it will be down to the more able youngsters to get out and visit, and it will be a very long day out… even without incidents on the road…
We got back, and debriefed, flying an assessment mission as a cross-country exercise with a student pilot is part of the integrated approach that enable MoM to actually happen. Without its integration to WAASPS and AvTech, it really could not do very much at all. Today really cemented that component in my mind as an ‘essential link in the chain of sustainable support for ETCHE’
Friday, September 2, 2011
No need for a Typhoon nor a hurricane…
News from friends in Taiwan about a Typhoon affecting their services and from those on the East coast about a Hurricane called Irene demonstrate how fragile our services are when it comes to the effects of weather.
Here in Ghana we do get floods storms, dust devils that can knock down a tree and other weather phenomena, but we also have the ‘power of the contractor you never saw’.
Recently, our local petrol station was refitted. Wonderful stuff, new tanks, clean fuel and forecourt to match most good stations in the world.
Then, disaster struck. Apparently there was a leak in the lines and a few thousand litres of petroleum products leaked under the forecourt.
Station closed, we drove by looking for fuel elsewhere and hoped that the whole forecourt would not ‘go up in a fireball’ as we watched the contractor back on the site, hitting the concrete with a seldge hammer and welding some stuff around the leakage areas…
Then, one happy day last week, it was announced that it was fixed. Yippee!!
Tens of thousands of litres of fresh fuel was filled into the underground storage and the station re-opened. Yesterday, Matthew went and filled the car, and got fuel for the gensets. Patricia took the Previa (limited to local runs due to its recent temperament and fuel consumption) to take the Kpong staff home. Whist she was gone the genset for the offices started to run rough and stop. ‘Oh, it needs servicing’ Matthew explained as the phone rang. Patricia was on the line saying that the Previa had stopped running suddenly and it sounded like it had compression and a spark, so she suspected fuel.
I asked what the fuel gauge read… before she could answer Matthew said, ‘I filled it this morning’. None of our minds connected the two events, not even during the ensuing recovery mission to get the Previa towed in with the reliable Truck that is now our main workhorse.
We got back after dark and all the girls had gone to the accommodation. ‘Our batteries are dead on our torches’ they complained, adding ‘and the accommodation genset is low on fuel’.
Matthew and Juliet set about filling the genset at the accommodation units and although it was empty the funnel quickly filled to overflow. Torches were brought to see what we were dealing with… the fuel canister, filled at the same time as the car was filled earlier in the day, and used to top off the office genset in the afternoon, was half full of water and rust particles.
Chicken Licken would have proclaimed that the sky had fallen as the crashing in on our corporate minds and a chorus that Handel would have been proud of, proclaimed ‘damn, the fuel station has a line problem still’ in better unison than any rendition of the Halleluiah chorus!.
So, everybody aboard the truck and off to the station, where Zack the owner, when confronted with the canister with water and rust in, immediately accepted the problem as his own. So, we are halfway through the next day, looking for replacement fuel filters, draining tanks, handling more challenges than planned for…
So, whereas some folks have a typhoon or a hurricane to present challenges, here we are able to generate our own without intervention of any atmospheric phenomena, all it takes is the petrol station ground works contractor to render a little mayhem, expense and challenge to the day!
Here in Ghana we do get floods storms, dust devils that can knock down a tree and other weather phenomena, but we also have the ‘power of the contractor you never saw’.
Recently, our local petrol station was refitted. Wonderful stuff, new tanks, clean fuel and forecourt to match most good stations in the world.
Then, disaster struck. Apparently there was a leak in the lines and a few thousand litres of petroleum products leaked under the forecourt.
Station closed, we drove by looking for fuel elsewhere and hoped that the whole forecourt would not ‘go up in a fireball’ as we watched the contractor back on the site, hitting the concrete with a seldge hammer and welding some stuff around the leakage areas…
Then, one happy day last week, it was announced that it was fixed. Yippee!!
Tens of thousands of litres of fresh fuel was filled into the underground storage and the station re-opened. Yesterday, Matthew went and filled the car, and got fuel for the gensets. Patricia took the Previa (limited to local runs due to its recent temperament and fuel consumption) to take the Kpong staff home. Whist she was gone the genset for the offices started to run rough and stop. ‘Oh, it needs servicing’ Matthew explained as the phone rang. Patricia was on the line saying that the Previa had stopped running suddenly and it sounded like it had compression and a spark, so she suspected fuel.
I asked what the fuel gauge read… before she could answer Matthew said, ‘I filled it this morning’. None of our minds connected the two events, not even during the ensuing recovery mission to get the Previa towed in with the reliable Truck that is now our main workhorse.
We got back after dark and all the girls had gone to the accommodation. ‘Our batteries are dead on our torches’ they complained, adding ‘and the accommodation genset is low on fuel’.
Matthew and Juliet set about filling the genset at the accommodation units and although it was empty the funnel quickly filled to overflow. Torches were brought to see what we were dealing with… the fuel canister, filled at the same time as the car was filled earlier in the day, and used to top off the office genset in the afternoon, was half full of water and rust particles.
Chicken Licken would have proclaimed that the sky had fallen as the crashing in on our corporate minds and a chorus that Handel would have been proud of, proclaimed ‘damn, the fuel station has a line problem still’ in better unison than any rendition of the Halleluiah chorus!.
So, everybody aboard the truck and off to the station, where Zack the owner, when confronted with the canister with water and rust in, immediately accepted the problem as his own. So, we are halfway through the next day, looking for replacement fuel filters, draining tanks, handling more challenges than planned for…
So, whereas some folks have a typhoon or a hurricane to present challenges, here we are able to generate our own without intervention of any atmospheric phenomena, all it takes is the petrol station ground works contractor to render a little mayhem, expense and challenge to the day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)