Raise The Roof- 2021 Focus

Our 20 year old aircraft hangar at the Bongolo airstrip is in need of some major TLC.  

With your teamwork, this year, we hope to find the resources for the following:

1. Replace all the rotted and insect-eaten wood planks 

2. Upgrade our ailing Solar electricity system

3. Expand the roof to cover the adjacent shipping container

4. Extend the cement floor under the new covered area

MAKE A DONATION - CLICK HERE

JOIN A WORK TEAM (when travel restrictions lift)-  CLICK HERE Send an email to be added to the email list of those interested in coming.

If you prefer to give by check through the mail, please make your check out to "C&MA" and write "GABON AIRPLANE" in the memo, and send to:

C&MA, 8595 Explorer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920

2021 Calendar

 

We have collected some of Alace's wonderful photography as part of a 2021 calendar.  We welcome you to consider a donation (you choose the amount) to our airplane account and then email us for a download link of the file.

Step 1:  Make a Donation.     DONATE HERE

Step 2:  Email Request.    REQUEST FILE HERE

Step 3:  Download & Print Calendar

You are free to take the file on a thumb drive to a place like Office Max or Office Depot and ask for them to print out a full size calendar.  Alternatively, you are also free to print it out on your own printer.  This is our first year to try a calendar- thank you for your interest and joining us in this important work!

Upcoming Flights

UPCOMING FLIGHTS

Dat: Trajet: Départ: Arrivé:

25 Sep Lébamba à Libreville 10h00 11h45

26 Sep Libreville à Lébamba 12h00 13h45

02 Oct Lébamba à Lamberéné 09h00 10h00

02 Oct Lamberéné à Lébamba 10h15 11h15

08 Oct Lébamba à Libreville 10h00 11h45

12 Oct Libreville à Lébamba 10h00 11h45

25 Oct Lébamba à Lamberéné 14h00 15h00

29 Oct Lamberéné à Libreville 12h00 12h45

30 Oct Libreville à Yaoundé 11h00 13h00

Covid Negative!

 

Thank you for your prayers!  The official tests are back and we're officially virus free!  Thank you for your prayers.  We've just sent out an update to supporters which you can see by CLICKING HERE.

July Update- Covid Positive

If you missed our July Update in your e-mail, then SUBSCRIBE!  I invite you to use the e-mail sign up tool, on the right side bar of this website to do that.  If you'd like to see the July update, CLICK HERE.  The first part of the update is seen here...

CLICK HERE FOR FULL UPDATE

Less Restrictive Restrictions!

So, in this period of Pandemic restrictions, which started, here in Gabon, the second half of March, we've seen a dramatic fall off in aviation activity.  Instead of 1-2 flights a week, we were happy to have 1 flight a month.  This, mainly due to the closed borders and restrictions on moving passengers on aircraft domestically as well.  UNTIL!

As of today, the government lessened the restriction and the US embassy in Libreville sent the following email to us expats here:

"The following changes will take effect on July 1 at 05:00:

·        Commercial air travel may resume.  Two international flights per airline per week will be permitted.  

·        Although Gabon’s land and sea borders will remain closed to travelers, travel by air, boat, and train within Gabon may resume.

·        Regular working hours will resume in the public and private sectors.  

·        Hotels may reopen.

·        Restaurants with outdoor dining terraces may reopen.

·        A curfew will remain in effect, but with reduced hours (20:00 to 05:00).  

·        Classes for students who plan to take the baccalaureate exam in August will resume on July 20.  Post-secondary classes may resume on July 13.

Masks are still required in public and social distancing and hygiene requirements will continue.  The government cautioned that restrictions may be reinstated in certain locations or throughout the country if new outbreaks occur."

What does this mean to us?  We can have visitors again!  Also, I'm able to have passengers.  

Thanks for your support to our projects here!  We're looking forward to more and more activity in the coming weeks and months.

New Airport Moving Forward!

Pastor Laurent and Pastor Jacob- national church leaders supervising PK27

The national church is building a new runway on the outskirts of the capital city of Libreville, on the property where they will be offering an array of social programs- PK27.

Much work has already been accomplished, and yesterday, we re-cleared some of where the jungle has tried to take back over, as well as the aircraft parking area and initial hangar location.

This is the birds-eye view from google earth. "Le Piste" is the runway- the dozer re-cleared some overgrowth the length of the runway.  Then, it cleared the red square area for aircraft parking and construction of a hangar.

Meanwhile... Back at BONGOLO HOSPITAL

Here is one update from a colleague and friend of ours, here at the Bongolo Hospital, Renee:

Creeping Closer

At the end of March there were 7 cases of Covid in Gabon. Now we have 276. It is creeping closer to the Bongolo day by day, and is now in 4 of the 9 provinces of the country. One of the deaths in Libreville was a doctor who was a friend of our Assistant Medical Director.  (UPDATE: National news outlets estimate that there will be over 1000 cases of Covid 19 in Gabon by the end of May).

Bongolo Covid Preparedness

 (Renee) have been reviewing with the nurses how to put on and take off personal protective equipment (PPE) and how to use our decontamination area.  The decontamination area has three parts. After working with patients, the medical personnel will enter the “dirty” side, remove their PPE and scrubs, and put the scrubs in a big bucket of bleach water. The next room is the shower. Finally, the exit is through the “clean” side, where they will put on their clothes from home. Coming to work, the process is the reverse.

I've done several PPE exercises with the nurses. After they fully donned the PPE, I spattered green paint on them to simulate respiratory droplets (I even made some coughing sound effects.) 

Then, they had to remove the PPE without getting green/contaminated with Covid. This was a very productive exercise. Despite the eye protection and masks, they still had flecks of paint on their faces. 

They realized the importance of the shower in the decontamination area. Today we practiced treating simulated patients wearing PPE.

Meanwhile in the rest of the hospital...

-There was a baby with neonatal tetanus. This is 90% fatal. He was here for a week and half, and was starting to do better, when his grandmother left the hospital with him today to see the witch doctor.

-A one-year-old girl had high fevers and spontaneous bleeding from many parts of her body, even her eyes. She met the case definition for hemorrhagic fever (the group of illnesses like Ebola,) but we will never know the real cause. It's a reminder that God is constantly protecting us from things here even more dangerous than Covid.

-A baby was born at home and came because of severe respiratory destress which did not respond well to CPAP. The home birth was because of economic problems. Despite frequent economic problems, Maternity is currently full to overflowing with women on mattresses on the floor.

- We currently have 5 patients on treatment for Multi-drug resistant and Extensively drug resistant TB. That's the most we have had at one time. I'm thankful they are all currently doing well. One patient has 4 year old twins. I saw them today to make sure they don't have TB, and I'm thankful they don't have MDR-TB. (I put in a picture because they are really cute.)

I (Steve) am thankful for Renee in allowing me to post here stories.  These are just some of the stories that are part of life at this mission station where there are over 2 dozen international workers and about 100 local staff helping to care for the physical and spiritual needs of some of those that live in a very remote corner of the world... in the name of Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers!