My recent travel to visit bases we serve included: Belize, Ecuador and Nicaragua. I was able to meet some of the people we serve and help with our medical air relief and community development. The three coun-tries have distinct needs and share a common hope for a better future for their families.
In Belize, our pilot Dave Brown and his wife Pat, serve the people of Belize with Dave flying medical air ambu-lance missions for BERT (Belizean Emergency Response Team) and Pat serving as a psychologist/counselor at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Center. When I flew with Dave, it was clear that he needed improved radios to fly safely in the Belizean airspace as well as when he takes patients to Mexico for more specialized care. A new avionics stack was prepared and shipped to Belize.
In Ecuador, we support the needs of tribal villages in the Western Amazon. I visited two villages to meet the peo-ple we serve and to learn about their lives and how we can help them. They continue to need medical support, sustainable food, water and help with community services. We continue our sustainable food programs to remote villages and are preparing an ambulance and a fire truck for delivery to a rural village on the edge of the jungle.
In Nicaragua, I worked to help set up the base for our new pilot, T.J. Stewart, at Puerto Cabezas Airport. We also visited three remote villages, evacuated two women needing emergency care and flew throughout the area in Northeast Nicaragua (Miskito Coast). We will be doing more medical air relief as well as medical/dental clinics and solar lighting projects in the future.
It was wonderful to meet some of the people we serve and see how we can help improve their lives. My plan is to continue my field visits in the next few months. My next trip will be to visit Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. We will also be evaluating new opportunities to serve in several new locations around the world.
Where There are Wings—There is Hope!
Don Hamblen,
President