‘It’s a privilege,’ say staff with the Mission Aviation Fellowship, ‘to be the sole air ambulance service for the entire population of Timor-Leste.’ The Christian aviation charity responds to multiple medical emergency flight requests every week, flying to and from Dili to save hundreds of lives.
Because her village has no roads and no electricity, pregnant Marcia Pereira de Sousa was forced to walk for four hours to receive help from a rural health clinic on the eastern side of Atauro Island.
The 31-year-old was dangerously close to losing her baby. So a nurse asked MAF to fly her to the capital. Pilot Ping Domtta performed the life-saving flight.
Having given birth to a healthy baby girl, Marcia named her daughter Francelina. Then, after a week spent recovering in Dili, Marcia and her family flew back to Atauro Island with MAF.
