In 2022, I (Grant) took on the role as MAF Lesotho’s Chief Pilot. I am very excited about this, as it means I am in charge of training new pilots on the program, as well as ensuring our current pilots keep up to standard. I have always enjoyed the more advanced aspects of flight training, and am excited to work with our pilots and challenge them to be the best at what we do.

This means adding tasks to my existing roles of Director of Safety and Quality. MAF on a global scale has been taking big steps towards ensuring we meet international aviation standards and expectations. Taking safety seriously in our type of operation is a priority and translates into a fair bit of work on the legal and procedural side to ensure that we keep up with and surpass expected standards. It is work that I enjoy, and that makes all the difference.

MAF has been able slowly but surely increase our flying hours after we saw a decrease during the unsure pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. The Lesotho Flying Doctors restarted their weekly doctors visits to the clinics, as well as the daily 1-2 scheduled flights we do for nurses and supplies. After a significant rainy season, we are seeing an increase in the amount of emergency medical flights needed due to impassable rivers and bad roads in the mountains.

Emily’s work with Pulane Children’s Centre continues to be fruitful and challenging. I believe that’s the nature of any work with children. I am sure my mom, who has been a hardworking primary school teacher all her life, would echo that. No one is in that line of work because it’s easy! At PCC some children flourish and exceed what we could hope for, while others provide challenges and need a bit more time, love and energy to find a healthy path in life.

Emily is passionate about improvements at PCC, and we have been learning how important it is to reunite children with families as much as possible. Often the easier option is to take a child in and know they will be provided for. But we have been challenged recently to think about their long-term development, and to try and find ways for them to remain in their villages with family members. This is not an overnight change. But rather a concept that we are trying to move towards over time. We are learning about how to improve PCC’s role in the community to help and support not just children, but families so that they can support their own children. It is exciting and extremely overwhelming!

For the first time since March 2020, Jane is back to regular school hours every day. We are so thankful for the return to some kind of normalcy and routine. It’s amazing how having the consistency of daily school really boosts what she is able to learn and absorb. She is now big time into Pokemon, and our household always seems to be in the midst of some kind of Pokemon showdown.

Our little puppy, Ghost, is growing fast and making sure our home is never too ‘put together.’ Puppies don’t have a medium mode: they are either very naughty, or very adorable, there is no in between.

As the world continues to deal with challenges, heartbreak, anger and frustration on so many fronts, we are thankful you have chosen to support us and to help us make even a small change and improvement to some lives in the mountains of Lesotho. Thank you.

Happy New Year, 2022!

Just after writing that sentence, I feel I need to also write this: “Here we go again, huh?”

You don’t need to hear from me how, almost 2 years since Covid became our new reality, we seem to just keep slipping back to where we were, with no end in sight.

It’s easy for us all to wake up in January and realize that we are just doing the same things again: Going about our daily lives, getting kids to school, going to work, or whatever else.

While that can seem overwhelming, I want to look at those words from a different perspective.

It is the slow, determined consistency that creates lasting results. Sometimes that slow consistency seems tedious, like we are simply treading water day in and day out. And we’d prefer immediate results — clear indications that we are making significant progress. But when it comes to making positive changes in the world, it’s the brutal consistency that will do it.

I reflect on that in our work in Lesotho. Being involved in development and relief work, as we are with PCC and MAF, forces us to realize that true results come with time and consistency.

We have started to see some examples of this in the children and staff at Pulane Children’s Centre. The Centre has been open 13 years, and every year that passes we see how the committed love and security provided by the staff and community at PCC rubs off on the children. We are often joyfully surprised at the good choices children are making, and even their willingness to engage in hard conversations after making poor choices. Our staff continue to gain confidence and ownership of their roles. There are few things that delight Emily more than hearing our managers say, “We’ve been discussing this situation and have an idea we want to try.”

When it comes to the support MAF provides through aviation, we also get glimpses of how important consistency is. It’s no good being safe one day, and throwing that all out the window the next. Day after day we have to make sure we are consistently safe, effective, and providing the best service we can to support the healthcare system in the mountains. Helping one person, or one community, at a time and doing it again the next day with the same focus and determination.

It’s tempting to only write stories when we have big, interesting events that happen: Life saving flights, PCC children getting top marks in their classes at school, or new and exciting projects. But the reality is that the most effective work is done in the day to day consistency. That’s what makes the difference.

So as we all step into this new year, join me in refreshing our determination to be consistent.

Consistently keeping ourselves and our families as safe as we can from Covid.

Consistently being patient and seeking understanding in the midst of disagreements.

Consistently working for good in our communities.