Hangar Happenings #2

The last Hangar Happenings talked about the inspection on the Caravan. Well, now I am going to talk about construction! Right now, MAF has an administration office all the way at the other side of the city from the hangar where the pilots and mechanics work. This year, one of the many goals is to focus on improving team building. An easy (and also cost saving on rent and transportation) method is to combine the two offices. After much talks, planning, drawing, erasing, quoting, and staring, the decision has been made official!

The project began with cleaning up the "attic" space which will become the new offices. The next step was to fix up the bathroom. They tore up the old tiles that will be replaced and cut concrete for new pipes. They placed new pipes and new walls all to make two separate bathrooms. At the moment, one toilet was able to handle all the biological needs of the workers. But with all the administrative staff joining the staff at the hanger, an additional toilet was needed. Also, with the changing of a few walls, we will be able to recuperate some space for a more effective work flow in the maintenance and pilots offices. THEN, we will be able to build the offices in the attic. All of these things so far have be accomplished with our hanger employees (or our husbands).

I am super excited to see all the changes and improvements that are coming our way and I hope to share with you all the excitement!

Letting the dust settle after breaking up tiles

Matt in action, cutting concrete for new pipes

Wane (Juan-eh) cleaning up the tiles he busted up

Wane breaking concrete with a hammer
and chisel for new pipelines 

Digging out the old pipes and placing new.

Two pipes for two toilets

Matt getting all his anger out...

New doorway for the remodeled bathrooms

Matt and Leopold cementing the wall

He is a hard worker! This was all in one day.

Motherhood Moments #17

It's been a while since my last Motherhood Moments blog. So I thought I would start back up again. Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

Hand, foot, and mouth disease. Poor baby boy had not been feeling well a while back and the lymph nodes on both sides of his neck swelled up. After starting a course of antibiotics, they began to go down. But the lymph nodes had been fighting HFMD and when the swelling dropped, the symptoms popped up. Poor kiddo! Luckily he was a trooper and got through it quickly and it did not spread around in our family.

Hangar Happenings

Right now, the caravan is having a 12-month, 200, 400 and 1600 flight hour inspection all at once. Since I work at the hangar as a parts room specialist (not a real title, but it's catchy!), I get to help in my own way(s) - searching for parts, ordering more parts, keeping inventory on things used, and looking up information for anyone asking. I feel so useful right now! So in my eagerness to express how I get to be a part of my first "inspection," I took some photos of the guys working this week. Enjoy!

Kevin just finished replacing some worn spacers on the Caravans flap

Garth is waist deep inspecting the landing gear

Brett is upgrading the brake system

Kevin tightening something before re-installing the flap

Matt installing an access panel after the flap has been installed.

The inspection continues

Lovely!

Check out one of Kevin's custom built maintenance stands

Hangar Time

1…2…3…4…5. Okay, I have 5 o-rings, part number MS28775-278. What does the computer say? Hmmm…looks like the part was put in inventory but then issued to the hangar floor and not into inventory. I must fix this since they are going in a cabinet.

Counting, organizing, sorting, re-organizing, cleaning, moving, and counting some more - these are all beautiful tasks to me. I love doing inventory. It was a job I once applied for years ago and ended up leaving the company for a different job. Now, I am doing inventory for the parts room at the hangar. In preparation for the new aviation maintenance software (Kevin went to India a few months ago for training on this system), the parts room is in need of a makeover. After begging Kevin for weeks to let me go help, I am now officially a part-time worker. I go to the hangar with Kevin on Tuesdays and Thursdays and do many different tasks.

For now, I have a mix of duties – I have been ordering parts and receiving them into inventory when they come in and also issuing the parts to an airplane and its work order as the guys need them. I know how to track parts in our system to find batch numbers, how old the part is, where it came from, and correct part information in the system or update its information. I have also become the Maintenance Manager's (who just happens to be my husband) unofficial office assistant where I can do tasks that need to be done but the guys don’t have time to do (or can't explain in sufficient detail in French to another hanger employee).

I spent one day prettying up on old dry erase board into a fancy airplane maintenance tracker board so the guys can keep track of their upcoming tasks.

I put together some cabinets to help organize all the specialized tools.

I went through the entire parts room to find all the o-rings and put them in one cabinet. In that cabinet, I put them all in numerical order and labeled the cabinet. I also went through each part and made sure the inventory count was correct. I even had time to search for cross-referenced parts and link them together so ordering would be easier. For instance, the Pilatus uses their own part numbers for o-rings that are typically referred to by a different numbering system for most other aircraft manufacturers. We could be ordering 10 o-rings for the Pilatus, and then order 10 o-rings for the caravan, with different part numbers, but actually end up with 20 of the same thing!

One morning, I spent the time going through old manuals, searching for duplicates to throw out, checking for validity, and then reorganizing the manuals with new file tabs and tables of contents.

Some days I do mindless tasks, like bag up rivets that have broken through their much used bags or moving items around in the inventory room to help the flow. It may seem mundane, but it is a task that needs to be done to keep things neat and tidy.  With a limited number of technicians, this is just another example of stuff that they literally don't have time to do if they want to keep the airplanes in working order (a very VERY high priority).

And then some days I spend hours searching for updated information and updating the system. I enjoy the mix and I enjoy the work. It is a good feeling to spend time working with my (dirty) hands and helping out with the ministry of MAF!

Local Christmas Traditions

I got an email from a friend asking me how the Congolese Christians typically celebrate the Christmas holiday compared to non-Christian Congolese. I thought that was a great question! There are things that I have noticed but I wanted to get my answers from others with more knowledge than myself (actual Congolese people). What I learned from talking to the people I spoke to was something worth sharing.

The Congolese love to celebrate and they do a great job of it! A wedding reception has been known to last all night long and into the next day, a birthday party can go on for hours, and Christmas is no exception. Many churches offer a Christmas Eve celebration to begin the holiday while others will wait until sunrise on Christmas Day. But all churches put on a production (much bigger than a play) of the nativity. Adults and children have roles and will quote directly from the Bible their scenes. The production will have songs and dancing and some places will have a few animals. The performance typically goes on for a few hours.

After the performance, the churches will offer snacks so that everyone can stay around and fellowship. Typical treats are "petite gateau" (little muffins), peanuts, and a soda. Everyone takes advantage of this because for some, this is their only meal. People will share and chat until the food is gone and will stay around a little more before heading home.

When gifts are given, it is typically a new outfit to wear to church. Those who have a bit more money will give gifts of cloth to people outside their immediate family (to aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.), small trinkets for their kids (hand folded fans, stuffed animals, balloons, etc.), or cash. But usually no gifts are exchanged. It is imperative you dress your best no matter.

Once fellowship is over, people will begin heading home to their neighborhoods. People will cook all the food they have at home and then share with their neighbors. Those who live in larger private homes (with fences/walls) will usually only serve their own family or have gatherings with friends and extended family. People who have more money will buy meat - this is the second largest purchase around the holidays after cloth. It is important to have meat to celebrate and people are not picky about the type as long as it is served.

I enjoyed hearing all the traditions and asked how non-Christians celebrated. I was told pagans do not celebrate Christmas but prefer to celebrate and party at New Years. I asked if atheists celebrated any Christmas traditions and I was corrected - "pagans" do not celebrate the holiday. It was then that I was reminded that the Congolese are so closely tied to their tribalism and village history that the idea of no gods does not exist. The spiritual world is very active here and the thought of someone who doesn't believe in any supreme being is quite odd. While the word "athée" exists in the French language, the context does not translate here. You either believe in multiple gods - the spirits of your ancestors which must be appeased to avoid being cursed, or you believe in the one God. Or in many cases, you believe in both! Many have a hard time shaking the old ways, and still act in fear, even when celebrating the birth of the Savior. That's just one of the many reasons we are here, to help spread the good news about the birth of Christ and that because of Him and the Holy Spirit whom He sent, we no longer are bound to anything but Him! Grace and Peace and Happy celebrations to you this holiday season!

Saying Good-bye

Back in August (on the 2nd to be exact), Kevin and I discovered we were pregnant. To say we were overjoyed would be a bit much. We were shocked but after the shock wore down, we became excited. The baby would be due mid-April when we were scheduled for furlough. We knew a great missionary midwife/OB-GYN locally who could do my prenatal care until we got to the US to deliver. We told Adah and began talking about the baby in my tummy. We planned our pregnancy announcement. Everything was beginning to feel comfortable. We could do this, we could be a family of 5!

Unfortunately, this was not to be. Friday, September 9th, I began experiencing contractions. They were rhythmic, every 3 minutes, and were definitely ones that required concentration. I began to fear every bathroom trip, expecting blood. The cramping/contractions lasted for half the night before they tapered off and I fell asleep. I woke feeling fatigued but better because there had been no blood. Perhaps it was a stomach bug? Either way, we messaged the missionary OB-GYN and began discussing a trip soon. All during that week, I rested as much as possible. I told our worker so that she could step up to help more with the kids. The week passed and I began to hope - hope the baby was growing, hope that I was not going to lose the baby, hope that all was okay.

On September 16th, my 35th birthday, I began spotting. I called Kevin in tears. I knew what was happening. We tried to plan a trip to Vanga where the midwife was located. It is a 1 1/2 hour flight or 14 hour drive. But Monday, the 19th was going to be a day of planned protest/civil unrest. We were grounded and could not leave the city. Traffic was worse than usual that Friday with people preparing for the upcoming day of civil unrest. The following morning Kevin and the other guys had to go to work to get the airplanes inside and locked up. But he and the program manager hurried home right after and took me to a hospital. He happened to know an expat OB-GYN who recommended a doctor that met us there.

At 3:00 PM our ultrasound revealed our lost baby. Instead of a 10 week and 3 day old baby, we saw the uterus measuring barely measuring 6 weeks and 3 days and a baby even smaller. The baby had died a while ago but my body was having difficulties letting go. When we lost our first baby, my body also had difficulties letting go. I lost the baby on a Wednesday evening but the placenta did not detach completely and for 4 days I suffered labor before going to the ER for an emergency D&C. As the realization hit the baby was gone, along with our dreams and plans for this baby, we quickly realized we had to make a decision.

We called our friend Shannon, missionary OB-GYN and told her what we discovered and she gave us our options. We could take a pill that would induce labor, to speed up the miscarriage process. If the pill does not work the first time, a second dose can be administered. Knowing what I experienced the first time, I could not accept birthing at home or risk bleeding out knowing that all hospitals would be inaccessible in a few days. The other option was an emergency D&C, like before. Without hesitation, I chose the D&C. I had no time to think as we all (including the doctor) piled into our truck and drove across town to another facility to do a surgery. Within an hour after arriving, everything was over and I was recovering (I will not go into details about surgery since it is a bit too much information). We were home by bedtime.

When we lost our first baby, the loss felt greater. I came home with an empty womb and empty arms. This time, I came home to hugs, kisses, and a baby/toddler asking to be nursed. Yes my womb was empty and my heart hurt, but my arms were full.

Over the next few days, we were blessed by so many people. Families brought us food, offered to watch our kids so I could rest, and I had counseling from so many women who have gone through this before. One of the things that I have learned to help mourn a lost child is to give the child a name. We named our first child Madeline. She was loved dearly for the little time we had her. This child's name was Peter and he was loved during his time with us.

As time went by, some days were easier than others. The hard days were the days Adah asked why Peter died or when I will have a new baby in my tummy. They say talking is supposed to help but some days it hurt too much to explain these things to my child. Other days were miserable seeing pregnant friends and new babies on Facebook.  But now, I feel that enough time has gone by that I can say that I have mourned. I have said my good-byes.

I want to personally thank each and every person who helped us. The people who cooked, the people who called, the people who watched the kids, the people who did Facetime with us, the people who sent private messages and emails, the people who counseled us (medically and mentally), the people who cried with us, the people who prayed for us and with us, and the people who comforted us.

Our Little Girl's Clavicle

A little over a year ago (May 2015), sweet pea fell while getting out of the car. She managed to land on her shoulder in such a way that her (left) clavicle was fractured. We were so blessed at the time to know a visiting family (both husband and wife are doctors) who was living above the newest hospital/clinic. They personally escorted me through the whole process, including x-rays. With their help, we were able to find her fracture and sew up an adult sized sling to fit her.

The left side of the photo is normal and the right side
(G = gauche = left) shows the stress fracture.

Fast forward to October 2016 - sweet pea comes home from school crying. The driver told me that she fell at school (while playing with another child). I took one look at the way she was holding her arm and knew just what had happened. I left baby boy with my worker and drove sweet pea to the hospital/clinic I visited before with her the year prior. We got lucky. There was a nurse on call who spoke English and helped me to translate correctly to the pediatrician what I thought was wrong. He walked us down one floor to the x-ray room and helped us get set up for x-rays. As soon as the film pulled up, the doctor called me into x-ray technician room and pointed to the x-rays. Here is what I saw...

The left side of the screen shows a normal clavicle.
The right side clearly shows a clavicle that is broken.

When her arm is lifted, the two broken pieces overlap. 

Yep. Broken. The exact same side as before. After waiting 10 additional minutes, we walked around the corner and met a Middle Eastern orthopedist who also spoke English. We talked about the x-rays. Sweet pea definitely broke her clavicle and it will heal. The only concern is if it will manage to heal straight. Kids are resilient but also quite active. So we are to keep her arm immobilized in a sling while she heals. (Coincidentally, they only had an adult size small which I had to sew to fit just like the year prior). 

I was once again completely blown away by my medical experience here. I was able to walk into a hospital, speak to a pediatrician, get x-rays, speak to an orthopedist, get a sling, and be home within 2 hours all for less than $200. There are many things lacking in the health care system here, such as medication and appropriately sized slings for children. But since this is the week of Thanksgiving, I will say I'm thankful for the medical care and options that we do have!