Busy days for Dr Tim!
Dr Tim from Cavango Mission lives and works in Angola. He is based in Lubango, with MAF flying him to remote villages in the south-eastern areas of the country.
Dr Tim’s medical clinics are held in some of the remotest and most rural areas. He is happy to share his knowledge and medical supplies with the people there.
MAF flies to several clinics over the course of a week in what’s called a ‘medical safari’. They pick up and drop off passengers at each place. Sometimes they also have to respond to emergencies.
One lady who needed an was to hospital, and a little boy with a knee problem needed to go straight to hospital to stop the infection spreading.
Dr Tim prays with the patients as well as treating them with medicine. He also at their churches and reminds them to trust in God, telling them, ‘Medicine can’t do everything.’
Sometimes MAF’s pilot takes an along on these trips. Both can pray with patients outside the clinic while Dr Tim goes to work.
The team doesn’t always know what to expect, but Dr Tim can treat up to 50 patients a day. The clinics are almost always full.
It’s hard to know what to pack for such a wide range of needs – Dr Tim could be dealing with anything from pregnancy problems and ear infections to stomach and back pain. Loading all the cargo is like a game of Tetris!
Dr Tim has a to help with diagnosis while the patients try to keep cool in the 37°C heat.
He often stays at each place for 1 or 2 nights, and is later flown to the next clinic, which might only take 20 minutes. It would be a long and risky journey by road. In one place, they were still doing at the side of the runway!
The people are all pleased to see him. An official at somewhere like the Licua clinic can last anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours!
