MY STORY AS A FEMALE FLIGHT COORDINATOR – Stella Mwikali

I started my journey with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) back in May 2019 when I was posted to South Sudan as a deputy flight coordinator.

I first got interested in humanitarian work when I saw people working in different organisations who would put a smile on people’s faces. I was also motivated by my sister, who worked as a volunteer for a local group that raised funds to help children pay for their school fees as well as cleaning various children’s homes.

I trained in aviation, specialising in operations and dispatch, but I was also trained in aviation safety and aviation quality.

I initially got involved with MSF in 2014 when I was working with a local aviation company at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. I received an email request for a plane to carry some medical supplies from Juba – the capital of South Sudan – which I did, and from then on, I started getting more requests for flying for MSF. I later found out that MSF even had their own planes. I wanted to work for them since they try to make people's lives better.

I started working with MSF in June 2019. So far, I have done a total of four assignments as a flight coordinator in South Sudan as well as Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am currently working in a project in Old Fangak where we are dealing with the peak season of malaria and cholera in this flood-prone area.

In South Sudan, MSF are providing lifesaving medical care, such as responding to disease outbreaks, providing maternal and paediatric healthcare, conducting medical outreach activities and vaccination campaigns.

Sometimes I feel we do the extraordinary for our patients, as patient care is our top priority. Once there was a child who fell from a building and broke his leg. I remember we had to fly from Juba with an empty plane, pick up the boy and his father and take them to hospital. The boy was in hospital for almost a month. When he was fully recovered, I had to come and pick up the boy and take him back to his family. The family was elated.

In addition to transferring people who are sick to hospital, or from one project location to another for surgery, MSF uses planes to ensure that doctors can get to the remote areas where there is a lack of medical services, as well as transport essential medical and relief items to people in need. We even use planes to deliver food to the projects for our staff.

Planes are essential for all of these activities due to limited road transportation as a result of poor road infrastructure, insecurity, as well as flooding, which mainly happens between May and November when there is a prolonged rainy season.

Besides providing medical care in the places where we work, we also try to identify and understand the needs of the communities, especially when they are affected by disasters. For instance, in February 2021, flooding in both Jonglei and Unity States displaced so many people from their homes. The communities not only had medical needs, but they also lacked basic essential items for living, so MSF supplied people with relief items, including tents and blankets.

The perennial inter-communal violence across various parts of South Sudan also brings about the need for MSF to care for the injured. In these circumstances, I play an important role. During recent clashes in February 2022 in Agok (in Abyei Special Administrative Area), I was tasked with transferring patients to other MSF hospitals as well as facilitate evacuations of MSF staff members.

Some moments with patients will forever linger in my mind. Last year there was a pregnant woman who had an obstructed labour. We had to move her from Malakal to Agok to have a caesarean section to save both the mother and baby. We then had to take them back to Malakal after the successful intervention. MSF flew a plane specifically to transport this mother to an MSF hospital and, once she had delivered her baby, she was safely taken back to her home.

The feelings that patients express and the satisfaction it gives me after such a lifesaving flight is beyond anyone’s imagination. This is the kind of care they never dreamt of, and we bring it to them free of charge.

One thing I will never forget is how a village mother came to Juba in 2019 just to thank the MSF team after the successful treatment of her ailing child and niece. This was a rare thing I witnessed. The first time she came to Juba was with the sick children, but gratitude brought her back to the hospital the second time.

Despite the contentment that flight coordination gives me, South Sudan is a challenging context and the aviation standards are low. Airstrips in the region are surrounded by bushes and the air traffic control isn’t at its best.

My job is also uniquely interesting since it is a male-dominated industry. Being a woman in logistics, and especially in aviation, is not a challenge I face easily, but I do so with courage and determination.