Ex-RAF manager who lives in Gosport returns from 'life-saving' mission delivering 28,000 mosquito nets to communities in Papua New Guinea

Siobhain Cole and her husband Ryan, a pilot, co-ordinated an operation to distribute 28,000 mosquito nets to combat malaria in the country.

Mrs Cole, who works for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), came back to her UK base of Gosport on March 22 – describing the work as ‘life-saving’.

She told The News: ‘We helped deliver these nets to some of the most isolated people, in the remote communities which we serve.

‘Most commercial organisations don’t go to them, because we’re not there to make money, we’re here to help these people.

‘I love doing this work because what we do is life-saving.’

Mrs Cole added the ‘bulky’ air cargo was delivered to 20 remote air strips in the west of Papua New Guinea, reaching approximately 384 communities without basic medical facilities.

Pilots had to deal with constantly changing weather while landing the aircraft.

MAF employees worked alongside colleagues from Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM), a voluntary group which donated the nets.

Mrs Cole said the nets were taken over 100 miles to the MAF base in Telefomin, and each 30-minute flight saved people roughly four days work of transportation via canoe.

She described the work of co-ordinating flights in an efficient manner as ‘a real jigsaw puzzle’.

The operations support worker said: ‘I had to use my problem solving skills to deliver the most nets possible in the fewest flights.

‘Getting that jigsaw puzzle right helps more people, as it frees up our aircraft sooner to respond to other medical tasks.’

Mrs Cole said the work of MAF helps communities which most commercial operators do not reach.

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She has lived in Telefomin for six years, and said she loves working for an organisation which makes a positive impact in the world.

Mrs Cole said: ‘We are the equivalent of an ambulance to these remote communities in the middle of nowhere.

‘If a child falls out of a tree, or a woman is having difficulties during child-labour, we are the only way they can get to a hospital so they can survive.

‘I facilitate the work which improves the lives of some of the most isolated people, and it is a real privilege.’