Sudan, Africa’s largest country up until this year, split in two on July 9th. After decades of conflict, the South successfully voted for and gained their independence from the North. Since that day, the transition into a new and sovereign nation has been marked by both promising steps and disappointing setbacks. The border has been particularly troublesome. The boundary between north and south zig-zags across the country in a broken line that reflects political and ethnic divides, and dances around deposits of lucrative oil reserves. There is a lot at stake depending on where this disputed boundary ultimately lands, for the respective governments of North and South, and for the people living in the crossfire. Shortly after Sudan’s split, South Kordofan became one of those areas.
Samaritan’s Purse and AIM AIR have partnered for over a decade in this locale through a variety of ministries from community development projects like farming, to building churches. In early August, Samaritan’s Purse personnel discovered scores of Sudanese whose villages and farms had been bombed, fleeing across the border into the South. The displaced “families” were joined by more and more people, often arriving with distant relatives because they had lost parents, or were separated. This created a refugee situation that was largely unknown to the global community, and unreached by any international relief agencies.
The people fled to a wooded no-man’s land in a place called Yida, far from any airstrip AIM AIR flew to, and inaccessible by vehicle. After locating the refugees by air, the Samaritan’s Purse staff were dropped off by AIM AIR with a pair of four wheelers at an airstrip about 20 miles away. For the Samaritan’s Purse staff who entered the area on the four wheelers, a lot of familiar faces were showing up. Many of the people arriving at the camp were from their former ministry locations. The people came with nothing, and a food crisis soon emerged. Many were drinking brackish water and boiling grass for nutrition.
While the refugee branch of the United Nations waited for permissions to get involved, Samaritan’s Purse quickly decided they needed to act. They called on AIM AIR to help deliver food. But with no airstrip nearby, AIM AIR decided to resurrect a way to drop supplies instead of delivering them. The DC-3, the largest airplane in AIM AIR’s fleet, had been modified once before about eight years earlier, to perform air drops. This involved removing the cargo doors, crafting a pivoting ramp in the doorway, developing a safe and effective procedure, and training the crew. After installing the ramp and reviewing procedures, a crew on board, as well as on the ground, practiced simulated drops at a spacious dirt airstrip just outside of Nairobi. Once the crew and craft were ready, they positioned the airplane within Sudan and began the momentous operation.
At sunup each day, the DC-3 flew to an airstrip only twenty minutes from the “drop zone” – this same distance would take over 6 hours on the ATV four wheelers, which were the only vehicle capable of traversing the rain-saturated terrain. The crew quickly reconfigured and loaded the plane to drop 3.3 metric tonnes of Sorghum grain, lentils, and other items necessary for cooking food and sheltering. Twenty minutes later, they would arrive over a designated drop zone and begin making carefully orchestrated passes. Configured as it was, the DC-3 could drop only 14 bags at a time, and so each full load required multiple passes to empty the airplane. After the last drop the crew would fly back for another load. This was repeated between 6 to 7 times a day – in all, dropping about 20 tonnes out the door each day.
DC-3 Drops Food for Refugees
From the start of the operation, the idea of building an airstrip near the camp was raised. Not all items needed on the ground could be effectively air dropped, and not all the sacks of food survived the impact. Also, the air drop operation required an elevated amount of calculated risk as well as a bigger crew than normal.
AIM AIR provided basic guidelines in laying out an airstrip. Opportunities to send a pilot by four wheeler to locate an airstrip site were thwarted because of increased reports of bombing on the border, about fifteen miles to the north. Nevertheless, the Samaritan’s Purse staff on the ground surveyed the area and the clan leaders were consulted. The community was very organized, and even though they were displaced and hungry, they were able to clear 700 meters of trees and brush in only 3 days. An AIM AIR Cessna Caravan was the first to land on the strip, opening the door to a more effective delivery of food and supplies.
The camp continued to grow, swelling to over ten thousand people. Supplying the daily needs of food for this group became a daunting task. At times, two or even three airplanes were involved in a day’s operations – the Caravans able to deliver one tonne at a time, reloading the airplane in under 10 minutes between runs. Samaritan’s Purse also brought in more staff to better provide shelter, medical care, and clean water. By this time, AIM AIR had dropped or delivered over 400 tonnes of food.
In early November, three months after the crisis began, the camp had grown beyond twenty thousand people, and began to attract more attention from other aid agencies. Quite possibly, the camp drew too much attention. On November 10, an unidentified Antinov airplane appeared overhead and bombed the camp, reportedly causing some injuries. One unexploded bomb landed in a schoolyard.
Because of this hazard, AIM AIR elected to suspend flight operations into Yida for a time. Hope remains that more aid agencies will get involved, possibly utilizing the vast resources of the UN to bring food in. For the people in the camp, their daily survival will depend on it. But regardless of the response of other agencies, Samaritan’s Purse will likely continue to do all it can to minister to these displaced and desperate people – well beyond the immediate crisis and into the future. And AIM AIR will continue to be their air support – carrying staff and supplies and the love of Christ to Yida, and places like it where only an airplane can go.
