Nindo’s Kind Act
In the years that I have flown here in Papua New Guinea (PNG), I have been to Imani many times. Often the flights were to support the local aid post and school, or to fly people and coffee or peanuts. I had met Nindo, the local community health worker, in the course of this work, but I didn’t realize our lives might intersect in an unusual way.
Twelve-and-a-half years ago Nindo had moved to the remote community around the Imani airstrip; she had gone there alone as she had no family at that time. Her job was to run the local aid post/clinic and provide the best care for the people who called this place home. During that time, she had met and married Charles and started a family.
On one of my trips to Imani an overnight bag I always take was accidently unloaded from the airplane by the local people who were assisting me. When I fly in PNG, I always take this bag as I never know when I may have to overnight somewhere due to weather or operational needs. I was unaware of the mistake until I finished flying for the day. I wasn’t even sure at that time where my bag had been unloaded. Some days later, when another one of our pilots was back at Imani, Nindo brought my bag up to the plane and gave it to the pilot. Realizing it was a pilot’s bag, she had kept it with her at her house and looked after it until she could return it. I was very grateful for her help.
Later, I met her family, too. The day I took this photo, I had just picked them up at Imani and flown them to the airport in Lae, the closest city to Imani. I found out that she was moving out of her job at Imani and will be moving on to become a teacher, helping new people learn about rural health care in Papua New Guinea.
It was a privilege to be able to fly her one more time from Imani. I don’t always get to see the bigger picture surrounding the flights I do, so this time it was an encouragement to play a part in Nindo’s story when our ministries interconnected.
