Siberia
Except from some major cities along the Trans-Siberian railroad, the majority of small villages and settlements in Siberia are often hundreds of miles away from civilization. There are even indigenous people groups that live remote from any place in the untouched nature of Siberia. Traveling through the vastness of this territory, where bears and wolves are still reigning, could often be dangerous or impossible. Absence of roads as well as lack of appropriate vehicles make some people groups unreachable for things like basic medical help and supplies. Even in emergency situations these people cannot be rescued. The Life Aviation Foundation wants to overcome the geographical barriers by means of helicopter aviation to help those people who already have so little. We want to share of the abundance that we have in the western world in order to bring relief to those in need.
Most of the problems in the Siberian countryside are related to a bad economical situation and the remoteness of most basic means of life. Alcohol abuse and drug addiction as well as minor medical problems that grow out to life threatening situations due to a lack of medical care are some of the most worrying problems. But there is also need for social and spiritual help. Many families are disrupted and in some people groups the average male life expectancy is less than 40 years. There are many children in orphanages: most boys become criminal and girls often end up as prostitutes. By means of helicopter transport Life Aviation wants to support regular social, medical and spiritual help to those who are in need.
Since 2004 Life Aviation is investigating the need and possibilities for helicopter support in Siberia. Right now we are focussing on the Krasnoyarsk area of central Siberia and the republic of Tuva, where we see the need for Christian aviation. In 2006 we went there to do preliminary research with several churches and organizations to find out how they could be supported by air transport. It soon appeared that the local Christian and humanitarian organizations were already praying for small aviation to support their projects. And you will understand when you see the immense proportions of the "Krasnoyarsk Krai", which is 1000 km from west to east and 3000 km from north (far above the polar circle and close to the north pole) to south (near the Mongolian border). In this vast area lie, hidden in inaccessible taiga forest, many small villages, and live several indigenous tribes. People there often live in severe conditions and are gratefull for the help they get. Local organizations and churches can do so much more when they could make use of small aviation.
Without air transport it is very hard, if not impossible, to reach those people who need medical, social, material and spiritual help. Only by risking their own lives, volunteers cross the ice deserts where temperatures can fall to minus 50 degrees centigrade. Sometimes they can make use of special snow vehicles, but most of the time their only way of transportation is with old trucks. When we were in the area, in February last year, a message reached us that ten missionairies had frozen to death because their truck got stuck in the middle of the ice covered tundra.
In summer, when all the snow has melted, the area turns into a big swamp, and roads are covered with mud. We were told about a pastor of a church who takes his mountainbike and rides through the wildernis for days, with an inflatable dinghy to cross rivers, to reach remote places and bring the gospel and help people get their lives organized. Many problems are related to alcohol. People make their own wodka and sometimes poison themselves.
There are quite a number of projects and organizations that Life Aviation can support when a flight program will be established. One of them is TBN Russia, a Christian broadcast company. They wish to install 2500 satellite dishes in the Krasnoyarsk area to bring education to remote places. We talked to the director of the Krasnoyarsk subsidiairy, Pavel Orekhov, to find out more about their plans. Without charitable aviation this whole operation will not be possible within a timespan of two to three years, as planned, but would perhaps take a decade or more.
Another organization that goes to "the ends of the world" is the medical center Agape in Moscow. They have a clinic in Moscow, to western standards. But their heart is for the rural people of Russia and Siberia. A couple of times a year they go on expedition to bring medical care to people in the most remote places of the country. These are not pleasure trips: if you really want to find out why charitable aviation in Siberia is necessary, check their site. Agape is one of the organizations that would certainly make use of the services of Life Aviation.
There are many more organizations, projects and churches who are waiting for us to start flying in Siberia, specifically in the area of Krasnoyarsk and Tuva. Stay tuned on this website, we will introduce them to you one by one during the next months.
To find out more about the current status of the work of Life Aviation in Siberia read the latest news...