MAF’s newest programme was launched in Guinea, West Africa in April 2022 in a bid to transform a country with one of the highest rates of poverty in the world.

Ranked 178 out of 189 in the UN’s Human Development Index, life expectancy in Guinea is only 61 years of age and one in every 20 children do not survive their first birthday.

According to the World Health Organisation, there is barely one doctor for every 1,000 people and the World Food Programme claims that a quarter of the population doesn’t have enough to eat.

As the first humanitarian flight operator in Guinea, MAF will partner with a range of aid agencies and Christian missions to help develop the country including rolling out education programmes, improving access to clean drinking water, strengthening agriculture and delivering the Gospel in what is primarily a Muslim country.

Poor infrastructure – including terrible roads – means that the remotest, most vulnerable communities in rural areas can take days to reach overland instead of hours. Only 5% of the country’s roads are paved (source: UN) while other routes are merely dirt tracks, which turn into mud, making them impassable during the 6-month rainy season.

In the coming months and years, MAF plans to redevelop and open local airstrips, some of which have been closed for 30 years.

Soon, MAF will be the only medevac service in the country and once a new airstrip has been built near Guéassou Clinic in south-eastern Guinea, lifesaving drugs will be replenished in hours instead of days, which will transform healthcare in this remote region.