MAF Trek makes isolation real for students

MAF’s Training Centre in Far North Queensland hosted a group of teenage students and teachers from across Australia for the inaugural MAF Trek, an event that lets students experience just how significant an MAF flight can be for people in isolated areas.

Kylie McGillivray, Relationship Lead for Education for MAF in Australia, sets the scene for high school students on MAF Trek 2024.

“Imagine you lived in Papua New Guinea and had to trek on foot each term to get to boarding school, but not just on flat ground, you’re walking over mountains and across rivers. How would you feel about that?”

After a hot and sweaty hike through bushland backroads and a 3-hour wait sitting in the sun on the gravel beside a remote bush airstrip near Mt Garnet in Far North Queensland, the question is no longer purely academic for MAF Trek students.

“By the time the trek was done, we were all exhausted and just wanted to get on the plane and go home,” said Gabe Beckett, one of the students. “It was really hot, we waited, and there were not many comfortable places to sit, so we ended up just sitting on gravel. And that was the best we could find.

“After a walk like that, we were so happy to see that plane land.”

Andrew McGillivray, a MAF Trek supervising teacher from Green Point Christian College, New South Wales, said, “We started off with a trek which simulates moving through an isolated area.

“We went to a remote airstrip where we were picked up and brought back to base by plane, just to show the contrast between hiking through bush and how long it takes, how difficult it is, compared with the lifeline that MAF provides with their aircraft.

The bushland trek itself was the start of a three-day learning experience for the students that included a flight with MAF pilots, a hands-on lesson in the MAF Training Centre’s Redbird flight simulator, a hangar visit and a tour of the Cairns Support Office of MAF International.

The Trek programme is part of MAF’s outreach to schools and allows students to experience the work of MAF. Some students are working toward eventually becoming MAF pilots themselves.

Alex Beckett, a Year 12 student from Green Point Christian College, said, “I’ve always been intrigued by aviation pretty much since I could read.

“My brother started flying first, and then after a couple of months, I joined him. But, yeah, it was pretty much always there.”

Andrew said, “The students got a taste of what it’s like to be in a fairly remote airstrip, and also seeing what it’s like to take off on a fairly basic runway. The boys have learned an incredible amount, and I think it’s increased their passion for flying.”

MAF Training Centre Manager, Dean Giles, said, “It was great having the MAF Trek students and teachers visiting us here in Mareeba.

“We want to inspire the next generation of MAF pilots and engineers by giving them a real hands-on experience and exposure to an MAF operational environment, in the hope that they will go home and pass on their excitement to their friends and family as they finish their schooling and work towards becoming future MAF staff.”

Gabe has yet to finish high school, but he already has a clear sense of how a passion for aviation can be combined with mission.

“It’s a great opportunity to help people who don’t have much, to give them what they need and help them find their faith in God.”