By: Chief Mike Kull
After months of planning and meetings online, our team arrived in Blantyre, Malawi and it was stunningly beautiful. I’ve worked and traveled in East and Southern Africa but this country stood out to me. We sat down for a meal together to have our first face to face meeting. Breaking bread together is an important part of what we do here. Most of us knew each other and had worked together before but there was a new member of the team. With such a small team, we were going to be like family before we left. We had two days per city in three major cities while we were there and we were anxious to get going.
Our two days in the first city, Blantyre, flew by. We didn’t really have a plan going into it but our team quickly adapted to teaching together like we had done this a thousand times before. We tried to jam as much as we could into these two days and it was a real success. How do we know that? As we were having our team debriefing during supper the second day, we got a message that there was a fire reported in a slum area of the city. A while later we received another message saying that they had successfully extinguished the fire using some of the tactics that we had taught them. What great feedback for our two days of training.
Our travel days allowed us to decompress from the crazy few days of thinking on our feet. We toured the Namikango Mission, one of the AFM mission partners in Malawi. They are doing some great work in the community with a Maternity Clinic, a Discipleship Training Institute, a plantation, and Coffee Farm and Roastery. While we weren’t scheduled to visit the Fire Station in Zomba, we stopped in for a quick visit. They were extremely lacking in resources but we were very encouraged by the positive attitudes of the firefighters working there.
Our next two days of training in Zomba go very quickly again with great success. We weren’t planning on doing any medical training but saw a need after arriving to teach some life saving skills in CPR and bleeding control. We spent some time teaching vehicle extrication with hand tools. While on a break, we began going over a set of hydraulic extrication tools that had not run for the past thirteen years. With some work, will power, and a few tools we had packed, we got the power unit running and the tools are now on the truck ready to be used out in the community. We left Zomba feeling like we had made a real difference. That was the reason we were all there.
Our next travel day took us to Lake Malawi. The Lake is such an incredible resource for the country and no trip here is complete without a visit. We only had a few hours by the Lake but it was a good chance to recharge our spirits and prepare for our final two days of teaching.
Our last two days of training were in the capital city of Lilongwe. Even in the Capital, they struggle with having the equipment they need to serve the city. There was only one functioning fire truck and it was on loan from the airport. What is so inspiring working in Africa is how dedicated these men and women are to serving their communities despite the lack of resources they have. While we were there we had a unique experience that was not on the schedule. We ended our training early our first day because the Fire Brigade had to standby at an Africa Cup of Nations (football/soccer) qualifier game between Egypt and Ethiopia. We were invited to come along and we quickly agreed, riding with the firefighters on the Engine to the stadium (with lights and sirens at times). Once we were there we split up into teams around the stadium. It gave us a chance to interact with the firefighters and work side by side with them. It was mostly uneventful but still an unforgettable experience. We wrapped up our last day of training with some extrication training and a live fire.
Our final day in Malawi was spent out in the villages with our mission partners at e3 Partners. They are doing some great work with sustainable farming and drinking water wells in the rural areas. We even got to do some fire prevention training in a remote village. Our Fire Safety Advocate, Jose, from Kenya did an awesome job engaging everyone in the village.
I am humbled and honored to say that I am a part of Africa Fire Mission. We all did this for different reasons. All of us want to share the knowledge and training that we have learned in the Fire Service with these developing nations. For me, it is also more of a calling. For me it is a way to carry out the Great Commission that was given to us in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…”
Working for Africa Fire Mission is a great way for anyone to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You will be inspired as you work side by side with instructors from around the US and the world as well as with these amazing firefighters in developing countries. You will leave with your spirits raised, a new enthusiasm for firefighting and more than anything, a different perspective in life and on the world as a whole.
About the Author:
Chief Mike Kull has been serving his local community in rural Pennsylvania for 25 years. Chief Kull serves as Fire Chief and Administrator of his local volunteer fire department as well as serving as a local elected official and has served in various government roles for his entire career. He is also a Forest Fire Warden with the PA Bureau of Forestry and serves on his church council