Current Volunteers
Patricia Mawuli Nyekodzi
(Kpong Ghana)
Patricia is a mission pilot, aircraft engineer, rotax mechanic and Av Tech educator.
Patricia comes from Ghana in West Africa, where, four years ago, she literally walked out of the bush and asked for a job. She dug out tree stumps and mowed more than 1000m of runway every week - by hand. Patricia today is an inspirational speaker in schools and in the workplace in Ghana, and is also an aircraft engineer, pilot and flying instructor - and she is barely 23years old.
Patricia sees her success in LOVE. She loves her aircraft, loves her job, loves her country and her people, and is an active member of Medicine on the Move - where she loves changing lives one flight at a time.
Patricia would loves to share a little bit about her background and her success, going from a mud hut in a rural community to building and flying aircraft over her natal country and being recognised as a role model for young women throughout West Africa.
Michaela Hayes
(Georgia, US)
Beginning in January 2012 Michaela will be in Ghana for 2 year serving as the MoM Program Director.
Michaela was raised in Ghana from 1985-2002; 1985-1995 was spent in the Upper West Region, 1995-2002 was spent in the Brong Ahafo Region. Both parents and grandparents on both sides were missionaries to West Africa (Mom from Ivory Coast and Dad from Ghana).
Being raised within the missions aspect certainly fostered the desire to assist others and be a part of something bigger than just myself, but my own journey has led me down a less missions-related path and more of a "let's be real about it" path =)
My academic background has taken more of a behavioral flavor to it, with a B.S. in Human Development and a Master's of Public Health in Health Behavior. During my years in school, whenever there was an opportunity to do an internship or a study abroad, I have always found a way to work it to bring me back to Ghana.
In my most recent visit, I bumped into Matthew at a family friend's house in Techiman. We chatted about what they were doing with WAASPS and this little brainstorm called Medicine on the Move. So when I was done with my work for the summer, I took a little tro-tro ride down to Kpong and quite literally showed up on MoM's door to learn more about what it was they were involved with. They've not been able to shake me since.
Ben Sholes
(Georgia, US)
Beginning in January 2012 Michaela will be in Ghana for 2 year serving as the MoM Operations Manager.
Ben hails from the United States where he has spent his time working as an IT security consultant for the big 4 firm PwC. Ben is also happily married to Michaela Hayes as of September of 2011.
He came to MoM in the summer of 2011 with Michaela to explore what opportunities there were to help Ghanaians. With a background in both IT and business, Ben uses those skills to improve the efficiency and growth of both MoM and WAASPS as well as assists with general IT and logistics.
Sidney Pinney
(California, US)
With an engineering/agrarian background, an eye for logistics and a desire to leverage aviation for the betterment of humanity, Sid is well positioned to help Medicine on the Move with local and global challenges.
Not a stranger to the Not for Profit arena, Sid can bridge many divides when asked.
Friends and Supporters
Jennifer Joksch
(Germany)
Hi, my name is Jennifer. I am from Frankfurt, Germany and have a university degree in business administration and a vocational degree as Aviation Management Assistant. After working three years in the revenue management department of Lufthansa German Airlines, I decided to take a sabbatical leave to obtain a Masters in International Humanitarian Action with the NOHA programme of the European Commission. Searching for an opportunity to obtain practical experiences in an area which combines both, aviation and humanitarianism, I found ‘Medicine on the Move’ on ‘google’.
I will conduct my Master Thesis around the ETCHE project and assist the girls in the office, with administration and accounting, writing reports, updating website and blogs and teaching some German. I very much appreciate this opportunity to share some of my work experiences and knowledge but also to gain and learn a lot from the girls and their culture and how to run an NGO in West Africa – and last but not least to contribute to MoM’s meaningful and sustainable work in Ghana.
Ute Hoelscher
(Germany)
I met Jonathan and Patricia in Oshkosh, USA in July of 2011. They talked about WAASPS and Medicine on the Move – and I was impressed and excited. I became interested in learning how to fly Light Sports Aircraft in African conditions. Furthermore, as a flight instructor under US-FAA and JAR-FCL rules, I was wondering if I could volunteer my time in the teaching process or in any other way at Kpong Airfield.
Working as an administrator in special education I offer services for visually impaired children and youths. I currently do this in Germany but also had lived in the US for seven years – the western worlds. I have been fascinated by Africa since 1980 and when I earned my pilot license I always had this hidden dream of servicing visually impaired children in Africa by airplane …
Hearing about Medicine on the Move and learning about AVTECH Academy and WAASPS, I thought to step a bit closer to the dream well kept. I was impressed by the idea of teaching girls how to build, maintain and fly airplanes with the goal of helping their own people in rural areas of Ghana. Jonathan as the director of the organization and the master of encouraging to live one’s dream has developed a fascinating base for learning, inspiration, fulfillment, and love for a vision being able to be reached. Patricia with all her accomplishments and the girls are inspiring to watch and it is great to see what is developing in everybody.
I came by in October of 2011. I wanted to get an impression, saw that there is always help needed in the teaching process of the students and in the everyday obstacles of African life. A fascinating place for any volunteer. I converted my pilot license into a Ghanaian license and I learned a lot more about flying than I have in Europe flying the Ultra Lights. I hope to be able to help out with flying at Kpong Airfield in the future.
Meeting the family was a real treat and brought life into perspective.
Karlene Petitt
(Seatle, US)
Airline Pilot. Wife of 30 years. Mother of three. Grandmother of six. Author—watch for the release of her novel, Flight For Control. Karlene holds two master degrees; an MBA and MHS, and has been flying for 31 years—commercially for 23 years, instructing commercial airline pilots for 21 years, and first touched Ghana on a layover with Delta Air Lines in 2010, at which time she fell in love with the country and the people.
She's since become involved with medicine on the move by supporting our efforts through her writing.
Angela Malm
(Accra, Ghana)
My name is Angela Eugenia Malm and i am a young scoial worker by profession specialized in program design and management, social policy and social development at the masters level. I am passionate about sustainable projects design towards meeting the needs of the poor with high end interactions from the beneficiary communities.
Marcel Stieber
(California, US)
Marcel Stieber spent the summer of 2008 in Kpong as a volunteer having just finished his first year of university at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California.
He volunteered as a welding instructor for Patricia, Jennifer, and Matthew to allow in-house construction and repairs of everything from stainless steel exhaust pipes for the Rotax engines to the slasher on the tractor, to construction of the paint booth, roller for the runway, and engine test stand.
Throughout his stay, Marcel helped with all things repairman including numerous workshop repairs and renovations, electrical system overhauls, computer networking setup, aerial photography support, reclothing Kilo Tango, and countless other rewarding tasks that are begging him to come back!
Francis Norman
(Germany)
Francis began playing the violin at the age of 5. At 23 he is an accomplished musician who has performed in Europe, USA, Africa, China and Dubai. His resume includes artists like Rihanna, Craig David, Take That and more. During his stay in Ghana he accompanied his brother(a professional Kiteboarder) looking for beaches to Kitsurf, visited with family in Somanya and assisted in the AvTech academy lecturing about music, culture, life in Germany and more.
In addition to his musical accomplishments Francis began learning to fly Gliders at age 13. Additionally he now holds a Sport pilot license for light motor aircraft.
Erin Nolan
(NYC, US)
Detective Erin Nolan of the NYPD aviation unit. Erin is the first female NYPD pilot qualified to command one of its larger Bell 412 air-sea rescue helicopters.
Cindy Gracelyn Yeboah
(Accra, Ghana)
My name is Cindy Gracelyn Yeboah I hail from the West Africa, Eastern Region of Ghana. I have a diploma in communication studies. My major subjects were public relations, marketing and advertising. I am a self – motivated, enterprising and responsible young woman, a highly result focused person. I am a team – player and able to fit and relate very well with people.
I work with WAASPS and MOM. I teach the AvTech girls and also teach at the Fulani school. To work with MOM has been one of my greatest joy-helping the people that mostly need my help, showing love to the people that really need it and putting smiles on the faces of the less privileged. I had a desire to affect lives and leave a permanent useful impact in these lives that I affect. MoM has made this dream a reality.
