Canadian Christian aviators help children with hydrocephalus

The Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda and the Usratuna Rehabilitation Centre in South Sudan have teamed up to make a difference for babies on World Hydrocephalus Day today and beyond.

The MAF, a Canadian Christian ministry flying humanitarian aid missions in 29 different countries, has been transporting South Sudanese infants with hydrocephalus and other critical neurological conditions across the border from Usratuna to the CURE Children’s Hospital in Mbale for life-saving brain surgery. More than 300 flights have been completed to date.

Hydrocephalus is an excess buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within the brain ventricles. The increasing pressure can damage the brain, cause severe disability and even prove fatal without timely treatment. This problem is especially pronounced in South Sudan, where no permanent neurosurgeon is available to perform these specialized surgeries.

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Many find it impossible to reach CURE as dangerous crossings and unsafe roads make the journey from South Sudan too difficult and slow when time is of the essence.

Pilot Matthew Marples, the son of MAF missionaries Richard and Jennifer Marples, relayed a powerful experience with a mother and child he transported from the South Sudan capital city, Juba, to the CURE hospital. He conveyed how powerful it is for a mother to emotionally transform from apprehensive to relieved.  

“You see quite often a bit of trepidation and fear as the mothers (board) the airplane, most of them for the first time, compared to the sense of relief that we see either after the surgeries or when we have dropped them off in Uganda into the care of the hospital,” said Marples. “You can just see it in their faces, the relief they feel knowing they're going to be able to get help for their children.”

A South Sudanese mother named Ayen shared that her daughter Achrin’s eyes turned inward, and her head swelled rapidly a few days after she turned one month old in January 2025. She travelled to Ustrana, and the team there coordinated care and transportation details to Uganda with the MAF.

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“When we reached [the CURE hospital], they received me with love and good care at the hospital there,” Ayen said. “They welcome you and talk to you with a smile.”

Plenty of groundwork needs finalizing before takeoff. Passports, travel permits, border requirements, medical needs, weather and potential language barriers all need assessment.

Marples said this work to help families in a way that does not “burden them with unmanageable healthcare costs” is possible because of strong donor support to MAF over the years.

“The reality is that without generous support, these fights don't happen,” said Marples. “The airplanes are unfortunately expensive. We do our best to make sure that we run a right-sized organization and that we use our resources efficiently, but there is a cost involved. All of these are done at no cost to the patients and their families. The flights are all paid for by generous MAF donors, and the surgeries are paid for by generous CURE donors.”

While growing up as a missionary kid in Papua New Guinea, he quickly developed a passion to one day be a pilot as he cherished sitting in the back of his dad’s plane. He acted upon this desire by studying at the Prairie Training Aviation Centre, a department of Prairie College, in Three Hills, Alta.

The moment that inspired Marples to become a missionary pilot was a relief mission he did alongside his dad to the Papua New Guinean village of Fugwa. They brought supplies, staff and students to keep a small Bible college operational. This small school would then train people on how to spread the Gospel to members of their own communities.

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“I have this quite distinct memory of the city in the back of my dad's airplane, and as we're powering up for take-off and looking out at the little tin roofs of the Bible College and hearing a voice that was not my own saying, ‘this is what I want you to do.’

To learn more, visit maf.org.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)