HELP Madagascar

HELP Madagascar

DATE:                 06 April 2008. Toamasina. MADAGASCAR

TO:                     Director, Ukrainian Helicopters

SUBJECT:            Expression of appreciation

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

As the president of HELP Madagascar I want to express our sincerest appreciation and thanks to each member of the crew and support team that came to Madagascar on the Mi-8-MTV helicopter operated by Ukrainian Helicopters.

It has been apleasure working with each of the staff and crew members these past few weeks while we have been distributing food commodities in collaboration with the World Food Programme in rural Toamasina II district of eastern Madagascar, following the passage of Cyclone Ivan in February.

1 have been very impressed with the punctuality, the positive spirit, the genuine dedication and the sincere commitment of your personnel, both in the air and on the ground. It is evident that your staff are passionate about their work in helping bring humanitarian assistance to people in need, something that Ukrainian Helicopters can be justly proud. Your team was right there in the midst of relief efforts, sweating it out amidst the Malagasy villagers. In the 20+ years that I have been working in development and disaster relief around the world, it is rare to find a pilot who is humble enough to immerse himself in work on-the-ground. including hand-lifting sacks of food loaded into the helicopter and ensuring the sacks were stacked correctly for air transport.

Your team clearly knows their technical roles well, taking every measure to ensure smooth operations with minimal complications and avoidance of unnecessary risks. Each of the team members were courteous and friendly, even when conditions were challenging or less than ideal. We also enjoyed getting to know Nicolas, and were envious of his ability to communicate in eight languages - a real asset for any organization.

On behalf of the people of Madagascar. I want to convey our thanks for the work Ukrainian Helicopters and your crew have done in this partnership with the World Food Programme and HELP Madagascar. The Malagasy families that have received aid in the remote rural areas are very, very grateful for this assistance that has come at such a critical time of food insecurity). I know they will talk for a long time about the rice, peas and oil carried to their isolated and needy villages on what they call (in Malagasy) the "Flying mechanical chicken"!

We pray for safety and ongoing success as you continue your work of bringing humanitarian relict around the world. We would also welcome the opportunity to work together withUkrainian Helicopters in the future, should another operation for disaster relief arise in Madagascar.

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