BIG KENNY AND CHRISTIEV ALPHIN VISIT TO

KUNYUK GIRLS SCHOOL - AKON VILLAGE

Report by Liz Walker, MSK Board Member

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MSK’s most recent mission to the village of Akon, Sudan, with Kenny Alphin (the ‘Big’ half of the hit country music duo Big and Rich) was a labor of love. The risk of love became abundantly clear from the very start.  Our twin engine charter, headed for Sudan, had just taken off from Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi when the latch on the engine cover came undone. As the pilot quickly turned the plane around and headed back toward the airfield, someone wondered out loud if we were going to be all right.  David Marks, one of Big Kenny’s friends and a pilot himself, assured us that as long as the cover didn’t fly off and hit the tail, we’d be fine.  That’s when the cover flew off.  It missed the tail. Our plane landed safely and we were back on the runway before we realized just how dangerous the mishap had been. We eventually were assigned another charter and off we went on one of the most unusual Akon missions in which I’ve been involved.