Rachel's Report

The end has come

2010-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

A statement I am not sure I ever really envisioned writing. When I started my adventure on this ship it was for a year. Then it extended to two. A long time in some ways, not so long in others. But, I never really thought about the end. If I did, I think I was afraid that I would disconnect to what was going on here and start living at home; something I did not want to do. I wanted to fully take in my time here. I began the

"whole trying to find a job" thing a few months back. That didn't work out so well. I started too soon and was basically told to try again when I returned to the US. That seriously freaked me out in a few ways. I am one who loves my "ducks in a row". I want to know where my next meal, paycheck, shower etc is coming from. I like to be prepared. I don't want to be a burden to my family once I am home because I did not plan in advance. So, I tried. I failed. I can't really do anything else till I get home. But, what that has given me is a freedom to stop looking to home and living where I am. Currently ,on a storm tossed, flat bottom, converted train ferry somewhere off the coast of Southern Africa. But, it also will allow me to enjoy my safari in South Africa and my time traveling with friends in Europe without the anxiety of planning for home. It has also reminded me that God is in control, no matter where I am. He knows where He wants me and when He wants me to get a job. He knows when my parents need to move and where they will find a house my Mom can decorate to her hearts content. He knows that Gabe is also starting a new season as a college student. He KNOWS. and I don't have to worry. I don't have to fret. I can enjoy the time I have left with my friends and know that God is preparing a place for me back home with a job, friends and a church. A place I can set up my "home base" , that as I live my life of missions and travel, I have a place to call home and to return to. So, though my season here is drawing to a close, I don't really know what is next. I don't know what job, what apartment or what church. But God does. So, I'm OK.

God's Timing

2010-07-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

"Rachel, I had this baby born yesterday............. " This was the start of my day on Monday.

But before this story, let me bring you back a week to last Monday. I was in the middle of the biggest screening of the year. General. We can do 6 general surgeries in a day, as opposed to 3 with most surgeries. So, we need more general patients to fill the schedule. So about midway through the 98 patients a member of the crew came to me and said, Hey, Rachel we have this lady here getting a CT, she has a large abdominal tumor. Can Frank (the surgeon) take a look? My response, " Sure, he can look, we won't do it. We don't do abdominal tumors" I put it out of my mind and went on with my morning. My screening team and I got through all 98 patients in 3.5 hours. Very excited that everything went so well, I was finishing up details and Joy (my boss) came to me and said, " So, the lady with the tumor, she is being admitted to the ward. Frank wants to do her" I could not believe it. Her tumor was huge. She looked like 12 months pregnant. But, it was one of those times, where God gave me peace and said, " This is Me" So, I got excited about what was going to happen. On the 9th of July, we removed a 37 pound tumor from this women. It was a fibroid that had been growing for 12 years. As I looked at amazement at her in her bed recovering and praising God I though back on the events that brought her here. First, she is from Benin. Her husband knew a few crew members. They came to visit on the day of a general screening. She was able to be fit into the CT schedule despite the huge numbers CT's being done that day. Frank was the surgeon here. The surgeon who was supposed to be here ended up incredibly sick and did not come, so Frank agreed to stay and do our General surgeries. (Frank had been here doing VVF surgeries, but is a general surgeon). But, God orchestrated everything to have her here at the right time with the right people to change her life. She was discharged today, healing well. (See pictures at the end. Warning: They are graphic)

This past Monday started with a phone call from Russ, a American Baptist missionary in Togo. He is a pediatrician that runs a hospital about 3 hours north of Lome. We have been in regular contact with him and have seen and done surgery on many of his patients. He called Monday to tell me about a baby, born on Sunday with a large cystic lesion (fluid filled mass) on his tongue. He could not breastfeed . In Africa, that is instant death. If they cannot nurse, formula is not available. Mom's don't really pump or express milk to feed the baby. Russ was taking a stab in the dark. Our surgery schedule was full. He knew it, but tried anyway. I went to speak to the OR, to see if there was a remote possibility that the baby could receive surgery. Leo, one of the Max fax surgeons, happened to be in the office. I presented the case to the OR supervisor hoping the surgeon coming next week might be able to see him. The OR then said that the surgeon next week was only 50/50 that he would do a baby so young. But, Leo............ So, we ran it by Leo who was very happy to look at the baby and though he should probably be able to do it as long as anesthesia was OK with anesthetizing a baby that young. Everyone seemed in agreement and the baby arrived yesterday (Wednesday) A strong healthy baby boy. The plan is to do surgery tomorrow, because one of Leo's cases did not come, so we have room in the schedule. God is good and this baby should be able to get surgery, be able to feed and grow up strong and healthy. Weeks like these remind me who is in control, both of the world and my life. As I look toward home and the prospects of finding a job, apartment, church, car etc, I am reminded that God is in control, that his timing is perfect.

Before After

Update

2010-06-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Hi there All,

I'm so sorry it has been a month since the last post. I have been a bit busy, but in all I think I've just been struggling with what I am supposed to be posting. I have been stressed and tired and not feeling like anything I would be saying would be the least bit interesting or uplifting.

VVF is going well. We have done 5 weeks and have one left. We got a second VVF surgeon 2 weeks ago, because the Max Fax surgeon that was supposed to come had to unexpectedly cancel. So we have 2 wards full of VVF patients and one half full ward of left over Max Fax, Plastics and eye patients. The VVF women are going great, most going home dry. Amongst the many joys and successes there are tears. Women that are so damaged that making then dry is not possible, infections that we are having a hard time treating and even pregnancy. I do a lot of the arranging for the women's transport back home. I get to see then joyfully leaving the ship to rejoin the village as a legitimate member of the community. I see them go home with their heads still down that we were not able to help.

Tani is beautiful!!! Her little nose is healing well. She will go home at the beginning of next week. She is a bundle of energy always looking for something new. Ali, one of the Assistant Ward Supervisors has done a wonderful blog on her a few time. www.alirae.net She is so much more eloquent than I am in sharing stories. (and pictures).

I'm just asking for prayer for peace and guidance. Peace while I finish out my time here and guidance on what to do once I am back in the US.

VVF

2010-05-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ali, another OR nurse with a VVF patient.

VVF starts tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! We have an invasion on women from the North. 30 of them came last night, my trusty translator Sam leading the way. Sam is a Togelese man who lived in the US for a number of years as a child and teen, and now lives back in Togo. He is one of the only people who actually understands my English at my normal rate of speech, so naturally I'm a bit bias. He is originally from the north of Togo, so he speaks a lot of the languages of the women from there. The women who we have asked to return from Benin started arriving last night also. It is an exciting time. There is an air of anticipation, knowing that a lot of these women will be changed for life after their time with us.

Bonnie with one of the VVF ladies. Notice the patient's small stature, very typical for a VVF patient and why they have had problems giving birth.

I have struggled in caring for these women since the time I started on the ship. Even at home I have always preferred male patients. I just have always seemed to get along with them better. I have said in my prior post these VVF patients are STUBBORN!!!!! They are survivors and determined to make a life for themselves, a great quality (one I have myself), but they don't make wonderful patients. But, despite my fears and reservations going into VVF each time, God has always given grace. I have always found I connect with one or two, I have fun laughing each day with them, trying to mime how to do care or ask a question through charades. So I'm looking forward at what God will do this time. Keep Maggie and Lindsay (the VVF coordinators) in your prayers, they have a huge task in front of them. Also, my friend and roommate Allison, she is the VVF team leader in the OR. The nurses have incredible hearts for these women and have a long 6 weeks in front of them.

Maggie with Ramatou, a VVF patient turned translator, who is back again this year to help is translate.

Up and Down

2010-05-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Me with a little guy I was screening

This has been a week of ups and downs. We are having to make changes in the surgery schedule due to the lack of surgeons. The balancing of the OR schedule is a task I will never undertake and have no desire to. The complexities of what types of surgeries certain surgeons can do but others cannot, balanced with the mixture of boney vs soft tissue surgeries, balanced with what anesthesiologist can assist with what patients balanced with nurse specialities is simply mind boggling. Too much to think on. The OR has had its hands full this week trying to fit is as many patients as they can. Stretching nurses, sterilizers and doctors farther than ever before. With all this a lot of patients have been said No to. A lot have not been able to be scheduled. Surgeries, that if the patients had come a month ago, would have been done. It wears on you. It makes you want to cry. I hate saying no. That is not why I became a nurse. That is obviously a down.

Maggie Praying with a VVF Patient

There is also an up...... Remember Tani??? The little girl with the severe facial burns?? I was talking to one of the nurses and she told me that Tani had her surgery. Hesitantly, I asked "Did they make her a nose?" I didn't want the answer to be No. On that day I'm not sure I could have dealt with the answer being No. But, Thanks the Lord, the answer was yes. It is little, but she has a cute little nose, with nostrils and everything!!!!!!!!!!! That made my day. I went over to A ward. She has a cute little nose and a head covered in bandages. There is a flap over her eye right now from her scalp providing the blood supple to her new little nose. That will be released in a few weeks time. I can't wait to show pictures. This little girl is a gem.... Cute and shy. Never been out of her village till now. That is why I am here. To touch a life. Tani life has been touched.

Little Baby with a cleft

Here are some pictures of screening. Screening is almost over. The North screening will be done by weeks end. The schedule is almost full to busting. But, God is in control. He knew what would happen even before it did. He knew patients we would see. He knew the surgeons who would come. I know he has a plan!!!!!

The whole Team!!!

Relationships

2010-04-25T12:35:00.001-07:00

Hi there!!

I apologize for my long absence from the blog. I have seem to have been wrapped up in work. The Giles, a Max fax Surgeon and his wife have arrived and now have left. They are having a lot of success in finding Max Fax, VVF and general surgeon. I'm really excited about being able to serve the ones that are least likely to have access to care. We have a great team of translators up there with them also.

Since I don't currently feel like talking about work and my last screening was Friday, I'm gonna change the subject. What has been on my mind lately is relationships. With family, with translators, with roommates and with friends. Since work has actually been winding down a bit I have more time on my hands. I find that I don't know who to talk to, who to hang out with. I'm not on the wards, so I don't have a relationship with the nurses like last year. The friends I have outside the ward are wonderful, but young. They are 18 to 20 years old, were I just celebrated my 30th birthday. They are also all "coupled". So, I don't quite fit.

I'm and currently also in the process of trying to figure out where to live when I return to the US in October. Should I stay in New England near my family?? Should I try and branch out and find a new place to live?? Right now it is between Denver CO and Portland ME. I do fear, though, that not living close to my family will fracture my relationship with them. I don't want a niece that doesn't know me or that I never see. But, going back to New England feel a bit like going backwards.

Everyone needs a place. To belong. And it is hard when you don't quite know where that is. I trust that God has a great plan and I'm firmly in his grasp, but I'm curious where I am to fit.

Anyway, that is where I am personally.

On the patient front, there is little Tani. Tani is a 9 year old from the most northern part of Dapong. I received a picture of her in the first few months here. My heart went out to her. She was severely burned years ago. She is now missing her nose, her lip and an eye. Despite the deformities she is full of joy and mischief. She loves to play, to steal memory cards and chase balloons. Before a week ago, she had never been outside her village. She is here in hopes that our plastic and Max Fax surgeon can rebuild her nose, lip and cover the place her eye should occupy. Pray that they have the tissue to do all that they want to. I'll keep you updated on her progress.

I'll have pictures of the last screening soon.

God's provision

2010-03-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

Ans examining a patient

I have never been one to doubt the existence of God. I have known from a very young age that he is alive and well and in my life. The thing with God is, that, he isn't all that pushy (most of the time). He waits for me to seek him, to ask him, to acknowledge my need for him. Then, he reminds me that he is there, always watching, protecting and providing. The latest evidence of this started last Friday. Last Friday was a speciality orthopedic screening. I was worried that we would have far more patients then we had surgery spots. I was sick of saying No constantly. I didn't want to have to do it again. So, my solution, I prayed for rain. Torrential downpour, wind type storm. Then, in my logic, the patients may not come. Well, I showed up on Friday to the screening to a full sunny sky and 300 people under an awning. About 1 hour into the screening the black clouds arrived. The wind started, the thunder rolled and the downpours started. All I could do was laugh. I was like "very funny God". In that small voice, God said, "I am listening, here is your rain, but I want these people here." Just a small reminder that we offer so much more than surgery, we offer Him. The great physician, the ruler of all.

Jean (one of out translators and Ganash one of our security guards)

After Fridays screening I was talking to the OR. They said that they were a few Max Fax patients short (due to a few no shows and sick kids). So, I was praying over the weekend for Max Fax patients. Monday was a orthopedic physician screening. Twice, we had t

old Mom, "Sorry, we can't help your child's leg" just to have Mom say "Can you look at their mouth, food comes out their nose and they don't speak well?" Both of those children turned out to have cleft palates. 2 kids to fill the slots on our Max fax schedule. At an Ortho screening. God's Provision.

Linda with a patient

In the last blog I talked about relationships and people management not being a strength of mine. 2 days ago I spoke at programs reporting time. As I was speaking I came to a slide in my presentation that had pictures of my team. God then reminded me of his provision once again. In the first week, when I was learning what screening was all about, God gave me Esther and Ans, two women who have been screening for years. When I was struggling to hire and manage day workers, God gave me Joy. Joy loves to people manage and she is awesome at it. When screening began my friend Linda started working with me. Linda got the whole data entry aspect of screening up and running, then when Joy was asked to take another position, Linda stepped up and took over the people management and the running of the screening site. Again, God provided what I needed when I needed it. Why I ever doubt I don't know. I am just thankful He keeps showing up.

Joy examining a patient

Leaving

2010-03-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Lawson before and after!!!!!!

The theme of leaving has been one of the most predominant in the last few weeks. I have two good friends leaving today. One, a girl who I first met in Liberia and cams back last year. I was so excited to have her back!!! She was closer to my age then most of the nurses here and just someone that I related to well. I watched her fall for a guy here too and watched the relationship develop. It was so neat and interesting to see how the pieces came together. They are just a great, real couple that didn't make me want to puke every time I saw them together. (Sorry to all the rest of the happy couple out there) Now they are leaving and face the challenge of living their lives and testing their love in the "real world". It gets me thinking of how different the world that I live in currently is to the world I come from. I am, at present, coming home after this outreach is over. That means finding an apartment, a car, earning a salary and having to go farther then Mid Ships to fine someone to talk to and hang out with. In a lot of ways, that is really exciting to me. In other ways, that really scares me. Finding relationships has never been something that I am good at. I struggle with it even on a steel box filled with 400 people around me constantly. I really worry that if I can't do it well here, will I be able to do it at all at home??

I think a lot of this is coming up because of the challenges of my job. A big part of my job is talking to all the different people that are effected by screening and keeping everyone on the same page and working well together. This is a daily struggle. I always seems to be stepping on someone's toes, not talking to someone I should have, not phrasing something right, being to abrupt or abrasive, not being friendly enough etc. God has confirmed over and over again that he has placed me in this job. He knows my weakness, yet he put me in a job that the weakness is highlighted everyday (or so it seems). I wonder why? Is it just a refining fire? or will I need this later? I don't know.

Anyway, the near daily screenings that I am doing now will be ending soon. Our surgery schedule is getting full, and to continue screening would produce too many patients. We still have a team of 2 going to the north to screen the people there. They will also bring patients to the ship. Ending screening is bittersweet. I will not miss the 0530 wake up and the long mornings in the sun having to say no, we can not help to patients with cancer, fibroids and cerebral palsy. But I will miss laughing with my day workers, working with the team of people that I put together, being off the ship and just being with the African people. I look forward to maybe being back on the ward and seeing people healed. We will see what God does and what the rest of this year looks like.

Screening

2010-02-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hi there!!!! First and foremost let me apologize for the length of time between blogs. When I first arrived back to the ship I had a new position, I became the Screening Coordinator. I am in change of the 3 weekly screenings, the special Friday screenings and the surgeon screenings on Mondays. When I first returned I didn't really know what this would entail. My job started slowly and rapidly picked up speed and busyness. When the ship arrives in Togo I found myself working long hours and playing catch up with the "things of management" . Not being in management before I quickly learned about having meetings for everything, having at least 20 e mails when I logged on every morning and having to understand and clearly communicate every detail of everything I was not only doing, but thinking. These were often details that I didn't consciously think about and having to put them into words was often difficult.

Once screening began, there was a lot of fear and anxiety and worrying that I had forgotten something or wondering if I had made the right choice. My dreams the first few nights were of those that I had to tell that we could not help. It broke my heart. My waking hours were filled with crew and day workers staffing and patient flow layouts. There was so much that I had not even considered.

I know all new jobs are a bit overwhelming, but I hate feeling like I am totally in over my head. There were many times in the first few screenings that I had that feeling. Thankfully, now, those feelings are beginning to dissipate and the excitement of each day is coming forth.

"Who will I see today?" "Will we be able to help??" There are still challenges, like waking up every day between 0500 and 0530, but God has met me in them. He has given me a wonderful group of people to work with. Mentors, colleagues, friends and bosses. He has continued to provide at every turn. I'm excited to see what he has in store!!!

Hope you enjoyed thephotos by our incredible PR team!!!!!

Back "Home"

2010-01-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

So I'm back on board!!!! I got back to the ship about a week ago and things have been slowly ramping up. I have taken on a new challenge this year. I have become the screening coordinator. I will have the opportunity to go out to the hospitals and pre screen patients to come back to the ship and be seen by the surgeons. I will also be responsibility for giving support for a mobile screening unit and coordinating with some of the various doctors in the area to have patients that the ship may be able to help. This is really exciting for me to be able to see so many of the patients first hand and assist the surgeons in finding patients that we can help.

We will be sailing to Togo, the country beside Benin in a week or so. Surgeries will begin a few weeks after we arrive. Please pray that God will begin to bring the patients that he wants us to see to the screenings and that He will give our doctors wisdom in their evaluations.

I'll let you know as more happens.

Winter Newsletter

2010-01-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

I’m currently sitting in my sister’s apartment on a holiday break, the Christmas tree lights twinkling, a holiday candle burning

and the television humming in the distance. It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was in Africa, on a ship, serving the

poorest of the poor. I’m trying to figure out how to compile a year of events into a 2 page newsletter! How do I adequately

express all of my experiences, emotions, ups and downs? I will say that throughout it all, one common thread remains: God is

sovereign. I marvel at all the work that was done, all that the hospital accomplished and the lives that God has healed and transformed.

Every year, Mercy Ships docks in West Africa. During the first few weeks of docking 5,000 people come to the ship from all

over Benin looking for medical assistance. Our goal is to successfully perform such surgeries as removing hernias, goiters,

and large facial tumors. Perform cataracts, reconstructing cleft lips, cleft palates, orthopedic deformities, VVF (vesico vaginal

fistula) and burn contractures surgeries for both children and adults. After our screening, we distribute an appointment card

with a date to each qualified applicant for them to come back to the ship for surgery. In 2009, we conduct about 6500

successful surgeries. Here are a few of my favorite stories:

Orthopedic Surgery - Elise and Elise′: This brother and sister were the highlight of my first

few months on the ship. They both had severe bow legs and needed surgical correction as

the more they grew, the less they’d be able to walk. Both came to the ship quiet, timid and

unsure. Their surgeries and recovery took about a week and they were both completely

physically and emotionally transformed. Following the surgery, they started engaging with the

staff and soon were running up to me, crawling on my lap and trying to type on the computer.

Elise` egged his sister on and encouraged her play too. They were the epitome of what

carefree children should be and I was glad to be a part of it.

Max Fax - Alba: This 6 year old little girl walked into

our ward with a rag over her face and her eyes

downcast. She would not look anyone in the eye. She

ate facing the wall and with no one around her. She slept with a rag over her mouth.

She had a soft ball sized tumor on the base of her mouth that has been growing for

years. She drooled constantly and the tumor had a foul odor. Dr. Gary removed the

tumor in an uncomplicated operation. However, the change in this little girl was

remarkable. At first she still kept the rag over her mouth. But as we continually

encouraged her to look in the mirror to reinforce that the tumor was gone the more

confident she became. I still remember walking into the ward and having her grin at me.

No rag, just all smiles!

Feeding program - Hubert: A majority of the surgeries we perform onboard are to babies who have cleft lips and palates.

When a baby is born with cleft he or she has a difficult time feeding. The cleft makes it

almost impossible to form the seal around the nipple and breast feed. Some Mom’s

manually express milk and feed the baby from a cup or a spoon, however, the baby is

usually underweight and malnourished. Hubert was one such baby. He arrived with his

mom and older sister Pauline at just 6.6 pounds at 6 months old. Our first goal was to set

him up on a feeding program to bring his weight up and strengthen his body to prepare him

for surgery which he did successfully. As nurses, we were actually a bit more worried about

his older sister Pauline. She didn’t laugh, didn’t smile, and didn’t play. Her mom hardly

interacted with her. On Hubert’s discharge date he got a fever and remained in our care.

Unfortunately, he stopped gaining weight, developed a rash and a high fever due to the

measles. Sadly, baby Hubert went to be with Jesus. The reason this story touched me is

that even though Hubert died, God restored his family. His mom began to bond to his sister

Pauline and love on her as a result Pauline began to smile and play. Hubert’s father came

to visit while his son was dying and proclaimed Hubert as his son, something he had never

done before due to his cleft lip. In Africa death is not a failure, it is simply part life however,

and this family left the ship closer due to the loss of their little boy.

VVF- Ramatou: Ramatou came to us from the North part of Benin. A lot of the VVF we

perform come from the north part of Benin due to the limited access of medical care in the rural

areas of Benin. Ramatou was Muslim and her husband left her after their baby died during

childbirth. She developed a large VVF due to the baby pushing on her pelvis during delivery

which results in the death of the infant. Unfortunately, her first VVF surgery repair was

unsuccessful however; she returned for a second round of surgeries and then started working

as our translator. She has since decided to follow Christ and her joyful smile is exuberant. She

is always smiling, loves to sing and worship, and is an encouragement to the other ladies on

the ship.

Eyes - Desiree: Eye surgery is the most common surgery performed on the ship. Most patients come

to the ship for cataract removal however; the following story was a rare but miraculous event. This little

boy was only 3 hours old when I met him. He had been born at a local hospital in the area and it was

immediately evident that there was something wrong with his eyes. His Grandma knew that there was

a ship that was performing eye surgery so she took the baby from the hospital, hopped on the back of a

motorcycle and took a 45 minute ride to the ship. Upon her arrival, one of our eye surgeons

immediately corrected his inverted eye lids which had resulted from an infection in the womb. We sent

him on back to his Mama to be fed and looked after. He came back to the ship a few weeks later for a

follow-up and now has normal vision.

Plastics - Christian: Christian came to us for a burn contracture. He had burned his leg in a cooking

fire and when the skin healed it had scared and shrank. As a result, he had limited mobility in his leg.

Dr. Tertius released the contracture and grafted the skin to allow Christian to walk normally. This was

crucial to Christian and many African men as it allows them the ability to work and provide for their

families. During his visit to the ship, he learned a little English. We taught him to read, write and do

basic math. By the time he left the ship he was helping the nurses and translating for us. He told us

that his goal was to learn enough English to come to Togo next year and be a full-time translator!

General-Goiters and Hernias: We performed 1,161 general surgeries. Since these patients have a

short stay, we often don’t get to know their stories. However, one of the patients I will never

forget is Frank. Frank had a large umbilical hernia repair and afterwards was on a morphine drip

and was very sleepy. I was working nights in our B ward and he was recovering in our D ward. I

was in charge that night and got a call that Frank’s blood pressure was dropping and his heart

rate was increasing. He continued to become unstable during the night and I called all the

doctors on call. We tried everything medically available but were not able to stabilize him as a

result; we were watching him die before our eyes. Dr. Bruce decided to open his abdomen. Once

the abdomen was open, a large amount of fluid came out and miraculously, his blood pressure

came up and heart rate began to come down. There had been so much fluid in his belly that it

was pushing on is vena cava and preventing blood from getting to the heart. We took him back

to the OR to close his belly and he was discharged less than a week later. God is good!

These are just some of my experiences from my time in Benin and the people and memories that have touched my

life. On January 13th I am heading back to Tenerife, where the ship is currently docked and then sail onto Togo until

August 2010. Thank you for your interest in what God is doing in my life. Thank you so much for your support both

financially and emotionally, for your encouragement and prayers throughout the year. If you feel led to support me

financially this upcoming year, you can do so either through a one-time or monthly donation. You can make a

donation through this website www.mercyships.org by clicking on make a gift > crewmates > search under Dix >

contribute now. Or you can mail a check to Mercy Ships to PO Box 2020, Lindale TX 75771. Note: Please make

the check out to Mercy Ships but do not include my name on the check. Instead, include a note with my name and

my ID number: 2495. Thank you again and God bless!

Vacation

2009-12-17T20:57:00.001-08:00

Hi there all!!!!

Well, the Benin outreach is complete and the ship is one day away from arriving in Tenerife. From the sounds of things they are having a rough time of it. I, though, left Benin on December the 4th to fly home. My little brother is getting married and I didn't want to miss the wedding. I also got to meet my adorable niece Lucy. Lucy is my younger sister Sarah's little girl. So right now I'm having a great time reconnecting with family and friends. I visited Texas to see some friends from the ship and am now in Portland, Oregon, visiting my best friend Toni. I'm looking forward to relaxing and re-cooping before heading back to the ship on January the 13th. We then sail for Togo at the beginning of February. Here are the results of the surgeries from this outreach. In total we did over 6,000 surgeries, almost double of what we did in Liberia in 08. I'll also be sending out a newsletter in the next few weeks highlighting some of the patinets I have seen. Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Procedures Procedures Persons Participants

Mercy Vision - MVBN09 Benin Smiles - DTLBN9

3,521 21,266 10,175 Training - 1st group 32 5

448 794 794 Training - 2nd group 41 4

Eye Surgery - affected by Strabismus 83 - 3,000 Repairing/Mentoring to Purchase 31 * above

Eviscerations/Enucleations 39 - 10,174 Repairing/Mentoring to Purchase 49 * above

Eye Evaluations & Treatments - 33,851 Avg Hr/Participant Participants Technician Training Workshop 20/25 10/16

Distribution of Sunglasses - 7,083 Train teachers to teach Oral Health 2 25 University Students Instruction 5 137

Distribution of Readers - 5,689 Train Beninese-Assistants- T.Bokpe 320hrs & E.Essah 200 hrs Church Leaders' Conferences-CECBN9

Patient Nights - 353 Train Beninese-Hygiene Instructors-A.Edoh 45 hrs & R.Idohou 45 hrs Cotonou 15.7 355

Training-Cataract Surgical Fellow-Wendy Hoffman 456 hours Palliative&Outpatient Care-OPCBN9 Hours w/Patients Participants Parakou 15.7 247

Nathaniel Henson 282 hours 592.9 28

Avg Hr/Participant ParticipantsSupport Burkitt's lymphoma patients * included above 6 Workshop #1 89:31 24

Training-Comm Eye Workers - Field Team 88 9 Train Family in Wound Care * included above 19 Workshop #2 88:52 24

Training-Comm Eye Workers -Tech Team 29 6

Training-Community Eye Workers - OR 728 3 Food for Life - FFLBN9 Avg Hr/Participant Participants

Training - Local Surgeons Agricultural Staff Trained 485/382 5/5

Mentoring Local Trainees - 23 Training Participants-

Outlook of Hope - RCNBN9 Procedures Construction of hostel - dormitories 100% % Completed - 1st group

Maxillofacial/Plastic Surgeries (w/o clefts) 1,018 OSAREH - OSABN9

Cleft Lip/Palate Repair Surgeries 163 Construction of Ped. Ortho Center 100% % Completed

General Surgery Repairs 1,161

Training - Local/Regional Surgeons Dr.Jaeggi 42 hrs & Avg Hr/Participant Participants

Dr. Yaradouno 456 hrs

Patient Nights - 7,757 63.5 17

Hope Reborn - VVFBN9 Procedures 54 12

Surgeries-affected by VVF/obstetric fistula 154

Training-Surgeons-Dr.Sa'ad Idris-80 hrs & Dr. Sunday Adeoye 80 hrs

& Dr. Alyona Lewis 64 hrs & Dr. Frank Asimwe 64 hrs 31.5 50

Training-Obstetric Nurses in VVF Care - Christopher Thembo - 64 hrs Number of Site Visits 372 Visits

Patient Nights - 1,754 Participant Opportunities 2,307 Opport.

Orthopaedic - ORTBN9 Procedures 29 part. 96 hrs. Decisions to Follow Jesus 2,423 People

Orthopaedic Surgeries 231 18 50 Received Prayer 2,183 People

Patient Nights - 628 18 220

Church/Community Leaders Training - Bethesda 21 part. 96hrs

MIERS 31 part. 96 hrs & Abomey 38 parts. 96 hrs & Bethesda

Corrections Officers/Prison Workers Training

3 day Upcountry Workshop

for 20 part.18 hrs&Abomey17 part18+18 hrs&Godomey16 part.18 hrs

5 day Children's Camp Mercy Ministry - HDMMIN

Health Care Workers Training @ Bethesda #1

Health Care Workers Training @ Bethesda #2

3 Day HCW Training Seminars - Porto Novo 17 part. 18 hrs & AGLA

F Fonton 179hrs & E Folly 192.5hrs

Workshop-Cust Srvc 19 part. 7 hrs & Leadership 18 part. 6.5 hrs

Stewardship 24 part. 7 hrs & Managing Conflict 14 part 7hrs

Restoring Hope: Mental Health - MHBN09

Dr.Doutitien 80hrs, Dr.Doussou 9 hrs Mentoring Administrative Personnel-ADMBN9

Dr.Alamou 32 hrs, Dr.Ogbe 42 hrs, Dr. Bell 59 hrs E Koffie 202hrs & M Sodji 173hrs

Homecare Integrated Mgmt Childhood Illness-IMCBN9

Infrastructure Development

Name - Hours

Eye Surgery - blind due to Pterygium Clinical Dental Hygiene Services

Basic Oral Health Education - Students

Basic Oral Health Education-Client at clinic

Avg Hr/Participant

Biomedical Technician - BIOBN9

Eye Surgery - blind due to Cataracts Dental Care-tooth decay, infections

Africa Mercy Benin Field Service Statistics February 10 - December 8, 2009

Surgical & Curative

Infrastructure Development

Surgical & Curative

Mercy Ministry - HDMMIN

Africa Mercy Benin Field Service Statistics February 10 - December 8, 2009

Date of this report: November 30, '09

Field Service To Date February 16 - November 28, '09

Alba's Tears

2009-11-12T06:11:00.000-08:00

This is a precious little girl that I had the privilege to get to know in D ward. When she came she always had a rag covering her mouth, and it took a few days after her surgery for her to realize that she didn't need to do that anymore. That the tumor was gone. Here is her story in much better words than I could ever write.

Alba’s Tears

Ankosua was outside carefully mixing herbs and water to create a concoction prescribed by a traditional doctor in her village. It was mid-afternoon, and her daughter, eight-year-old Alba, was sitting alone in their home. “She should be at school right now,” she thought. Struggling to hold back tears, she poured boiling water over the crushed herbs and sieved the mixture into a cup.

Two years earlier, an outgoing and vivacious Alba was attending school with her friends. Now, she spent her days hiding in a dark room, too insecure to look people in the eyes.

When the drink had cooled, Ankosua walked inside the home and handed Alba the cup. Taking the cup, Alba tilted her head back, creating a small gap between her cheek and the large tumor that filled her mouth. Slowly, she poured the liquid into the small gap and swallowed in intervals.

While she watched her daughter struggle, Ankosua thought back to the day she first spotted the small bulge on Alba’s gum line. Never could she have imagined the fear and discouragement it would cause her heart.

After Alba had drunk the entire cup, she began crying.

Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into the tear-stained eyes of her daughter. Slowly, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong.

But Ankosua was depressed. Alba had performed this routine hundreds of times, but the tumor hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was growing. At times, it felt like it was shooting out of her mouth, causing her great pain. Ankosua realized the traditional herbs were not working. There were no other options. All she could do was keep trying and pray the herbs would begin to work.

***********

“When the tumor first appeared, my husband and I took Alba to the hospital, but we didn’t have money to pay for it, so they wouldn’t treat her. We had to use traditional medicine,” said Ankosua. Alba was taken out of school so her mother could give her the traditional medicine daily.

When asked how the community treated Alba, Ankosua stared at the floor and remained silent. After a 10-second pause, she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and she painfully replied, “Some people received Alba with good hands. They prayed for her and encouraged me. But others shunned her. They said, ‘Go away, we don’t want to see you.’”

Whenever it was time to eat or drink, Alba hid herself from other people. If she went out in public, she kept the tumor covered with a rag. It served as a disguise and caught the foul-smelling and constant drainage.

After two years of watching her daughter struggle, a woman in her village told Ankosua of a hospital in Benin that was performing free surgery. Finally – a glimmer of hope! They scrounged to get enough money for transportation and traveled to the hospital, which was hours away.

However, Ankosua’s new-found hope quickly morphed into deep disappointment.

“We were there for two days, and nobody attended to us. I asked a woman who worked there why we weren’t being helped. She said, ‘They don’t do surgery for free, you have to deposit money.’ I trembled when she told me that. I had come with nothing,” said Ankosua sadly.

After Ankosua explained that she had no money for treatment, the woman told her about Mercy Ships. “This woman had heard Mercy Ships was in town, helping people and healing people for free. She gave me directions to the Africa Mercy, and I immediately went,” Ankosua added.

****

Still attached to noisy monitors and IV fluids, Alba had been dozing in and out of sleep since returning to the Africa Mercy ward. Finally, a few hours after surgery, she opened her eyes and sat up. Seeing she was awake, Becca, her nurse, came to Alba’s bedside and handed her a small mirror.

Alba looked down, paused in a state of bewilderment, and began touching the empty space on her mouth. The tumor was gone. After 20 seconds of staring, a single tear rolled down her cheek. With great determination, she tried not to cry. But another and then another tear soon followed. Finally, she gave up trying to hold them back and cried freely. Alba’s tears were earned through years of heartache and rejection. They were mature and raw – heavy tears for an eight-year-old to cry.

Ankosua stood next to her bed the entire time, carefully observing her daughter. When Alba began crying, she turned away. Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into her tear-stained eyes. After two hopeless years of discouragement and depression, healing had finally come. The mixture of joy and pain in that moment expressed itself in tears.

When Alba regained her composure, Ankosua returned to the bedside. Carefully, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong. But her heart was too overwhelmed with joy. Tears of relief and joy flooded her eyes as well.

They sat and cried together, each tear serving as a testimony to the transforming power of God’s mercy.

Written by Megan Petock

Photos by PJ Accentturo, Megan Petock, and John Van Huizen

Hope you enjoyed!!!

Pictures to Follow

Daniel

2009-09-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was in line at the snack shop the other day. I had a member of a Vision Trip in line in front of me. She had one of Mercy Ships publications with her. On the front was a picture of Daniel. I got all excited, and was like, " Oh look there is Daniel!!!!" My friend in line with me asked who that was. I told them it was a little boy that we had done B/L achilles tendon releases as well as B/L hamstring lengthening. Then, after surgery we didn't understand why he could not walk. Mom was struggling to just get him to stand at the bedside. When we finally asked, she explained that he had never walked in life. He was 8. I then noticed the calluses on his knees. He had been crawling to get around. Now, we usually do not do orthopedic surgeries on kids that have a contributing neurological disorder, because just fixing the physical does not work. For some reason the surgeons had decided to perform surgery on him. I must admit I was skeptical of his prognosis. He was discharged. I got regular updates from the physical therapist that was working with him. He was doing great, moving forward. Using a walker, getting long leg braces, walking with crutches. I went to the hospitality center. He wanted to take a walk. He struggles around the grounds with his walker, sweat running off his face, and the biggest smile you can imagine!!!!

He is now walking with the braces and crutches.

I recounted this story the the friend I was in line with. His answer was so simple and so perfect. " That is why we are here"

Here is the article written by Carmen Radley that was in the publication.

Daniel’s Fight

Daniel stood up for the first time when he was eight years old. He was on the Mercy Ship, with his legs in casts up to his thighs. He pitched forward on a child’s walker as he moved one foot in front of the other. Contracted hamstrings and Achilles’ tendons had prevented him from such independence before.

“When he was six months old, we tried to get him to sit up like other babies, but he couldn’t,” his mother Odette said. “When he was two years old, we wanted to help him stand and walk, but we could see that his legs would not straighten. We went to many hospitals and tried many things, even traditional healers. But nothing helped.”

So all his life, Odette carried him. Everywhere she went, Odette had Daniel on her hip. She carried him to the table to eat, she carried him to the toilet, and she carried him to bed at night. Going to school wasn’t even an option for Daniel.

“I was very worried about it,” Odette explains. “As a human being, I will die. I worried about what would happen when I die because he needed me for everything.”

When he came to the Mercy Ship in Benin, Daniel was quiet and somber. He smiled rarely and spoke little – and only to his mother. His withdrawal was caused by years of being treated as if he could do nothing, years of only watching other children running by with a soccer ball.

The surgeons successfully released his contracted legs, a condition probably caused by cerebral palsy. Olivia Yeung, a physical therapist from Canada, began working with him three times a week just after his surgery.

In a place that makes few accommodations for handicaps, she says Daniel would have struggled. At intersections, people with physical disabilities like Daniel’s drag themselves up to car windows to beg for small change. But Olivia says she thinks his future would have been even darker.

“I don’t know if he would have made it,” Olivia says. “To survive, you have to believe. But if you’re treated as nothing, then you’re less likely to fight.”

But the last few months have brought healing to Daniel in many forms. He’s had physical healing, gaining the ability to stand and growing stronger each day. He’s had psychological healing, learning to believe in himself and to fight for each step he takes. And he’s had relational healing as well. The bond between Daniel and his mother has blossomed – he looks for her affirmation, and she shows him her approval.

“Odette is progressively getting more encouraged,” Olivia says. “At the beginning, she was there, but silent. Now she takes part, and she encourages him. And you can tell when she’s proud of him – she smiles.”

As he slid along the silver bar for support, Daniel’s tongue pressed his bottom lip, his legs quivering with effort. As he perched on crutches, he shifted his weight and finally got his chance to kick the soccer ball. Every few minutes, he glanced back at Odette, sitting in a chair a few feet away and watching with her hand to her cheek, a gentle smile lingering on her lips. Daniel breathed heavily from the exertion; sweat gathered on his brow, his upper lip, and even under his eyes like two tears. But he was happy, and so was Odette.

“When he took his first steps, I was overjoyed,” Odette says. “I was saying to myself, ‘Can he really walk?’ I couldn’t believe it.”

“I am so happy about all the things, for the doctors and nurses,” she continues. And Odette has a special blessing for Olivia, who helps Daniel shine: “I pray that God will give Olivia wisdom and blessings, and that God will have his hand in many things that she does because she is taking care of my son.”

Daniel will probably need a crutch or cane to help him along, but he will have a chance to be independent and even to go to school. Daniel works hard to improve each day, and he does it for a simple reason – “Because I want to walk.”

Written by Carmen Radley

Happy Times

2009-09-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

I can say this last week, I was struck by the fact that I was happy. Very happy. I'm not completely sure why. I have had struggles being on board and all, but in general I am content here. I don't think about it much, but it struck me tonight I am happy. I was talking to one of our translators Christian, ( who was trying to get me married of to a "good man" in the US that he knew) and I said, " I'm OK here on board" He said, yes you are content, but isn't it better to be happy than content. That struck me. It is better, and I am happy. I enjoy my patients, joking and laughing with them. I enjoy my co workers. I love the simple things here. I got a picture from my family, a new one with everyone in it. That made me so so happy. Being able to show everyone on board what a great family I have. My sister is having a baby in 3 weeks, I'm gonna be an Aunt. That puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.

My friend Allison just got back from Paris, and she was eager to get back on board. This felt like home to her, and I can see feeling like that after my time at home. But, I think I get to visit some people that I didn't think I would be able to when I home. I love that. To get to connect with the ones you love.

We have a doctor here, Lord Ian Mcoll. He is literally a Lord in England. He is 76 and the smartest man I know. Was the head of surgery in the best hospital in England. One high powered dude. He is also quick witted with a great sense of humor. He has a respect of nurses rarely found in surgeons outside of Mercy Ships. It makes my heart glad to see him and his wife of 50 years in the dining hall and knowing that I can sit with them and be a recipient of his years of wisdom and have a dang fun time.

I was walking the dock tonight with Allison and ran into one of the families on board. They have a little boy (the youngest of their 4) who is about a year old. He is just starting to walk. I have been able to watch the progress from him barely being able to turn over and crawl to being able to walk up the stairs with Daddy. They raise their kids in front of us. We see the temper tantrums. We see the smiles and the tears. I miss seeing all that at home. Being a single girl I didn't have a ton of exposure to that for the last few years. I love being around the kids and families on the ship. Weather it is the teens playing pranks with a large, hairy remote controlled tarantula or seeing one of the young couple being pregnant for the first time, this is what Christian living should be. Sharing each other lives. I may not be best buddies with everyone on board, but we do share in each other lives.

I remember the line in Life as a House, where the boy asks his father " You haven't been happy in 5 year". I asked myself that question back in Boston. I don't think it was that bad. I absolutely had happy moments. I loved what I did. But there was a restlessness that I don't have here. I think it is simply being in the center of Gods will for my life and knowing that he will always provide. But I think it is also living in community. Letting yourself be known by people. Knowing that everyone struggles, and it is OK. You can let people know. You don't have to " Put on a brave face" . There is incredible freedom in that. The Joy of the Lord is my strength!!!!

The pictures above are of Sarah, one of my Gateway "Sisters". She is 20 now, from Austria and going to Medical School. She left the ship in late August. The next is Allison, an OR nurse from Texas, and the other Gateway " Sister". The Third is my wonderful family back home.

Night Shift

2009-09-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

So, my lack of communication in the past weeks has been due to the fact that I have been queen of the night shift. Now, those who know me know that I was a straight night shift nurse at home. As a generalization, I like nights. They are a bit tamer, more ordered. I also enjoy the personalities of night nurses. They tend to be more team oriented, more willing to think "outside the box" due to not having resources you have available during the day.

Here, I do very much enjoy the nurses on night shift. You have a lot of night shift to talk to the other nurse you are working with. And you are usually only working with one other nurse. It is a great time to get to know a newer nurse and hear their story and experience. Since there is only one charge nurse on nights at a time, I'm usually the senior nurse. I have a ton of fun trouble shooting, finding solutions that are not completely obvious and generally avoiding waking up surgeons at 3 am. Some of my most memorable experiences on ship have come on night shift. I love the Independence and autonomy.

The difference here is, when you are on nights, you become invisible to the rest of the ship. You are exempt from fire drills, you are not at normal meals, you are not at coffee breaks and your a zombie when they do see you.

So, that has been my challenge in the past few weeks. To maintain my friendships and social life, while sleeping all day and feeding a serious tea habit (I'm not a fan of the coffee here, in general). But, I find that people are very accommodating if you udder those 3 little words " I'm on nights" I'm thankful for the blackout curtains in my room, my very quiet roommates and the Tupperware that I store my "2 am snack" in. I love Deck 8. The ability to be in the sun and the open air, without needing a companion to be off the ship. I love doing laundry at 2 am, and every washer and dryer are free.

I have a hard time switching back and forth sometimes, but I can't imagine it any other way. It is the way of being a nurse. Something that is so much a part of me, it will never change.

Here are some cure kid pictures, because I know how much you love them!!!!!

Feeding program

2009-08-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Mercy Ships has a feeding program. The purpose of it is to help babies get fat enough to be able to do surgery on them. Often these are cleft lip and palate babies that, once the cleft is fixed, they are able to eat more normally and gain weight on their own. But, in the mean time, they need a little extra help.

We have two of these little ones on the ward right now. Hubert and Anicette. Hubert had his lip fixed in April and inexplicably stopped gaining weight. Anicette needs both a cleft lip and palate fixed. Now, I usually don't have to much contact with these babies, but I'm in charge in D ward this week, so I have been seeing them on a daily basis. I have found it very frustrating. Anicette has been with us for a month, with virtually no weight gain. We have done every test available to us. No answers. We are going to have to refer her out to a local hospital.

Hubert was looking great after we admitted him. At 9 months old he was the size of an American newborn. He gain weight steadily. He was looking like a healthy, little but healthy, 9 month old. Then, 3 days ago, he spiked a fever, started breathing too fast, his heart rate is too fast, he is breathing too fast. Again, our medical tests are not telling us anything. We are hoping it is a virus and it will pass on its own. We are praying. Really praying.

One of the Moms on board, (who is also our speech therapist) was talking to Hubert's father. He told her that they had not done anything for him. The reason he had no marks on his face (like his sister), was because he had always been a sick, and the father had not claimed him. He did not claim him as his child. On the medical side, does that mean he is not vaccinated?? That gives us a whole bunch of different options of what the rash could be. On the spiritual side, the father is actively involved in Voodo. Is that effecting this little boy?? Is there a spiritual aspect to his illness? It is always a challenge to balance faith and medicine. This situation has highlighted it. It has also highlighted the question of identity. Why had the father not "claimed" him? How is that going to effect him as he grows? So much of us is determined by our parents influence. What would happen if they simply chose not to claim us? I thank God everyday that he claims me. No matter my faults, no matter my shortcomings, no matter my weakness, I am his. My identity is found in him.

Update: August 24th 2009..... Hubert died this morning at 10:30 am. He was in the arms of his earthly father, and he will now forever be in the arms of his heavenly father. I can not rationalize the death of a 9 month old, but I trust that God knows what he is doing. Thank you for all your prayers.

Carole

2009-08-07T03:30:00.000-07:00

It has been kind of a low key month. Our long term surgeons are on vacation with their families, so we are doing a ton of general surgeries. The Max - Fax surgeon, Dr. Gary Parker comes back in a week or so, and Dr. Terius Vendor comes for a few weeks, in 2 weeks. I thought that I would share a story of one of Dr. Terius's patients, written much better than I can write, by Carmen Radley, one of the ships writers.

Janviera can recount the afternoon with precision – it was a Thursday, the 23^rd of October, 2008. She recalls how her children came home from school a little late, how they sat by lamplight with their tutor, and how the kerosene ran out.

Carole, the only girl in a family of five children, was always by her mother’s side. She helped take care of the other four children and helped clean the house. When Janviera needed things from the market, Carole would go and buy them. She helped cook – even the very difficult local cuisine, fufu. She helped with everything.

So that evening, as usual, Carole helped by refilling the lamp. She began to pour the kerosene, which they later guessed had been mixed with gasoline. Because Carole could not see very well, she called to her mother, and Janviera took over. Suddenly, the lamp exploded, and everything went black.

“I woke up on the other side of the room,” Janviera says. “I looked down and saw my arm was burned. Then I looked across the room and saw Carole. She was unconscious, and her school dress was still burning.”

She grabbed a blanket, threw it across Carole’s body, and immediately rushed her daughter to the hospital. Pictures taken there show Janviera disheveled and tired, holding her arm out stiffly. And they show Carole – lying on her back, her face swollen and blackened, her body covered in bandages and talcum powder.

“As a mother, I had to put my own pain aside,” Janviera recalls, glancing at the mottled scars on her left arm and hand. “I could only think about Carole. I was always crying, constantly asking God to save my daughter.”

It was three weeks before Carole was able to eat any food. Her mouth and eyes had been burned shut. Each day she received dressing changes, removing dead skin and applying ointment to the wounds. She was in extreme pain. Sometimes Carole’s wounds would stick to the sheets of her bed, and they would have to soak her in water and separate her from the fabric – agonizing bit by bit.

“We spent so much money for the treatment,” Janviera said. After three months of treatment, Carole’s arm was frozen, unable to extend past a right angle, with her palm turned out like a question mark. Her right cheek and arm, as well as her side, stomach, and chest were covered with raised scars of shiny, inflexible skin.

At school, her burns became an opportunity for cruelty. “If Carole did something that one of the kids didn’t like, they would say, ‘You have a burned face. You have a burned body.’” At home, she could no longer help her mother around the house because of her contracted arm.

Janviera heard about Mercy Ships through a radio advertisement, and she brought Carole to Cotonou for an operation onboard the Africa Mercy. The surgical team released contracted scar tissue and placed skin grafts at her elbow and wrist.

Kim Shankland, an occupational therapist from South Africa, worked with Carole after the surgery to help improve the range of motion in her arm and wrist. Kim says that without surgery, Carole would have struggled her whole life with basic self-care – “just eating, braiding her hair, brushing her teeth, and dressing would have been a huge problem.”

Later in life, she would have faced obstacles in supporting herself. Common jobs, like selling yams and tomatoes at the market or pursuing a trade like sewing, would have been impossible. She would have been forever dependent on family or a husband.

“As a mother, knowing what sort of difficulties your child would have – not being able to do the things you do – must be quite frustrating,” Kim says. She believes this has spurred Janviera in making sure Carole uses her injured arm and performs the rehab exercises. Janviera’s encouragement and insistence has been a major part of Carole’s successful recovery.

“I hope that she can be my helper again,” Janviera says. “But what I want most is for her to be able to use her hand, to write, to be someone tomorrow.”

Written by Carmen Radley

Photos by Debra Bell and Esther Biney

Desire and a hard night

2009-07-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hi there!!!

I have wanted to tell you the story of Desire for a while and just have never gotten around to it. I few months ago the eye team coordinator for the ship came into the ward and asked if I had room for a little baby to stay overnight. We had room and some kick butt pediatric nurses, so I said sure and went to meet the little tyke. I went into the eye room and saw this tiny little baby who had his eye covered. We asked, who we thought to be Mom, how old he was. The answer I thought was a mistake "3 hours". "3 hours" we asked. Yes. Looking at this women there was no way she was 3 hours post partum, so we asked, who she was. "Grandma", she answered. Upon further inquiry we found out that the baby was delivered at a hospital about 45 minutes away. He has contracted conjunctivitis in the womb and that had turned his eyelids inside out. Grandma saw that the baby had something wrong with his eyes and knew that the Ship took care of eye problems, so she took the little one from his Mom, hopped on the back of a motor bike for a 45 minute trip and brought him to us. It was a Friday, the only day that the eye surgeons are on the ship. They happened to be available to see the baby right away. The surgeon fixed his eyelids and treated the infection. If the baby has not gotten immediate help or if the surgeons had been unavailable the baby may have lost his sight.

After the surgery instead of admitting the baby to the ward we sent him back to his Mom so he could eat and bond. His eyes healed perfectly and he will see just fine!!!

Last night was another exciting night. I was in charge of the wards and my patients were doing well. I got a call from the nurse taking care of the patients in another ward. A man, that had a large hernia repair, blood pressure's was decreasing as his heart rate was increasing. He was given a couple of meds that can make you very sleepy and he was hard to wake up, but once you did, his blood pressure went up and heart rate decreased. We turned off one of the meds that would make him sleepy. We gave him fluid, woke him up and he would do OK for a few minutes then his heart rate would go back up and his blood pressure would go back down. We did this for about 45 minutes. We called the ward doctor, gave him more fluid and medications to help his blood pressure. He didn't respond to it. We called the anesethesiologist and the surgeon. Tried more meds, more monitoring. Put a tube down his throat to help him breathe, nothing was helping. We were worried we were gonna lose him. The doctor then decided to open up his stomach, right there in the ICU. When he did, it relived the increasing pressure in his abdomen that had been building since his surgery due to an artery bleeding. That pressure had compressed his Vena Cava (the large vein in your stomach that returns all your blood to your heart). Since his heart had no blood to pump, his blood pressure kept decreasing. After the pressure was relived, his blood pressure became stable and HR decreased. They then brought him back to the OR to close his stomach.

Right now, I'm sitting on the ward with him sleeping in a bed behind me. He is stable. He is healing. He has some way to come still, but God was watching over him. God showed the doctor the unlikely cause of his symptoms. God kept the patient body strong to survive this trauma. I believe that God will continue to have his hand on him.

I'm posting pictures of Desire. I hope you have enjoyed reading a few stories of the patients!!!

Weakness

2009-07-06T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I have just returned from Ghana (well, "just" meaning last night). Our time there was incredible!!! We started our journey with a 10 hour "bus" ride (bus meaning a VW bus looking thing) at 4:30 in the morning. We passed through the borders of Benin, Togo and Ghana, getting stopped by every patrol on the road and sitting and waiting at every border crossing. But when we arrived, I was taken aback with the beauty that surrounded me. The mountains were green, we could see the waterfall in the distance. It was one of those surreal moments when you realize that you are living what you have always dreamed about. I have always dreamed of being in a village in Africa being surrounded by the beauty of God's creation, and here I was. It was so neat. The hotel that we planned to stay at the following nights was full that night that we arrived, so the plan was to camp. We were told, "Oh its just a half hour or so hike,nothing to bad" Well, it took us closer to an hour, up very steep terrain with not so light back packs. But, the camp site was breathtaking again. We were camped with mountains all around and could see the village in the distance. We had a great night hanging out with friends, joking and talking. We had the most amazing group make this trip. A great mix of personalities, strengths and professions. The people made the trip, it would have been so different with another group.

That is where the title of this blog comes in. Weakness. It is something that no one like to admit to. We know that we all have them, we hide them, we explain them away. We know God is OK with our weakness, but we are not. Well, at least I am not. I seem to think that I have to be everything to everyone. That I'm not allowed to be weak. Well, this weekend I had no choice but to admit it. I was weak; by far the weakest of the group. I struggled to do the 6 hour hike, and was behind the whole time. I'm not real used to being behind. I tend to like to lead and encourage. Not to have to be waited for, but I really had no options. I simply could not keep up with the pace. That is where the people on the trip came in. There was one guy that stayed with me the whole time. Another nurse that I knew pretty well, we made no big deal out of it, he just stayed with me to make sure I did not feel forgotten. And then we did actually catch up with the rest of the group, there was no "Oh you finally decided to join us" or teasing, it was just, "How you doing??" or "You OK??" . They saw I was weaker and they were OK with that. It didn't effect their perception of me. I often wish I could see myself through others eyes. Even better if it were through God's eyes. Just curious what I would see. But, I finished the hike. Only fell a dozen times or so (Which, if you have ever been hiking with me isn't too bad). No massive injuries. I awoke Sunday morning in the most pain I have experienced since the first day of basketball camp in high school. Where as everyone else was " a bit sore" I felt like my thigh muscles would rip if I tried to walk down a flight of stairs. A reminder of my weakness. As I talked to God about what he was trying to teach me through all this, it was two things. First, He is OK with weakness, His strength is made perfect in our weakness!! Our job is to stop trying to do it all on our own and surrender it to him. Second, that we has put people all around us that have different strengths and weaknesses, and those people can complement our strengths and help us in our weakness. I am continually surprised at how OK most people are with weakness. If you stop trying to hide it and just come out and say, " I need some help here" most are happy to come along side you and be a support. So, as I returned to the ship mentally refreshed and physically exhausted I thank God that He is made perfect in my weakness and that he has given me people here that are OK with my weakness.

By the way, the hike lead to an amazing waterfall, which we played in. It is just so neat to be able to experience the power and beauty of Gods creation. It stared raining on the trip down which is lots of fun when it trail is all dirt. Almost to the end we came began to hear lots of people. At the lower falls was a gathering of some sort with 800 of the local people singing dancing and enjoying each other company. We stayed at watch, some joined in and danced with them. Then it was back to the hotel for a much needed shower and Motrin.

I'm posting a link to the Facebook album so you see the beauty of Ghana!!! Enjoy

a mix

2009-06-25T05:48:00.000-07:00

Hi there!!!

Its been a while, I know, but once you get into a pattern of work, sleep, eat and friends everything kinda blends into each other. last weekend I went camping in Grand PoPo, a town near Ouida. We were going to just hang out, get some rest, relax and say goodbye to another friend. I discovered a few things:

1. Banana bread and granola travel well

2. Funky gross African bugs are very attracted to light, and when you are dining by candle light and all the electricity goes out....... well, you get attacked!!!

3. Mosquitoes are not the only things in Africa that bite, there are also sand fleas and red ants

4. If I'm desperate enough, I will drink instant coffee

5. It may not have been the best idea to camp during rainy season

6. You can use almost anything to string up a mosquito net; bathing suit, a sleeping bag tie, a bra

7. Despite all the holes, Mosquito nets are HOT!!!!

I'm not the only person in the world that prefers to sit and read as opposed to swim

8. If you haven't slept for 3 days camping is not the best way to accomplish a good nights rest

9. I still love Bonfires and S'mores

10. If I ever camp again it will be in the fall, in the US, with an air mattress, a couple of coolers of food and many cooking implements!!!

So, That was an very interesting weekend. I had a good time with my friends. They tolerate me, for that I'm grateful. They string up my mosquito nets and share their sleeping bags.

The week after my outing saw a few more good friends leave and the husband of another come. I haven't yet gotten used to all the people coming and going, I'm not sure I ever will.

We currently have 2 wards full of kids. Like, little kids, 5 and under. So, even the "adult" nurses are getting their fill of them. While I was ordering meals one day I realized that I was ordering meals for 33 patients and 38 care givers because of the number or breast feeding infants. Consequently the wards are full of laughter, tears and nurses attempting to entertain the kids. It is a fun time. We are getting a lot of new nurses for the summer and a fresh pair of eyes is always a welcome thing.

I head to Ghana for the long weekend next week. I am very much looking forward to that. We will hike up to a waterfall and spend some time there. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures!! (If I don't take them, we have two great photographers on the trip with us, I can always steal theirs!!)

I hope you are all enjoying the start of summer back home, it is actually cooler here right now than in Texas I hear!!! I also hear that Boston is having quite a bit of rain, much like the daily dose of rain we get here. Until next time.....

Deep Thoughts

2009-06-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

Not really, but I didn't know what else to call it. Well, life here on the ship is moving at a steady pace. We have started another round of VVF surgeries, so we have the wards full of beautiful little spunky ladies. They are a lot of fun with lots of jokes and laughing. We have had a few tense days with some very sick, very little ones. They are both pulling through well, Thank God.

On the personal side one of my friends from Liberia is back on the ship, newly married, and its a joy having her around again. I am going camping as a going away party for another friend, another going away brunch next weekend for 2 more friends, then over the 4th of July weekend I get to go to Ghana!!!!!!! I'm so excited about that. We travel through Togo, just over the boarder to hike a mountain and swim in an amazing waterfall. I'm really looking forward to the greenery of the Ghanaian Mountains. We have a great group going too. Lots of great girls that I'm excited to get to know better.

There are unofficial rumors of our destination next year and maybe some work on the ship, I'll let you all know when they become official, but it is exciting to know some of the possibilities.

Other than that it is the peaks and valleys of life. Laughter with friends, hormone induced insomnia, baking in the galley, hanging in mid ships, finding gifts at the craft market, playing with the kids at the Hospitality Center, moving cabins..... just the stuff of life.

Little O Update

2009-05-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

It has been a really rough week so far. We got news today that the little boy that came to the ship malnourished, that we fed and was doing well enough to have surgery, died when is mother took him home. We are not sure of all the details but this is what I do know. His father(not the mom's husband, just another teenager. The Mom is only 17 or so) came to see him at the ship and everything was looking good. We discharged him back to his village farther North. We hooked Mom up with a local hospital to monitor his weight gain and supply milk. Well, his Mom stopped coming to the follow up appointments, then one appointment he did make, he has lost 200 grams. Then she stopped coming for milk. The hospital sent a worker out to figure out what was happening and the found that he had died the night before. I don't understand what happened. He was well. He was gaining weight. The Mom seemed very bonded. It makes me so sad and so angry at the same time. I know that in some of the villages there is a real stigma against babies with cleft lips/palates. They think they are devil children and often they are not cared for after birth, but the Mom made the trip south and cared enough to bring Little O to us. We had also fixed the cleft lip, not the palate yet, but cosmetically he looked much more normal. I'm reeling from this. I can't get my head around it. How could you just stop feeding your child??? I didn't give birth to him, but I spent hours carrying him up and down the halls comforting him, feeding him, playing with him. I just can't imagine letting him starve to death. It was really hard new to hear.

In addition to that we lost another patient this week. She is a lady who came in with a festering sore on her foot. We though that if we amputated the leg, she would heal. That did not happen. She got worse mentally, then her kidneys, then her liver, then she stopped eating, then her blood pressure became unstable. It was a battle every day since her surgery. Her family had kicked her out years ago and had no support from them. A local pastor and his church had taken her in. She went to be with the Lord yesterday. We could not heal her body here, but she is now whole with him. I know she is better off where she is now, but it is still hard to lose someone. When I came here I didn't think about losing patients, just the ones I could help. I remember these emotion when I worked oncology, but haven't experienced much of it in the ER. I didn't get real attached to the ER patients. I keep telling God I just don't understand. I know he is a loving God, a good God, a God in control that has a plan, but I just don't get it sometimes. It hurts, to lose a 5 month old baby for absolutely no reason. I wish I understood.

Anyway, keep me in your prayers. Thanks.

Tangita

2009-05-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hi there all,

So, I just got back from a hospital in the north of Benin. The ship has such a modern hospital, I have very little opportunity to observe what health care is truly like in Africa, so when a surgeon from the ship offered to let me and two other nurses from the ship come with him, I jumped at the chance. The trip to the north is about 8 or 9 hours. We drove for 6 hours in a Land Rover filled with boxes of supplies for this hospital. We stayed overnight in a hotel, then continued on the next day for another couple of hours to the hospital. There we met the nuns that run the hospital, saw the grounds quickly, dropped off the supplies and dropped our stuff at a guest house and took off to see surgery. But first, we met the patients pre-op and got a better look at the hospital. It is set up like a very small college campus. The buildings are separated by function. Radiology, surgery, emergency, general,maternity and pediatrics. We looked at the radiology and I was amazed to see a up to date endoscopy center and x ray. This hospital is pretty good by African standards. We spent most of our time in pediactrics.(The surgeon, Dr. Jose, is a pediatric surgeon). That building is divided both by level of care and by specialty. There is a intensive care ward, though not by American standards. It had no real additional equipment, I believe just more observation. Then, there was a treatment room, orthopedic rooms, respiratory rooms, "intensive observation" room, which doubles as a nurses station. These are the patients that are sicker, that they are putting IV's in or doing other procedures. Most patients, though, hung out on the porch. It was cooler and more air movement. It was a sight to see. If I though the MGH emergency room was crowded and hectic. this surpasses it by a level of 10. Mom's and kids everywhere on the ground. Cooking, eating, potty training, breast feeding and just playing. The saddest place by far though was the rooms dedicated to the malnourished kids. These kids are painstakingly fed with high energy, high calorie milk in an attempt to help them gain weight. This just made my heart cry out. In the US there would be a battery of tests, a diagnosis, and a solution; A G tube, a medication a feeding program, something. At this hospital its not that the kids have been neglected and just not fed. The parents are paying to have the kids treated. They care, they have money to provide food, yet the kids are severely malnourished. It was beyond words how sad it was to see.

Equal to the sadness of the malnourished kids, was the care of the nuns that functioned as nurses. They give their lives everyday, they invest in their patients. Their calm, quiet caring is an inspiration. Their skill; incredible. They may not be able to survive in a Western emergency room, but they can get an IV into a malnourished, dehydrated African kids faster than anyone I have ever met. They do incredible work to heal patients with minimal resources. When Christ commanded us to care for the poor and needy, this work was what he meant. It was an inspiration. They also turn no one away. Since the hospital is not funded by the outside, they do charge patients, but if a patient arrives unable to pay, they can stay on the grounds. Their motto is, If I can't offer you a room, I can offer you a tree". There are many trees on the campus that produce many mangoes. The would be patients can cook, food, sell goods or anything else they want in order to pay for treatment. On the grounds they have a place to sleep, a place that is protected from the rain and food to eat. Not a perfect system, but one that works. It also gives a value to the health care that the patients are receiving. People value something that is paid for. This is one of the precepts that the hospital follows.

So, the two nurses and I went and observed surgeries for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Being on the ward side of things this was a really neat experience. To see what is actually done in surgery. It gave me new appreciation of the pain my patients came back from surgery in. An African OR is very different from an American one. For one thing, there were 3 operating tables in one theater. So while Dr. Jose was doing the surgeries he was there to perform, there was an Italian team of doctors doing another surgery on the next table. It was great to be able to go between the two surgeries and see what was happening. Another difference was the the anesthesia. There was no paralytics for the ventilated patients. Just Ketamine and Versed. The anesthesia providers were also not doctors, they were techs. Lets just say they do not control the children's vital signs with the anal precision of an American doctor. I cringed many time going, "come on, do something!!!!"

So, in all it was a great weekend. I learned a ton about the people I went with. I had a great time learning a ton about all sorts of things. If I can get the pictures from the doc, I'll post them soon.

Balancing it all

2009-05-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

First of all, I posted a link to my photo's on Little O, so you can all see his sweet face. There are before and after surgery photos.

So these last few days have been kinda tough ones. I have had the feeling that life back home is moving on and my life here is standing still a bit. My younger sister is having a baby, my little sister just had her prom, my big sister is dating a guy I haven't gotten to meet, my little brother bought a home a while ago. And I'm here. And though I love what I'm doing and know that I'm in the middle of God's will, it is hard to see people living and accomplishing their dreams and some days feel very stuck. Ship life can be very routine, indeed, a bit mundane. Work, eat sleep. There are some times I don't get off the ship for 4 or 5 days.

There is always this knowledge that I will be heading home eventually and at this point I'm not doing anything to further that life that it is inevitable I will return too. It's sometimes hard to see it moving forward and I feel like I need to catch up. I've never been good at sitting still and God has really been prompting me here to not try and fill up my life with just stuff, but to seek him. First. Only. And that really means sitting still sometimes. There are times when I'm OK with that. There are times I struggle. This is one of the struggling times.

We admitted a little guy the other day. He was seen by the eye team here, we thought he had Burkitts. A type of eye tumor that responds very very well to chemo. We gave him a course of chemo, expecting a good response, but upon his follow up, we had much worse. The tumor had spread to his nasal cavity to the point that if you look up his nose, you can see it. It had invaded his frontal lobe. So, when one of the nurses if I would be OK taking a biopsy patient, I told them that was fine. I didn't expect to have this really sick kid. When he came to us he was lethargic and breathing so heavily. After a dose of a steroid and some anti nausea medication he was looking better. This made the sadness of his illness all the worse. Feeling OK he was this happy, cute playful kid. Knowing that he may be gone within a month was a sad and sobering thought. This little guy needs a miracle. More than medicine can give him. I'm glad that he can be in a place that he is loved and cared for, so I'm glad he is with us. Pray that the nurses will be able to gibe him and his Mom what they need to cope with what the future brings.

Little O

2009-05-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

We can't mention specific patients, but I want to tell you about little O. This is a patient that I met the day he was admitted and followed him up till his surgery today. Little O came to us at 6 weeks old. His Mom appeared on the dock asking for our help. She was from "up north", or at least a 6 to 8 hour bus trip away. He was born with a cleft lip and palate. Because of that he was unable to form the seal that would allow him to breast feed. Mom was very young (17) and only gave him water. He was 2.2 KG. (In the English system 4.6 lbs) He was so malnourished that we didn't expect him to make it through the night. In fact, there was a no heroic measures order in his chart. Once on board we started him on a re-feeding program. Starting with 10 ml of formula and 10 ml of water (30 ml equals one oz.) every 2 hours. Then increasing 20 ml or formula, then 30 and so on. The first day he didn't do much other than sleep and eat. He didn't cry, he didn't look at you, he didn't kick when his diaper was changed. It was then we began to realize how unprepared his Mom was to be a mother. She didn't clean him when he soiled a diaper. She had to be prompted to feed him. She didn't want to learn how to mix the formula. She didn't keep this tiny baby covered, though he was shivering in the air conditioned ship. The second day, his eyes looked less empty. He looked at you. Still didn't track, cry or really move much. Day 3 he began to cry near his feeding times, like he wanted the food and was hungry. Then, day by day I saw him grow and get stronger. He began to track you with his eyes, he recognized Mom's voice and the nurses voice that took care of him. He began to smile and coo like a baby should. Mom too, began to respond to having a baby. When he began to cry again she had no idea how to comfort him, so the nurses (just wanting to have some quiet) took him and walked him in the halls. Mom caught on and started to walk with him, play with him, cuddle him and dress him up in the baby cloths on the ward. She learned how to mix the formula, warm it and spoon feed little O. She started asking for formula and wanting to feed him more often because he was hungry. He slowly, oh so slowly, began to gain weight. 2.3, 2.4. Then at 2.6 KG (about a month after he came to us) we sent Mom and little O to the hospitality center till he weighted enough to do surgery on him. (3 months and 3 kg is a minimum for a cleft lip). We sent her with all the formula and clean water she needed and once a week appointments to check his weight and progress. It went really well. We brought back Mom and little O for a week once because Mom didn't speak the language of any one at the hospitality center and was feeling lonely and abandoned. But once back on the ship, this young quiet girl that came to us was gone. She was laughing, smiling and beaming with confidence. Her baby was gaining weight and getting better. Because of her, she was doing it. It was awesome to see. 4 day ago he reached 3.7 kg. He had surgery today!!! He looks wonderful. Like such a little man. He is 15 weeks now. Almost 4 months old. He was been with us 2.5 months. Once he recovers from this surgery he will head back home and then come back for the cleft palate before end of outreach. This little guy has burrowed so deeply into my heart and seeing him after his surgery today was such a fulfillment of my prayer for his life when he came to us, so little and so sick. God is such a good God and I know he has great plans for this little one. I've been so blessed to have him in my life and been able to see him grow!! If I can get some "approved" photo's of him once he is healed, I will, and post them.

Birthday!!!

2009-04-19T04:20:00.000-07:00

Hi,

So it was my 29th birthday this week, on Wednesday. I had such an amazing and blessed day. It was soo cool. I was working evening shift, so I got up early to bake for a bake sale for the kids in the academy. Everywhere I went people were saying "Happy Birthday". Plus, little gifts that were at my door every time I came back to my room. I was in the galley and a friend of mine came in leading a tour of the ship from a school, and she told them all it was my birthday and they all started singing to me. Then at work, during our handover time, they prayer for me. Then I went to supper. Now, there is this bell in the dining room, that someone can ring on your birthday and announce who's birthday it is, and my friend Brandon decided that would be a great idea, despite the desperate plea's that he not ring the bell. So in a nice loud, clear voice he announced to the whole ship it was my birthday and I got a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday. (as I turned beet red and tried to run out of the dining room, while being push back to the center of the room, by another "friend"). Then, I got a little gift dropped off at work that included a tac. Now there is really no need for a tac on the ship, because all the walls are metal, so I was a bit confused. Then I got back to my room to find my bed covered with balloons and each balloon contained a note from a friend on the ship. So I had to pop all the balloons to get the notes (and the tea bags). So, it was a very nice day. I felt very loved. Then, on Saturday a group of us were getting together to watch 24 (the Jack Bauer TV show), and I was surprised yet again by my friend making a awesome awesome cake that was shaped like an Red Sox R with little baseballs around it. It was so neat and such a surprise because of everything that was done on Wednesday.

Now, I have never been one to really celebrate birthdays, so it was very very strange to have all this attention given to me. But, it was really really nice to know that I have such great friends that know me so well that know that even though I told them not to do ANYTHING, they did just enough to make me feel loved and blessed, but not so such to make me overwhelmed or uncomfortable. So, I guess that is a birthday in Africa!!!

Penjari

2009-04-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hi there all,

So, this past weekend I had the opportunity to go on a safari. Penjari National Park is a wildlife reserve in the north of Benin. It is home to lions, elephants, impalas, baboons, water, buffalo's and other large cats. I posted pictures of some of the animals we saw. the highlight being seeing a hippo at 20 yards, out of the water walking along the bridge and riverbank.

The weekend started early on Friday morning. Now, to all you early risers 6 AM is way way early for me to be getting out of bed, and I was up 4 mornings in a row by 5:45. It was a 8 hour bus ride up to Natatingou. We stayed at a really nice hotel there and relaxed for the afternoon, we left early the next morning to go to the park, making a stop along the way to see a friend of our driver who had a large tumor on his neck. This is where I remembered my new favorite phrase. TIA. "This is Africa". As we are driving at 120 KM/Hr down a corrugated dirt road and almost bouncing into the ceiling apparently looking terrified, and our guide looked at me and grinned and said "This is Africa" As the weekend went on and we encounter various challenges, I kept laughing and saying "TIA." Once in the park we were staying at a hotel in the reserve. We reserved one room and two tents. Well, once we got there, no tents. One room for 12 people. So we found a second available room, and 2 of us stayed there, 3 in the original room and 7 stayed on the ground outside covered with mosquito nets. So we checked in around noon, and then went into the park till 7:30 or so. When we came back we discovered since we didn't make reservations, there was no food left, so it was PB and J again. We spent the second morning chasing an elephant herd, then headed back to Natatingou, stopping on the way to swim at a gorgeous waterfall. Spent the night in Natagingou, then left for the eight hour bus trip back to the ship. The ride started with me felling very nauseated and ended up vomiting after 6 hours of feeling awful, the ended with 2 hours of feeling semi awful. So, I'm glad to be back in an air conditioned ship and able to sleep without a mosquito net. So, enjoy the pictures, more to come!!

Ship Life

2009-04-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hi there all,

So surgeries are continuing as routine. Working regularly, just got off a stint of night shifts. There are new joys and challenges of every day, but you get used to some of that with nursing. Lately though, ship life has really been on my mind. I sometimes forget what a unique place that I live in. I have spent my last 3 nights with a nurse from New Zealand. I'm sitting next to a crazy German/Croatian laughing hysterically. The anesthesiologist I worked with yesterday was Chinese who grew up in Australia and now lives in London. I'm usually the only American working on a shift. I really begin to realize how much of how I do or say things is a result of my culture. Every time I use a brand name of a medication, I use some abbreviation that no one knows, I refer to a lab value that no one else really uses or I refer to a temperature in Fahrenheit and not Celsius. But with all the differences we all are here serving the same God. We all have had challenges in our lives, we are continually amazed by the grace of God. In the past few days I have had a few conversations with other crew members about God's grace and faithfulness. The first was with one of the translators on the wards. (We have quite a few of them) We has a young boy as a patient that was not walking and he asked us if an 8 month old should be crawling yet. We were curious as to why, and he told us that he has an 8 month old as the youngest of his 3 kids that he is raising on his own because he lost his wife in childbirth. He spoke of the grace of God as so essential for his life, that allowed him to get through each day. Then tonight at dinner a playful conversation about age turned into a conversation on the grace of God. At our table I was talking to a 22 year old and a 40 year old and joking about how I was not a huge fan of who I was at 22 and I asked the 40 year old and he said "Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of who I was either, at 22 I was doing drugs and selling them" Now, this is a guy I've known for a while and I could not picture this guy selling or doing drugs and comment to that fact, to which he responded," The grace of God". That is why he is here, that is why he is not dead. I then started talking about a Liberia War Lord we heard speak last year who had committed unspeakable atrocities and after hearing him speak I was having a hard time with understanding why Gods grace is unconditional and my friend reminded me that I was no more deserving of Gods grace than this mass murderer. (A very sobering thought)

I think it really takes a understanding of God's grace to be able to live in a place when sometimes you don't understand the people around you, you just want to be left alone, or someone is just annoying you. But, not to sound like its all challenges, we have a ton of fun. I get to bake on a regular basis and feed many. I am never alone and get to laugh everyday, multiple times a day. I get to council and be counseled, give love and receive love (now that sounds cliche) and play a ton. It is an amazing place to be and grow.

Patients

2009-03-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi there all,

So its been 3 weeks of surgery and the wards are always full of laughter. We have many specialities right now and each have joys and challenges of their own.

We have VVF ladies that love to laugh and joke with the nurses, who beam with pride when they put on their new dresses that represent their new lives at the end of their stay with us. They can also get wound infections very quickly and easily, so we are monitoring them constantly. We have a scare with one yesterday, that had to be brought back into surgery.

We have the orthopedic patients who often have to struggle up the gangway to be admitted. Their bones are broken and they have a great deal of pain, but they trust that when those casts are taken off they will be healed. They have a long stay and the results are not seen as quickly as the other surgeries we do.

We have the general surgery patients. The patients have hernia's that have given them pain for years, but a simple surgery and overnight stay takes away that pain.

The patients with large goiters are visibly deformed and also deal with the symptoms of hypo or hyperthyroid. They sometimes have a difficult post operative course with bleeding that can press on the patients airway.

The eye patients have sight restored in a day. A simple cataract removal can transform a life.

The patients with facial tumors hide themselves when they come in. They are ashamed of their appearance when they arrive. They leave a bit scarred but they are able to look other in the face at the market. They no longer have to hide themselves. They also ca have a difficult time after surgery, because many of the tumors are very vascular and can bleed. They can require blood transfusions provided by members of the crew. In a way that bonds the crew member to a patient on the ward. Knowing that their blood helped saved a patients life and continues to run though the patients veins connects patients and crew.

The cleft lip babies come in malnourished and skinny. They have been kept alive by the love of their mothers, because they can't breast feed, Mom's have to take a lot of care to keep their babies alive. I get so attached to these little ones.

These are the patients that to me have names and faces. The ones that I look forward to seeing everyday. The ones I wonder what they will look like after surgery. The ones that I will miss when they leave. I'm thankful to God everyday that his presence is on the ward. When my patients are sick, we can pray and ask God to be with the patient and be with us. To give them comfort and us wisdom. I come to the conclusion every day that it is through his strength alone that I care for the patients. That the changes in them would not happen without God.

So, thank you for reading and praying. Thank you for your support.

New Pics

2009-03-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hi there, there is a new link to some photos of a stilt village. This is a village in Benin that was built originally to escape slave traders. Because the traders were afraid of the water, they would not venture into this area, so they build all their home here complete with a barber shop and restaurant. It was a really neat experience, so enjoy!!

Resilience

2009-03-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

So this has been a productive and interesting week. A couple things are happening. First, yesterday we got a bus from the north of Benin carrying 20 ladies that are in need of VVF surgery. This is a real blessing for us to be able to serve these women. We have a wonderful surgeon here right now who is an expert on VVF surgeries, and so far we have been having some trouble finding ladies who are in need. Not that they need is not there, we were just having a hard time locating them. So, they did another screening in the north, and find these 20 women and they arrived last night. They filled up 2 and a half wards. Now, before last night I can say that my least favorite patient was a VVF patient. I love taking care of kids, even screaming kids. I don't mind NG tubes and trachs, but peri care, urine and catheters is not really my cup of tea. But, last night as I cared for all VVF patients I was overcome by the sense of community that these women felt with each other. A sense that they had not experienced at home. Most of these patients have been rejected and alienated by their communities. Even on the trip down, they tried to stop and find a hotel to stay in overnight, and went from hotel to hotel, getting turned down at each, and eventually sleeping on the bus. But, despite that, they smiled, they joked with each other, each time I came near one of the beds to get supplies from the cabinets above their heads, they took my hand and smiled. I'm amazed at people's ability to continue to give love, despite lifelong rejection. So, that was a really neat experience. (Oh, and for those not familiar with VVF is a vesico vaginal fistula. That is a hole that forms between the urethra and the vagina as a result of obstructed labor. It causes the women to leak urine constantly.)

The other big even of the week was that the warehouse was completed!!!! The warehouse, is officially the hospitality house, which will house our pre op patients, and out "hotel"patients. Patients that need daily checkups, but live too far away to be able to return to the ship. This will give them a place to stay. There they are fed, given clean dry beds and in air conditioning, which is helpful in wound healing. This gives us the ability to care for many more patients because it expands the space on the wards. But, it required a lot of work, with many obstacles, so it being completed it just awesome!! I'm posting some pictures. They were taken by a ships photographer, and I downloaded them to send to a couple of my friends that are in some of them, so the guys in them are Dean, Brandon, and Mark. Dean came as part of a Mercy Team to help set up the warehouse for about 3 weeks. Mark and his family are running the guest house that the Mercy Teams stay at and is overseeing the completion of the warehouse. Brandon is the warehouse manager, he deals with the day volunteers and coordinating everything from meal delivery to security. The warehouse was completed just in time, because the VVF ladies that came last night, are going there today, to wait for their surgeries, so we can still house all the post op patients that we need to, so Praise God for his provision. But, like all new things getting up and running, there is bound to be kinks to worked out, so pray that they would be resolved easily. Until next time...

New Pictures

2009-03-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hi there, I posted a link to some new photos. They are of some of the nurses cleaning and setting up the wards and of screening day. Enjoy

First Week

2009-02-27T04:04:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

So the hospital has been up and running for about a week now, and there and been lots of ups and downs. On the first day, before the first surgery, we lost out first patient. Let me back up a bit and explain. Ruth Esther first came to Mercy Ships as an 11 month old with a cleft lip and pallate. She was operated on by two of our surgeons 17 years ago on the Anastasis ( the ship before the Africa Mercy). She in some ways became the face of Mercy Ships and meant a lot to a lot of the crew. She came to visit the ship the weekend prior to surgeries starting. She arrived in a weakened state and we learned that she had been dealing with many health problems for some time now. Sunday she collapsed at the hotel her and her Mom were staying at. She was carried aboard and admitted to our ICU. She died Monday night around 11 pm. This was a huge blow to the crew. It was also really hard because at the beginning of last outreach, the ship also lost 3 patients in the first week. So, I was struggling with why God brought her back to the ship, knowing that she would die while she was here, and what that would do to the crew. Then, after talking to some other about this, two things occurred to me. First, most of the people who took care of her 17 years ago were on the ship right now, and God wanted to her to be surrounded by all the people who have loved her over the years when she went home to Him. Second, He is in control. It is not the crew who is going to heal and touch people on this outreach, it is him. We are his physical hands, but it his his presence and power that will do the real work. Ruth Esther's death demonstrated that to me.

Still dealing with the death of Ruth Esther, I went to work and was taking care of a young boy with a large neck mass. We were hoping to biopsy it and remove it. Well, we did the biopsy and it turned out to be inoperable, and I had to explain this to him and his Mom and sent them home for our palliative care team to work with. These two events made for a rough couple of days.

The next couple of days were much better, I spent my time surrounded by delightful, playful kids with orthopedic deformities that we were fixing. These little guys had bow legs,club feet and shortened tendons, but they played and laughed like every healthy kids. They ran and scooted on the ground just as quickly, they wanted attention just as badly and cried for their Mom's just like every other child I had ever seen. They are such a delight and blessing. The last few days I was orienting to being a charge nurse on the wards in addition to helping the new nurses to learn the ropes, so I got overwhelmed at times, but one grin from one of the kids took away all those stresses and reminded me why I was here.

In addition to orthopedics, we are also doing VVF (vesico vaginal fistula) surgeries, cleft lips and pallates, goiter removal and hernia repairs right now. It is a full hospital with wonderful patients. Please continue to pray for both them and me, that God's presence would be evident and powerful. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon to give you all some faces to the people I keep telling you about.

Video

2009-02-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

So, at screening day we saw 1900 patients. There are two videos that have been posted on my facebook account and also on youtube, so you can see how the arrival and screening went. So you can see and enjoy!!!

Screening day

2009-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

So today was an incredible day!!!! We had the large main screening in an arena in Cotonou. About 2000 people showed up. They went through a series of stations including pre -screening, Lab, history, registration and pharmacy. It went better than I could have hoped. It was organized and everyone got through quickly. I got to screening later than most because I was the duty nurse for the day, so I got there at noon and was shocked to see how calm and orderly things were. I can't give you all the numbers until we finish screening tomorrow, but I know there were about 600 referred to our eye clinics. I was doing patient histories and I saw everything from Hernias, to cleft lips to a large occipital encefalocele. I was so excited to be seeing patients again and meeting some of the ones that I will be working with over the next 10 months. It was a challenge working with a translator, which I didn't really need to do in Liberia. I would ask a question and the patient and the translator would have a 2 minute discussion, then the translator would turn to me and say No, and that was it. He had been doing this all day before I ever got there, so I know that he knew what we were looking for, but it was a bit strange none the less. I'm just so excited that God so clearly answered our prayers to bring the right patients to us and to have a great screening day!!! We will be doing a bit more tomorrow, so continue to pray that it goes just as well and we can serve all the people that God brings!! Thanks, I'll try and give you some numbers after we finish up screening tomorrow!!

Arriving

2009-02-11T11:08:00.001-08:00

Hi there all,

So, we have arrived in Benin after a lot of delay. The ship arrived very much on schedule, and as we were going to dock, we began to have a lot of engine issues. The engineers and the officers worked day and night to fix the engines and finally fixed the issue in the early morning. ( The ship had dropped anchor right outside the harbor earlier in the evening) This engine issue came as a bit of a surprise to the crew being that we had a wonderfully smooth sail with almost no difficulties. On the other hand, the ship has had issue every time we have come to Benin. The spiritual climate of this nation is very different to that of Liberia. This is a nation dedicated to Voodoo, while Liberia was a Christian nation. The enemy will use any means to attack the spreading of the gospel. What was really awesome was that when the engines began to have problems the entire ship began praying, at first in small groups around the ship then as a large prayer meeting, as well as the IOC in Texas calling to pray with the technical crew. As a ship it brought us together with a real sense of unity. (what ever the devil intended for evil, the Lord intends for good) So we arrives a day late. It took about 16 hours to clear customs and health inspection. I was off the ship for the first time tonight after spending the day stripping, scrubbing and buffing floors in the hospital. It is a sharp contrast to Liberia. Liberia was in way more organized, though less developed. Here the road and drivers and completely chaotic, but there are much more modern shops. There is a huge open air market, but we did not venture here our first time out. (and when I say huge I mean 3 mile across). Like all of my experience in West Africa, the people are warm and friendly. We are called YoVo now, and the people routinely come up and tug on your sleeve, where in Liberia the merchants are less pushy. These are first impressions, more to come.

On a different note, God has been doing some interesting things in my life. As most of you know I came to Mercy Ships intending to be here until December of this year. On Thursday of last week, we were in worship and were singing a song that I didn't know. One of the lines said something to the effect of "Lord, I give control of my life to you". That line really hit me hard, so I sat down and began to pray about why. It was then that God said very simply, "I know you think that you were only coming for this outreach, but you will be here for the next one too" To which I responded " No, I don't want to be here that long" To back up a bit, I have been asked a lot in the few days preceding this if I would come long term, I answered everyone the same, I told them that I didn't want to be here alone for 2 years. I wanted to be married, or at least have one really good friend to walk through this experience with. So back to my conversation with God. I told God this, I said, no, I really do not want to be here alone(which I know sounds really funny surrounded by 450 other crew, but that was/is my fear). God responded " Don't you trust that I will provide, have I not provided so far??" To which I responded, "Well, yes you have always been faithful, but I'm scared" God then very simply asked " Do you trust me" So, after crying and praying for most of the night, I told God that of course I'd be obedient and commit to Mercy Ships for 2 years. I handed in my paperwork on Monday, so I'm now planning to be with Mercy Ships till December 2010. I hope to be home for a month of so in December and spend the holidays with my family, then visit other friends and family. So I wanted to let all of you know. Thank you all for you love and support,

Rachel

Benin

2009-02-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

So we are about a day away from Benin, so I wanted to give you all a briefing on life in Benin.

1. Benin is ranked 163 out of 177 in the Nations Human Development Index. , so it one of the poorest nations on earth. The life expectancy is 55 years with a 35% literacy rate and a 8.9% infant mortality rate. There is a huge lack of medical care for the poor of the country. There is some infrastructure for health care in you have the money, but none for the poor.

2. Benin is consider one of the most stable governments in Africa, having no governmental over throws or coups in the last 40 years, and having a peaceful transition to democracy about 19 years ago.

3. Most of the goods coming into Nigeria, Togo and Ghana come through the port that we will be docked at. Major port city is Cotonou(that is where we will be docked) The actual Capitol is Porto Novo. But it is more of a political capitol than the business center of the country.

4. The biggest religion in the country is Voodoo. Benin is considered the birthplace of Voodoo, and the palace of the high priests of Voodoo is located in the city of Ouida, a western city in Benin. The other two predominant religions in Benin are Islam and Christianity.

5. Weather in Benin is similar to that in Liberia, except more hot and humid. Temps are high 80's to low 90's with humidity about 95%. There are 2 dry seasons January to April and August. and 2 rainy seasons May to July and September to December. In the wet months they receive 7 to 15 inches of rain.

6. The official language in Benin is French, but most people speak one of 54 tribal languages. The one spoken in the area that we will be docked in is Fon. In the Fon language we are called YoVo(Whitey) Which is literally translated "foreigner". The kids in Benin sing a little song that makes fun of the only 4 words they believe that the YoVo know. Bonjoiur, Bon Soir, Ca Va bien, merci.

7. The ship has set a number of goals for this outreach

1. To use the hospital and all 6 operating theaters to capacity

2. Provide eye screening and care for 20,000 people

3. Provide reconstructive surgery for approximately 2,000 people

4. Train 4 surgeon to be able to preform these surgeries once we leave

5. Provide 140 VVF surgeries

6. Provide orthopedic surgeries for 240 patients

7. Dental care for 11,500 people (19,000 procedures)

8. Teach 20 dentists to do procedures

9. Provide palliative care for 25 people and train family's of these patients to provide

10. Train 8 biomedical technicians

I hope this gives you a bit of in site into the place I will be living the next 10 months, thank you all for your interest and support

Leaving Tenerife

2009-01-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Well, its Monday and we will be leaving Tenerife on Friday. I find that I'm so excited to head back to Africa. I'm ready to have a full ward and all the trouble that comes with that. I am back working in the hospital, doing logistical stuff, like organizing charts and finding teaching material. I am in awe of how God builds us to fit into a certain calling. What I was doing today wasn't that much different from working in reception, yet it did nor wear on me or tire me, I was happy to do it. I also got to speak with a couple of men touring the ship and I felt so in my element. So, it was a good day. I'm off tonight to El Campo to get some final supplies before going to Africa. The rest of the Gateway group comes tomorrow and I'm beyond exited to have them here. It seems like the rest of the family is coming home!! Though speaking of family, my uncle had a really bad fall(he is a pole man for Verizon) and broke a bunch of bones, had a head injury and is having his second surgery today to repair his wrist. I don't know all the details because I'm not home but if could keep him in your prayers, that would be great. This is the first really big family thing that has happened since I've been away and its hard to not be there. I also have many, many friends having babies right now and its really weird to think that by the time I get to meet them, they will be like a year old. A reminder that life goes on, weather you are there or not. Well, Bon Soir for now(good night in French, the language of Benin) Rachel

Waiting

2009-01-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

Hi there all

Its been a while since I have written, I guess feel like I'm in a holding pattern of sorts. All the technical guys are doing their thing in fixing the ship and making sure that the ship is in the best possible condition for the next outreach and I feel like I'm just biding my time till I can get back to Africa. I know that the time here has been productive and recuperative, and I have met almost everyone on board, but I don't feel useful. I know in my mind that I'm doing a necessary job to keep the ship running, but I miss nursing. I miss seeing the kids every day. I miss being able to physically comfort a person. Honestly, I miss putting in IV's and using the skills I have developed over the years.

Now that the holidays are over I'm less home sick, but I miss using the gifts that God has given me to help his people. I have always felt the most like myself when I'm working. You know that line, in Chariots of Fire, when he says that when he runs, he feels God's pleasure. I feel closest to who God has made me to be when I'm able to care for his people.

So we leave to go back to West Africa in 2 weeks. We have 2 new officers that I have started to get to know. They seem like they will be an asset to the ship. The ward manager(who has been gone since I got here) is coming soon, so I'm excited to meet her. The rest of our Gateway group is coming on the 27th, and I'm so excited to have them around me again.

Well that is all for now, From Tenerife signing off,

Rachel

2008-12-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hi there all!!

We have just had Christmas on the ship!! It is an odd experience, to eat with 200 hundred others and have everyone kinda having their own Christmas and having a Christmas together. It is a really neat experience. We have had performances from the Scandinavians, songs by a lot of the countries. We has Saint Nichols day when every one puts a shoe outside their door and every one puts little gifts inside. Though its not home, people here have become like family, especially the people I did Gateway with. I had a great Christmas supper with them, laughing and enjoying good food, it was the closest to feeling like home that I have felt in a long time.

Being in Tenerife is a blessing. I've been able to get some of the things that I didn't know I would miss when I packed back home. I'm working in reception right now which, though not really my thing, is great for getting to know all the faces on the ship. So, life here goes on, not anything too interesting to report.

Tenerife

2008-12-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

Hi there all!!!

I arrived in Tenerife safe and sound. We got here Friday morning at 6 am. I was awoken at 6 am by out first officer announcing that " there is to be no flash photography on the bow"... Not that I was on the bow at 6 am. So, I knew that we got here. I awoke again around 8 :30 to another announcement that we were all required to be at a country briefing. There we received some basic info on Tenerife. For all you who are not aware, it is a island in the Canary Islands(there are 5 I believe), a territory of Spain. So, Spanish is the national language, but it is a prime vacation spot for Europe, particularly Germany. I actually have heard as much German in the past few days as Spanish. I so wish I had paid attention in Spanish class. Thankfully, the people are very gracious and a smile and charades go a long way.

So I went out to get the lay of the land on Friday evening. It is amazing how quickly I have become accustomed to 1st world life again. How clean and regulated everything is again. I'm informed by my European friends that I do not dress up enough for most of Europe, so I stick out like a sore thumb. That and the fact that I speak American English very loudly.

Saturday a group of us climbed the tallest mountain in Spain. I can't think of the name at preset, but it is 3800 meters tall and it took about 5 hours to climb. It is an semi active volcano. I don't think it has erupted in the last 100 years or so, but there are hot spots that you can feel the volcanic heat and sulfur fumes. I learned a few things. 1. Volcanic rock is light and sharp!! Very different from the dense smooth rocks of the north east. I slipped and fell once, I didn't fall hard, but I cut my hand up good and bruised up my leg. Hence my prior statement. 2. Germans are a very sturdy bunch, I was climbing with 3 Germans, 1 Austrian, a Canadian and 3 Americans. The Germans were waiting for all the Americans at every check point. They all also had the right clothes, food and all. Slow and steady they kept saying. I guess I have a tendency to start too fast and really tire out by the end. I think they have climbed a few more mountains than me. Much better prepared than me.(Sausage is good hiking food, FYI) 3. If you have Asthma, your lungs are not happy at 14,000 feet. The air is too thin to breath easily. 4. As in most of my experiences.. God is awesome!!! His creation is perfect and beautiful!! I've posted a link to my Facebook photo's of the hike. Also, some of the pictures from deck 7 of the ship. The contrast between a quaint European village and the industrial port is fascinating. So, life is good right now, very relaxing. Merry Christmas!!

Under way

2008-12-14T03:53:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

So, its been a couple days full of new things. Here are a few things that I have learned.

1. The the wards are completely closed , all locked up. I never knew how much work it would be to actually get everything clean. It took a crew of 15 nurses over a week to do it all.

2. Stowaway searches. They hid 6 people around the ship and we had to search all the places we could think of for "stowaways" Now this may just seem like a fun game, but there can actually be stowaways on the ship and if there are that means big problems for the organization. So, we went looking. We didn't find any.

3. Pirate watches. Pirates are alive and well in the modern world(as any of you who keep up on the world news know), so we keep our eyes out for them.

4. Flying fish really fly. For like a full minute!!! They were amazing as we were sitting on the bow watching the water and the beauty of creation.

5. Being on the ocean is a type of peace and calm that I have never experienced until now. 6.Meclizine is a wonderful drug. Today the oceans are pretty rough, and though a bit nauseated, I am able to function and even spent the morning baking Christmas cookies with the rest of the families on board.

7. Being able to walk in a straight line is a blessing. When the ship is rolling constantly, walking without running into walls is very hard to do.

8. I know now why babies like being rocked to sleep. It is actually very nice to to rocked to sleep by the ocean. I have fallen asleep faster and more easily the past two days than I have in years.

9. If your trapped on a ship without anywhere to go with a couple hundred other people you really value friendly people. It makes the time pass, a good card game is helpful also.

10 God is awesome!!! His creation is just absolutely amazing. Every time I walk out on the deck and see the oceans expanse, I just have a chorus of a song running through my head. " When I see all the beauty of your creation it makes my spirit free to worship you" I just think how absolutely amazing this all is.

11. Water is powerful stuff. The shear power of what water can move and the damage it can do is something I had never really thought of until I see how much a wave can shake the entire ship, and this ship is huge!!

Until later, Rachel

Onward to Tenerife

2008-12-11T10:22:00.001-08:00

Hi,

So, I have had a intense week of cleaning and tying everything down to the floor in preparation for sailing. They are even giving out motion sickness medication at morning devotions!! We sail in the next few days depending on the tides and the local port authorities. Hopefully we will be in Tenerife by the 19th of December. This week has just been a great week of getting to know the other nurses in another context other than patient care and work. We have had a chance to really talk about our lives and just be social. One of the biggest joys has been getting to know the assistant ward supervisors. We have two. Laura and "Red" (whose name is Rebecca but is a fair skinned red head; hence the nickname) Laura and Red have been doing devotion both in the morning prior to cleaning and the after lunch, and they are just women of such great faith and insight. They have both been tested and their faith has been refined from that. Their love of their patients and their dedication to us is awesome. I have had a opportunity to work with Red a lot found that we have a ton in common. She had a much better sense of humor and is a lot more fun, but I have had a great time getting to know her this week.

Laura the other supervisor has been teaching on all the names of God. There are 152 in the Bible. In the day of the Bible names had a much greater significance in that they revealed an aspect of your character and the more names you had the more important you were. And there is no one in all of history that has as many names of God. We have been talking about how God is never changing, but at different times in our lives reveals different aspects of his character to be just what we need. Like God as Immanuel, God with us. The first time this name is used in Isaiah when God is speaking to a military leader and he is telling him that " I will be with you, I am Immanuel". This was just a really need picture because I had always heard Immanuel in the context of Christ coming, and " God with us" as God being with humans on Earth, not in being with us personally. ( I know that God is with us personally, but now with him using this name) It is also so neat that God can be " The Horn of Salvation" ( a symbol of strength) and "King of Kings" and then be " Abba Father". It is just amazing how present and personal he can be with each and every one of his people, no matter what are personality, culture or past, God is enough for everything!!

So, that just a little of what God has been teaching me, I hope you all are having a great time preparing for the holidays, Rachel

Bong Mines

2008-12-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

So on Saturday we had a ship wide blackout, meaning all the power on the ship was off so the wonderful engineering department could clean the generators that make our life onboard comfy. So everyone pretty much left the ship. My adventure was to go to the Bong Mines. One of our day worker Odecious, used to work up there and frequently leads trips. So the Bong Mine is a old German iron ore mine that was started in the 1950's. Liberia is rich with iron ore and it was a successful mine. Odecious worked as a large industrial truck mechanic there maintaining the large trucks that drove the ore from the mountain to the refining plant.

If you think about all the technology and advances that there made when old mining towns popped up the the West when America was starting, that is the picture that you would get here. A railroad line was put into place between the mine and Monrovia(the capitol and port) There was a Mining town where the workers and families stayed.

So the mine was going well until June 6, 1990 when Samuel Doe was in power. He was a member of one tribe and the opposing tribe wanted to take over. The military leader of the opposing tribe was Charles Taylor. So, Taylor's soilders went to the mine that day to look for members of Doe's tribe. In Liberia you can tell the tribes apart most easily by their speech. So they would ask them to say a word or a phrase and depending on the tribe they were a part of they would be shot (If you were Muslim you were also shot, though I'm not sure why exactly) Also, as the soilders were attacking the mine they also attacked the mining town and killed the families of the miners. 2000 people were killed and thrown into a lake that day. Odecious was there, but ran when he heard gun fire and escaped to Guinea, where he had family. He lost two other family members in the war and 2 children to disease in Guinea. The mine now is abandoned and guarded by the government. There is millions of dollars of refined iron ore just sitting in piles and cars, but no one is allowed to touch it. Odecious said that they are trying to get a large company to come in a restart the mine, and that is why no one can touch the refined iron ore. Because they want the company that may take over to have it.

I've posted pictures of the mine and also of the trip up to the mine. We put the cars on a flat bed and rode on top. The trip took about 2.5 hours through some beautiful country side. The engine was coal burning, so we were covered with dust by the time we got there. We had a really great time learned a lot. So, I have another week of cleaning on the wards until I'm reassigned to reception and we sail to Tenerife. I'll keep you updated!!

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

2008-12-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

So, the wards are really getting quiet. We discharged all but 8 patients yesterday. We have 5 more discharges slotted for today, leaving only 3 patients. We are in full cleaning mode!! 3 of the 4 wards are done with one ward plus the ICU and recovery to go. It is a real process. Everything is scrubbed, restocked, put on pallets and tied down and secured. It is more manual labor than I'm used to. I'm much more tired at the end of the day then even when I worked 12's. Now I'm starting to train to do reception. That is just directing and answering all phones that come into the ship plus all emergency response. There is a lot of information, but you get to know everyone on the ship pretty quick, so I am looking forward to that.

The ship is also gearing up all the Christmas stuff. There is cookie baking and decorating the doors of the cabins plus the general area's of the ship. I don't know, but after living in New England for most of my life, I have a hard time getting into Christmas when it's like 90 degrees out all the time. It just doesn't feel like Christmas without snow. I'm posting some more random pictures just to show you some of the other patients that I have taken care of. Me and some of the other members of my Gateway class are going to the Bong Mines on Saturday. That I'm really looking forward to. I have some pictures of that too, hopefully. Until next time, Rachel

Stories from the edge( of what I have no idea)

2008-12-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

So a couple of things I wanted to share. First is the history of Liberia. Liberia was settled by American freed slaves. When they came to Liberia they enslaved the native people. So there is a lot of tension because of that. Then there are 16 tribes in Liberia. Each with its own culture and language. The civil war that began in the early 80's through the early 2000's was because of a tribal conflict. Basically one tribe was in power lead by Doe, and then Charles Taylor lead a military uprising and took over the government. He was eventually overthrown and a democratic government was put in place, but the war had a huge effect on the country. In the late 70's Liberia was at its peak, and doing pretty well. The descendants of the American slaves has modern cars, air conditioning, beach houses and an education in England. There is a hotel here called the Ducore. It was a 4 star hotel with marble floors, a swimming pool, a stunning view of the Atlantic, a french restaurant and tennis courts. I've included a picture of what it looks like now. It was a place for squatters to live for a while. It has now been bought by a Lybian businessman and is being guarded by the UN to prevent any farther damage. I think it is just a great visual of the whole country, what it was, what it is now and what it can become. .

Another example of the state of the country is their health care. There is one doctor per 61,000 people. No specialists. Infant mortality very high. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the government hospital. JFK. It looked like something out of a old movie. No equipment, people 6 to a room. Very crude accommodations. I almost can't describe it. I was on the verge of tears the whole time. Just thinking about what we have in the states and how many complaints I heard in the ER. Just looking at these people. There were signs posted with the prices of everything. Oxygen, ventilation and EKG and if you can't pay, then you don't get care. It is actually better than before. They used to have supplies and still made family members of the sick person go across the street to a pharmacy to buy supplies and medications. Corruption is evident is every aspect of life.

Update.. Jacob is better and healing, he will go home tomorrow. Please pray from the other that are still healing.

OK, still having picture issues, I'll keep trying to keep looking,

Rachel

Winter 2008 Newsletter

2008-11-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Liberia on a hot and muggy October night. Rainy season had just ended but the air was still thick with moisture. I had spent 20 hours traveling through 4 countries and all I wanted was to sleep. I had heard horror stories of customs in third word countries and all those stories were running through my head now. They fear turned out to be unfounded. I breezed through customs with a wave of a hand and met up with the crew members of the Africa Mercy there to pick us up.

In front of me the ship stood like huge white castle. All lit up like an oasis in the desert. After some food and a brief safety briefing I was granted the sleep I so deeply desired. My roommates consisted of 2 women from Holland(the second largest culture group after the Americans) and another American nurse. Those roommates have now left. The two women from Holland back to their country and the other nurse on the advanced team to Benin. My only roommate currently is a 76 year old native Liberian, who currently resides in the US.

The remainder of my first week was a whirlwind of meetings, orientation and work. I am a ward nurse. There are 4 wards onboard. A through D. A and B are general post surgical care wards. C is the Hotel ward where people who need only daily dressing changes stay if they are unable to return to the ship daily. D is the high acuity ward. There is also an ICU for ventilated patients and crew. There are 6 OR's and also a recovery ward(PACU).

In addition to routine post surgical care we also see a fair amount of tropical disease. The average person in Liberia contracts malaria 4 times a year. We routinely treat both our patients and their care givers for malaria. Parasites and warms are also very common. In the first month I was here I had a young girl with a stoma(that is when the intestines are externalized to allow stool to pass) that had a 8 inch worm crawl out of it. It freaked me out a bit, but the patient's mom and the other patients on the ward saw it as a common occurrence. I was even told by the one patient " Its a worm. I have worms you have worms, we all have worms) So it is very common and easily treated.

Now surgeries have ended and we have a few patients that we are waiting to heal. 2 in particular. Jacob and Kewelley. Jacob had a 20 pound scrotal tumor removed. He has had 4 operations to reconstruct the area and to skin graft the area's of break down. To get home Jacob has a 6 hour car ride and a 2 hour walk. We want to give him all the time we can to allow him to heal.

Kewelly is a little boy that had an out pouching of the cerebral spinal fluid through a hole in the skull. We repaired it but he had not healed well and he had had headaches, bulging eyes and lethargy. We placed a rudimentary drain to correct it, but the CSF will recollect without further treatment. The closest Neurologist is Kenya, and we are going to be sending him there.

I will be blogging frequently in the next few days to tell some of the stories that I have wanted to, so keep checking, Rachel

First Try

2008-11-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hi there all,

Well I tried to do a newsletter and has having horrendous problems trying to upload it with the internet here, so I figured that I would create a blog to post the stuff that would have been in my newsletter and also smaller updates. I think on almost a daily basis that there are things that I would love to share with people but I can't fit it all into a 2 page newsletter, so this was the natural evolution of those things. So the first part of this will be a bit long, but the enteries will be shorter after this, I promise. This way you can also see more of the pictures that I have. So that's why I decided to do this. I hope its to your liking. Enjoy!!! Rachel