Happenings

There are lots of happenings on the ship right now and I feel weird about it. Some days on the ship are just weird. I try to remind myself that there are days of real life (aka non-ship life) that feel weird too… but it just seems that things here in my Mercy Ship life are just a bit more extreme.

Today a very dear friend of mine on the ship left. Like I always say, Mercy Ships is a revolving door of people… but one of my Gateway friends left unexpectedly today. I had to say bye to Tori… and I don’t really feel like I was prepared to.

I began with my class after Christmas with a new student. His family had been on the ship last year and left for the summer and last semester because his mom needed some medical treatments. My other two girls anxiously waited for his return because they all were friends from last year. I immediately fell in love with Daniel and his family. They are from Ghana and have the best spirits (and accents) ever! After our first few days together I saw his mom in the hallway and she said that Daniel came home from school saying, “Mom, my new teacher LOVES me!!” (which is totally true!) I met his parents in an afterschool, casual meeting just to introduce myself. They were so kind and said the most genuine prayer for me and our class at the end of our meeting. I am going through all of this to say that the dynamics of our little class family is forever changing. Daniel’s family was called to leave the ship immediately a few days ago because Daniel’s mom cancer has returned. They were rushed to get visas to return to London (where they were for the summer) to get further tests… and eventually, results that were not so good. I have always underestimated the power of the saying that a moment in someone’s life can leave an imprint for forever. I can honestly say that that family will have a special place in my heart for forever. Even now, over a week later, my eyes fill up with tears whenever I think about them and how they aren’t here anymore.

Amidst the true sadness I feel for the family… the experience of having a crew member leave, due to medical reasons unexpectedly, showed a whole new side of the Mercy Ships community to me. A prayer meeting was called during lunch hour, where crew from every department gathered to pray for the family. I was completely blown away by the number of people that came together to support each other and Daniel’s family. I feel like the Lord so blessed me by letting me see and be a part of the body of Christ working together.

On a brighter note, the hospital is in full working condition! Patients have come and been released… including one of the babies from the screening pictures I posted a few weeks ago. I have a picture of what she looks like now below. I live in a place where lives are being changed everyday just a few decks below me! It is funny that I am working in this global community, with a purpose of serving others… and I can still be so selfish in the way I think and the things going on in my life- I forget sometimes what is even happening in the hospital! Sometimes I get so overwhelmed when I wonder how long it will take me to learn the lesson that God is bigger than things of my world.

I have spent the past two weekends in the markets- where I have bought things!! I bought some fabric… which was so exciting!! I have to get prepped and know what I am talking about and where to take my mom when she comes! I also bought some snacks off the street. I consider this a MAJOR milestone for myself because when I first got here I didn’t like to buy even a soda. Stands around the street sell all kinds of produce and snacks. In Togo peanuts are very popular! Peanuts are sold in all different ways like roasted or sugar coated or seasoned. They are sold in recycled alcohol bottles (funny, I know). I clearly had to buy the sugary ones… which are delicious!! AND they reside on top of my classroom cabinet, in a gin bottle… is this bad? 

Also… my goal for the next blog is to take more pictures. I have been TERRIBLE at noting things that are happening… I will get better, I will get better… 

 

Ang? WHY are you so far away! This was a super nice Indian food restaurant we went to! Kayleigh was the photographer!

This is in honor of Tori!! My first time out in Sierra Leone… we were in a sketch taxi, might I add!

A donation of games from Hasbro! This was to just the Grade 2 class- each class got a set about this size! How generous/awesome is that!?

Sibi Julie Amegleto- healed!!

 

Screening Day

Screening Day was last Wednesday and was a ship-wide event. Screening Day is one of the most important days in the organization because it is when the majority of surgery dates are assigned to patients. Screening takes place at a location in the city and people line up by  thousands to be seen by a Mercy Ships doctor in hopes of getting help. In Togo, screening took place at an arena about 30 minutes from the ship. The venue was manned by Mercy Ships crew the night before the screening as security and the rest of the crew left the ship at 4:30am (I know! yuck!) on Wednesday morning to arrive and begin the day. Outside of the arena the potential patients lined up single file. The line was so long that it seemed endless when the car I was in arrived at about 6am!! The Togolese police were there to assist in keeping people orderly while they waited. Mercy Ships crew went up and down the line and explain what kind of problems we will serve to help weed people out of the line that we cannot help. This is essential (even though it is really sad) because there is not enough time to see every patient, especially if we know  that they have a medical concern that Mercy Ships cannot help. There were about 3,600 people who were in line and about 1,600 patients that were screened.

The patients go through quite a process once they are approved to be screened and enter the arena! They are accompanied to registration where basic information is taken, then to history where nurses take medical information, then the patients are split into general surgery, maxfax, or plastics (based on their needs). Patients are then seen by doctors and nurses to decide if they qualify for a surgery and are assigned a date to come to the ship. They then go to data entry, to get x-rays and to communications for pictures.

I was super nervous about going to screening (of course!!) because I get overwhelmed with the medical needs that people here have. BUT I must say this is just another example of me freaking out… for not really a reason! Being a part of screening was absolutely amazing and I think it will be such a sweet part of my Mercy Ships experience. It was so awesome to be able to work with the people of West Africa and be a part of the purpose of Mercy Ships. I was assigned to work in the history section, where each patient must go through at the beginning of screening. I loved being placed there because I had the opportunity to see pretty much every patient that went through screening. When I see pictures I can recognize almost everybody!! I feel like most of the lessons that I have learned throughout my time in Africa have been cliché things… but ownership of the lessons for me has been (I think!) transforming. Mercy Ships preaches that patients are just normal people and they crave attention and love- especially if they have physical deformities because they have most likely been ostracized from their own home communities. I have always been consumed with how uncomfortable I am with their injuries that I haven’t really forced myself to learn this. Screening gave me the chance to see how much the patients value Mercy Ships… and I could see in a whole new way how many of the people tried to cover their deformities. It absolutely broke my heart to think of how people live trying to mask themselves. It also made me almost anxious to make eye contact and try to communicate in some kind of way that I didn’t care about it. Since I don’t speak French, I had to try to smile and gently touch them on the arm when I was leading them, just to try, in my own way, to show that I saw them- actually saw them. Bottom line is that the patients really are just people (duh! so glad this took me 8 months!)… and I loved being able to serve them for the day. I truly LOVED it!

On another note… I have been filling my time in Togo with friends and all kinds of things including going to the market, the beach, and going to quite a few restaurants! Last week was Kayleigh’s birthday so a group of us went to a nice dinner and then to get ice-cream. We decided that since Togo is FULL of nice places to eat… we will eat our way through our time here!! I will keep you updated on the places that we try!! Just on a side note… I am pretty sure that West Africa has the best fries in the whole world. I wish everyone could try them, because I am almost certain that you would agree.

This was all the LandRovers heading to screening! We were quite a line!

Seriously… LOOK at this cute face!! Some crew were assigned to Children’s Ministry to play with the kids as they waited in line. This was one of the little boys there!

“Zimmy-Johns” are the most popular type of transportation in Togo. This was outside the stadium.

The Togolese police helped with security on Screening Day.

This is one of the rooms where patients are seen by a doctor.

This was where I worked- where patient history was taken.

This is me directing patients 🙂

There were lots of babies with a variety of health problems.

This is the paperwork that patients get when they are screened. The yellow card has their surgery date on it and allows them onto the ship.

The hospital opens for crew to tour and do activities before any patients arrive. We went and did all kinds of fun activities… and got stamps because of it 🙂

Beach!

If I had to make a list of things I wish I had known this is what it would be…

It might be a little premature on my Mercy Ships journey to be making this list… I will add to it later when I come to this reflection point again… but for now here are just a few things…

• just because I am in Africa does not mean that I am going to be sweating all of the time. The ship is FREEZING for the most part (according to me… so this may be skewed) and my parents are getting ready to ship me my second order of sweatpants. I carry socks in my bag so whenever I am just sitting somewhere my toes can be warm. 
•  there is a point where fresh vegetables are missed. I thought that since the ship came stocked with a snack bar this would be sufficient… but I really miss having a variety of vegetable choices. For my whole life broccoli has been my favorite, but we have that nearly everyday here and I might soon be cured of that. I neverthought there would be a day where I could say that I would choose fresh green beans over chocolate… but the day has come and it is today. If only I had a choice.
• it is possible to survive and adjust to not having wireless internet everywhere. I actually thought that I would die without wifi everywhere on the ship (ok, this might be a little dramatic but seriously… what if only certain rooms in your house had internet?) but I am used to it… even if it took 5 weeks. AND I can confidently say that when I think about there being fast wifi everywhere when I go home… I kinda can’t imagine it and think it is a little bit weird. 
• all nations do not eat rice krispies treats. Isn’t this horrible?? There are some of my Gateway friends, who I learned just this week (how it was concealed for this long I have NO IDEA), had never experienced a rice krispies treat and didn’t even know what it was. Someone’s job should be to expose the globe to them… it would make the world a happier place I am pretty sure.
• closets are a luxury. Do you remember the picture of my six-berth cabin? Enough said. I am just saying that you should all go look in your closet and feel blessed that you have one. 
• it is okay that sometimes I just want to be by myself. I have lived with roommates since college and I really value the fun that comes with having lots of roommates and friends BUT having time by yourself is essential and being on the ship where this is an actual challenge has for sure made me realize this in a new way.
• there is always a part of me that wants to be at home.  I have to say I totally hate this about myself- and I knew it would be really hard for me to be far away sometimes. But I think before I came I thought because it would be such a great experience here it would make me not miss home… but it isn’t true and I wish I had known that. I sometimes feel like I am living a split life because even on my best days when I absolutely love being here, I still miss home, and it isn’t  that I don’t want to be here. I think that the Lord is really trying to teach me that it is okay that I feel like that- but sometimes I feel like a really weak person because of it.
• missions is hard. super hard. Maybe I knew this… I am not quite sure. The needs in Sierra Leone are so big and every time I look out past the end of the our ship into town I get an overwhelming sense of  smallness (is that a word?). I am so glad that we serve a God who is big… but I am really challenged sometimes because I just think about how big He really must be to be working here and in all of the other parts of the world. 

I am ending this weekend by spending my first night in my new 4-berth cabin. I piled all of my things into 4 laundry baskets (plus a few loose ends) and unloaded them into my double closet- things fit much better and I am so happy about it! Tomorrow starts our fifth week of school and I can hardly believe it. One of the other teachers had her Facebook status yesterday that it “kinda feels like life is moving in hyper-speed yet also in slow motion…” This is pretty much just what it feels like. 

Wednesday night was Open House for the crew. It was fun because normally the Academy is off-limits to everyone, so it was a chance to show what fun we have 🙂

Saturday morning was spent baking! And by that I mean that Jillian baked and I sat there and watched. It was a nice lazy morning… sometimes you just need those.

Ship Holiday

Last week officially marked one month of being on the ship! It is so weird because in some ways I can’t believe it has flown by and I have been here a month… but then in other ways I know my journey still has a lot of time left. I have been thinking a lot about this because some days I miss home so much my stomach hurts… how is it that an experience can be so good and so hard at the same time? I know that everyone at home thinks that it is so different here and it must be so bizarre to be in Africa… but it is funny how even in a completely new environment people need the same things. Even though everyone on board knows that Mercy Ships is just a season of life… we all still need stability and consistency. This manifests itself in habits of sitting in the same place in the dining room and creating routines… just like I would at home. So really… the elements of life on the Africa Mercy are really different, but the need for authentic conversations and stability day-to-day are still there. 

Because Mercy Ships has such an international population we don’t celebrate any national holidays as a ship. Instead every 6 weeks we get a Friday off, known as a “ship holiday,” which is a generic celebration… and no work! This weekend we had Friday off, which for me was spent lying around on the beach- and it was absolutely glorious! It is rainy season in Sierra Leone, meaning that it rains nearly everyday and sometimes for the whole day- also meaning it was a complete blessing from the Lord that it was sunny and blue skies all day on Friday. It made me feel like I was at home… and double so when I came back to the ship and was totally burned! 

Saturday and Sunday held an overnight trip! I know, I know… shocking- I shocked myself too. I think it might have been partially due to LOTS of encouragement from others (thank you Brian), but I must say that I had a really fun time! Just outside of Freetown there is a chimpanzee sanctuary located in the rainforest with a few waterfalls and dams within hiking distance. The premises also have bungalows that you can rent out for the night that are tucked into the rainforest and are lit with candles. They have small gas stove tops and proper bathrooms (one of my requirements for attending the trip… based on field service experiences) and hammocks! It rained on and off all day on Saturday which was kind of fun as we hiked to see a few waterfalls. It is amazing how desolate areas are so quiet because you are removed from the busyness of people… but nature is so loud! I was amazed at how noisy the rushing water of the waterfall and river was. Four of us from the hiking group stayed the night in a house at the chimpanzee sanctuary and spent the night chatting about all sorts of things and eating lots of snacks, including marshmallows roasted over candles. The rainforest lived up to its name on Sunday when it poured (and I mean POURED rain) all day. This was super fun when we had to make the one mile trek down a giant hill carrying all of our overnight gear (as you can imagine, I was incapable of packing lightly) to meet our taxi.  I will be paying the price of all of my things being wet as that laundry monopolizes my one-load-a-week maximum for the next two weeks. 

Best news EVER (maybe my entire life here on the ship) is that I am getting an UPGRADE to a 4-berth cabin!!! I can hardly wait to appreciate a little more space… and an entire closet (this is a true answer to prayers!!). I will be sure to post pictures so you can rejoice in my new room with me! 

Reunion of IOC roomies… it was just like old time!

Behind us in this picture was a waterfall! a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

I am a hiker!! I think I could use this picture to convince someone I hike on a regular basis… maybe?

The group that stayed overnight in the rainforest… in a house (with plumbing AND a kitchen… I promise we were still in Africa)

Okay… I don’t even really like animals and I have to say that these chimps were SO cute… I was completely shocked at how their hands were so “people” like.

The house we stayed in! On the other side there was a balcony with a hammock 🙂

A shot of the inside of the house. The second floor had 2 bedrooms and a balcony and behind the stairs was a kitchen and a nice bathroom.

AFM IFF= Africa Mercy International Film Festival= Life on Tuesday Night

My sister keeps asking me about what we do here on the ship… and so I feel like it is going to be my new goal to expose you to the variety of activities that we have going on the ship! Tuesday was the Film Festival where crew members are invited to create a short film (which must include an assigned prop and phrase). It is a ship-wide event to dress up (it is shocking what things people have packed to live here- who knew I should have brought a fancy dress!) and attend the film festival. The movies are premiered… complete with a panel of judges, an MC, and an awards ceremony. Of course there is a video of the winning film- which I am not technology savvy enough to figure out how to embed it in here. I will post it another time if I can ever figure out. Bottom line is, it was a super fun time and I am so glad that people on the ship organize things like it.

On deck 5, across from the Starbucks Cafe, there is a table with an African fabric tablecloth where a collection of binders sit. Each binder has a label on the cover to offer crew various things. One of the most popular binders is the “Join Us” sign-up sheets where anyone can organize and/or sign-up for an activity. Most things are off-ship, meaning something fun to do in the surrounding areas. Life at Mercy Ships is a revolving door of new people coming and going ALL the time and I have found out quickly that people are very inclusive. It is almost strangely nice here… if it was your first day ever on the ship, you could go to the “Join Us” binder, sign up for an activity the next day where you know absolutely no one, go, and have a good time. I think that this is something really special about the community of people here. In Sierra Leone the off-ships activities include trips to the market in town, the beach, a picnic at a local waterfall, Aberdeen (a town about an hour an a half away) for dinner out, hikes, and local church visits. All of this talk of the binder… and I must admit I haven’t signed up for anything yet! But there are options… and one day I might go on an adventure. I feel like AT LEAST twice a week someone asks me if I am adventuresome and I always want to respond by saying “I am living on a ship in Africa… this whole thing is the adventure!!” I always manage a nice way to answer the question though… with the point always having to  be… no not really. 

Friday nights are a little different because it is ice-cream night. Crew gathers by the ship shop and stand in lines socializing while they wait. Tonight I volunteered to be a scooper- which was fun because ice-cream is a real treat on the ship and everyone that comes through the line is super happy to be getting dessert. It even comes with rainbow sprinkles and other toppings- definite plus. Ice-cream night was followed by a barn-dance, conveniently located in the International Lounge (can it still be called a barn-dance? just wondering), where we learned how to do line dances. Tonight has been finished off with lying around midships… with the option of playing cards and planning tomorrow’s events.

A small group of us are heading into Freetown tomorrow to visit a fabric market (hooray and I miss my sewing machine) and go to Crowne Bakery for lunch… which one of my students told me had the “best pizza in the world.” I am going to attempt to capture the “busyness” of town tomorrow… but whipping out my camera has 2 possible risks…. one: I might get mugged (slim possibility…. but still a possibility) and two: I might get surrounded by LOTS of people wanting me to take their picture (which would freak me out). I will weigh the consequences of photography tomorrow… if I can capture the experience, than pictures to follow! I am so looking forward to the walk there and I am praying for sunshine. Today was the first day of sun after 3 days of straight rain… which makes the ship chillier than normal and makes it near impossible to function without just wanting to be curled up in bed watching movies. Which, by the way, I wouldn’t hate doing!