Church, the beach, etc.

I went to an African church yesterday morning. They had us stand up and introduce ourselves, and sit at the front of the Church. I felt quite welcomed. The music was upbeat and fun. There were a lot of children, and I really enjoyed hearing their young voices praising God. The sermon was good too – about not hiding from God, but confessing our sins and turning from them so we can be made new. After the service, we were served oranges, bananas and cookies. I talked to lots of children and adults, and a couple of them shared about their difficulties during the wartime. The pastor and his wife had to hide out in the bush for years and live off the land to avoid the fighting. The pastor’s entire family died while trying to escape the fighting by boat. Their boat capsized and all of them drowned. So sad, and yet these people trust in God for all things. They’ve had nowhere to turn except for God. They don’t blame him for the difficulties, but praise him instead. I think we can learn a lot from their deep, abiding faith in Christ.
This afternoon I went to the beach with some friends. It was the same beach with the brown, yucky water, but it was fun. It was a mostly sunny day and a few people got burnt. A good time was had by all.
Back at the ship, I watched a sunset from the dock while eating my dinner. We had an evening service with wonderful worship music. It was a good day. I was really exhausted and tried to sleep as long as I could today because I think I’m quite sleep deprived after all I’ve been doing lately. This next week I’m working a lot, so I can’t do a lot of stuff away from the ship. I’ll catch up on rest then. Funny to catch up on sleep on work days, but going off the ship is what makes me tired more so than being on it.
Oh, one more thing, the patient who needed my blood on Friday is now out of ICU and doing well. He was really happy to see me today. He’s so joyful! He’s always joking around with me. He is teaching me a bit of the Kpele language. Today I learned “Pago Mamy” which means, “can I eat?” That’s all I learned. He tried to teach me more, but most of the time just laughed at my horrendous pronunciation! I’m going to try to remember my one phrase tomorrow so that I can impress my new friend!

The Hydro Plant and Film Festival

So I went to the hydro plant. It was beautiful and very adventurous! The trip started out with a lot of crazy driving through mud holes and on ridiculously bumpy roads. If you know the Wilderness Ranch road, imagine the worst parts at it’s muddiest, and we were driving through worse than that for over half an hour each way. We got stuck 3 or 4 times, but our driver Laurens denies that he was ever stuck because he was able to get unstuck without us getting out and pushing. The vehicle was totally and completely covered in mud by the end of the day, but it was enormously fun!
We stopped at a community that was completely destroyed during the war except for the Church. It was sad to see the dilapidated houses overgrown with plants. I don’t want to imagine the difficulties and suffering that occurred in that place.
We toured the hydro plant, which was also destroyed during the war, and pretty much anything that could be carried away has been taken at this point. It’s just the concrete structure left. The government is planning on restoring it to function soon hopefully. It will cost US$300 million to get the job done.
We went on a hike through the bushes and waded through the river quite a few times. It was really nice to be out in the wilderness outside of the city. I enjoyed seeing the natural beauty of Liberia. There were many beautiful parts of the river. At one point we all crawled down beside the waterfall and stuck our heads under the torrent of water. We were already soaking, so a bit more wetness didn’t hurt at all. We also tried to float down the river, but had to bail out because it was getting too swift. All part of the adventure! My clothes were extremely dirty by the end of the day, but it was one of those days where I felt really alive. I felt amazed by God’s creation constantly, just like at Wilderness Ranch. I am so thankful to God that I have an able and healthy body so that I can do adventurous and fun things like this! May I never forget to thank God in all things!
On the way home we toured the water purification plant. I don’t know what they are like at home, but the water didn’t seem incredibly pure! It was an interesting thing to see.
On the drive home we got super stuck. We got out with a lot of effort. There was so much mud on the front window that we blew a fuse on the windshield wipers! After that, we had to continually dump water from our water bottles on the windshield to allow the driver to see! We eventually just changed the fuse, which was much simpler.
Near the city we stopped in a major puddle, and a bunch of local kids washed our vehicle for us. There were kids on the roof, the hood, the sides, everywhere, scrubbing and splashing! They did a fabulous job on our two vehicles for US$3.00! It was the coolest car wash I’ve ever been to!
This evening was the Africa Mercy “film festival” complete with a red carpet and trophies for the winners. There were 12 entries, and they were quite funny. The winner was a movie made by the cleaning staff, called “Dust Busters”. It was a spoof on Ghost Busters, with a bunch of slapstick comedy. We laughed our heads off!
It was a dress up affair, so I again wore my fancy dress. We took lots of pictures, and then got into PJ’s and had girl talk time for a couple hours. Now it’s bedtime. G’night y’all!

Another fabulous day…

I slept through my alarm because I had such a busy, fun birthday yesterday, and I was exhausted. So when I woke up I had little time to dress, brush my teeth, fix my crazy curly hair and eat breakfast before my shift started. Thank the Lord for peanut butter and banana sandwiches that you can eat on the run and be quite satisfied!
It was a fairly quiet day – none of my patients were very sick or needed much. Three of them went home, so I did a lot of discharge teaching preparing them for success at home. However, I had one patient who went to surgery this morning quite early. He had a “major-ectomy” (in my words that means something really big to remove), which was making life difficult for him. This surgery would definitely be life changing, almost to the same degree as a VVF surgery is revolutionary in a woman’s life. I walked him to the OR and prayed with him before he went in to surgery. He was really excited and had an obvious faith in God.
It was a long procedure, and in the end he needed some blood due to blood loss. The coolest part of my day was that I was able to donate blood for the very first time, and it was for him! The reason I can’t donate blood by Canadian standards is that I lived in England for more than 3 months, and I might have mad cow disease! I’m saying that facetiously! I guess it’s important to be super careful not to give people blood borne diseases, so screening is essential. I’ve always been a bit choked that I wanted to donate, was perfectly healthy and was not able to because of the England thing! Donating today was very special, especially because I knew that my own blood was giving him life. He would not have survived without blood donors today. What a true gift of life that is. I felt SO privileged to be able to give him that gift. He is in ICU now, but I think he’ll pull through okay. Your prayers would be much appreciated!
This afternoon I went to the tailor to pick up my skirts. Only one was done, but it’s really nice. The only problem is that it’s a bit too big. In fact, I can pull it down over my hips, without unzipping it, so I’ll have to go and get it taken in. I’m going to have an African dress made, which I’m quite excited about.
It was super hot and humid today, and I hadn’t drank enough after giving blood, so I felt a bit woozy when we were at the tailors. Since I got back to the ship, I’ve drank at least 2 litres of water, and I feel a bit better.
This evening I read many lovely birthday messages on facebook and by email, and I really thank you all for your love and care for me! I feel very valued and loved.
I played a massive game of Settlers of Catan tonight. A guy on the ship, Tom, is really into it, and has created his own version combining Seafarers, Settlers, Knights and Cities, and his own additions. It takes about 2 hours or more to finish, but it’s pretty fun. I won!!! I couldn’t believe it, because most of the game I was really confused and lightheaded from giving blood, and kept missing things, but I guess I was mostly lucky, and somewhat skillful!
Tomorrow I’m going on an adventure trip to an old hydro plant. Should be fun!

The pictures:

My 26th Birthday!

How do I begin to chronicle this fabulous birthday? It began with my roommate Esther singing me a hushed version of Happy birthday in our dark cabin while the others slept. I stepped outside my cabin and was greeted with a huge “Happy Birthday Jenna!” sign plastered on the wall beside our door, and a card for me from dear friends. Big smiles and rounds of happy birthday continued as I ate my breakfast and received morning report as I got on shift. During our morning prayer, Lanita prayed that I would have a blessed birthday, and was it ever! I was greeted spontaneously all day by so many people. I felt SO special! Mid-morning I had an iced frappucino delivered to my ward, graced on the top by a lovely flower made of chocolate and caramel sauces. Dad and mom called me on the ward to wish me a happy birthday. Oh how wonderful they are!!! At lunchtime the bell was rung to get everyone’s attention in the dining hall, and the whole room sang happy birthday to me. I felt like such a big deal all day, and I honestly couldn’t have felt more loved and cherished by people I’ve only met within the last few weeks! I am astounded at the goodness of God. He knits his people together in love for one another. He uses us to build one another up and cheer one another on. The fellowship of the kingdom of God is immeasureable!
By the end of my shift of work, the birthday celebrations had only just begun. I was told I needed to be ready by 4:15pm to leave for dinner with a bunch of friends. The only problem we foresaw earlier in the day was the planned fire drill for the afternoon. So, we decided to be ready for dinner by 3:30. When the fire alarm went off, and we had to muster out on the dock in our dress clothes. I felt a little conspicuous, but it was fun. Some of my nurse friends who were dressed up (and in heels no less) volunteered to provide care for the “injured” and had to carry a guy on a gurney up and down steep staircases. They said it was quite a hilarious affair!
Amazingly we were ready to go by 4:20pm! Three vehicle loads of people came along to celebrate with me at Golden Beach restaurant. There were at least a couple dozen people there. Again, I felt SO special. We had a big long table reserved in the outdoor patio, and we ordered some delicious food. I even had two monkeys and a cat at my party! Well, the monkeys were chained up outside the gate to the restaurant, but they were entertaining! The cat, like most others I’ve known, explored under the table, probably hoping for some scraps to be thrown his way!
The food took quite a long time to come, but we had fun waiting. We had a pre-dinner dessert to tide ourselves over. Cupcakes! Some dear friends made and decorated dozens of cupcakes and brought them along to the restaurant for my birthday celebration. They were fabulous!
As we continued to wait, we went out onto the beach and waded in the water, took lots of pictures, and just hung out talking and enjoying each others’ company. I just soaked it all in. It was a very memorable time, with the waves crashing on the beautiful sandy beach, shared with friends who are already dear to me. The waves sometimes came in with a ferocity that shocked me, especially when one splashed up and soaked me to my waist in my dress! Ha!
After we moved back to the table under the roof, it began to rain. A warm, lovely rain. That was another good part of my day, eating dinner in the rain. My friends chided me at ordering rice with my meal, when we really eat rice two times a day here on the ship. I also ate the cucumbers that were offered to me, which we have on the ship pretty much every meal. Well, I like rice and cucumbers a lot! What can I say?
We returned to the ship just in time for community meeting at 7:30pm. We had a nice worship time and sermon. Afterwards there was an African worship team that played African songs in the Starbucks café area for over an hour. It was so much fun! We had a spontaneous dance party to the upbeat praise music. “By my side, by my side! You are always by my side!!” I’ll never forget that song! We danced, formed a train, danced some more, sang, worshipped God… what more could I ask for on my special day?
My final birthday wish was to have a cinnamon roll out on the dock. Wilderness Ranch staff – you know what I’m talking about!!! Probably over 30-40 people came out and we had a cinnamon roll, with me in the centre and they sang me happy birthday! How good that felt! I love being the gooey part in the middle! Everyone really enjoyed it! I’m glad I could share one of my favourite things with Mercy Ships staff!
It has now ended with two very dear friends Lanita and Katelyn wishing me goodnight with hugs and love. Thank you God for giving me life, for calling me your own and giving me the gift of wonderful friendships! To God be the glory for every good thing in my life! AMEN!

Funny start to a day...

So this morning I sat bolt upright in bed, wide awake. I was certain I'd slept past my alarm and it was time to get ready for my shift. So I hopped in the shower, threw on my scrubs and went back to my cubicle for my socks and shoes when I looked at the clock and it said 1:30 am!!! Oh Jenna! Groan. Unbelievable. I was sure the clock had said 6:00 am when I looked at it before! So I went back to sleep with wet hair knowing it would be a curly disaster in the morning! I had strange vivid dreams the rest of the night, but still woke up refreshed somehow. I opted for a braided updo to hide the mess of curls, and it worked! I love it when my hair cooperates!
I had a very nice shift. I discharged two of my patients home, and just had two left who were waiting for surgery. I had time to enjoy a lovely decaf Starbucks coffee (I'm cutting back on caffeine intake), and help out here and there. This morning we had our last dress ceremony of the year. It brought tears to my eyes. The African worship music was so joyous and full of praise for our great God. People were dancing with joy. The whole time I got to cuddle the cutest little two-year old boy I've ever met! His chocolate brown puppy dog eyes make me melt every time I see him! The women who'd recovered from their VVF surgeries gave their testimonies, praising God for his faithfulness to them. I was overwhelmed by God's love and power. He is SO good!
I had a little bit of sadness in my day. First of all, there was a six-week old baby who died last night in ICU. We'd been praying for him to recover, but unfortunately he did not. At least we were able to show love and support to his family. They kept thanking the nurses who had cared for him as they said goodbye. That was sad, but we still put our trust in a good God who loves us and has a plan for our lives.
The second sad thing was the story my patient told me of how he got his injury. He was severely beaten during the war, and has suffered ever since. I hear stories about war and atrocities, but it's always been so far removed from me. A part of me breaks inside knowing how much sorrow some people have had to endure, and still are enduring in our world full of sin and strife. I can't imagine how much God's heart breaks, seeing the people he created torturing and destroying one another. God has given us such a precious gift of life. If only we would live our lives the way he intended us to!
This afternoon I went up on deck with my patients to give them a bit of time outdoors. We had such a great time. One little guy claimed my stethoscope and went around listening to people's lungs and hearts, legs, arms, the walls of the ship - pretty much anything he saw, he listened to it! I told his mom maybe he was practicing to be a doctor someday! I hope he will get such an opportunity in his future.
I'm going to a Liberian movie theatre this evening. Should be fun!

Hotel Ducor, the market and Palm oil soup photos

Here are a few pictures of the view from the top of Hotel Ducor. There's a picture of my friends who went to the market with me on a rainy Saturday, and a picture of fufu and Palm oil soup with "meat". My friend who took me to the restaurant would not allow me to pay. Apparently in their culture if you invite someone to a restaurant, you pay. It is very bad manners to require the other person to pay their portion. I did not realize that, so it was very kind of my friend to invite me and pay for me!

Markets, Hotel Ducor, The tailor, and African food

This Saturday we went to the market. We were supposed to leave at 2 pm, but it was 3 by the time we actually got away. African time is a bit more laid back, which is probably good for me since I’m often late! However, I had to work at 7 pm, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to play around with.
We were accompanied by some African friends who showed us how to navigate the market. They led us to a few different fabric stores, which was our main interest. I picked up a nice piece of material that I want to make into a skirt. Three lapas for US$10. That is a lot of material, and would make a whole dress and more. I’ll have to figure out something else to make with it besides a skirt because you can’t get any less than 3 lapas. We also stopped by a shoe store. I couldn’t believe how cheap the shoes were. Really nice stylish shoes like Gucci for US$8 a pair! It is sad that even with how cheap things are, most people can’t afford much at all.
We got caught in a downpour in the market and had to hide out under some ledges for a while with hundreds of other people. When it rains, it pours! It’s fun though, and it never really gets cold enough to get chilled from the rain. You just get really muddy from the orange mud that gets all over everything!
On our way home from the market we stopped at the hotel Ducor, which was built in the 1950’s, and used to be an amazing structure. However it was ransacked during the war in the 90’s. We only had a short time there on Saturday because I had to be back for work at 7pm, so we snapped a few pictures and decided to go back another day.
I went back to the Hotel Ducor today! It overlooks the ocean and the city. It is a beautiful vantage point to see Monrovia. We climbed to the top of the 8-story building and really enjoyed the view. The marble tiles, sweeping staircases, roof top dining room, magnificent entryway and beautiful grounds are evidence that it once was phenomenal. Presidents and dignitaries probably stayed there. It is sad to see such a beautiful structure in such shambles. It is like a symbol of this country to me. It is in ruins, but you can see the beauty and strength that remains. These people are beautiful and strong, and are fighting for a better future. I pray they will have that better future with the help of God!
We went to the market again this morning. I got some more material that I will have made into a dress. It’s an African pattern of browns, greens, blues and yellows. I'm excited about having a dress to wear to the African churches.
I had some Ghanian food at lunch today. It was a fairly spicy palm oil soup with meat in it, and you ate it with a sticky substance called fufu made out of cassava and plantain. It was pretty good, but it would take me a while to get used to it and really like it. The African food we have on the ship is fabulous! We had an African food night tonight with fried plantains, chicken, some sort of spicy peanut sauce and rice. I absolutely loved it! I need to learn how to make it, and maybe I actually will because I'm friends with one of the cooks who is a Ghanian man.
I worked night shifts on the weekend, and they were really slow. The patients were all sleeping the whole night from 10pm until 7am! I’ve never had such quiet night shifts before! It was good because the patients got some really good sleep. I’ve still been practicing my French a lot with patients from other countries. It’s fun. I have French class again tonight, and I’m eager to learn to actually speak it and be able to communicate!
Yesterday we went to the tailor. It was a little hut on the side of the road with a tin roof with probably a dozen people inside using pedal operated sewing machines and irons with hot embers inside them to keep warm. It was very old fashioned in a sense, but amazing how quickly and efficiently they made beautiful and stylish clothing. I am having two skirts made and when I go back to pick them up, I’ll order my dress. I figure I’ll get quite a few months of wear out of the clothing, and I’m sure I’ll wear the skirts at home again, so I’m pretty excited about these new African articles of clothing. Of course they tailor them to fit you exactly! So cool!
On our way back to the ship we picked up a bunch of kids to come and visit the ship. They were so excited! Their mothers got out the big basins and soap and bathed them right there on the street. While we were waiting a big herd of bulls passed by with their big mean looking horns. It would be fascinating to sit on the roadside for a couple hours one day and watch things and people go by. I’m sure I’d have plenty of stories. Life is different here. It’s not easy, but it’s beautiful.

Beaches, cabs, police, pizza and patients...

Yesterday morning started off very nicely - with fabulous waffles, blueberries and whipped cream! What else could a girl need?
Three other ward nurses and I headed off mid-morning for our day of adventure. We hailed a taxi within a minute, which apparently is a miracle around here, and he drove us through the crazy traffic to White Sands Beach. It's quite a road to get there, like everywhere else! There was a one-way bridge with a steep up and down ramp, and I thought we were going to take the tail-pipe off many times! There were many gigantic puddles that took up the width of the road, which our cabbie had to drive carefully through. I thought we might have to get out and push, but no, these cab-drivers are quite amazing, and obviously very experienced. He tried to up the price by the end of the trip, and I would have paid it if I wasn't with someone who knew what she was doing. I've learned now that you always negotiate a price before you get into a cab, and stick to that price. Bartering is something I'll have to get used to. This afternoon I think I'm going to the market, so that will be another interesting experience I'm sure!
The beach was wonderful. We had it to ourselves! The water was like a bath tub. The only problem is that it's super polluted and brown. Also, there are bad rip currents all over the coast of Liberia, so you have to be really careful not to go too deep, or else it'll suck you out into the ocean. Sadly, someone died last year from that very thing happening. That scares me enough to keep me in the shallows - no more than up to my waist!
We saw a bunch of fishing boats pull in to shore full to the brim with their cargo. The fishermen were eager to show us their catch, and we watched amazed at the variety of silvery eels, the hermit crabs, lobsters, gigantic fish, shrimp and many other fish they put on display. We didn’t want to buy anything though.
They looked at us funny as we swam in the ocean. Apparently, that’s something that is just not done around here very often.
We swam a bit, lay in the sun, drank cold sodas, and talked. It was a lovely afternoon.
When it was time to go home, we thought we’d be adventurous and try to walk down the beach back to the Africa Mercy. We could see it from White Sands beach, and it didn’t look like more than a 45 minute walk away. Very do-able.
We came to an old abandoned hotel that looks like it used to be amazing. Supposedly it was a 5 star hotel before the war. You see a lot of buildings like that in Liberia – buildings that are stripped to the bone of all that is useful or valuable. The war really took a toll on the infrastructure of Liberia. There was a UN camp just beyond the hotel and we weren’t allowed to go any further down the beach.
But that wasn’t the end of our adventure. We caught a taxi at the nearest road, and drove through a very busy marketplace. Suddenly a policeman was pulling us over, and blowing very hard on his whistle. We thought the issue was that we weren’t wearing our seatbelts (there weren’t any that worked), but we’re not really sure what it was all about. The cabbie and the policeman ended up having a heated discussion outside of the vehicle, and a crowd was gathering, so we bailed out of the taxi and found another one before too much more commotion occurred. We felt bad for our cabbie and we hope he didn’t get a ticket. Apparently there is a lot of corruption still in Liberia.
Back at the ship we went for a refreshing dip in the pool, which was much clearer than the ocean, and then had pizza for dinner! The food has been quite wonderful I must say!
I visited my three patients who had surgery, and they are all doing great! I even taught one how to knit in the short time I was visiting with them. He was a fast learner!
It was a fabulous day, and I'm sure there will be many other adventures to share with you in the future!

My dear patients, baby Mercy, and speaking French!

I've had the same patients for the last 3 days. It has been wonderful to be able to develop a relationship with them and care for them. My 3 men who all have infected leg wounds are all going for surgery tomorrow. I was able to pray with them and reassure them that the surgeons and anesthetists and nurses are very good at their jobs. It's been good to see the wounds improving each day. One man said he'd been using African herbs for a long time on his wound, and it didn't help at all. I really hope the surgeries and healing processes go well. This will make such a huge difference in their lives because otherwise they will have to just hope their wounds will heal without medical treatment. They are such kind and valuable people. My heart aches for the opportunities they never had and the unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Tomorrow is my day off, but I want to go and check on them after their surgeries.
I have a dear little friend who always teases me and is laughing and smiling at me. He is a 9 year old burn patient who has had release of some contractures. He speaks very strong Liberian English, and I really have a hard time understanding him. I ask him to repeat himself many times over, and still sometimes I cannot understand him. Tonight he was being a goofball and laughing with a patient who only speaks French. I don't know how they understood each other, but they were both laughing hysterically. I just love that little boy. The mother in me wants to protect him from the harsh world out there that will not accept and love him because he is different. He only has half a head of hair because half of it was burned off. His body will never be the same as everyone else's, but he is a little boy full of life and hope for the future.
As I was leaving my shift tonight, I heard wimpering from under his bed. I went over and there were tears streaming down his face. I couldn't get a word out of him, but thought maybe he was in pain. Then another patient called to me that he was missing his mom. Poor little guy. There truly is no-one who can take the place of your mother. I know nobody could ever replace mine. I rubbed his back for a while and he eventually calmed down. I pray he sleeps well without his mother who had to go home to take care of another sick child. Oh, the challenges of motherhood in Liberia!
The little baby who was born on the Africa Mercy was appropriately named "Mercy". She is so precious, tiny, fragile and new. A new baby girl with so much life ahead of her. What a gift life is. God is so immeasureably good to us to give us the precious gift of life.
I had to practice my French today because there were a few patients from other countries who didn't speak English. It's fun to try speaking even though I know I'm making mistakes. They understand me a little at least! I'm looking forward to my time in Benin because I might actually be able to speak some more coherent French by May of next year!

Wounds, noma, syndactyly and newborns!

Yesterday I worked on C and D ward. I had plastics patients, which was nice, as that is my comfort zone. There were a few cases of things I hadn't seen before. Syndactyly was one of them. Syndactyly is when 2 or more fingers or toes are fused together from birth. This gentleman had his 3rd and 4th fingers separated on each hand, and now he'll finally have 10 fingers after 4 decades of life! There's another man who had a "noma", which is a disease caused by malnutrition and lack of sanitation. It is an infection of sorts that attacks your face and eats away at it. He had only a hole where his nose should have been! They created a nose for him, which will be quite a change after years of people looking at him strangely, or thinking he's somehow cursed or evil.
I had 3 male patients who had almost identical problems. They all had large infected wounds on their right lower legs that they'd had for over 2 years. These wounds were really smelly and gross, and I sure hope we can cure them! One patient told me his story. He said he'd lost everything - he'd spent all his money on treatments for this wound, and none of them worked. He lost his business, his family had to move away because he couldn't provide for them, and he had to sell everything he owned. How devastating! Especially when you live in a poor country and have very little to begin with. What amazes me is how generous they are with each other. I don't know how many people would survive without the family and community support here.
These stories make me realize what a big difference these surgeries can make in someone's life. Honestly, these men would probably eventually die because of the infection spreading through their blood system. It's so sad to think of all the people we can't help. We have a palliative care program for people who are dying at home. There are people who go out and minister to them, do wound care, and help them out where they can. I think that's wonderful. I've been amazed at all of the different programs Mercy Ships is involved in on land.
Something very cool that happened last night was that a baby was born on the Africa Mercy. One of the patients here had his mother with him as a caregiver. His mother was 8 months pregnant (or so we thought). Last night she gave birth to a baby girl. She probably received the best maternal care ever in her life, because there was a midwife and a doctor there I've been told. I'm excited to get to work this afternoon and see the brand new little life!
This is such a wonderful community and a great place to be. I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

My Roommates minus one

These are my roommates minus one. Erica was the OR nurse on call, so couldn't leave the ship to have dinner with us that night. Left to right: Jessica is a dental hygienist from the States, Misty is a ward nurse from Australia, Esther is a ward nurse from Switzerland, me, Kyung-Jin is a doctor from Korea who was training under the internist on board. They're great roommates, I'm just sad I have to say goodbye to Jin and Misty tomorrow!

The weekend

I worked my first shift by myself on Friday morning on the VVF ward. It went well. The hardest part was finding supplies. That will get easier with time. At the end of my shift I tried to take some of the patients out for some sunshine up to deck 7, but the elevator was stuck. The VVF ladies are not allowed to climb stairs because it could compromise their healing. I felt bad to let them down because they only get outside once every day, but I'm no elevator mechanic. There were already a group of patients up on deck 7, so we had to get someone to fix the elevator before they got stuck outside for hours. :) Thank goodness there are so many competent people on this ship.
Friday evening I went out with my roommates to Diana Restaurant, a Lebanese place in Monrovia. It was nice to get off the ship and experience the city. The roads are terrible! There are potholes everywhere, and pedestrians crossing constantly. It would take me quite some time to be able to drive here, because you have to be very aggressive to get anywhere! The person who gets the right of way seems to be the vehicle that can "hold out" the longest. What I mean is, if you are crossing paths with another vehicle, you just have to hope they stop before you do, and then that gives you right of way. I wonder how many accidents happen here!?
It was my friend Kyung Jin's going away party at the restaurant. It's a strange community here, because people are constantly coming and going. I only met two of my roommates a week ago, and they both leave on Monday! There are arrivals and departures every day. However, at this point in the mission, most people are here until the end of November/beginning of December.
Saturday morning I went to an orphanage with a group of people from the ship. I felt like a celebrity driving into the town where the orphanage was located. Kids popped out from everywhere waving at us with the most gigantic smiles stretched across their faces. Honestly it was quite something. I felt like the queen. When we arrived at the orphanage, one little girl named Blessing greeted me and I had a constant companion for the rest of our time there. She wanted to be held all the time and was quite fascinated with trying on my sunglasses repeatedly. I put the sunglasses away after a while because some of the kids started a little spat over who got to try them on next! They were SO adorable. Blessing reminded me of Lilo from "Lilo and Stitch." She was like a little cartoon character - so full of life and excitement about everything! I don't have any pictures of her though because Mercy Ships doesn't like us to take a lot of pictures everywhere we go, because we are not tourists, we are here to serve. That makes sense. Also, it's not a great idea to flash around our high-tech expensive equipment, because we're trying to identify with the people. Showing our wealth would probably just create barriers. I'll try to get a few pictures at appropriate times.
We played relay race games, coloured pictures, sang songs, skipped rope, and just hung out together for a couple hours. My friend Katelyn got bitten by something and her entire body flushed a deep red. It was very itchy she said, but otherwise she felt fine. She's obviously allergic to something around here. There were these tiny fire ants everywhere, and they bit hard! Maybe they were the culprits!
Last night, Katelyn, Lanita, Joanna and I had a girls night and watched some Jane Austen movies. It was a lot of fun to be girly together and sigh over Mr. Darcy. I'm such a girl.
Now I'm heading down to the cafeteria to make cards to send home! I did it last week and it was SO much fun!

Being a ward nurse...

I've now finished my two days of orientation to the ward. I've been on two of the four wards. Yesterday I was on the VVF ladies ward. Today I was on the plastics ward. The nursing care is similar to at home, and yet different. Everyone practices differently where I work in Canada, and there is even more diversity in practice when you have nurses from many different countries practicing together. All of the nurses I've worked with so far are fabulous, but we do things differently. The equipment is all different, and lots of varieties of tubings, types of gauze, IV stuff, etc. We certainly get some of the leftovers, but we're very well stocked, I think.
I'll have to learn some new skills: drawing blood, which only lab techs do at home; giving IV push medication, which you have to be specially certified to do at home; taking care of pediatrics (kids), which we have special wards for at home, etc. There will be lots to learn, but I think I'll love it!
At the start and end of every shift, the nursing staff pray together for the patients. We have a devotional time and sometimes singing. It's quite refreshing and a lovely start to a shift!
Every morning, the ward disciplers, who are Liberian/African nationals, lead devotions in each ward. It's such a nice time of singing and praising God and reading His word. I went this morning even though I wasn't working until the evening because it was a dress ceremony again. It brought tears to my eyes to see how grateful to God these women were. They have been healed not only physically, but spiritually, emotionally, etc. The people here are so beautiful. I can't get over how joyful they are in spite of much difficulty. And CAN they DANCE! They love to dance and sing! Their music makes me want to dance too, but I'm not able to move my body as well as they are!
I don't think it will be too difficult to work here as a nurse. I'll get used to it pretty quickly. It will just be the normal challenges of finding where things are, how things are done, and getting used to having kids as patients and knowing what to do for the various surgeries they do here. I'm used to learning on the job and having to think on my feet, so I think I'll be fine. The other nurses are extremely supportive as well, which is so important!
Oh, I have to get a picture of some of the cutest little kids I've ever seen! This one little guy wanders around all shift finding someone new to play with him or hold him. He has the most gorgeous puppy dog chocolate brown eyes framed with luscious lashes! He's extremely cute. Actually, he is the definition of cute. We can only take pictures of patients off the ward, so I hope I get an opportunity when we take them outside for a walk in the afternoon tomorrow. The "no pictures on the ward" rule is good because it prevents the patients from feeling like a spectacle. Many of them have lived their lives being looked at strangely, because they do have a strange appearance. So, we want them to have as much dignity as possible.
I'd better get to bed because I work morning shift tomorrow and it's already after 11 pm!

OR pictures

Just so you know, we're allowed to take pictures in the OR, as long as the patient cannot be identified.

Orientation, ward Church, VVF ladies, OR observation #2

Sorry the first post by this name didn't work!

We got to the ship on Saturday and were promptly greeted by reception and security. They took our pictures and made identification cards that we have to swipe in and out with. Goodness, after 2-3 days of travel, we looked pretty rough, and that is the picture on our ID cards! At least it will give us a laugh from time to time. We had a mini tour of the ship and dinner and then were shown to our cabins. I am in a cabin with 5 other girls, two of whom are leaving this week. I have roommates from all over the world: Switzerland, USA, South Korea and Australia. There are 3 cubicles with a bunk bed in each. I have half a closet, two shelf ledges and the top bunk. I like it! It makes me feel a bit like a kid again. There is no window in our room, which is okay because we’re almost all shift workers, so it will be nice for sleeping at any time of the day or night. We have a curtain that pulls across the entire cubicle to really shut out the world. I’m glad I brought earplugs and an eye-mask too!
The walls are magnetic, so I’ve put up many pictures of family and friends with magnets, so I think of you every day!

Sunday we had a tour of the whole ship. Incredible! They put millions of dollars into making it a hospital ship. There are 8 decks or floors, only 7 that I’m allowed to go to. It is 152 metres long and it’s maximum breadth is 23.7 metres. There are 6 operating rooms, 4 hospital wards including an ICU, a recovery room, pharmacy, lab, X-ray, clinics, outpatients, etc. It’s very nice and well equipped to do the life-altering surgeries they do here on board the ship.

There’s a beautiful dining room, meeting rooms, many cabins, a library, a school, a small workout room, a small pool on the top deck, the ship shop, Starbucks café, some nice lounges and much more. It’s nicely air-conditioned, so I actually wish I’d brought a few more long sleeved shirts! At least I won’t have trouble sleeping because of heat!
I’ve had lots of orientation in the last few days, which has been really helpful because it’s quite a large place with many people. It kind of feels like I’m in a little city because it seems like I should have seen all the 400+ people by now, but new ones keep popping out of the woodwork. I guess there’s over 50 ward nurses alone, so it will take a while before I know all of my coworkers names!

On Sunday I went to “ward church”, which is a morning service for the patients. There were lots of drums and shakers and the singing was very loud, but beautiful! I realized it will take me a while to understand “Liberian” English! They say their words quite differently and drop off parts of words. I’ve been told they often say a word twice, like “nice, nice” or “plenty, plenty”. I’m excited to start orientation to the ward tomorrow, and see what I’ll actually be doing most of the time. I have a feeling these beautiful people will really become precious to me!
During ward Church, they had a dress ceremony. This is a time where they give a new dress to each woman who has recovered from VVF surgery.

WARNING: the content described next may be a bit graphic. If you don’t want to read it, that’s okay.
VVF stands for “vesico-vaginal fistula”, which is an abnormal opening or pathway between the bladder and vagina. It is very common here in Africa due to poor maternal care (care of pregnant women and birthings). Women might be in labour for 4-5 days because they don’t have anyone to help them. They often give birth to a dead baby, which is very traumatic for them. The difficulty and trauma of labour leaves their insides in a mess. These VVF are a complication of long labours.
The problem with a VVF, is the woman will constantly leak urine because there is no sphincter in the vagina to stop it. Some women who come to us will have leaked urine for 30-40 years. This also causes chronic urinary tract infections. These women are often ostracized from their communities because they smell bad, but they can’t do anything about it! So some of these ladies have not only had a long difficult labour and given birth to a dead baby, but they are cut off and rejected by family and friends. Can you imagine how difficult that would be?
When they’ve had this surgery completed they can have hope of a normal life again! So the dress ceremony is quite a celebration! No wonder the music was loud!

I saw an operation this afternoon. It was a removal of a tumor on a little girl’s head. She is 10. She’s already had an operation to remove a large tumor on her leg that required a skin graft to cover it. It was pretty gruesome to watch, but having been a nurse for a few years now, I don’t get queasy over blood and guts. In fact, I could probably watch most surgeries while eating a meal and not get sick! A little bit of bragging on my part about how tough I am! ☺

That’s about all for now, but I’m sure I’ll have more to write in the next few days when I begin practicing on the ward!

Orientation, ward Church, VVF ladies, OR observation

Pictures of the Africa Mercy

Here are a few pictures of the Africa Mercy and Katelyn, Lanita, and I. The road picture is what leads up to the Africa Mercy dock. It's quite safe and protected because there is a UN base right beside the Africa Mercy! I'll have to write another post about the actual ship later today because I'm watching a surgery in half an hour, have a tea and cookies event to attend, and then I'm starting my first advanced french class in preparation for the outreach in Benin. This is my day off, and it's pretty full!!!

Safe Travels

A lot has happened in the past few days! I'll start with my traveling. On my flight to London, the personal tv's were not working, so I thought it would be long and boring, but I ended up sleeping quite a lot! I had an 8 hour layover in London Heathrow. It was a bit strange. I was tired and felt gross, but I wandered around looking at the shops, knowing I wouldn't buy anything because I only had 10 GBP to buy myself a meal. I had dinner and watched a movie on my laptop which passed the time. I even found a free shower and had a little rinse, which was refreshing. It was one of those days where you don't talk to pretty much anyone, and your mind turns things over again and again. I finally realized that I wouldn't see family and friends for quite a long time. However, time will pass, and now that I'm here, I know my days will be very full!

With each flight, I began to feel more like a minority. On my flight from Kenya to Liberia, I was one of the only caucasians. I have really never experienced that before. I think it's a good thing to experience. Everyone was very friendly, and pleased that I was coming to work with Mercy Ships. I'm sure the Africa Mercy has done a lot of good in Liberia. 

I knew there would be two other nurses arriving on the same flight, so I tried to keep my eyes open for them, but I had no idea who to look for! I stepped off the plane into a very hot and humid day. A western African airport is quite different than I'm used to. Much smaller, but the same type of things: customs, baggage claim, arrivals, departures. Going through customs was easier than I thought it would be with the thick stack of papers I had to give them, and their familiarity with Mercy Ships. As the baggage started coming around the carousel, I started to become a bit terrified. First of all because it was taking so long to appear, and second because everyone else's luggage was locked tight with a padlock. I berated myself for being so naive! Where did I think I was going? To Calgary? Goodness! I had visions of my luggage being rifled through and anything valuable being taken. In the end, my luggage appeared on the carousel, no worse for wear, and with nothing missing. I'll try to find some baggage locks for my return journey! :)

I went outside and met the driver and another ward nurse, Katelyn. She's from Australia, and I've been very close to where she lives! It's beautiful there. She's a pediatric nurse. We waited a while for the other nurse, Lanita, to arrive, and eventually found out that her luggage was lost. Very sad, but she had a very positive outlook on it, and a trust in God which made me feel a bit guilty for my earlier fears about losing my luggage. Lanita is from the USA and has been a travel nurse. It was very fun to hear about her experiences!

It was an hour and a half journey to the ship from the airport through busy streets, with people walking everywhere. They drive on the right side of the road, so it didn't feel too weird, but it was quite bumpy and the traffic is a bit scarier than at home. We asked our driver so many questions the whole way. He was very insightful and helpful. We passed many buildings that were certainly shacks by our standards, but they looked sturdy enough. I don't know how they fare in the monsoon rains they've had for the past few months though! 

We drove over a bridge in Monrovia where the final stand occurred back in 2003 between the two opposing sides of the civil war. Apparently many people died in that battle. We saw a telephone pole that had not yet been replaced, and it was covered in bullet holes. That filled me with a new sadness and sympathy for these people of Liberia who have lived through so much bloodshed and conflict. Thank the Lord that there is relative peace here now!

Finally we arrived at the ship and drove down onto the dock where the larger than life Africa Mercy was resting in the water. What a sight!

I'm leaving in less than 48 hours!

My goodness, time has flown! I left from Mountain valley ranch a week ago this past Sunday. It was a strange goodbye. I usually stay a few extra days and have lots of time to say farewell to everyone, but this time I was quite rushed. I ran around madly trying to gather all of my belongings, making sure I didn't leave anything important, since I knew it would be a real pain to retrieve lost items before leaving for Africa. I haven't really had time to miss camp yet. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind, but I've managed to spend some real quality time with special peple in my life.
My family (minus Mike) went camping for a few days at Kimbal lake. It was quite cool, so we only swam once (we were chilled for a few hours after that). We enjoyed taking some walks and picking wild blueberries, playing some games, and visiting around the campfire. Breanna and I had fun teaching our parents some silly songs from camp one evening. We made them get up and do actions to our crazy, ridiculous songs! Our parents are good sports.
I went to my cousin Dustins wedding on the long weekend. It was nice. It was great to be able to see so many people all at once right before my departure! I am often reminded of how much God has blessed me in my family and friends. Sometimes I feel like I am going to burst because I'm so full and satisfied in my friendships. I couldn't ask for closer or more supportive friends. God is SO good!
These last few days in Edmonton have been full of running errands, tying up loose ends, packing, shopping, and visiting friends. The next two days will still be pretty full of things to do, but I feel like I am 95% ready to board the plane now.
I guess I'd better get some sleep, since I leave Thursday evening and don't arrive in Liberia until Saturday afternoon. It's going to be a LONG flight. I'm going from Edmonton to London to Kenya to Liberia. If you look at a map of Africa, you'll see that Kenya is quite out of the way, but hopefully I'll get a good look at the continent of Africa as I fly over it for many, many hours!