security detail

Allow me to give you a quick update on a few things.

I last left you with the prospects of barracuda for dinner.  Unfortunately, this did not pan out!  From what I have heard, the galley decided that filleting the large quantity of fish for the crew would prove too daunting a task for crew, so instead, they are preparing it in small quantities for the hospital.  But I'm not giving up hope.  I just know we will have local seafood soon...it IS Lent after all.

This past Saturday was our second mass screening day, and unlike the first one, it went incredibly well!  I am pleased to report that there were no security incidents and that hundreds of patients were scheduled for orthopedic, maxillo-facial, and general surgeries.  This was definitely an answered prayer.  PTL.  (That's Praise the Lord for those of you not in the know!)

Starting yesterday, we are without an eye surgeon for five weeks!  We will still be doing screenings, as I mentioned in an email, we will also be doing two separate upcountry trips to distribute eyeglasses, etc., at schools.  While I'm still waiting on the details of those trips, this five-week lull from my job means that I get to attend the weekly eye screenings on Mondays at the Kissy Eye Hospital.  It is nice to work with the whole team and to play with all the kids that show up!  This week we saw about 750 patients.  Now this is a smaller number than previous weeks, BUT we scheduled around 90 people for secondary screenings.  This is a much higher yield than previous weeks of about 5-6%.  So needless to say, by the time our next surgeon arrives in May, we should have a full schedule.

Today I had a pretty easy day.  I was tasked with scanning old patient charts into our computer database, which afforded me the luxury of working in air conditioning.  Near the end of my lunch break (1pm-ish), my teammate John came up to me and told me to meet at the ship's security office at 2:30, wearing my Mercy Ships polo shirt and pants.  The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Sia Koroma, would be visiting, and we would be helping with the greeting/security.  You just never know what is going to happen on this ship!  So at 2:30, John, Shannon, and I were assigned our positions by Roger and Barbara, the husband-wife head security officers.  Basically we just had to keep other crew members coming up/down certain staircases in order to keep a particular hallway secure.  I felt very official.  Even though I didn't get to talk to the First Lady (or the Second Lady for that matter--she was there too), she did walk about a foot away from me, so it was close enough.  John and I then asked Roger and Barbara if we could be the official on-call VIP security detail.  They said yes.  I wonder if I can add this to my resume.