games, glasses, and more goodbyes

Let me start with announcing that The Howdy Ramblin' Big Sky Williams won the on-ship trivia night last Tuesday.  The team consists of me, John (eye team), Aaron (accountant), and Ezra (hospital supply).  Since costumes were encouraged and we are all Americans, we went with a lumberjack/cowboy theme and it worked because we beat out about 15 other teams.  It was definitely a close call: we only won by 2 points and the final two questions were calculus, so it was a true nail-biter.  Other notable teams included Gang-Green (four nurses dressed in all green, hair and all), Team Rehab (four folks from the Physiotherapy department, dressed in scrubs, casts, arms slings, and plaster), and Canadian Tuxedo (dressed in all denim).  It was easily the most fun Tuesday on board and I'm looking forward to the next two Tuesdays--hopefully we can win the overall grand prize.  I almost forgot to mention our prize for last week: a box of random things from hospital supply: an 18-pack of toilet paper, some soap, tongue depressors, a towel, expired sterile gloves, and alcohol hand gel.  Woohoo!

I think I mentioned previously that one of the ship's photographers came with us on an eye screening a few weeks ago.  Well, I finally have the photos!

 Okay, so this one isn't at screening, it's at the ship, in our Peri-Op room.  This is where the patients come before and after surgery.  I'm talking with Lorraine, our peri-op nurse from a few weeks ago, about the day's schedule.  You can see the patients get a piece of white tape over their surgical eye so there is no confusion!

Now we are at screening, in Hastings, outside of Freetown.  Unloading the Land Rovers can get tedious after a while, so I tried my hand (or should I say head) at carrying things the African way.

During set-up, Debra, the photographer, caught me with my camera.  Next to me is Glory, one of our day volunteers and perhaps the most calm and relaxed person on the face of the earth.

Our team leader, Woody, examining a patient.  I will be surprised if this photo doesn't end up on some Mercy Ships promotional literature somewhere in the near future.

Me and Isaac, another day volunteer, helping a woman find a pair of reading glasses.

Mother and child, sporting a new pair of sunglasses.  The kids almost always pick out glasses that match their outfits.

Handing out sunglasses to the children.

Patient holding a secondary screening card.  The pink card allows the bearer to come to the ship for a more thorough exam.  From there, she can get scheduled for surgery or refracted for prescription glasses.

This week, we are again without a surgeon.  Even though we can't do surgeries during this time, it is actually a blessing because we will be screening on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  It will definitely be a lot of hard work, but we really need to find more cataract patients in order to fill up the weeks when we do have a surgeon.  We are certainly seeing a lot of people at screening, just not good surgical candidates.  We see a lot of people with corneal scarring, which can be caused by disease, malnutrition, or trauma.  It is often blinding, but completely non-surgical.  Much of the corneal scarring we see is due to not get enough Vitamin A as a child.  Subsequently, we give out Vitamin A tabs to everyone under age 8.  We also see a lot of eye issues relating to trauma, glaucoma, and cataracts that are not fully advanced to the criteria for our surgeries.  Unfortunately, we aren't able to help everyone, but such is the nature of the game.  

On Friday, I hosted the "Not-So-Newlywed Game."  In a word, it was a success!  I had 6 contestant couples and around 100 people in the audience!  I will blog more about this later in the week once I get some photos.

And finally, this week is bringing more goodbyes.  My good friend Claire, one of our receptionists, is leaving tomorrow.  She was supposed to leave in another week, but found out yesterday that her grandfather passed away.  She is a fellow YoungLifer and I always enjoyed stopping and talking with her at the front desk, at whatever time of day. Claire, we will miss you!  Also, a few more families are leaving this week--some families that I quickly realized were glue in the Africa Mercy community.  The Rollands, the Peets, the Tvedts, the Sanders, and so many more.  Even though I know that these people will be missed so much by their friends on the ship, it is fun to think about the new lives they will start when they return home.  Some have been here for several years.  The Peets, in particular, will be heading back to the U.K. to start the adoption process with their daughter Libby.  Libby was adopted from Liberia a few years ago and just recently was granted her British visa, meaning they could finally return home.  What an exciting time for them!  Check out their blog at www.peetblog.net.  Olly is the Transportation Manager and Sally is a Speech Therapist on board and they are perhaps one of the funniest couples ever.

Please pray for the continued well being of the patients and crew.  And please pray that the Lord showers us with good surgical candidates this week--seriously, we need it!!

Kari Ann, keep on keeping on in this season of your life!  Let the Lord carry you: Exodus 14:14.

Again, thanks for reading.  And as a reminder, it's not too late to enter the Mix CD contest!