job 22:21-30

^21-25 "Give in to God, come to terms with him
   and everything will turn out just fine.
Let him tell you what to do;
   take his words to heart.
Come back to God Almighty
   and he'll rebuild your life.
Clean house of everything evil.
   Relax your grip on your money
   and abandon your gold-plated luxury.
God Almighty will be your treasure,
   more wealth than you can imagine.

 ^26-30 "You'll take delight in God, the Mighty One,
   and look to him joyfully, boldly.
You'll pray to him and he'll listen;
   he'll help you do what you've promised.
You'll decide what you want and it will happen;
   your life will be bathed in light.
To those who feel low you'll say, 'Chin up! Be brave!'
   and God will save them.
Yes, even the guilty will escape,
   escape through God's grace in your life."

from The Message, emphasis added.

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.

delivery

Here on the Africa Mercy, our galley (kitchen) depends a lot on what is available locally.  Several times since I've been here, there have been mountains of fresh produce (sometimes delivered in laundry baskets) waiting in the reception area: mangoes, potato greens, tomatoes, pineapples, etc.  But today was slightly different.  I was bringing a patient up to reception to lead them out to the dock (they had just had cataract surgery), when a fishy smell hit my nose as I approached Deck 5.  Barracuda.

Now they post the weekly menu in the dining room, but I had no idea when I saw "Friday: Ginger and Lime Fish with Coconut Rice" that I would actually be eating something that could kill me if alive.  Note: 

Each barracuda weighed about 10 kilos (roughly 22 pounds)!  Needless to say, I am pretty excited for dinner tomorrow.  

river no. 2

Here is a photo taken by another Mercy Shipper of our group getting ready to leave River No. 2 Beach, before we got on the fishing boat.

  Left to right: David, Chris, Michelle, Sarah, Jane, Deb, Ezra, myself, Christoph's shoulder, Jeff, Alex.

beach

Last night, I decided to/was coaxed into going to the beach.

The journey started when we left the ship around 9am and walked about 10-15 minutes from the ship to another dock in our port.  Our mode of transportation today would be fishing boat.  Now let me explain: typically, Mercy Shippers will either use an MS Land Rover or more likely, they rent a poda poda.  A poda poda is basically the local taxi, somewhat like a 15 passenger van, though smaller and designed for more like 20 people. They are EVERYWHERE.  You can rent them (driver included!) for 250,000-300,000 Leones a day ($60-70 USD), which is a pretty good deal if split between a bunch of people.  The caveat to this is that, as mentioned in previous posts, the traffic is Freetown is awful at best.  A trip to the beach (depending on which beach and the traffic) could take up to 3 hours, one way.  Now if you are like me, a trip that long does not sound that pleasant when sitting with 18 other people in a tin box.  Luckily for me, a small group was going to try taking a "water taxi."  Jeff, a crew member from Canada, had met a guy who owned a boat and eventually they worked out a plan for the driver to take us to the beach.  It sounded a bit unofficial (to say the least), but like I said, I was  kindly peer pressured into going, so I just went along.  So here we are, at Dock Number 1, waiting for the mystery "water taxi" to arrive: a Ukrainian, an Australian, an Austrian, two Canadians, and three Americans.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.  A phone call to the driver said he would be at the dock in 15 minutes.  A mere HOUR AND A HALF later, he arrived.  (BUBS, I hope you are reading this).  Considering he was supposed to be there at 8:45, he was about two hours late.  When he arrived, Jeff told him he was late and that it wasn't good for his business and how in America and Europe we are used to operating on strict schedules and timeframes.  The driver then replied indignantly "I've been to Europe--I know what time is," as though time doesn't really exist in Africa.  Anyway, the "water taxi" turned out to be a wooden fishing boat, similar to the one shown here.  (I didn't bring my camera along because I wasn't sure what the beach would be like and I didn't want it to get nicked.)

So we all piled into the boat.  The fact that there were no life-jackets, or any personal flotation devices for that matter, only added to my wariness/general concern for this trip.  As we left the dock for the "50 minute" ride to the beach, I wondered what exactly I was in store for.  

The sun was very hot, but the boat ride lent a nice breeze as we jetted along the Freetown coast.  We passed several other fishing boats (actually fishing) and about an hour into the journey, we began to question exactly how long this trip would be.  The owner assured us we were close, but that we would have to stop in their fishing village to refuel, as this was the first time they had taken passengers all the way to the beach we were headed to.  Further down the coast, we pulled into a small bay and anchored, as some of the boat operators went to get more gas.  As we bobbed up and down, enjoying our packed sandwiches and waving to the children on the nearby rocks, a woman waded into the water, headed for our boat.  When she got closer, we realized that she had her less-than-a-year-old albino baby with her.  She came up to our boat and tried to give us her child!!  I understand that being black parents to a white baby in Africa would be shocking to say the least, but it was equally as shocking for us to be offered a child for the taking.  We politely declined and she went back to the village.  This is Africa.  

About a half hour later, we were on our way again.  15 more minutes they told us.  Finally, at around 1:15 we anchored.  The "50 minute" boat ride turned out to be a 2.5 hour excursion.  Apparently, time doesn't exist in Africa.  (BUBS, again, I hope you are reading this.)  Because I didn't think we would be on the boat that long, I failed to apply sunscreen.  Mistake.  BIG mistake.  Before I even set foot on the sand, I had a legitimate farmer's tan in just the time on the boat.  My arms and legs are currently bright red and sore, but whatever, we had made it to the beach.

River No. 2 Beach is a pristine strip of white sand, dotted with umbrellas and thatched-roof cabanas.  I'm not sure if there is a River No. 1 Beach (probably not), but this was our little piece of paradise for the afternoon.  After getting off the boat and finding a spot with some other Mercy Shippers who had arrived earlier, we went straight for the bar and got Cokes and Fantas, served in glass bottles.  After a quick nap, we spent the next few hours in the water, jumping waves and body surfing.  The beach was barely populated and the surrounding high, lush mountains and the palm trees was just like what I imagined Hawaii to be like.  You would have never known we were in a text-book third-world country.  Time passed and soon we settled up our food tab and got back on the boat, this time with three more MSers who decided to join us.  The ride back was MUCH more pleasant, as the sun was setting, making for a cool breezy ride.  This time it only took an hour and 45 minutes--no need to refuel.  Upon return, we ate some spaghetti that was waiting for us (we had missed dinner) and then a few of us decided to take a quick dip in the newly opened pool on the top of the ship.  It was cold but definitely a fun ending to a great day.  I showered and now I'm in the library typing this post to you fine people.  I can't believe this was all just today and that I still have a whole other day off tomorrow!  I'm glad I decided to go outside of my comfort zone today and go on this crazy trip to the beach. Definitely worth it.  

Tomorrow I plan on A) not exposing myself to direct UV rays and B) making oatmeal cookies in the crew galley...I'm craving them.  

surgery

Eye surgeries began this week, as did my real job.  As a reminder, my job title is "Peri-operative Ophthalmic Team Coordinator."  This basically means that I am in charge of the eye patients on the day of their surgery.  My team (three Day Volunteers, a nurse, and myself) is responsible for identifying patients, giving them a bevy of eye drops, prepping them for surgery, completing their charts, taking vitals before and after surgery, and feeding them after surgery.  This week we had surgeries Tuesday through Thursday, with about nine patients each day.  Mostly older people with cataracts, but we did have a 16 year old with a pterygium.  A pterygium is a fibrotic growth on the surface of the eye, caused by continued irritation from dust, UV rays, etc.  It's kind of like a fleshy callous on your eyeball.  In order for us to operate on them, the pterygium must have entered the patient's visual axis, a.k.a. on the pupil or iris.  Anyway, Tuesday morning was very hectic as we were still getting supplies together and figuring out what exactly we needed and how the patients would flow.  By Wednesday morning, however, we had things down pretty well!  By Thursday, Glenys, the ophthalmic OR coordinator/my buddy from New Zealand, said that I could go in and observe the actual operations.  So on Thursday afternoon, I donned footies and a scrub cap and I went in OR 5 to observe BOTH a cataract and a pterygium extraction.  Normally the "blood and guts" doesn't bother me, but it took me a little while to get over the fact that they were cutting, poking, prodding, and picking at an EYEBALL!!  Gross at first, yes, but I soon got over that.  The surgeon, Dr. Ralph Crew of Michigan, uses a very large microscope-like tool to perform the surgery.  The best part is that the scope has a camera attached which relays what he is seeing onto various monitors in the room, so I was able to just sit in a chair a see exactly what he was doing.

On Friday, I slept in.  Since we didn't have any patients, I was given the day off, which was both a wonderful surprise and greatly appreciated.  After taking care of some things on the ship, I went to a local food market with my roommate Benjamin.  Benjamin is from Ghana, another West African nation, and he enjoys making soups and stews on his days off.  After a short walk from the port, we arrived at an alley lined with vendors selling various foods: fish, plantains, tomatoes, onions, peppers, spices, tinned items, grains, eggs, carrots, potatoes, etc.  After a few stops, Benjamin had a bag full of stuff, and it only set him back about 18,000 Leones (about $4.00 USD).   It was definitely an interesting (and smelly!) experience.  Later in the evening, a few of us watched the movie "Unstoppable" in the Queen's Lounge, a nice room on the ship with a projector and screen which was formerly the Queen's quarters when the ship was a Danish rail ferry.  The best part of that was that the previous users of the lounge had left behind chips and salsa, so we got a free snack, and you all know how I feel about chips and salsa :)

kissy

Short story: Our first eye screening at the Kissy Eye Hospital went really well today!

Long story:  My day started at about 5:45am, leading up to a 7:05am departure from the ship.  Traffic was pleasantly light so the ride only took about 10 minutes.  We got our rooms set up and got started without any issues.  Patient after patient began filing through our doors, being screened for cataracts, pterygium, etc.  I was stationed in our first room, making sure that the patients were flowing through the visual acuity stations (those eye charts that we have all experienced).  Suddenly, Mekenzie runs through the room to the emergency supplies bag.  Mekenzie is a nurse on board who we brought along to take care of any emergency issues that would arise.  I was quickly like "What's going on??"  But then Dr. Woody, our head eye doctor walked in with a bleeding wound on his forehead.  It turned out that something had fallen out of a tree and hit him on the head.  No big deal!  This all continued until about 3pm, at which time we had seen a total of around 500 patients, with 42 scheduled to come to the ship for a secondary screening.  A lot of patients received eye drops or antibiotics, and I even got to do a little instruction on the importance of Vitamin A.  The takeaway point of this story is that things went well and were peaceful.  (Sorry if this is a little non-cohesive, as it has been a super-long day!).

Tomorrow is our first day of eye surgeries, so I spent a good bit of time this evening getting ready for that.  Pray that all goes well!

I had my Chaco's on for 14 hours straight.  Gross.