revisiting eyes

Monday morning I woke up thinking it would be a normal day down in the OR office, getting some things ready for the start of surgery (which is this coming Monday!).  As I was about to leave my cabin, the phone rang (around 0745).  On the other end was Innocent, our Assistant Eye Team Coordinator, explaining that two of the current four eye team members were sick, and they were about to head out to screening.  Knowing that I had previously been on the eye team, he asked if I could help them out.  "We'll be back by two," he reassured me.  I said I'd check with Missy (the OR supervisor) and get back to him.  After getting the okay, I hopped in a Land Rover...right after our big all-hospital photo shoot.

All of the Hospital staff (as of 30 January 2012).  I'm sitting on the hood of the center Land Rover, with sunglasses on.

The OR Staff!  

We are a little short right now because we are getting 12 new staff this coming weekend.

As I was saying, we headed off for our eye screening site of the day, the International Chapel at the West African Advanced School of Theology.  If you're like me, you probably think of a small house of worship when you hear the word "chapel."  Emphasis on the word small.  But, just when you think you have West Africa figured out, it turns around and calls this a "chapel":

Yes, this behemoth of a building is the International Chapel.  As we unloaded our equipment, I couldn't help but compare this site to our places in Sierra Leone.  Usually when we went to a church in Sierra Leone for screening, we would end up clearing out all the pews and still being a little on the cramped side.  But here, oh my.  The whole eye screening operation was set up right inside those front doors with ample space left over...we didn't have to move a single one of the 100+ pews.

A quick look at our set-up.

An unfortunately dark photo taken from the pulpit area.  The huge balcony was about half of the main floor. 

I was put in charge of pre-screening and was told to expect about 200 patients.  No big deal.  Pre-screening involves looking in each person's eyes with a flashlight to determine quickly if they have cataracts, a pterygium, or another something else we can help.  "Yes" people then proceed into the church to be seen by our optometrist.  When I took my place to begin pre-screening, Innocent explained (in French) what would be happening and the crowd immediately began clapping!  It was really overwhelming--I mean, I'm not a doctor, but I think that these people were just so happy that someone was there to care for them, regardless of what the "care" would look like.  My cursory exams proceeded well and I got to polish my slightly rusty French skills ("Pas de cataractes!  C'est bon!")  Hours later, I find that I'm still working on this group of what I thought was 200 people.  Eventually, a day volunteer comes out and tells me that Nancy, our sole ophthalmic tech, says we need to stop--there are too many patients!  I look at the click-counter my translator is holding and we are at 368 patients!  I quickly pre-screen the remaining few, telling the "yes" patients to return in two weeks and that puts us up to 408 total patients.  I guess when you're on a roll, then you are on a roll.  Eventually, we manage to get everything packed up by 3:45pm and back to the ship at 4:15pm.  The day was longer than expected but definitely well worth it, as we scheduled 57 patients for a secondary screening at the ship (a yield of about 14%, which is great!).  I did get a little sunburned, but my great conversations with the day volunteers made up for it (topics included churches and how one votes in the U.S.).  All of them were crucial in making the day run smoothly and what was really a pleasure to work with them.  

On Tuesday morning, the ship held a Hospital Evacuation Drill.  It starts at as a regular fire drill, with most people mustering on the dock and the hospital folks staying in there respective areas.  Then the captain announced that the "fire" was out of control and the hospital would need to be evacuated.  Despite not having any actual patients on board, the ward was filled up with crew volunteers, acting as blind, injured, recovering, and unconscious patients.  We also had two intubated dummies in the OR and three "recovering" patients in the PACU.  The whole thing was pretty exciting.  You never really think about "Okay, what do we do if we have to evacuate the ship while we are cutting apart this person's jaw?"  After getting our OR patients outside, we proceeded to one of our four dockside tents, which operated as our makeshift OR.  The whole drill went very smoothly and it was great to see how everyone worked together to clear the ship safely. 

Tuesday afternoon, the OR nurses began bleaching the department.  As the completed individual rooms, my job was to go around and swab pre-determined surfaces (unknown to the nurses).  I then sent the swabs to the lab to be cultured, in order to see if our bleaching was effective.  I just got the results back and let's just say that we will be doing some rebleaching tomorrow :(

c'est bon

It is good. 

The past two weeks, for the most part, have been really good.  I say "for the most part" because I did sustain an untimely, yet minor, injury last Monday, but I'll get to that in a bit. 

A lot has been going on, so I'll try to touch on a little but of everything.

My travel to the ship was much less eventful than my first time traveling to Africa (no cancelled flights, etc.).  I met up with some ship friends at the Brussels airport, which was easily the highlight of that airport.  I've said it before, but just for the record: The Brussels airport is the worst airport ever.  If you are stuck in the terminal, your food choices are abysmal and the entire building is basically one huge window, so the sun is pretty much always in your eyes.  Also, those food choices are also super expensive, even by airport standards.  A regular-sized bottle of water and a small can of Pringles cost over $10 USD.  There also seems to be a lot more misbehaving, hyperactive children running around there.  Anyway, our flight into Togo made a scheduled stop in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire before getting to Lome.  After the very long series of flights, we had made it.  Through passport control, baggage claim, and a joke of a stop at "customs."  Our bags went through an x-ray machine, and then an "officer" suggested that we give him a gift.  I said absolutely not, grabbed all the Mercy Ships luggage I could and struggled through the final door under all the weight.  On the other side, our team of friends was waiting to pick us up.  We hugged in the stifling heat and headed to the vehicles.  My friend Jay offered me a ride on his motorcycle, which having never been on one before, I skeptically accepted.  It was much better than expected!  As we headed out of the parking lot and down a long, wide boulevard, it was very apparent that Lome was much different from Freetown.  Electricity at night (!), almost no traffic (!), sidewalks (!), long, wide boulevards (!).  As we pulled into the ship's section of the port, more friends were outside waiting to greet us and assist with carrying luggage.  More hugs and laughs were exchanged.  After wearily receiving my new badge and some paperwork, I headed straight for a shower and bed. 

My first week back on board was spent getting settled in: unpacking, getting necessary signatures, organizing stuff in my office, and just generally getting my bearings. That Friday, the OR staff and some other crew were invited to the "grand opening" of the Hope Center.  You will recall that the Hope Center is our off-ship facility were out-of-town patients can stay after their initial recovery time on the ward.  This year, the Hope Center is located in a building that also houses a maternity hospital.  When we arrived at the compound, about 150 mothers and their babies were outside, waiting to be weighed-in for the check-up appointments.  I'm happy to report that all the babies looked very healthy--we even heard that there was a one-week old baby that weighed 5 kg (~11 pounds)!  Anyway, the ceremony for the opening was also attended by several ceremonial chieftains and included short speeches by our Managing Director, Donovan, and the Togolese Minister of Health.  Afterwards, we toured the facility.

One of the (male) ceremonial chieftains in traditional (?) garb.  Comparisons were drawn between his "hat" and something you may find in your grandma's bathroom to cover up a roll of toilet paper. 

The interior of the Hope Center.  Each of the wings has an open courtyard with a sand garden.  A truly beautiful design. Off of this area there are sleeping quarters and bathrooms

Inside one of the bedrooms.  Beds are ready and waiting to be filled with patients!

That night, we went out to eat a nice restaurant off of the main road.  We ate outside in the walled courtyard while a live band played jazz-esque covers of the Beatles and Cat Stevens.  It was a little bizarre, but my beef kebabs were delicious and the fries were perfectly crisp.  The currency hear in Togo is the West African Franc (CFA), colloquially pronounced like "see-fa."  It is used in several French-speaking, West African countries and the exchange rate is about 500 CFA to one dollar, making it very easy to figure things out in your head.  Cheeseburgers range from 1000-1500 CFA, fries are 1000, and a meal with salad and side can be 3500-6500 CFA.  There are several reputable restaurants in the city, many of which offer very affordable choices.  There is even a true ice cream parlor (Festival de Glace)! 

While the first week was mostly relaxing, this past week was much more work.  The hospital opening/first surgeries will be on Monday, February 6, so there has been a lot of preparations to take care of.  While the ward nurses were busy setting up the wards and training a whole new group of nurses (40 arrived in one night!), us OR folks have been unpacking, cleaning, and setting up the ORs.  Since I'm not much help with technical aspect of the OR, I volunteered to head up our laundry project, which shall henceforth be referred to as Laundry.  I knew I was ready to take on Laundry because I had received ample training from the great Jana Matheny of Rockbridge housekeeping fame.  I know a) how to fold a fitted sheet, b) that the metal laundry carts are only for clean laundry, and c) that the washers and dryers have an exact number of sheets, towels, etc. that they can efficiently wash at one time.  Equipped with this knowledge, I tackled Laundry head first starting Monday, January 23.  With two working washers (one was broken), and three dryers, Laundry was proving to be quite the beast.  The main goal was to wash every and all of the OR linens (sheets, towels, rags, etc.) in preparation for the outreach.  I also had to process some ward items that were mixed in, along with scrubs, mop heads, and blankets.  The OR itself had over a dozen overstuffed bags of stuff!   At only two hours into Laundry, disaster struck.  The hospital laundry room gets very hot when the dryers are running, so I went and found a large black fan to help with ventilation.  Little did know that the very heavy "fan" part was separate from the "base" part.  After lugging it from one end of the ship to the other, I set it upright.  Unfortunately for me, the "fan" had slid apart from the "base," so standing it up straight sent the "fan" straight down on my left thumb.  I quickly grabbed my hand and grunted in pain, but the damage was done.  The fan had claimed a nice slice of my fingerprint and replaced it with some greasy gunk and a blood blister.  Squeezing it with a towel to stop the bleeding, I made a beeline for the Crew Clinic where Lynne, the crew nurse, cleaned and bandaged me up.  Laundry was turning out to be more than I bargained for.

Thankfully, two of our OR nurses, Christina and Zoe, were huge helps when it came to folding the hundreds of sheets and thousands of towels.  I couldn't have done it without them!  Four days, dozens of bleach tabs, and buckets of sweat later, Laundry was complete.

A mountain of laundry to fold.

 

Just a portion of the OR linens...

Christina and Zoe modelling some random fenestrated drapes we found. You can see that evil culprit, the fan, lurking in the background.

Another highlight of this past week was the return of 7@7, our Wednesday night worship time.  This year, we decided to shoot for 7@8 (meeting on Deck 7 at 8 o'clock), in hopes of drawing a bigger crowd.  Well, it worked--we had roughly 40 people show up as we sang worship songs, read scripture, and shared encouragement under the night sky.  It was so great to see that turn-out!  Needless to say, I'm looking very much forward to what our 7@8 sessions bring us this year.  

This week will be a busy one.  As I type this, I realize it's after midnight, so...today (!) we have our Hospital Photo will be taken with all the hospital staff, followed by an OR pow-wow to plan for the Hospital Open House...followed by the Hospital Open House this evening (yes, we are a little last minute on this one).  I will be sure to write about the Open House in a future post.  Wednesday will be a long day, as it will be our major screening day.  We are anticipating it to go much smoother than last year's screening day (which you can read about here).  This is when we identify the majority of our patients for the outreach, so success is imperative.  Finally, we will be bleaching the ORs on Thursday and potentially Friday, in order to "go sterile."  After bleaching, we will culture swabs of different surfaces to make sure we have killed all the germs.  If stuff grows, we have to rebleach until it's truly clean.  And then Monday we welcome our first patients!  

So, in closing, my request is this: pick something and pray for it!  Energy, teamwork, good attitudes, that the right people come to screening, that the wrong people don't come to screening, safety for the crew, the health of our soon-to-be patients...you name it, you can pray for it!

round 2

Greetings from the AFM!

I arrived back to the Africa Mercy on Monday evening, where I'll be serving for the next three and half months.  This year, our outreach is in the French-speaking, West African country of Togo.  Mercy Ships will be here until early June providing free surgeries that are not only life-saving, but life-altering as well.

I spent the past six weeks on holiday from the ship, visiting friends and family both at home and abroad.  It was an excellent time, filled with fun and lots of unforgettable memories.

I will keep this post short as things are just beginning here, but I can tell you that in the next few weeks you will be reading about the following:

• More about Togo and what we'll be doing
• Some photos from my time at home
• The conclusion of my GOOD 30 Day Photo Challenge (I haven't forgotten about it!)

Additionally, you can be praying for:

• Safe travels as dozens of new crew arrive in the next two weeks
• Energy for the staff as we unpack and set up the hospital, dock-side facilities, and other projects
• Discernment and wisdom for our management and team leaders as they make plans and prepare for the start of the outreach
• The people of Togo, that they will come to see the love of Christ

It's good to be back on the ship and on the blog!  I will try to update regularly, so be sure to check back often.  As always, thanks for your support, love, thoughts, prayers, readership, etc., all of the above!

good challenge, days 20 and 27

DAY 20: Document the Inside of your Fridge

Here is an annotated photo of the inside of my cabin's small refrigerator.  Any questions: just ask.  

DAY 27: Document Sunday Morning

Allow me to preface that it would be impossible for me to document Sunday morning, as I slept through the entirety of it.  

I did, however, document one of the first things I did after waking up.

What are those things, you ask?  That would be the two feet long antennae from the giant lobster I had for lunch.  

I've had lobster before, but never the entire lobster.  I always imagined my first whole lobster experience would  be at some little roadside shack in coastal Maine, sitting at a picnic table with butter running down my chin.  Or at the very least, it would be at the Red Lobster, where my family eats almost every Sunday after church.  But alas, I encountered my first whole steamed lobster in the dining room of the Africa Mercy.  This is how it came to be:

Friday evening at dinner, as the dining room was emptying, Ken, the new food services manager, came around to our table to see if anyone would be interested in lobster for lunch on the weekend.  He had bought some lobsters the week before (which were made into a delicious shrimp and lobster bisque for the crew); his lobster contact had called him, offering more of the crustacean at a very low price: only 26,000 Leones per lobster!  I immediately went and got the cash (26,000 Leones = less than $6.00!)  

So this afternoon, I got a phone call saying that lunch was being served!  I came upstairs to a small colony of the steamed-red critters, just waiting to be torn apart.  The ten or so of us sat down as we reveled at the plates, complete with a beef kabab and baked potato--a real surf and turf platter!  

To compliment the seafood, there was also a red-wine-butter sauce that was excellent.  Ken gave us all a tutorial in how to dismantled the spiky shell and get to the meat.  Despite being poked several times, it was all worth it.  The tail revealed a large chunk of sweet, white meat.  Definitely worth the six-dollar investment.    The funniest parts of the whole afternoon were the comments from the Davies children, Luke and Megan, whose parents were enjoying the meal.  Luke told his dad very definitively, "You can't eat that!  It is way too hard!" and then proceeded to tap the shell with a knife.  Megan's eyes grew large as her mom scooped out several spoonfuls of orange mush, the roe, and said, "That is a lot of baby lobsters."  

good challenge, days 22 and 23 and 24

DAY 22: Document the Thing you Spend Most of the Day Looking At

Normally, when I'm working in the OR office, I spend a sizable chunk of my day looking at my computer.  As you may have surmised, a desktop computer is not the most interest thing to photograph.

This week, I have been working in the Mercy Ships Academy, the on-ship school for kids on board.  It covers all grades, Preschool to 12th grade.  I had mentioned to my friend Angie, the 4th/5th grade teacher, that I had done some substitute teaching back home, and when it came time for her vacation this week, I was asked to cover her classes!  It has been great being back in the classroom this past week (I have one more day left on Monday).  The best part is that I already knew the kids, just from seeing them around the ship or working with their parents.  On my first day in the class, I brought a bunch of scrub caps for the kids to wear, since that is normally part of my job.

The Ladies and Gentlemen of 4th and 5th grade (L to R): 

Theo, Rick, Caleb, Nathaniel, Eli, Kylie, and Deborah

DAY 23: Document a Mentor

This is Laura Z.  Yes, we pretty much always use her last initial in reference to her.  Laura Z. is a ward nurse in the hospital and serves as the Plastics and Orthopaedics Ward Team Leader as well as one of the Assistant Ward Supervisors.  A Ward is her realm, and she does a darn fine job at keeping those patients and nurses in check.  Laura has been serving with Mercy Ships since 2008.  I can't remember how we first met, but when I first arrived, she really took me under her wing and gave me a heads up as to how the organization, particularly the hospital, operates.  She quietly listens when I need to vent, and the advice she can offer from her long Mercy Ships experience is always welcome.  As for the crazed look on her face: I was interrupting her Thanksgiving dinner.  Oops.  

DAY 24: Document Giving Thanks

Knowing that I love pumpkin pie and that Thanksgiving isn't complete without it, I resolved several months ago to make pumpkin pies for this past Thursday.  Given that resources are limited on the ship, I had a challenge before me.  But nothing that a well-packed care package couldn't resolve!  In may (I think), I had my mom mail several cans of pumpkin, evaporated milk, and various spices to the Mercy Ships IOC in Texas.  From there, the box was placed in a container, then on a ship which eventually made it to Freetown, and then to my welcoming arms...the process took a mere two months.  Whatever, it didn't matter...the pumpkin made it here way before the end of rainy season, so all was a go for pie.  

Knowing that many people would want a slice, on Wednesday night I made two different recipes of dough--enough for four pies.

Enter Thanksgiving Thursday.  I had decided to take PTO (personal time off) that day so that I could sleep in, make the pies, and just generally enjoy a day that I have never worked on in my life.  My day could be divided into three main categories: sleeping, running from one end of the ship to the other, and eating.  That's pretty much what I did all day.  The night before, I had only found one pie plate in the crew galley (slight panic), so after talking to some folks higher-up, I managed to get another one plus a larger torte pan.  

Never having made pumpkin pie, I went with the Libby's classic recipe...the one on the can.  This filled the two regular pie plates, leaving me with two more heaps of dough and the torte pan.  Wanting to try something new, I had been searching earlier in the day on my go-to recipe site called foodgawker.com.  When I typed in "pumpkin pie," the first result was called "Pumpkin pie to knock your socks off!"  How could I not be intrigued?  The recipe was similar to others I had seen, with a few changes, like whipping cream instead of evaporated milk.  Additionally, it featured a pecan-struesel topping...need I say more?  Despite using a larger pan, the filling fit in perfectly.  I wished all three pies well as I placed them in the ovens.  (The crew galley has six separate stoves/ovens, so when it isn't busy, I can use multiple ovens at one time--it's great.)

Fast forward an hour and I have three, cinnamon-scented pies cooling, just waiting to reach eager stomachs.

  

The two Libby's pies: classic and time-tested.

The "knock your socks off" pie.  Yes.  Yes it did. 

Sorry Libby's, put this was easily the best pumpkin pie that has ever graced my palate.  Out with the old, in with the new.  Needless to say, I, along with everyone else who ate some, am thankful for pumpkin pie.  

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Front Row: Gini, Ezra, Shannon, Alex.

Second Row: Cyle, Tim, Karin, David, Melissa, Jay, Melissa, Sharon, Rob, me.

I hope everyone had/has a wonderful Thanksgiving, Black Friday, weekend of leftovers, and ensuing back-to-work Monday!

good challenge, days 12 and 16 and 17

DAY 12: Document the Highlight of your Day

This past Tuesday was another one of those days that was filled with great fellowship and community.  We had another family-style breakfast-for-dinner.  Home fries with sausage, egg bake, French toast, warm apple pie, and limeade filled our stomaches as we sat together in the cafe.  Later in the evening, some of us got together for a a game of Horses (The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game), with two special guests, Mae and Tom.  Mae is the wife of our managing director, Donovan.  Donovan was away on business in the states, so we invited Mae to join us; she was a cheerful addition to our group and we had fun writing down silly things she said and tallying how many times she said "shush!"  Our final count was 12.  Our other guest was Tom, a former photographer on the ship.  When he left the ship in the spring, he spent a few months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo photographing leprosy settlements before returning to do more photography work for NGOs in Freetown.  It was his last night on the continent before leaving for the U.K. and his next adventures.  His passion is leprosy and he will be working on a project for American Leprosy Missions as he travels and photographs leprosy camps world wide.  He is a talented and gifted photographer--I encourage you to check out his website at www.tom-bradley.com.  

Here is a photo at the end of our game where I came in second place (and my personal best) with 800,000 pounds!  Mae whooped us all with over 2 million pounds.  You can tell how some of the other fared by their facial expressions.

Left to right: Alex, Mae (seated), Tom, myself, David, and Jay

DAY 16: Document a Life

This past Thursday was the last day of surgery for the 2011 Sierra Leone outreach.  The day was very laid back--it kind of felt like the last day of school.  That afternoon, my friend Rob came and asked if I wanted to go with him to Auntie Fatu's farm.  Since we were finishing up early in the office, I was allowed to leave early, so I went and changed out of my scrubs. 

Fatu Williams is one of the ward day volunteers on the ship.  A native Sierra Leonean, I would put her in the same category as my friend Kit; she has such a joyful spirit, a servant's heart (she often clears our plates at dinner), and can always put a smile on your face.  Auntie Fatu had invited Rob to visit her farm outside of the city, so Thursday afternoon, we walked out the port gate, met her husband, and hopped in their SUV. (Note: Auntie/Uncle is a common term in Krio for a woman or man who is older than you/a sign of respect.)  To no one's surprise, the traffic was thick as we headed out of the city.  Being the person she is, Auntie Fatu even bought us water and cookies on the way out and refused any answer other than gracious acceptance.  Naturally, I fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until we were almost to our destination, so I missed some of the explanation behind the farms, but not all of it!  As we pulled off the main road in Waterloo (about an hour outside of Freetown), we headed into small villages with names like Number Four, Fu Fu Water, and Joe Town.  

Several years ago, Fatu's husband became involved in the Alpha Course, an outreach ministry which seeks to explore the basics of the Christian faith.  You can read more about it HERE.  Since then, Fatu and her husband have become the Alpha leaders in the Freetown area.  Because of this and their connections with other organizations, they have been blessed with three large tracts of land which they currently operate as farms.  Her husband explained that rather than having the needy people near the farms steal from the them, why not employ them to operate the farms themselves.  The Williams' run the farms as cooperatives, where several villagers can apply for a plot of land to farm together.  Crops include cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, rice, cassava, and eggplants (called "garden egg").  Palm trees are cultivated, as well, to produce palm oil, the a staple in the Sierra Leonean diet.  They also hope to begin a poultry initiative in the near future.  Since the rainy season has officially concluded, the Williams' have been busy with the harvest.  Fatu repeatedly exclaimed "I love gardening!  I just love agriculture!"

Part of one of the farms.

Rob and I harvesting cucumbers.

It took only a few minutes to fill up with this basket with cucumbers.  The crops were very plentiful.

Rice growing on the edge of a farm.

After visiting the three farms and meeting several of their partners, the Williams informed that the large basket of cucumbers, and another one of eggplants was ours to take back to the ship!  Astounded by their kindness, we could only say thank you and admire their generosity.  

DAY 17: Document Something you Made

Add another skill to my resume--bookbinding.  A project I've been working on the past few weeks, I was tasked with with making the new surgery registers and schedule book for the 2012 Togo outreach.  Each of our six operating rooms gets a surgery register, which is where we record any and all surgeries that happen in that particular room.  We record information like patient name, start and finish times, surgeons, nurses, implants, etc.  Additionally, we have this big scheduling book where we hand-record all of the scheduled operations so that we can have something to compare to the computer database.  Besides just assembling the books, I also got to design the covers using photos taken from this year's outreach.  

good challenge, day 9

DAY 9: Document Inspiration

My friend Anna has always maintained that she can feel the presence of the Lord in the mountains.  I completely agree.  Now here in Freetown, these mountains are called "hills" and compared to the Rockies, or even the Appalachians, yes, they are hills.  But when you are hiking in them as we were on Friday, they are definitely mountains.  

The Psalmist writes:

• "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.  You care for people and animals alike, O Lord." -Psalm 36:6
• "You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength." -Psalm 65:6
• "He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains." -Psalm 95:4

Now to juxtapose those thoughts on inspiration, I will share about my hiking experience on Friday.  As the last ship holiday before the sail, five of us decided to go on an afternoon hike on Friday.  At 2 o'clock, Miriam, Melissa, Sandra, Sylvanus, and I set out for Sugarloaf Mountain.  We arrived an hour later, parked our Land Rover, and set off down a narrow trail, following a water pipe along the side of a steep "hill."  

You can see the pipeline behind Miriam as she embraces a stalk of tall grass.  At a blue mark on the pipe, we turned right and headed on another narrow, overgrown path uphill into the jungle.  A bit further along, the we came to a fork where we were met by a shoeless, shirtless, old man carrying a machete.  His name was Lansana and he said he was mining coal.  He pointed us down one of the two paths, and we followed as he lead us from behind.  Later on we would regret following this crazytowner's direction.  As we went deeper and deeper, the path became more and more uphill to the point that we were bouldering our way higher and higher.  We soon realized that Lansana wasn't with us any more but we decided to continue upwards.  At one point, there was a clearing with no trees, but rather the ground become all rock covered with thick, tall grass.  As we hiked practically vertical, we stopped for a water break, to admire the view, and to call for chimps.  We did get a response!  (Although maybe it was a bird?  We'll never know).  If you're reading this, Taylor, Wes, Harvey, Buda, and Marissa, this mountain made Devil's Marble Yard look like a sandbox.

Sylvanus and Sandra.

Past the clearing, we realized that the path we were once on was long gone.  We decided to continue upwards hoping to reach the summit and find the path that was supposed to exist somewhere up there.  More and more hiking, climbing, shuffling, etc., ensued.  Eventually, at around 5:15pm and many false summits later, we decided that we reached high enough and that we should turn around in hopes of making it back to the care before dark.  At this point, we knew that the "trail" was long gone and that we'd be bushwhacking ourselves back down the mountain.  We passed back through the steep clearing and back into the dense jungle.  Every step brought a new challenge: low hanging vines, dead and crumbling logs, loose rocks, inch-long thorns, etc.  Meanwhile, high above us, the sun was setting...and fast.  The further we descended down the mountain, the more the dense vegetation choked out the sunlight.  We were lost.  One hundred percent, "Man Vs. Wild" lost in the jungle.  Drenched in sweat, there was both a spoken and an unspoken worry over our group.  We decided that our best option was to keep walking as long as we could see.  As the light faded, the vines became more frequent, tripping and catching us as we stumbled.  We stopped only to drink water and to pray.  Our prayer was short but intense.  We needed direction and we needed it now.  It was then that I realized we might not actually be leaving the jungle tonight.  With no cell phone reception, it wouldn't be until curfew that night that the ship would realize we were missing and even then, how would they find us A) in a deep jungle and B) with the limited resources that Sierra Leone has to offer.  On outside, I followed the group through the nothingness, but on the inside, I was filled with despair and hopelessness.  We were so lost. 

After many tumbles and branches to the face, Miriam came across what appeared to be a rocky creek bed. We decided to follow it, thinking that if it was in fact a creek bed, it would probably lead us to something at least somewhat helpful.  Following the rocky path ahead of us, we miraculously stumbled upon the trail!  I cannot tell you the last time I felt so overjoyed!  Just as the sun was slipping behind the mountainous horizon, we had made it back to the trail!  Making a beeline for the car, we managed to get in the vehicle just as the last bits of daylight retired for the night, around 7pm  Covered in sweat, dirt, bits of leaves, scrapes, scratches, blood, and relief, we drove straight to a local supermarket and indulged in cold water and ice cream bars.  We had been delivered from a truly desperate situation.  After a two hour drive, we finally made it back to the ship.

Filthy, tired, and most of all thankful to be back at the ship, we quickly scarfed down some chicken and rice, showered, and went to bed, contemplating how the mountains could be as equally inspiring as despair-inducing.