Coming home

I'm wrapping up my time here in Africa aboard the Africa Mercy. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again and sharing in person about my experiences here. Please pray that I would have a safe journey from Cotonou back home on Sunday evening and Monday. Thank you all again for all of your thoughts and prayers during my stay here!

Easter aboard the Africa Mercy

So after a very long period of not blogging, I decided to break the silence. I do apologize for those of you who faithfully have been checking the blog for updates. I wish I had a good excuse like I am so impossibly busy, or I had some interesting tale to tell. In reality, the first month to six weeks here was very hard for me. It took at least a month to transition from the time and routine changes and feel like I was a normal person and settle in to the fact that this was now my home for a short while. I also went through a bit of homesickness and loneliness. You may think with a crew of 450 people that it would not be easy to be lonely, but you can get lost in the shuffle if you are not careful. I guess because I had looked forward to this experience for so many years that I had built up this fantasy in my head of what it would be like.

I stopped writing when I felt like I didn't know exactly what in the world I was doing here. Like I maybe made the wrong decision and maybe I had let everyone down. I felt like no one wanted to hear that I wasn't exactly having the time of my life here in Benin and that I didn't particularly enjoy the nursing work. I had to learn the hard lesson that just because you change circumstances, you always take yourself with you. I guess I foolishly thought I would miraculously change overnight on the flights from Dulles to Benin.

I have adjusted more since then. Some days I enjoy it and some days I struggle. Now, with about 5 weeks left, I have started to contemplate what the next step is for me once I get back to Morgantown. I have had some time in between shifts to reflect and pray about what God may have for me.

This picture is from Easter Sunday. I am wearing the top to an outfit I had made with cloth I bought in the market and had tailored. The skirt that goes with the outfit will still needs some work to fit right. I wanted to get my picture taken in it because I remembered having my picture taken every Easter as a little girl with my new dress and Easter basket. This Easter was the warmest one ever for me. It was a little odd not to be around all the spring flowers and new green leaves. We had a sunrise service on the top deck and it didn't really sink in that it was Easter until we sang the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." Later in the morning, we were treated to a delicious brunch. The food was a real treat for us since most every day it consists of some kind of rice or plantains, a meat, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and sometimes lettuce, and bread. We had Sunday evening service as we do every week and then we had open cabin night where some of the crew hosted people to come through and look at their cabins while they served desserts and drinks. It made me think of Christmas time when people visit each other's homes. Easter here is considered a four-day weekend starting on Good Friday through Monday. Earlier in the week, we also had a service on Maunday Thursday followed by a footwashing prayer time and on Friday the Passion of the Christ was shown. I had to work on Thursday and Friday evenings and then Monday morning, but with the holiday going into Monday, there were no new surgeries and things were much more quieter than normal.

I do want to thank you all again for the opportunity to be here. I would ask that you keep me in your prayers. Specifically against spiritual attack (there is a large Voodoo influence especially in the area of West Africa we are in and some patients have stated they are involved in witchcraft). There are acutually some times that I have felt a heaviness that I really can't really explain. I know that Satan really does not like what we are doing here and that he will use just about anything to get us discouraged, depressed, and lonely so that we cannot function to do the work that God has us here to do. Thankfully, as we celebrated this Easter, through Jesus' death and resurrection we have the hope and power we need to overcome any schemes Satan may throw at us. May we celebrate this each day!

First days on the ward

I have finished two shifts on the ward so far. I have been working evenings and will be the rest of the week. I was nervous about my first shift and it was hard to be a "newbie" again. I don't like change at first! I have been at my job at Ruby for four years now. It was also hard because there are so many first time nurses that we weren't able to be precepted into our roles. It all worked out though. After all, the majority of us are in the same boat, literally! The language barrier is a little frustrating to me too. The national language is French here and the major tribal language is Fon. I took Latin in high school and I only know a tiny bit of Spanish from being in Honduras. It is funny how I want to say what little Spanish I know when I'm in a pinch. We have many helpful translators here who are called our day volunteers. There are always some on duty. They also help us by cooking the patient meals and serving them and by keeping the ward clean. They are invaluable!
The patients I have taken care of right now have just had minor problems so far. The general surgeon is here repairing hernias, goiters, and lipomas. We also have many children with bowed legs for the ortho. surgeon. The Africa Mercy and the ward are both a tightly run ship, quite literally. Things on the ward are much like any floor would be back at home. I have a 5 patient assignment with admissions and discharges and the charting is less than at home but still inclusive. We have clinical pathways that certain surgeries fall into that gives us protocol to follow. The meds are at one central place and we have narcotics in a locked box that two nurses co-sign. The formulary is quite a bit less though. Most of the time patients only need Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or Coedine after surgery to lessen the pain. We have morphine, but I haven't needed to give it yet. I am enjoying not having to pass umteen morning or evening meds. and of course not having those annoying wireless phones that ring every 10 seconds! Some of the older patients show up with untreated hypertension and we do treat that with beta blockers or calcium channel blockers. We send them home with two weeks worth of pills and tell them to go to a pharmacy to get more when those run out. Upon discharge every patient also gets a month supply of multivitamins and iron tablets to aid in the wound healing process. The patients are very appreciative for all we do for them.
It is not uncommon to have a praise and worship session break out when the translators bring in the drums and shakers. It is fun to see all the patients respond. The Jesus film and other bible stories are shown on videos on the t.v.'s. I also love the fact that we start each shift in prayer before we hand off to the next nurse. Each day I am feeling more comfortable here. I am looking forward to getting off the ship this weekend though to explore more of the town. So far I have only been off to go to church and one outing.

A dream come true

I arrived in Benin on Friday evening at about 8:30 after two flights from Washington to Paris and then on to Cotonou totalling 14hours. I didn't get any sleep on the planes overnight, so needless to say, I was soo tired when I arrived. It took us another 2 hours to get through customs and get our baggage. There were 18 crew on this arrival and the guards aren't used to us yet here. They tried to keep our passports and not accept our Mercy Ships visas, but we managed to get through. The airport is only 10mins. away from the port. Then we got in one of the land rovers and drove to the ship. When I finally saw the Africa Mercy for the first time in person I wanted to be more excited, but I was sooo tired from traveling that all I wanted to do was get to my cabin and go to bed! I guess I have seen the ship soo much over the years that it looked no different in person. We were greeted by the other crew, photographed for our badges, treated to cookies (or biscuts) and drinks, and then escorted to our cabins. I have a 6 berth (5 roomates) cabin. We are from all over the world and affectionately call it the UN crew! We represent South Africa, Canada, the US, and England so far.
On Saturday we were taken on a tour of the ship and given the weekend free to settle into our new home. Sunday I went to church with another nurse who has been here with the advance team that scopes out the town before the ship arrives. We went to a more western church that was in both French and English. It was surprising to me to see that some of the people dress more western and wear gold jewelery with diamonds. Some others wear the traditional linen typle African prints. The church service lasted 3 hours-to be expected in other cultures. I quickly learned that on the streets I will be called "yavo" meaning "white person. On the way to church a group of kids shouted and waved at us as we passed by. There are also the typical street vendors trying to sell their wares.
The accents around here are very fun and interesting to me. When everyone arrives, there will be 30 countries represented. I have made a couple of friends so far and we have exchanged lingo. Many people think I am from the south with my "accent", although the Texans, Virginian's and North Carolinians have me beat!
This week we are all orienting to our areas on board. Things are still being set up since the ship just arrived in port last week. The Beninese are just getting used to us also. The fleet of land rovers has not been cleared for use into the town as of yet. The surgical screenings will start on Thursday and the first surgeries on Tuesday with admissions on Monday. I'm a bit nervous and scared about all this starting. Fortunately, there are about 12 other new nurses starting as well.
It has actually been harder to adjust here than I originally thought. I guess I underestimated the 6 hour jet-lag and there are so many people here. I have been used to just me in my little house. It can be quite challenging to find a quiet place by yourself even as big as the ship is.
As I get more used to blogging, I will add photos and make it more snazzy:0)

A dream awakened

So here goes, my first blog entry... It's funny to me to even have one of these. Most of you know that I am not a "techie" by any means. I would much prefer sitting down with people to catch up rather than texting and checking their facebook to see what is going on in their lives. I guess that isn't always possible. I'm learning though. After a year of owning a digital camera, I'm finally uploading and posting photos. I'm also not the greatest at expressing my thoughts in ways others can understand (too much nursing shorthand) and truthfully, I am a little nervous that so many people will be reading this!

This journey to "the ship" has been a long one for me. As you will recall from the letter it started 8 years ago when I first found out about Mercy Ships. I have always wanted to go and be a part of something significant in another part of the world. When I heard that I could use what I was learning in nursing school to not only physically but also spiritually impact others, I said to myself that this was something I wanted to do at one point in my life. At the time, this was a distant dream.

After I graduated nursing school I attended a summer project in Southern California that taught health professionals how to ethically and relevantly address spiritual health. During our month there we also went to Ensenada, Mexico to set up a clinic for the weekend. I was stunned to see that some people in the world really did live and exist in dwellings made of cardboard. It broke my heart and changed how I view what we have here in the United States.

As I started my first job as an RN, I wanted to use the training I had from that summer with the patients I was caring for, but found it hard to do on a busy med-surg. floor. Occasionally, I have been able to speak to patients or pray with them. At the end of the day I usually feel drained and discouraged.
In 2004 I was able to go on another mission trip with my church to La Cieba, Honduras. That week was one of the best so far for me. We stayed with families who attended the church there who were very welcoming. In fact, my host family still keeps in contact with me today. By the end of the week, I had even picked up some Spanish! It was a refreshing time for me both professionally and personally. The people were so grateful for anything we did for them. They would wait in line for hours just to get in to see us. I came back to my small apartment and it seemed like a castle.
Over the years since I first heard about the Mercy Ships, I have visited their website, went to their booth at mission's conferences and talked to nurses who have also served on board one of the ships. Each time I became more interested, but the one thing that held me back was that I didn't want to be that far away for that long from my grandfather. Most of you know that I grew up with my grandparents and that my mother had been in a nursing home since the time I was 5. My grandmother died when I was 13, then my mother died when I was 20 and my grandfather died when I was 25. It was over a year after he died when I was checking out the web-site again and decided to take the next step and check Mercy Ships out further at an orientation week at their International Operations Center in Garden Valley, Texas.

Truthfully, it has been a struggle for me since this point when I decided to pursue the dream of going on "the ship." Satan has wielded all he can to keep me from going. It started with the application process. It seemed like as much as I wanted to go, I met just as much resistance. I'm not talking about outside resistance, but an internal struggle with what I believe and why I believe it. I ended up missing the first orientation because of this struggle with the lies Satan was throwing at me. With much encouragement from friends and with God's help, I turned in the first part of the application and went to Texas. This week fell on my 27th birthday and my gift was confirmation that this dream could become a reality.

I struggled again with the lies during the second part of the application and finally turned it in 3 months later. I heard back from Mercy Ships 2 months later and they accepted me to serve in Liberia from mid March to Mid June 2008. The problem was that this was already mid-January and I would have only had 3 weeks to raise the funds I would need to go. I wrestled with the decision and even had been granted a leave of absence from work for the 3 months I would be gone. After about two weeks, I decided not to go.

In August Mercy Ships offered me another position for 3 months in Benin. I wrestled again with this decision and the thoughts that I wasn't good enough or a strong enough Christian or that I wouldn't be able to raise the support. After talking and seeking counsel from friends and seasoned Christians I accepted this position and in December began the task of raising support.
Surprisingly, once I sent the letters out the support came in quickly. I can't thank all of you enough for being to generous. Because of you, I am about to experience this long awaited dream become a reality. Thanks also be to God, who has carried me through my doubts and fears and has blessed me with more than what I need for the journey.