Visiting the Agriculture Site

One of the highlights of one of Mercy Ships ministry outreaches is the Agricultural Program.  The students are carefully selected to participate in the course and are then expected to take their knowledge and learning back to their villages to teach others.  In the morning, they work the soil and learn about what plants in tandem bring the needed nutrients to the soil (planting peanuts between rows of corn for nitrogen) and about keeping a compost pile.  They are taught use of the land God's way, all organic and not burning which destroys valuable bugs and organisims).  

 Foday and Ibrahim are teaching me how to use bark for twine to hold together a trellis for the beans.  Part of their training is that they have to teach and give back what they've learned.  I'm now the student! 

I'm standing with Bambi; his arms were cut off by the rebels during the war.  His resiliency and thirst for learning is simply amazing. He has an infectious smile and zest for life that is just unexplainable considering his circumstances.

I gotta say that the group was very lively and extremely motivated to learn.  The day I was there, they were learning about malaria, it's symptoms and how to prevent it.  At one time or another, everyone here contracts malaria and many children die from it still.  These students were so attentive and excited about learning, it made me realize how much we take education for granted, whereas here in Sierra Leone, 52% of the people are illiterate. 

THE GRADUATION CEREMONY                The entire community came out for the celebration.  The graduates were so proud and excited about their accomplishment.  I felt proud for them too, and was moved to tears at their deep joy and appreciation.  They received gifts of a wheelbarrow, a shovel and watering can. 

The singing, praying, dancing, praising God, tears of joy was contagious and overwhelming.  It was all so simple, yet so profound to share in their joy and hope for a better future.  To know these people has been such a priviledge and I will carry them in my heart.

Update on Ramatu

"I feel so beautiful now!"

I told you a little bit about Ramatu a couple of weeks ago, and I want to share her transformation with you.  She has lived in shame for the past 10 years, covering her face, abandoned by her family, being shunned by her community, called a witch and accused of as being possessed by evil spirits.  

"I'm so thankful to God for this new life!



She is now free of shame and ready to live her new life.  The doctors expect the swelling to go down much more, leaving her with a beautiful face and a "future and a hope"!

Observing Surgeries

Last week I had the privilege of viewing three surgeries; moving from one operating theatre to another.  It was amazing, not only to see what actually takes place, the skill and precision of each operation, but also amazing is how Mercy Ships works!  In one operating theatre, there was a US surgeon, Ethiopian assisting surgeon, an Austrailian anesthesiologist, a British OR nurse, and a Swiss assisting nurse.  All of them only on board for just a few days and never worked with each other before, came together to perform this delicate operation of separating the fingers of a little boy who had been burned from a cooking fire five years ago and his fingers had fused together on both hands.  

Imagine never having any medical attention after such a debilitating injury.  We are in the "plastic surgery" phase of the outreach and are operating on many children with burns that have never been treated resulting in very limited use and mobility.  It's amazing that a person who couldn't bend their leg or arm because of a burn contracture, can now open up their arms wide for a big hug! 

I watched the surgeon take pry open the fingers that had been contracted into an unuseable ball, carefully stretching the muscles & skin, clip the skin and graph more skin from the thigh of the boy.  Then they drilled rods into the fingers to keep them straight for the healing process and, of course, many weeks of physical therapy.   

On to the next operating theatre where I was able to see a cataract removed.  I was able to see everything on a large monitor in the OR.  The surgeon deftly made an incision, scooped out the cataract (which hs a consistency like firm white rubber) then slid in a new lens, all of which took about 8 minutes!  Apparently this procedure is rarely done in the US because the cataracts rarely get to the point of such severity and the western world uses laser technology to smash and dissolve, rather than cut and scoop!  Nevertheless, this low tech method is extremely effective with these types of severe cataracts.  

It was a facinating day! 

Story of Ramatu

Ramatu's  facial tumor started to develop seven years ago when she was 12.  It is very common for a child who has any sort of physical deformity to be thrown out of the house and Ramatu was no exception.  Her parents abandoned her and she went to live on the streets of Freetown.  Medical care here is virtually nonexistent, so Ramatu just resigned herself to life of begging and waiting until the tumor became so large that either she suffocated or starved to death. 

Then she heard that Mercy Ships was coming to Sierra Leone; she queued up with thousands of others for an initial screening.  She was told that if the tumor was benign, she could be helped and was given an appointment card to come on board for a CT Scan (the only one in West Africa)!  Then came the good news that she would receive the surgery...from one of the best maxfax surgeon's in the world, Dr. Gary Parker.

Mainly because of superstition, Ramatu has lived as an outcast for the past seven years, an untouchable; so when she arrived in Admissions and someone placed their hand on her shoulder, looked into her eyes, and told her the crew would do their very best to help her, she was incredibly moved. 

Ramatu's transformation is still a work in progress, but you can see her bright smile of hope.

Celebration of Sight

These are some images from the "Celebration of Sight" that is held every couple of weeks for Mercy Vision patients.  The ophthalmologists are on board for 2-3 weeks at a time and perform up to 25 cataract surgeries a day !  New doctors rotate in and by the end of the field service in Sierra Leone thousands will have received sight.  You can imagine the celebratory joy of these people some of which had been blind for years and after a ten minute operation have their sight restored!   

Timba's Story

Timba is eleven years old and has a huge, bright smile as wide as Texas and eyes that stream out joy.  He is always happy to see you and never seems to be down even though he's been in the hospital for three months.  Timba was born with severly clubbed feet; his toes were curled into his heals and his ankles twisted so badly that he literally walked on them.  Timba has never been to school or played with children outside of his family because in this society anyone with a deformity is a social outcast.  I'm sure he is a tribute to his family because dispite all the social pressures they have faced, somehow they have infused him with joy and confidence. 

He came to Mercy Ships at the beginning of the outreach in March and after several operations he's taking his first steps and miraculously seeing his toes for the first time.



Hall Races - Yeah, I have to look both ways before exiting my office!

Timba is leaving this week and everyone is going to miss him, but we are confident his future will be as bright as his smile!





Life On Board The Africa Mercy

I really am getting used to living in a tight space...as you can see...One must be neat, organized and know exactly where to find everything in the dark because most likely your bunkmate will be sleeping when your alarm goes off for work.  Most crew members are on shift-work, I'm one of the lucky ones that has a day job! (As you know, I'm none-of-the-above, so I've had to dig deep for some discipline!) The cabin has six females with one bathroom, which surprisingly hasn't been a problem; cabin mates rotate in and out anywhere from three weeks to three months, only one other person is a longer term crew like myself.

OK, maybe it's not that tidy, but it's Saturday morning!!!

Our berths are separated by curtains; thankfully no one snores!

 The area below is called Midships and it is the community gathering place.  Yes, there is a Starbucks, the only one in all of West Africa.  Eat your heart out Starbucks lovers, a Grande Carmel Macchiato is $1.75! 

Last night was ice cream night, so Midships was packed with people lined up for the frozen treat.  I can't decide whether it is like a college dorm or summer camp! 

Sometimes it is surreal when I think of the people just two decks below that are here for surgeries and the lives of poverty that they will return to.  It seems like a world away, just two decks...



Life at the bottom of the gangway!

Things are so busy on ship that I find that I don't even go outside or up to Deck 8 for a breath of air from Monday through Friday. It's strange not going outside all week, so when the weekend comes, I usually tag along with others and walk through town. Which is an experience in itself! The ship is ported at a container ship yard.

Just outside the port is a huge slum. Strangely, oceanfront property is the least desirable place to make your home because all the garbage is dumped into the ocean. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but children are swimming in water that is contaminated with all kinds of refuse and debris. They are laughing and playing as any normal child would, the difference is that they are swimming in absolute filth.

This is trash, not shells!

This group of young men are calling out to me to “snap” them (take their picture) and are posing like tough guys for the “snap”. The truth is that they really are tough! Most are street kids that have lost both parents in the war, unemployment is above 80% and there is little hope for a future. That is the African culture of despair. As you walk down the street from the port, amidst the tin shacks; no electricity, no running water (and this is a city of 2 million) children run out to greet you with smiles and “Hello, Ow da bodi”! They are so innocent and hopeful, then you see the teenage boys with angry looks on their faces as the reality of despair sets in.

Thanks for reading this!  I'll post again soon....

Premier of the "Jesus Film" at Devil Hole

Last night a group of us went to a little village called "Devil Hole" about 30 miles from Freetown.  We were invited by a local pastor to come and show "The Jesus Film".  If you're not familiar with this film, it is a movie about Jesus that is translated into hundreds of languages.  It starts briefly with creation touches on Abraham, Moses, but mostly focuses on Jesus. 

When we arrived at the village, there were only about 10 or 12 people milling around and we greeted the townspeople and set up our projection equipment.  As dusk came and we were ready to start the film, out of nowhere over 300 people showed up we had children hanging all over us, sitting on our laps, glued to the film translated into Krio.  Krio is like a pidgeon English..."How are you" is..."Ow de bodi?"  "Thank you" is "Tenki"; "How did you sleep?" is "Ow yu slep?".  You get the picture!  You have to listen very carefully to pick up a word here and there.  It was interesting watching Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount in Krio..."Tell Gowd tenki".

To watch the people's reaction to the film was priceless.  After each miracle, everyone clapped and cheered...when Judas came on the scene there were boo's and people yelling, "He da baaad guy!"  The crowd went crazy when the disciples pulled up their nets and all the fish fell into the boat.  Many of them fish to make a living.  It struck me that the boats the fishermen use here in Sierra Leone are pretty much the same as the ones used in Jesus' time.

They were so interactive and exuberant, it surprised me!  Even some curious Muslim's showed up and were drawn in by the drama of Jesus's ministry.  It was a beautiful evening with a slight breeze, a nearly full moon and the ground was sandy, rather than the ubiquitous red dust and dirt. 

After the film, many people came forward for prayer, mother's proudly introduced their babies to us and asked us to remember them in our prayers!  It was a beautiful experience. 

You Tube Video from Mercy Ships

The link below has more video from last week's screening day and some interesting facts about Sierra Leone.  It's very interesting, so take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf17tN9LD0g

Successful Second Try - Screening Day #2

Screening Day #2 – We rolled out of bed at 4:15 and our convoy of land rovers hit the streets at 4:45 headed to the abandoned UN compound for another try at screening. It's surreal driving the streets of Freetown in the early morning hours. There were a smattering of people sitting on the sidewalks with candles, an occasional lone light bulb hanging from a post illuminating rusty tin siding. Just another reason they call Africa the dark continent. Its' striking how sparse electricity is. We arrived at the compound and set up stations to receive the masses of club feet, deformed legs, burns, cleft pallets, goiters, and other strange growths and disfigurements. This time the Sierra Leone Army patrolled the compound and the screening process went very peacefully. Once again, thousands of people came in the hopes of being selected for medical attention; about 400-500 were chosen for the types of surgeries offered on ship. (orthopedics, maxillofacial, plastics, & general).  Everything went very smoothly and the crowds of people were very peaceful.  Below are some images of the day!

Loading up dockside to head for the UN Compound!

 

Praying for the screening - that God would bring those that can be successfully treated!  I'm in the red shirt!



People arriving at the break of dawn!





Leading patients into the compound.



 

 

Many have traveled considerable distance and used what little resources they have to try to get medical help.



The queue is close to 2,000 people long!

He is very excited to be one of the fortunate ones to receive the Admission Card!

  

This is why we are here!













We had our hospital Open House. This was so much fun... inserted an IV; stitched up a wound; performed CPR; and, best of all...lanced a boil (mayo & ketchup for bloody pus) and drained a humongous hematoma! It was great fun. The picture you see is of me learning how to intubate a patient...I'm sure I chipped his front teeth with the scope and ripped out his vocal cords inserting the tube...fortunately it was only a mannequin. 

Dental Clinic - A Very Popular Place!



People in que for the dental screening - Many days over a thousand people have waited to be seen by the dental team.  The Dental Clinic is very popular because there are absolutely no services for these people and they just have to live with the pain until an NGO arrives with help!








This is Dr. Billy, a good ole Irish fella.  Last week the Dental Team saw 1270 patients and extracted 1100 teeth!  That's exhausing work pulling that many teeth...had to take a break for St. Paddy's Day and went to an Irish Pub (O'Casey's) for a Guiness.  Sadly, Billy was only here for two weeks and went back home to Dublin.  Sure am gonna miss the mate!