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!



A Day at the Beach!

 

Got to know each other really well!



Things have been so hectic...so much to do and so little time. I feel like life here is a cross between the Navy and summer camp! We finally had a much needed break and headed to the beach.  We were transported in 12 passenger buses (called poda-poda's). The picture says it all...we crammed 20 people in the poda-poda and drove two hours over terrain far worse than any logging road I've been on. But, it was all worth it! The beach was beautiful the water was warm and we ordered lobster from a local restaurant (however, it may have been a mistake to tour the kitchen!)

The chef!

Pictures From The Ship



A local ferry...I think one more can squeeze in!



I'm still not sure about the lingo!  I'm aft and starboard...I think!



View from Deck 7, the top deck of the ship!



Events of Screen Day

We arrived at 5:00 a.m. at the National Stadium prepared to see as many people as possible, screen them, and make appointments for them to board the ship.  I heard that there were about 4,000 people lined up outside the stadium, when the crowd pressed into the gate and people were crushed and trampled resulting in several injuries and one death.  We abruptly stopped the screening, packed everything up and were told to evacuate the stadium immediately. It was devastating for the people who had been waiting all night to be seen and those who used most of their yearly wage to travel to the  screening.

I was on the further side of the entrance gates doing registrations, so I was relatively unaware of the turbulent events at the gate.  However, many volunteers formed a human chain to maintain control, but things just kept escalating. Some of the crew were also deeply traumatized by the events.

Screening Day at the National Stadium

We geared up for “Screening Day”. These are the two days that appointments are handed out to the fortunate few for orthopedic surgeries, maxofacial surgeries or other maladies that the surgeons on the ship are able to correct to make a significant difference in a person's life. Screening Day takes place in the National Stadium (which is in much need of repair). Several thousand men, women and children line up at the stadium gates in the hopes of being selected. They wait in the 95 degree temperatures, many have traveled many miles (and in some cases another country) in the hope of receiving care. If selected as a viable candidate, they move through various stations where they are registered, vitals are taken, they are examined to be certain they are well enough for surgery and given the golden appointment ticket. However, if they are not selected, it is heart wrenching. This country is one of the vary poorest in the world and this could be their one shot at receiving the care that they desparately need. 

We (the crew) spent time in prayer asking God to direct the selection and we were also briefed on what we might encounter and the types of deformities we might see. 

Whew! 20 Hours of Flying

It was a long flight from Portland. I met a couple of M-S volunteers in the Dulles airport, and one had already been with the ship in various countries five times. She provided a lot of insight as to what to expect. When we landed in Brussels to transfer to our final leg of the journey to Freetown, the airline unexpectedly canceled the flight, but put us all up in the nicest Euro Holiday Inn I'd ever been in and compensated us! We were all so whipped after 12 hours of flying (not counting hanging around airports) that this unexpected layover was a real blessing in every respect.

The next day we were able to resume our trip to Freetown. We arrived at 8:30 pm and boarded a “water taxi” to transport us to where the ship was docked. The water taxi ride was a heart pounding experience through 7 foot swells in a 1930's era boat, Needless to say, we arrived a little wet!