My First Post

Hi there,

I havn't done anything like this before - so you will have to forgive the teething problems as i figure this all out! As the blog description suggests, the purpose of this site is to keep family, friends and sponsors in the loop with what I'm up to while in Ghana, West Africa on board the Africa Mercy from June 2006.

I will be working on board the ship as a ward nurse, full time with rostered and rotating shifts. The main focus of the surgery on board appears to be plastic and maxillofacial, orthopaedic, and general surgical. Teams from the ship also go out into the surrounding communities and help with dental and cataract surgery, and work with the government of the host country to help with a number of other projects including well construction, hospital consturction, training local surgeons and medical personell, and health promotion.

There won't be much from me until I am actually on the ship, but in the meantime you can check out http://mercyships.org to get a bit of background information. I am currently in the paperwork stage of preparing to go, and also starting to get ideas for fundraising! I will keep you updated on how that is all going.

Until next time,

Soph