An Unusual Friendship

When Ismalia first arrived on board the Mercy Ship he had a hole in the middle of his face. At the age of twelve, a bacteria called Noma had eaten away Ismalia’s nose. “I used to never go out because everyone, including my friends would laugh at me,” Ismalia says, recalling the ridicule he’s endured over the past seven years. “No one stood up for me. I stopped going to school when it started."

Precipitated by malnutrition and a weak immune system, Noma is a gangrenous disease that usually attacks the face, especially the mouth and cheek. Most commonly, an ulcer develops in the lining of the mouth leading to massive tissue loss within weeks or even days. Plastic surgery is the only option, but can rarely be afforded by the overwhelmingly poor victims of the condition. Now a young man of 19, Ismalia has been beaten down by the social isolation he’s endured. He came onboard frightened and withdrawn. But in just five short weeks, both his face and his personality have undergone a remarkable transformation.



A huge grin lights up Ismalia’s face as he shakes hands with the nurses and crew of Mercy Ships who have come to bid him farewell. Confident and smiling, Ismalia says he’s excited to be going home. He can’t wait for people to see his new face.

Crewmember Johan Pieter Johannesen, from the Faroe Islands, is especially sad to see Ismalia go. Johan has spent countless hours on the ward with the young man. Through the ship’s Adopt-a-Patient program, Ismalia and Johan have become fast friends. The Adopt-a-Patient program pairs volunteer crew members with surgery patients on board. Crew are encouraged to build relationships with the patients by welcoming them onboard, helping them settle in, playing and praying with them, and working alongside the ward counsellors to help meet the patient’s spiritual needs. A very successful initiative, the program helps patients feel welcome on the ward, while giving crewmembers from non-medical departments a chance to participate in patient care.

“The evening Ismalia arrived, I went down to visit him,” Johan says. “He seemed to be terrified and ashamed and just hid under the blanket. He wouldn’t look up at all.” Now as they say goodbye to each other, Ismalia radiates confidence. After seven years of believing he should be ashamed of the way he looks, Ismalia holds his head high. No longer a shy boy, Ismalia laughs easily. He jokes about his new nose, arguing with Johan over whether African or Caucasian noses are the easiest to rebuild. “African noses are easier to mould because they’re flatter,” Ismalia contends, “Whereas European ones are longer and sharper.”

It’s hard to imagine a stranger conversation, but it’s easy to see why the topic so fascinates Ismalia. Over just a few short weeks Mercy Ships surgeons have fashioned him a new nose using a flap of skin taken from his scalp. Now, apart from the line of stitches and a slight colour difference, the new nose fits perfectly. Ismalia’s smile suggests he’s more than happy with the results. “I was so excited when I saw my new nose,” he says. “I am so proud of it.” The pain of being ridiculed by peers for so many years took its toll on Ismalia. But after more than a month of loving attention from Johan and the medical staff, Ismalia is clearly coming out of his shell. In addition to Johan, he’s also gotten close to a fellow patient named Samuel. Samuel is also recovering from surgery on his face, so the two had much in common.



Perhaps the most compelling sign of Ismalia’s transformation is his renewed interest in the future. Before the surgery, a career was out of the question. Inspired by Johan, a teacher by profession who serves in the onboard Academy, Ismalia is now talking about going back to school and perhaps becoming a teacher himself some day.

With a farewell to Johan, the two friends part company. An unusual and brief friendship maybe, but one that will be remembered for a lifetime. For the first time in years Ismalia has received unconditional friendship and acceptance. With his new face and restored self-confidence, Ismalia heads for home.

© 2007 Mercy Ships International www.mercyships.org

Hawa's Story

With only a month to go operating here in Ghana, we are filling the ward with secondary procedures - basically second surgeries for those operations that were more complicated in the beginning of the outreach, so it has been great to see some of the patients we looked after at the begining come back - they are so changed, both inside and out - many with a new found confidence that makes your spine tingle - it is wonderful to get to know these patients and see them months after surgery. I really am very lucky to be here!



Our VVF surgeon Steve Arrowsmith is back on board, and the ward is full up with patients waiting to have their years of leaking urine fixed! We have done a number of successful repairs to date, and dress ceremonies are happening every week.

This week I thought I would share a really wonderfull story about a little girl who came to visit the ship when it was in Liberia. Liberia is the worlds poorest nation, so we will have our work cut out for us when we arrive in to Monrovia's port on the first of March.

Here is Hawa's Story.....

Seven-year-old Hawa’s benign tumor started growing about a year ago. Her family is from Sierra Leone. Her father Hassan looks for small diamonds, struggling to make a living. As he’s spent more time lately protect­ing his sick child from those who taunt and would harm her, life has been increasingly difficult for the family. They sometimes go days without eating.



Hassan took his child to the hospital in Freetown, where doctors told him there was little hope. There was nothing they could do. She needed a sur­geon. Even though it looked like his little girl would die, Hassan heard of the Mercy Ship’s arrival in neighboring Liberia, and decided to make the difficult 2 day trip to visit the ship. It was his last hope for Hawa.



I first met Hawa at Saturday’s patient screening. There was something differ­ent about her - a boldness, a fearlessness. She held her head high, and stared at the camera. Wondering how she was able to eat, I learned by watching as she cocked her head back unnaturally, opening her mouth. A small space ap­peared between the tumor and her lower lip.

Chief surgeon Dr. Gary Parker was concerned Hawa wouldn’t be strong enough for the surgery - concerns that vanished when he saw her playing bas­ketball on deck with one of the kids from the ship. She sank 5 in a row.



Six months later Hawa is at home and going to school in Sierra Leone. A crew member is sponsoring her education. Isn't that the coolest story! Over my seven months on board the Anastasis so far I have seen so many stories like this. Along with Peace and Bawa, and too many other patients to name, Hawa has until this operation lived her seven years with more than we could ever imagine in the west. Although she and the others were able to have operations on board the Anastasis, there are hundreds, maybe thousands that are not. The help we can offer is really just a drop in the ocean.



The question is what can we do about it? I can use my nursing skills, but I feel that the other most important job I have here is alerting others to the plight of the millions of people that live outside of our comfortable western surroundings.

Proverbs 31:8. [Commandment to kings.] Open your mouth for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

Back On Board

Hey all, happy new year!!

I hope you are all enjoying some quality time with friends and/or family at the moment, and that those at home in NZ are having a great time in the warm weather at last.

I have just last night returned to the ship from my Dutch extravaganza holiday, which was awesome. Having been away from the ship for almost three weeks I am not as up to date with the goings on, so I will update you on health related matters as soon as I am familiar with them myslef! But for now I will share a little bit more of my vacation in The Netherlands.

Here we are Christmas day, when I opened my collosal amount of presents sent from various people back home. Thanks heaps to Mum and Dad, Heyhoes, Griffiths-Smiths and of course my most awesome church homegroup! As the dutch traditionally do not give Christmas presents, this was a new experience for all but me!

We had a wonderful Christmas breakfast and then on to some of Jan Pieters relatives house in Rotterdam. There we had a wonderful Christmas evening, which was finished off nicely with my first ever Pavlova - I have to say although it looks a bit suspect, it was delicious!

The next couple of days after Christmas were also action packed. JP, Annemarie (his sister) and I went to Amsterdam and saw the Bodies exhibiton - which was absolutely fantastic, I really recomend you see it if you get a chance. I also went ice skating for the first time ever (I only fell over when I got hit by another skater) and had a great time.

Then of course New Years! I was able to learn all abou the wonderful Dutch traditions - especially Ollieballen, which are donuty raisiny treats that are cooked on new years eve, and of course the fact that sky rockets are still legal in The Netherlands! At midnight the sky was ablaze with explosions and colours, it was so amazing - I have never seen more fireworks or been as deafened by them as on new years! It was an amazing experience.

As well as meeting a lot of family members and friends, we made the trip to Den Haag (The Hague) where we visited Madurodam - a big city of minatures representing all the main cities/towns/attractions of Holland. It was great fun walking through the minatures, and seeing how perfect they were. THey had windmills, canals, airports, ships, trains, historic buildings, tulip fields, bridges and more. It was a wonderful day despite the cold!

We were also blessed enough to make it to our friends from the Anastasis - Carl and Ilne's wedding in Rijsen on Friday. It was great to meet up with some other crew members and also to share in their special day. Both bride and groom looked fabulous despite the low temperature.

I had a wonderful break and had a great time meeting Jan Pieters family and friends, eating real food for a while, and experiencing my first ever winter Christmas! Hope you are all well, will update with some Mercy Ships related news soon!