Hi there. I have created this site so that you my friends, family and sponsors can keep in the loop during my year on the Anastasis - in Ghana and Liberia. I will update it as often as I am able, and hope that you can get the feel of life on board a volunteer hospital ship!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Spat On By Her Neighbours

Sabena Otto is trying to make herself invisible. It’s not easy to do on the crowded, bustling surgical ward of a Mercy Ships floating hospital. Sabena’s trying to hide so that she can feed herself. It’s a messy and painful process because there’s a huge tumor protruding from her mouth.



Embarrassed, she eats facing the wall crouched between the hospital beds. In wealthy nations, teenagers fly into hysterics over even the smallest, temporary facial blemish. Growing up in West Africa, where medical care is hard to come by, Sabena has had to contend with far worse, and for a very long time.



“They called my daughter a witch,” Sabena’s mother says, attempting to describe the emotional pain her daughter’s experienced. “It’s been awful. All of our friends have deserted us. As we walk down the road, neighbours spit on us. “She is my only daughter, but people told me I should abandon her and leave her to die.”

Sabena barely arrived onboard the Mercy Ship in time. Daily she was growing more and more anaemic. Her airway was becoming dangerously restricted. “It is hard to estimate how long she would have survived,” explains maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Gary Parker. “She was in danger from increasingly serious anaemia, and also from a relentlessly decreasing airway size. Death from slow suffocation or exsanguination (extensive blood loss due to internal or external hemorrhage) was facing her.”


The night before her surgery, Sabena bursts into tears. Years of suffering are about to end. Feelings of relief tinged with excitement overwhelm her as she explains that her dream is to return to school.

For seven years, the tumour expanded in Sabena’s mouth. All through her teenage years she lived with a cloth covering her lower face. While the tumour is immensely painful and oozes constantly, Sabena explains that it was the reaction from friends and family that hurt the most. “All the time people are laughing at me, saying they hate me, and other horrible things,” she says. In her wildest dreams, Sabena never imagined that hope and healing would arrive in the form of a giant, white hospital ship.


After successful surgery and weeks of recovery, Sabena is unrecognisable. She’s not the same girl who first walked up the gangway. Both mother and daughter are overwhelmed by the result. “I never imagined that she could look so good again!” Her mother’s smile speaks volumes. “People told me that if I took her to Mercy Ships and she was operated on, that she would die.”



Together, mother and daughter head down the gangway. Their new lives are about to start. One last time, Sabena’s mother turns to look into her daughter’s face and she smiles. “The result is amazing,” she says. “Praise God and thank you Mercy Ships.”
© 2007 Mercy Ships International

Friday, March 09, 2007

Liberty Brought Us Here

Hi there from the Freeport: Monrovia, Liberia!!!



As expected the ship arrived safely into the harbour on March 1st, and we are slowly getting acustomed to life in this very different nation to Ghana. We arrived into the port at about 1pm last Thursday, met by a little tug boat that shall we just say - would not be able to operate legally in NZ! He tugged us up beside our dock - one of the only docks that is working here.


We were greeted by a huge host of people. Church officials, the Vice President, missionary families, the UN, and of course the advance team. The advance team are a group of five Mercy Shippers who left for Liberia in early January. They meet officials, organise screenings, organise venues for dental and eye clinics, organise water and garbage provision and generally pave the way for our arrival. One of the advance team was my boss, ward supervisor Martina - so it was great to see her face again from the dock.


We arrived to awesome African music and dancing put on by a local church. They had organised generators, and were able to sing loud enough for us to hear them on the ship at the entrance to the harbour. It was really stunning!! There are probably not many opportunities these days to arrive into a foreign port and be greeted by such a host of people. It was a little bit surreal. A great first impression of Monrovia!


From the ships nice position here in the port, we can see straight across to central Monrovia. I do not have the space to go into great detail about the recent history of Liberia - so I suggest that you widen your minds and check out the link I have posted on the right of this blog.

Basically the country has only recently come out of 14 years of civil war. Around 200,000 Liberians died in this time, most of them civilians and child soldiers. Liberia has had no electricity for 20 years, and a whole generation of young people have never been to school. The unemployment rate is 80%, and the infrastructure is next to nothing. Spot the blast holes in this building.....


However all is not lost for this 'land of liberty' - the newly elected president Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has brought hope to this hurting nation, and you can read more about her through the link I mentioned before. Liberians have high hopes for Africa's first female president.


Here is a photo of her visiting the ship on its last visit here in 2006. Having witnessed her address to the Mercy Ship crew - I think I can say that Liberia is in safe hands.


As we get used to our new surroundings, the UN presence, and tighten up security, we remain really excited to be here. The people of Liberia that we have met so far are just so pleased to have us here, and we are equally pleased to be able to help them. What we can offer is so small in the scheme of things, however it does show the people of Liberia that there is a hope and a future, plans to prosper Libeira and not to harm it, and that God and the world do care about this little nation and its people.


We watched a documentary about the civil war on Friday - the most poignant moment was when they asked a gun weilding rebel soldier during a battle what he wanted out of the war. Money? Power? Weapons? He shook his head at the film maker and said without hesitating 'pen and paper'.


A local pastor likened the current state of Liberia to the story of Nehemiah - the walls are broken, and they need rebuilding. Check it out! Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem (Liberia) is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.” Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” So they readied themselves for this good project. Nehemiah 2:17-22

Thanks for checking in. Catch you all later!

Friday, March 02, 2007

Sailing Away

Hello Everyone!

We have left Ghana! After 9 months of serving in this wonderful nation, on Sunday Feb 25th we pulled up our anchor and set sail for our next destination - Liberia. We originally were intended to leave berth 10, Tema Port at 4pm, however due to some engine trouble we were postponed. When we went to bed on Sunday no one was sure whether we would wake up in Ghana, or in the middle of the ocean! When this photo was taken at 3.30pm on Sunday - we all thought we were going in the next half hour.


I was woken by my room mate at 1.30am to tell me that we were leaving. Half of the ship were out on the deck in their pyjamas, and it was hard to wake myself up enough to focus on what was going on! Pretty shortly after we got up to the deck where we could see, they lifted the gangway onto the ship. Our mooring lines were removed and we were tugged out into the harbour by two friendly tug boats. They let us go, and with a lot of shouting our goodbyes and waving, we were on our own, sailing off into the deep blue sea.


The next day we woke up about 60 miles south of Ghana, tied up beside a fuel bunker. We spent the day there - loading enough fuel to make the 3 day sail to Liberia. It was great to just hang out on the ship, and feel free!! We saw dolphins, squid and even turtles swimming by! Just in case you are wondering what we do with our twenty or so Mercy Ships vehicles and our post op unit - we loaded them into the holds, and those that didn't fit - onto the decks!


The next two days (Tues and Weds) we sailed up the West African coast, from Ghana past the Ivory Coast and into Liberian waters. We had an awesome time on the sail, and to my suprise I was not even sea sick! We had lunch and dinner outside on the decks most days, and would stroll up to the bow to look over at the ocean.


One evening we even had a worship service on the bow - the musicians had organised all the amplifiers and instruments, so we could woship our creator in the middle of the ocean whilst the sun set in front of us. It was the most amazing experience hard to find words to describe how magnificent it was!


During the sail we were allowed up onto the bridge (where they sail the ship from) and to observe the officers and helmsmen at work. It was great! When we were up there we got a chance to look out for oncoming ships and storms on the radar. We spotted a large storm and about 10 minutes later it hit! Wind, rain and thunder and lightening. It was truly awesome to be on the bridge at that time. This plaque here is on the bridge and it made us all laugh - something to keep in mind when you are sailing around the seas.


I had a great time sailing - even those annoying lifeboat drills were worth it! This morning we spent our last couple of hours on the bow (front) of the ship before we were banned from being there due to us arriving in Monrovia. The other important thing I must mention is that it was the Anastasis' last ever sail with passengers. This beautiful ship is now out of date and will be scrapped in June. It is then that the brand new 'Africa Mercy' will take over and continue the work we are doing.

So not only was the sail something to remember forever, but it was also making history. Anastasis is the Greek word for 'Resurection', and I am priviledged to have been one of her many crew members over the last 25 years. As the T-Shirt says - 'Her service is finished, but Gods legacy lives on.'

Presidents, Patients and Packing

Hello there friends and family.

I know it is time to leave Ghana, but there are a few cool things that happened that I need to tell you about first. Namely the visit of the President of Ghana, John Kafour, to the ship on Thursday. It was great to have him on board, he was greeted by the whole crew hanging from the railings, and then given a tour of the ship, addressed by the CEO of the Anastasis and the Chief Medical Officer at a reception which we were all invited to.


He spoke to us after the event and stated that he had been made speechless by what he had seen on board the ship. He was able to meet 4 of our patients whom we had treated while here in Ghana, so they could tell him first hand what had happened to them. It was great to see our patients again, and they certainly enjoyed meeting the President!


What made it even cooler is that the next evening on the way to a reception for us thrown by the Minister of Health, the bus we were travelling in (with police escourt) to the venue, screened on the national news an item about the Presidents visit to the ship!!! I even saw myself (sitting in the very back of course) for a split second, so I am now world famous in Ghana!

Since we are moving out pretty soon, when Presidents are not visiting - we are quickly packing up! Being in port for 9 months means you have a lot of stuff to clean up, personal and of course the whole ship wide. My room mates and I have been 'tying down' our room. We have done the same to the ward so things don't go flying if we hit a wave during the sail. Of course the deckies have been busy loading our cars and drills onto the ship.


It has also been time for a lot of patients to come and say goodbye. This is Elizabeth (on the left) who had a massive leg deformity that one of our surgeons helped correct. She and her daughter made the 5 hour journey from Kumasi in the center of Ghana to say farewell. We did take them out for lunch, so it was great to see them again before we head off.


So as you can see it has been a jam packed couple of days, also with last trips to the markets, last meals off the ship, and last time on solid ground for a week. To finish the outreach here are the statistics as promised of our time in Ghana.

Community Development Service (CDS)
1 16 bed maternity unit
1 Youth Health Centre
1 High School Addition
24 wells drilled
103 Maternal Health Trainers equipped
243 HIV Trainers equipped
23 Agricultural Trainers equipped
206 women trained in bee keeping, rabit, mushroom and snail farming

Church Empowerment
350 participants in church empowerment conference

Health Care Services (HCS)
Dental – 5435 patients seen
Eye Team, 19,106 patients seen, 1454 surgeries
VVF repair – 65 surgeries
Maxillo Facial/Plastic surgery – 557 surgeries


Its been a busy 9 months - time now to sail off into the sunset! Bring on Liberia!