Goodbye, Farewell!

Well I can hardly believe it. I write this blog entry from my friends house in London! It is less than two weeks since the arrival of the Africa Mercy, and as I left the ship things were finally starting to take shape.

My last couple of weeks were amazing. Last Monday the President of Liberia, Mme Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf came to visit and inspect the newest ship. It was wonderful to hear a woman who holds so much responsibility speak to us in person, and it is always fun to see all the body guards rush up with their machine guns.

The rest of the time we have spent moving boxes of things from one ship to another, hospital wards, operating rooms, personal cabins, offices and communal spaces. It was pretty warm out on the dock, and everyone was working so hard! I managed to be involved with a week and a half of shifting boxes and my favourite part of the week: pellot jacking enourmous amounts of stuff around the ship and into the holds. I felt like a hard working bloke!

The ward is really so glamourous! It of course is brand new, with plenty of new equipment to try out. I am so happy for all the patients who will get to be nursed here. I believe that I may have been the first one.....

I was able to go out on the Tuesday with JP and some of the 'Rabbit' women, to visit some pretty remote vilages. It would have to have been one of the coolest adventures in my time here. I went with the other woman to a small village accross the river, only accessible by a small log raft which you steer by pulling on a rope attached to either side.

I was pretty certain I would fall, but I managed to stay standing all the way there and back! The rest of the evening was wonderful as I was invited to eat with the local families in one of the villages where a well had been installed, the most wonderful spicy meal I had had in the whole time in Africa! We ended the evening with the Jesus film, which was great fun

However too soon, Friday came, and I Land Rovered my way to the international airport in Monrovia to Fly out to London. What a sad day - saying goodbyes to so many wonderful friends, the last time I would see the Anastasis - and leaving that wonderful new ship behind. I will forever treasure my time in West Africa with Mercy Ships.

Thank you so much for all your interest and support over the last year. It has been the most amazing experience. Look forward to seeing many of you when I get home at the end of July!

God Bless, Sophie:)