Soph's Africa Blog

Goodbye, Farewell!

2007-08-18T12:24:00.000+12:00

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:)

Reuben's Story

2007-06-07T06:38:00.000+12:00

Monrovia 11 May 2007 –Tucked away in the furthest corner of the Mercy Ships hospital ward, Reuben sits hidden next to his mother, Oretha. A large baseball cap covers his head and with his whole body hunched over, his face is almost concealed from view. Perplexed and intrigued, I had to speak to them. A tiny smile and a whispered hello escapes from Oretha’s lips as I introduce myself. Looking up, she motions to her son and ushers him forward, “My son, Reuben!”

As she speaks his name, Reuben shyly turns his head and looks up at me. Two raw, red eyes peer out from underneath the baseball cap. Burnt and disfigured, I have to fight my initial reaction to recoil. His face is unimaginable, almost monstrous. Yet all I can do is reach out my hand and say hello.

Everyday patients arrive at the Mercy Ship with horrific disfigurements. What seems so extreme can easily become the norm. Yet, every so often there is a patient that totally throws you. Reuben was just such a patient. As I perch on the edge of the opposite hospital bed, Reuben immediately looks away, bending his head. He’s just a little boy, only twelve years old. I can’t even begin to imagine what pain he must have been through.

As I begin to chat with Oretha, Reuben sits with his face hidden; unmoving. “He fell into a fire when he was only four years old,” Oretha’s face is etched with her own pain as she answers some of my questions. “People told us that we should throw him out. He could no longer be called a son. But I love him, he’s my son. “He’s never been able to attend school,” she continues, He loves soccer but the other children kick sand in his eyes because he can’t blink.” The emotion that chokes her voice is intense. I sit on the bed, just holding her hand. For years Oretha and her husband have been praying for a miracle. They see the chance for an operation onboard the Mercy Ship as an answer to those prayers.

After Reuben’s first surgery I return to the ward. A huge, beaming smile on Oretha’s face greets me. Eye-lids and lashes have been reconstructed on one of her son’s eyes. It looks painful but the outlook is positive. Over the next five weeks I have the privilege of watching an amazing change take place in Reuben and Oretha’s life. There’s an incredible physical transformation as the boy’s eye-lids are reconstructed. Yet, nothing is more amazing than to see their emotional and spiritual states totally transformed.

Gradually Reuben’s confidence grows. No longer does he hide underneath his baseball cap. He runs and cycles around on the aft of the ship, he plays and laughs with other children in the ward. The change is truly miraculous. Sitting with him one afternoon, Reuben beats me at a game of connect four. Giggling and laughing with glee he looks up and grins, challenging me to another game. I cannot believe that this is the same boy; the boy that before couldn’t even look me in the face.

As the time draws near for Oretha and Rueben to leave the Mercy Ship, their excitement is infectious. “I can now play soccer with my brothers!” exclaims Reuben. “Everyone is waiting to welcome us home,” the smile on Oretha’s face is beautiful. “We are buying a goat to eat and celebrate. Our praises to God are immense!”

Story by Lu Mizen

Greater Things He Will Do

2007-05-27T04:22:00.000+12:00

Well it has been roughly 8 years in the making, but the Africa Mercy has finally arrived in Liberia. In what was a very emotional day for everyone involved, the Anastasis crew welcomed the newest Mercy Ship into the Freeport to take over the remainder of the Liberia field service.

We were up and out on the dock at 6am for what we thought was a 7am arrival of the ship, however due to the tug boats schedule, the Africa Mercy was not able to be tugged into the harbour until around 10am. It was pretty cool to see her coming in from to the dock, having last time been on the ship as it arrived to the same location!

As she drew closer to her berth, we were able to sing some great west African praise songs, and slowly start to recognise people on board. My ward supervisor and old boss was one of the crew members, and many others who had left the Anastasis to go and set up the Africa Mercy. It was great to see so many faces of people we knew!

Once she had docked propperly and the gangway had been lowered, the Arfica Mercy let off her horn, and the Anastasis did in return. However the Ana's horn became stuck - so we got to listen to the noise of the ships horn for about 5 minutes before she ran out of compressed air. I think it was the Anastasis having her final say!

My favourite part of the day was running around the dock carrying the New Zealand flag! What fun. It was especially fitting as there were a few Kiwis on board the AFM, and they felt welcome hopefully as a result of my flag waving antics!

Well the view from my porthole is now a little different! Instead of a nice view accross the harbour, I have a large white Mercy Ship blocking it! It is not the most beautiful ship but with her projected surgical capacity of approximately 7,000 operations per year including cataract removal/lens implant, tumor removal, cleft lip and palate reconstruction, orthopaedics and obstetric fistula repair, The Africa Mercy effectively doubles Mercy Ships capacity to provide free health care and community development services.

Now for my final week and a half in west Africa, I will be carrying hundreds of boxes from one ship to the other and setting up the new ward. A lot of hard work, and a pity I do not get to live on board the AFM - I think I might just have to come back! Great things God has done through the Anastasis, and greater things he will do through the Africa Mercy!

The Final Countdown

2007-05-23T02:05:00.000+12:00

Well it is nearing that time when the Anastasis ceases to be a hospital ship. The Liberia field service is officially over for the beautiful vessel who has been sailing as a Mercy Ship since 1978. As you can imagine there have been lots of 'final' things. Final church services, final patients, final surgeries, final this and final that.

My favourite final thing was the final lifeboat race from one end of Monrovia harbour back to the ship (an annual occurence) - which of course my lifeboat won! Thats us out in front on the right!

A very sad day for all crew, especially our Chief Medical Officer Dr Gary Parker, was the final surgery on board.

Here are all the final operating room staff of the ship - just after finishing their last case ever, a cleft lip repair on 13 year old Sarah.

Not suprisingly the last surgery also means the last patients! We had four patients who left us on our last day of the Anastasis ward, 2 small children and 2 men. It was an emotional day for all of the ward nurses. I finished my time as a ward nurse on the ANA by doing the final night shift - hence I am not in this photo!

We comemorated the closing of the Anastasis ward by having a 'ward celebration'. we had a time of worship and praise, and testemonies from staff, crew and translators about old patients, miracles and sad times. It was a great way to end the era.

With the closing down of all the off ship activities, including the dental clinic, eye clinics, community health teaching, as well as non health related off ship projects to prepare for the arrival and change over to the new ship the Africa Mercy, the final health care department members posed for a photo. Dr Gary Parker is sitting in the front of me and to the left - a very bittersweet time for him as he and his family have lived on board this ship for 21 years!

We now await the arrival of the newest Mercy Ship - the Anastasis' replacement, The Africa Mercy. She is due to arrive Wednesday May 23rd. With twice the hospital capacity of the Anastasis, she is a great tool to continue bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor of West Africa.

Screening day

2007-05-09T13:18:00.000+12:00

Well as promised, here is a little bit about the Liberia screening day we had last Thursday 3rd of May. It was my second screening since arriving on the Anastasis, and it could not have been more different than Ghana!

The day started early for me - with a 4.45am wake up to be ready to leave for a sports stadium in central Monrovia at 5.30am. I was assigned a different job from last year, instead of taking patient histories, they decided to use those of us with Max-Fax and Plastic surgical skills for another purpose.

When we arrived the line of patients stretched down the road. Three of my colleagues had been at the stadium all night turning away those people who we couldn't help, but there was still a significant line of people.

Although Mercy ships has been to Liberia twice before, this was the first screening the UN has allowed us to do. There is a risk of rioting when large crowds get together, so the UN and us were very carefull to make the day pass calmly! We were allocated a contingent of UN soldiers from India, and another allocation of UNMIL police. There were more machine guns present than nurses, but I guess it is the way things are when you are living in a fragile peace.

As we have already been operating for seven weeks, we were screening for the remainder of the operating slots. The Africa Mercy has 6 operating rooms to our 3, so we were able to book almost twice as many operations in than before.

Back to my job - I was one of 4 nurses who 'walked the line', with the basic instruction of pulling people out of the line who had conditions that we could not treat and giving them the bad news that we were unable to help them. It also thankfully involved pulling people out who we could help and sending them further up the line to the doctors and specialist nurses.

What a job. How many Liberians did I say no to that day? Countless numbers. Although only about 500 people turned up (after 3000 in Ghana), we filled only about 200 surgery slots, so the rest of those people we were unable to help.

Many had come with stomach pains and back pain, which as a surgical hospital, we do not manage. Others we were able to send away to the dental or the eye clinics for free Mercy Ship treatment.

Some however were just surgeries that we, and many of the other NGO's here, cannot do. A little baby with Hydrocephalis (water on the brain) we had to turn away as we have no Neurosurgical capabilities, and some large tumours that were malignant (cancerous), we also had to turn away. Those that are turned away we offer to pray for, and many agree to this.

There were of course many that we are able to help, and who were scheduled for surgery when the Africa Mercy Arrives at the end of May.

Less people attended screening than when we were in Ghana, but that can be attributed to the difference in population (4 mil in Liberia, 20 mil in Ghana), the fact the ship has been here three years in a row now, and that many people may live too far away from Monrovia. We have a number of slots left, which is great because we are able to offer surgery to those who simply turn up at the port.

It was a very humbling day, and a difficult one. I was glad to be challenged a bit more with my nursing role, but at the same time was nervous about the responsibility I had to tell hopefull and desperate people that we were unable to help them. The second half of my day entailed taking patient histories - a welcome job as these people were most likely getting surgery - a much more positive job to end the day!

You just have to focus on those we were able to offer help to, and there are a lot of them. We just have to pray that Liberia can put all the pieces together and be able to offer its population the medical care that we so very often take for granted in the west.

Abraham and Sarah

2007-05-04T23:19:00.000+12:00

As the women’s empowerment project begins in Liberia, rabbits are essential aspects of the teaching and training. The aim of Empowering Women: Liberia is to improve food security and income generation without adding significantly to the heavy workload most African women already carry.

In addition to the skills training, each woman will receive the equipment and stock required to launch a micro-enterprise venture. At least two students per course will be trained as trainers to continue the program after Mercy Ships leaves.

After the recent success of the women’s empowerment projects during the Ghana field service, Kate Beck and Jutta Meyer, are excited to be heading up the project again.

"Ghana was an experiment, but hugely successful," explains Kate. "Although we were not the teachers there, we sat through so many sessions that we feel we can now run with the project and expand it."

Bumping and rocking over the uneven roads, Kate and Jutta travel out to one of their Liberian women’s groups. Tucked away in a box on the back seat sits Abraham, a male rabbit. Oblivious to his importance, Kate explains the reason behind his name.

"Due to the years of war, it has been almost impossible to locate any rabbits. Therefore Abraham needs to be a father of many," laughs Kate, "The plan is to breed the pair and be able to distribute their bunnies amongst the women."

Tina Gayek, 19, is a participant in the project. Sitting in the classroom and waiting for the session to begin, Tina explains how, due to the war, she was unable to go to school, but now she is attending grade 7 and has fresh hopes for the future.

"I knew people who raised rabbits before the war, so when I heard about this project I thought it sounded really interesting. It is so important for each one of us sitting here to empower ourselves to do something. I’m so excited about this opportunity."

Because of the immense need in Liberia, Mercy Ships has partnered with a number of organizations. Daniel Dalton, head of local NGO Paracom, explains his vision for the women and the future of Liberia.

"The poverty rate is huge. It is essential now to help empower communities to get back on their feet again. One aspect of my organization is to provide skills training to women. Joining with Mercy Ships has been excellent and an answer to prayer. The rabbit project is unusual but there’s definitely a market for it."

Back on the dockside, Abraham and Sarah reside in their hutches alongside the Mercy Ship. Contently munching pieces of carrot and cabbage, little do they know the hope they bring as they are used to empower Liberian women.

A Beautiful Smile

2007-04-26T21:16:00.001+12:00

Monrovia Liberia March 28, 2007. A beautiful smile lights up Esther's face. Waving excitedly one last time, sher boards the tiny plane. In just over a week her life has changed dramatically. Memories of a plane flight, a hospital ship, new friends and a brand new smile will stay with her forever.

Born with a cleft lip, 13 year old Esther describes how she grew up being teased and ridiculed by her family and friends. "Everyone used to call me 'tear mouth' Esther explains days earlier as she recovers from surgery on the Mercy Ships hospital ward. Holding a little mirror up to her mouth she then smiles, 'when I saw myself in the mirror for the first time after the operation I was amazed and so happy'.

Twleve year old Carys Parker - daughter of the ships Cheif Medical Officer and Maxillo-Facial Surgeon Dr Gary Parker - sits beside Esther on her hospital bed. Over the past week a friendship has developed between Carys and Esther. Shy at first Esther has gradually grown in confidence.

"I've spent every evening together with Esther" explains Carys, " we've made bracelets together, played games and coloured pictures. I've really enjoyed the time we have spent together."

As Esthers day of departure arrives, the two girls leave behind the coolness of the air-conditioned Mercy Ship and stand together on the dockside. At 8am the temperature is already sweltering. Wearing a new dress and carrying gifts from Carys the two girls say goodbye.

Through a partnership with the Red Cross, Mercy Ships has been able to screen patients all over Liberia. With the use of a small plane patients are being flown to the ship and back again to their home towns.

Having already enjoyed one flight, Esther describes how much she is looking forward to flying again. "We can see everything out of the window of the plane. Trees, bushes, rivers - my country!"

A small bus arrives on the dock to collect the very first group of Mercy Ship patients, and return them to the airport. Sarah, a nurse and a Red Cross Worker jumps out exclaiming "Wow you guys look incredible!"

"I flew down with these guys" Sarah explains, "they were so nervous and quiet. Now it's just wonderful to see them totally transformed. Their smiles look incredible. Praise be to our God!"

At only 13 years of age Esther has lived through years of fighting and civil war. She's witnessed the death of family members. She's suffered ridiculing and teasing because of her cleft lip, yet fresh hope lies ahead.

Initially so solemn and shy, Esther's whole expression is alive and animated as she explains that her remaining family will be so excited to see her. As she waits to board the flight home, her big brown eyes sparkle brightly in the morning sun, and her face breaks into a beautiful smile.

It's Well Time

2007-04-18T15:04:00.000+12:00

Hi there again!

Today I had a lot of fun. Despite the overwhelming heat, I managed to survive yet another day off ship, accompaning the Water and Santitation team to Cheesemansburg, a collection of villages west of Monrovia.

This is where many of our off ship teams work, including our well drillers, our agriculturalists, and our health care educators. I spent the day watching the men of one village, under the supervision and teaching of our water guys finish and complete their own well!

It was great to see all the villagers taking ownership of the project. They had previously been getting their drinking water from a small river/stream near the village. They had separated the water they drink from the water they washed in, however the washing water was upstream from the drinking water site - as you can imagine we were happy to help them with a clean water supply.

The process starts with the villagers digging a very deep pit, about 30ft deep by hand (amazing I know) until they reach the water table. This is a little different to in Ghana, where they used a drill rig.

They continue digging. Once they have hit water, a large collection of concrete rings are lowered in to the well, cemented together. They then backfill behind the rings and create a concrete slab at the surface.

Once the concrete has set, piping, rods that controll the pumping action and the pump itself are installed. It is a very interesting process to watch - as the Mercy Shippers and the villagers work together to figure it out. The whole time our team are teaching them how to maintain the wells and fix them if they break. (Health and sanitation teaching teams go into the village after well completion).

Once all the preparation is done and the pump and handle are fully installed and screwed in, it is time to test it! It was so much fun seeing all the men, women and children getting excited about the fact that they now have a well that provides fresh, clean and cool water right in the center of their village. I felt very priviledged, thats for sure!

Even I had a go at pumping - but lets just say I certainly will not take it for granted that I can just turn on a tap or a hose and get fresh safe water anymore!! Good arm exercise though!

The team hopes to finish around 5 new wells, and re-establish some others that have for one reason or another broken, or become spoiled. I still admire that they can work out in the heat of the day - and am grateful for my on ship job! It is a great opportunity that we are able to go out and see what other Mercy Ships departments are up to. Its not all surgery you know!

Mercy Ministries Begin

2007-04-09T03:29:00.000+12:00

Hey there everyone. I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted, lots has been happening both on board the ship and off too. We have been in Liberia a little over a month, and already so much has happened.

The ward opened its doors on March 17, the first lot of patients being flown in by the Red Cross from the interior of the country. One of the ships Maxillo-Facial Surgeons Dr Tony Giles, and his wife Ann (who is a nurse) had arrived well before us in January and travelled to all the major counties and regions in Liberia, searching out and screening patients in need of surgery.

For this reason we have not needed a mass screening like we had in Ghana. The ward will be open for 7 weeks, and we have filled all the surgery slots for this time with the patients from the interior. In Mid May the new ship The Africa Mercy arrives into port, so we need to close the ward down to transfer personell and equipment over to the AFM. The ward will open up again in late June, unfortunately this will be after I have finished my year or service.

To fill up the many more surgery slots that are available on the AFM, we will be having a mass screening on the 3rd of May. I will of course post about that when it occurs. In the meantime the rest of the ward nurses and my self are happy that the ward is open again after the long break as we travelled from Ghana and set up. Here we all are, 30 of us from over 15 nations.

On one weekend we were also lucky enough to be invited to take a group of Mercy Shippers by train to an old delapidated mine 2.5 hours north of Monrovia. The Bong mines were at their height in the 70s, but continued to produce iron ore until the civil war began - ending chances of its survival. We loaded the land rovers onto the train, and were able to sit on top of them for the 70km journey (don't tell OSH)! It was a great view and a great opportunity to see the countryside out of the capital. Liberia is so green and lush.

We felt like celebrities as every village we passed on the train hooting our horn, all the children would come running out and wave to us with so much excitement! We had a great time waving to about 30 villages on our way there. At the mines there is a man made lake where we could all go swimming and cool off, as well as washing some of the diesel dust from our faces. We had a great picnic lake side, and again enjoyed the view from the roof of the Rovers on our way home!

The other cool thing that happened recently was my 25th birthday. It is not every birthday that you spend in Liberia, so I had a great day. I worked on the ward in the morning, and went out for dinner that evening, to a nice restaurant on the beach. We parked our Mercy Ships Land Rover between a UN Rover and a Red Cross Rover, and opposite a Doctors Without Borders Rover. The NGO presence in Liberia is massive. My door was decorated by fellow crew members and JP made me a wonderful cake. I was quite spoiled!

Looking forward to screening and telling you more about some of our wonderful patients. Until then Happy Easter, and may this be a time for us all to reflect on the death and ressurection of Jesus Christ, and what that amazing act on the cross means for each of us today.

Spat On By Her Neighbours

2007-03-20T23:28:00.000+12:00

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

Liberty Brought Us Here

2007-03-09T06:38:00.000+13:00

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!

Sailing Away

2007-03-02T13:16:00.000+13:00

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

2007-03-02T08:10:00.000+13:00

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!

End of an Era

2007-02-17T03:41:00.000+13:00

Hello there everyone, sorry it has been a while, but we have been having trouble with our satelite, and have been unable to access the internet or use the phones for the last two weeks. Thank goodness we are back on line now so I can tell you about what I have been up to recently.

The Ghana outreach has finshed, and the ward has been closed. We set sail for Liberia on Sunday 25th of Feb! I can hardly believe it has been 8 months already!

We closed the ward one week after our last surgeries had been performed, maxillo facial and VVF (Vesico-Vaginal Fistulas) were the last operations, so we were lucky enough to end the outreach with a dress ceremony for the VVF ladies. It was our second lot of VVF surgeries - but it still impacted us so much - that these ladies sometimes put up with up to 15-20 years of leaking urine.

One woman said in her testimony that she had felt more love in the Anastasis ward from the nurses and crew members- complete strangers, than she had from her own family. It is so wonderful to see these ladies traveling back home with huge smiles and new dresses - and the most important thing - a new lease on life.

It was a sad day, as not only were we saying goodbye to the patients, but to our translators. Ghana has about 6 or 7 languages, although some of the population speaks English, it is not the English that you or I are familiar with! We have employed in health care services around 35 Ghanains from local churches to help us out in this area. The have been priceless, great friends, great workers, and great people to help us adjust to life in Ghana.

We had a neat thank you ceremony to honour the translators, thank them for their work and their time, and their service to Ghana, and of course service to the Lord. We had a great time in our African dress, with great food and of course music and worship. It was such a fun evening - we will really miss these wonderful brothers and sisters!

As the ward is now closed, we are packing it up, cleaning everything to get ready for the sail. All the nurses were given 5 days off this week, so a group of us decided to head to Ho Hoe in the Volta region (close to the Togo border) to visit the famous Wli waterfalls, and to hike up one of the highest mountains in Ghana.

We had a great time, relaxing in the village, looking at the breath taking views from the top of the mountian, and of course swimming in the pool at the base of the waterfall! Even though we were in Africa, the water was still very cold - however after the 5 hour hike up the mountain we were all ready for a dip!

It was also a great time to hang out with some of my great friends from the ship - and we were really honoured to be present when my friend and fellow ward nurse Robyn was proposed to by her boyfriend Dave! It really was a fun week.

Next time I will give you some of the statistics for this outreach and hopefully some photos of the ship leaving the port! Oh I will miss Ghana, my West African home for the last 8 months. Thanks for your interest in this wonderful country and the work we are priviledged to be able to do here! Until then, God bless!

An Unusual Friendship

2007-01-31T00:35:00.000+13:00

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.

Hawa's Story

2007-01-16T03:23:00.000+13:00

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

2007-01-08T03:42:00.000+13:00

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!

The Netherlands - Wow!

2006-12-24T01:06:00.000+13:00

Hello everyone from Houten, The Netherlands.

If you didn't already know I am spending 2 weeks over Christmas with Jan Pieter and his family, here in Holland! I really needed a break from ship life, a bit of cool weather and of course to meet JP's family.

I arrrived here on Wednesday, and had a nice relaxing day. It is so cold, I am starting to get used to it, but we went cycling around Houten and it was a bit chilly. The de Jongs have been great and organised warm clothes, shoes and a great big jacket for me, so I have not been too cold. It is a beautiful country, having never been here before, I was amazed at 1) how flat it is, 2) how everyone (I mean everyone) rides a bike, 3) how everything is made out of brick, and how busy it is.

On Thursday we went to Utrecht, the nearest big city. It is an amazing place, canals, cobbled streets, wonderful food, and I had a great time just wandering around and taking photos, in other words acting the tourist. I also had to shop for some warm clothes, as coming to Africa I was not expecting to spend Christmas in wintery Europe!

Friday Jan Pieter and I went to Amsterdam! I could not stop exclaiming 'wow!' everytime we went around another corner. Bigger canals, very old buildings, more cobbled streets, trams and just generally so different from Wellington. We visited Anne Franks house, which was sobering. Having studied her diaries in school, I was prepared, but seeing the actual annex, walking through it and imagining hiding out in there was something quite different.

It is hard to believe looking out the window onto the canals and beautiful dutch city, that only 55 years ago Jews were being marched down the street, onto trains and away to Germany or Poland to their death. It is so weird to think that in this modern country that has happened so recently.

On from that we went to het Rijksmuseum, and saw a large collection of Rembrandts, Vermeers and other Dutch painters from the 'Golden Age' of dutch history. One of the paintings even had Elmina Castle (Ghana) in the background, which was pretty surreal!

Today we are relaxing, and I am going to attempt to bake a typical NZ christmas cake! I hope you are all well, and enjoying the lead up to Christmas - only 2 days to go!

Tot ziens!

Soph

Christmas on Board!

2006-12-17T04:54:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season, and that Christmas is not too stressfull for you back at home. It is funny here as a lot of the European and North American crew think it is totally strange experience to be having Christmas in a warm climate! I have great pleasure reminding them that this is normal for us in Australasia, and that swimming, sunbathing and being hot is part of Christmas ( although I hear summer has been a bit slow coming)!

The fun thing about living in an international community is that we can learn about each others Christmas traditions. December 5 was Sinterklaas - the dutch celebration where Sinterklaas (not the same as Santa Claus) comes from Spain to deliver presents. Sure enough Sinterklaas did appear on the Anastasis to bring gifts for the dutch children, and a great time was had by all. You will be amused to hear that Sinterklaas was actually Jan Pieter - although I think you will not recognise him in the photo!

The Scandanavians on board treated us to a choral performance on the 12th of December - celebrating Santa Lucia - a day when they remember the promise of light returning. The sun is rising and setting in Stockholm this week at 0830 and 1430 respectively - so you can understand why they need to reassure themselves that winter will come to an end at some stage!

On board the Anastasis, we have tried to make the ship as Christmasy as possible. There are heaps of opportunities for crew to minister to those people we are here to serve, including taking Christmas programs at the local orphanages, prisons, hospitals and the like. In fact today is baking day, a lot of crew members are making christmas goodies to distribute to the same people.

The ward is slowing down a little bit for Christmas - we have just finished a run of thyroid surgeries. Thyroids become enlarged to compensate for a lack of iodine in the diet, the result is greatly disfiguring - this is where our surgeons come in handy. Obviously we need to also educate the patients about affordable ways to prevent goitres occurring, including using iodised salt, and eating plenty of food that comes from the sea. It is pretty dramatic surgery, and operating so close to the airway can be a bit dicey, so we are pleased when our patients are ready to go home and all complications have been avoided!

I hope you are well, thanks everyone for your support this year, it has been challenging but incredibly amazing - so thanks for helping make it possible. Merry Christmas from those of us on board the Anastasis, may you have a great time celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and may your Christmas be a time to reflect on the simplicity of his birth, and the magnitude of his purpose.

Blessings, Soph:)

Peace's Story

2006-12-06T13:59:00.000+13:00

Hi there. Those of you who recieved my newsletter would have seen some photos of one of our patients - Peace. I was wanting to share Peace's story with you a while ago - but it has now been officially published by Mercy Ships - so I can now pass on to you her remarkable story.

Ashamed, hurt and embarrassed, Peace Mensah suffered for years with a huge tumour sprouting out of her mouth. The fear of not knowing why the tumor began or how large it would grow, combined with the intense pain would have shattered most people’s faith in a loving God. But for Peace it was her faith that carried her through. “I want to tell my testimony to everyone of what God has done for me,”Peace says as she begins her remarkable story of faith.

As she perches on the side of her bed in the Mercy ships recovery ward, Peace holds a mirror in one hand. She can’t stop looking at her face, the transformation is amazing. Her smile gradually grows wider and wider until a gasp of laughter comes rushing out. In 1998 Peace first felt the beginnings of discomfort in her mouth. Four years later the swelling had grown considerably and the pain was intense. Blood and pus constantly oozed out of the mass that swelled out of her mouth. A local hospital had diagnosed the facial tumor but there was little that would be done to help.

Knowing there was little hope, Peace gave her condition up to God and prayed that He would keep her faith strong. Life grew tougher and tougher for the Mensah family. Running a small farm and trading vegetables and cassava kept them economically stable but as Peace’s tumour grew, work for her became impossible. Her husband was forced to take over the running of the entire family. Unable to sleep due to the intense pain and only able to drink liquids through a straw, Peace gradually grew more and more weak. “I used to cry out and pray for God to hear,” she says while looking at her new reflection, “and God heard my cry.”

In June 2006, a doctor from Peace’s village came to the family with the exciting news that a floating hospital ship was coming to Ghana. “He told me to pray,” Peace remembers, “and I did. I never stopped praying!” Along with thousands of others, Peace traveled to the port city of Tema to attend the Mercy Ships medical screening in late June, 2006. She stood for hours in a line, a line that would lead to a new face and a new life. Amazed and overjoyed, Peace left the screening site with a Mercy Ship surgical appointment card. The floating hospital was the answer to endless prayers; surgeons assured her they could remove the tumor and restore her face.

The 27th June, 2006 marked the start of the transformation process for Peace. She endured two surgeries over three months, spending twenty-seven days in the ship’s recovery ward. At times she recalls that it was humiliating, “I had lost so much weight and was so light that I couldn’t really walk. I had to be bathed and I always wet the bed. But the result was incredible and the nurses were amazing. Mercy Ships has done a big job.” “God has blessed me so much,” Peace murmured over and over again.

Throughout the whole eight years her husband loyally stayed by her side, looking after the whole family and reminding her that he loved her for who she was, not what she looked like. But she knows God loves her even more than this. “God is an amazing God, He is always by our side.” After her final surgery Peace remained another fifteen days onboard the Anastasis. “She was a delight to look after”, one ward nurse commented.

Ecstatic about her transformation and excited about returning home to her village, Peace talked about how the family would celebrate in style. She knew that it was her faith in God that had kept her going through all the emotional turmoil of the last eight years and to Him she gave the glory.

Peace is one of our many patients who suffer from benign tumours of the mandible or maxilla (jaw bones) It is heartbreaking to see these patients when they arrive - such a massive deformity would not be tolerated in our society. It is certainly a priviledge to be part of the team that can bring such a transformation to the lives of these people. Peace was certainly a delight to look after - and If I am not mistaking - that quote was of me!

Charity Goes Home

2006-12-03T21:42:00.000+13:00

Hi there folks, just a short post today - do any of you remember the photo I posted right at the beginning of my time here of a little girl at screening?

Well today she went home after having her cleft lip repaired last week. She did find it a bit frightening - but by the end of her stay she was much more used to us and the environment of the ward. So here she is ready to go home - with a new look!

Good news for all! See you soon, Sophie.

Living Water

2006-11-28T04:22:00.000+13:00

Hello all, hope you are all okay - cannot believe it is almost Christmas time! The official count is that I have been away for five and a half months! Can't believe it has been that long - almost half way through.

On Wednesday I went out with Jan Pieter and the water and sanitation team, to check on their progress with the well drilling, and to give some moral support to Pam who works as the educator. It was a neat day - could not believe how hot it was - and how well the men coped with the heat! Im sure the enourmous fountain of cool water was welcome when the drill hit water.

Pam teaches the children about the importance of simple public health things that we take for granted, like washing hands, using designated spots for toilets and such. At the end of the day we were able to give out a couple of hundred Bibles to the kids - so water and living water!

It is awesome to see the wells being used and knowing that it has made life at least a little bit easier for the villages the team has visited. The village we were at on Wednesday even gave the men a live chicken as a gift of thanks. I believe it went home with some of the locals that were helping with the drilling for their dinner.

They have drilled a number of wells so far, and at the moment are concentrating on constructing latrines at the same villages, to try and really make a difference in hygiene. JP was telling me that although Ghana is one of the most developed countries in West Africa, that their access to safe toilets is the worst in the region.

When one of the visiting surgeons Dr Leo Cheng chatted to us - he said although he can remove a big tumour from someones face or body one patient at a time, those who are working in public health are making differences to thousands. I have to say he has a point - and I am pleased Mercy Ships can be a part of both!

The Wonderful Ward

2006-11-11T05:32:00.000+13:00

Hi! I know I have been a bit slack at updating this blog recently - and looking back over the last four months I realised I haven't shown you much of what I do when I am at work on the Anastasis. This week I decided to show you a few pictures and bits and pieces from the ward.

We start each shift with handover - much the same as in any ward in the world, however we spend time praying for the patients, the surgeons, the nurses and the ward at this time too.

After handover, we like in most wards check on our patients and start our nursing care. Dr Gary Parker - our maxillo-facial surgeon and any visiting surgeons then do ward rounds - meeting and greeting each of their patients with the charge nurses, physios, pharmacists and ward nurses, and deciding on a plan of care.

After ward rounds - we know what we need to do before the shift is over, so the work starts in earnest. We dispense medications, feed and water the patients - especially those who have had surgery on their jaws and inside their mouths - they require naso-gastric tubes, which we pour ready made liquid food down.

There is also a lot of dressing changes - anything from surgical scars to removing drains, removing sutures and staples, and cleaning the wounds - which can often be quite a challenge.

During this time of course we are also constantly assessing the patients - making sure they are okay and recovering from their surgery well and without complications.

In amongst all the routine post-operative care we provide to our patients who have had their surgery - we also admit new patients and take them up to the Operating Room (OR) for their surgery, where together with the OR nurses and some translators we pray that all goes well!

When the patients return from the OR, it is always a sight to see. The ward is a level below the operating rooms, so we have to carry the stretcher down stairs! It is not as bad as it sounds, and over the years they have developed a unique pulley system to gently transport the patient down into the ward.

Over the next couple of shifts and days - these patients are recovered by the ward team back to independence.

After all the required nursing work is done, we are able to relax with the patients, share stories, play games, show movies and generally get to know them and where they have come from.

We make many friends, and it is often sad to see patients discharged. However it is great to see them leave the ward, happy and healthy of course!

I hope you feel a little more aware of what goes on on the Anastasis ward, and what sort of things I do when I am at work. Thanks for your interest and prayers - they are much appreciated!

A Tragically Common Story

2006-10-30T04:33:00.000+13:00

Ghana, West Africa August 31, 2006 -- Kwesi Yawson went blind one day as he fished at sea off the coast of his native Ghana. Between one moment and the next the world went dim and blurry. Kwesi could suddenly distinguish little more than light and dark shapes. Terrified, he begged his friends to row him to shore immediately.

“I went to the hospital, but all the doctors had to offer were eye drops that didn’t help,” Kwesi remembers. “I would wake in the middle of the night with my eyes badly swollen and burning. The pain became unbearable.” When it was clear he would no longer be able to provide an income, Kwesi’s wife took their two children and disappeared.

The occasional fish provided by his former work-mates was likely all that kept him from starving. Perhaps worst of all, Kwesi lost his sense of self-worth. “My pride had been shattered,” he says. “I had been stripped of all I held dear. The job I loved was no more, my family was no more and my eyes were no more. As far as I was concerned, I was no longer a man.”

Kwesi’s story is a tragically common tale. There are 45 million people presently coping with blindness according to the World Health Organization. Most live in developing nations. Sight could be restored to 50% of these individuals with a simple, twentyminute surgical procedure. However, for most, quality eye care is either financially out of reach or simply unavailable.

In response Mercy Ships has dramatically expanded eye care services. In the past, ophthalmologists and other vision professionals with Mercy Ships served largely on a short-term, rotating basis. Now, a resident ophthalmologist and associated support staff have been added to the full-time crew. Mercy Ships eye care has also gone mobile, taking vision care, surgical screening, and eye health education directly to the poor.

Beyond the initial screening, held in late June, the Mercy Ships eye team is offering mobile limics, taking vision care directly to poor communities throughout the region and screening prospective patients for onboard surgery. As a result, the number of patients Mercy Ships treats will increase dramatically: 4,000 people a year will receive cataract surgery; 1200 children will have their crossed eyes corrected, eliminating a socially stigmatizing condition; 800 more will receive various other ophthalmic surgical procedures; 200 will receive ocular prostheses to replace eyes lost to injury or disease, ending physical discomfort and restoring appearance.

In addition to providing a steady stream of prescreened patients for surgery onboard, the mobile team is taking quality vision care right into the poorest communities. Returning to the same four remote clinic locations week after week, the mobile team provides continuity of care, expanded opportunities to become invested in the community, and an appropriate forum for demonstrating and sharing the message of a loving God.

Deploying additional eye care specialists also allows Mercy Ships to support sustainable vision care solutions. Mercy Ships surgeons have already trained a number of Ghanaian doctors in advanced surgical techniques in partnership with a local Christian hospital. At the village level, community health workers are being trained to treat simple complaints and to recognize more serious conditions requiring professional care.

Following his own free surgery, Kwesi Yawson commented, “The people on the ship accepted me gracefully, allowing me all the dignity I could muster. I was treated like a real man.” In less than one hour Mercy Ships surgeons repaired the damage that kept Kwesi in darkness for 15 years.

“The next day, when the bandages were peeled from my eyes and I could see again, I knew it was a miracle,” Kwesi says. “I lost my sight on water in a boat and received my sight on water on a ship 15 years later. Thank you Mercy Ships for allowing God to use you to bless many like me. You have restored the ability I needed to survive, and I can now do things for myself. It is my prayer God grants you strength and many blessings in all you do.”

A New Smile

2006-10-17T03:16:00.000+13:00

Hi there, I know it has been a long time since I last updated this blog - but I have been waiting for a story about one of our longer term patients. Unfortunately the communications department have not published it yet - so it will have to wait.

In the mean time I thought I would show you a photo of one of our many cleft palate and lip repair patients. In NZ cleft lip and palate repair is provided free of charge to any child born with this condition.

Lip repair is routinely performed at 3 months of age, followed if necessary with palate repair at 9 months of age. The aim is to have repaired any defects before speech starts to develop. Unfortunately in many parts of the world this is not the case, as we have seen here in Ghana.

This is Emmanuel before:

And Emmanuel after his cleft lip repair.

This is Wonder before:

And Wonder after his cleft lip repair and Pharyngoplasty (a type of cleft palate repair)

There are many more kids and adults who we have looked after with similar sorts of conditions - and it is wonderful to see them sitting on their beds after their surgery checking out their new look with the mirrors they get in their admission pack. The biggest problem for most of them is the fact that we ask them not to eat rice for 6 weeks following surgery!!

Mercy Ships is helped by the charity Smile Train - who provide reimbursement to us for every cleft lip and palate repair performed on board. You can check out their website at www.smiletrain.org

Shai Hills and a Solar Eclipse

2006-10-02T03:37:00.000+13:00

Well, a quiet week on the Anastasis, I have a heavy week next week, so I will try to bring you another patient story. In the meantime - here are a few photos of Ghana from the top of the Shai hills. We went there yesterday, drove through the wildlife/game reserve in our Mercy Ships Land Rover, and hiked up to get this awesome view!

Within the reserve there were also some bat caves - we hiked up into them - and what a noise! The bats were so loud - and when we saw them - so small!

Ghana is much greener than I imagined before I came, despite the heat and lack of rain! The other interesting thing that has happened this week was the partial solar eclipse.

We took the patients out to one of the decks to watch the astronomical event - and our crew photographer snapped this awesome photo!

A Day in the Life

2006-09-23T23:48:00.000+12:00

Hi there - I thought I'd lighten up the mood today with a little bit of info about a day in the life of Sophie Smith on board the ship! So a short photo essay of my day!

Starts of course with waking up - here is my bed and my porthole in cabin 68 on the A deck. I recently moved out of my 6 bedder to this luxurious 3 bed cabin.

From here I roll down the corridor to the dining room where I have my breakfast. Its toast and cereal everyday except for Sunday's - when we have bacon and eggs! Yum. This is the dining room where I eat all of my meals unless we go off the ship to eat.

Then I go to work on the ward. There are three shifts - day, evening and night - and all the ward nurses rotate around these. Here is me being silly on the ward. Ebenezer took this photo.

Depending on the day we might go before or after work to the local markets.....

Or if it is just too hot, and we have had a stressfull day - it is more likely we head up for a dip before dinner in the ships pool!

After dinner on a Thursday we have community meeting/Church - where the whole crew can get together for some praise and worship, listen to a speaker and generally spend some time focusing on why we are here.

After community meeting the majority of the crew head into the Med Lounge for coffee.....

Some serious card games.....

or some ping pong........

And a few nights of the week I have dutch lessons....

Why do I have dutch lessons??? because my gorgeous boyfriend Jan Pieter is dutch of course! Yes you heard it here first, this ship isn't called the love boat for nothing:) JP works for Mercy Ships in the 'Water and Santitation team', and spends his week days drilling wells out in the villages and making me smile!

Well thats fairly typical day for me, hope everyone is doing okay! Soph

Chris' Story

2006-09-15T23:51:00.000+12:00

Hi there! I know it has been a while since I have posted an entry on this blog - but I have been waiting for this story. You may remember earlier in the outreach I shared with you the story of Chris, a VVF patient who gave birth on the run? Unfortunatley 2 days after we discharged her, she was rushed back to us with fairly significant post op complications. She has been with us on the ward since then, and has only just left on Monday - 2 months later, but thankfully completely healed of her VVF.

While she was readmitted- she took the time to tell us her story - her amazing and shocking story. The ward nurses and I feel honoured to have gotten to know Chris over the last 2 months, and there were many mixed emotions when she left. So without further ado - Chris' story in her own words.

"The rebels had found us and there was no where to hide. I lay by my brothers and a neighbor, shaking, as sweat mingled with my tears slid down my face. The rebels had found my parent’s room and the sound of my parents wailing and begging for their lives came through the walls. Were they stealing the rebel’s attention away from us to give us enough time to run? My brothers jumped through the window leaving our neighbor and I rooted to the spot. We had to know if my parents were going to survive. My neighbor shook me and pulled me through the window with difficulty. You see, I was nine months pregnant at the time.

The last things I heard were the screams of my parents and the gun shots that took their lives. I was only sixteen years old. My brothers had disappeared into the jungle. We couldn’t find them. We knew we had to get to safety fast because we were being pursued by the rebels. They’d heard the window slam on our way out. As if that was not enough, I went into labor while I was running. I knew if I stopped to give birth, the rebels would kill me and my baby. But if I kept running I might also die or loose my baby. I was in a dilemma.

The labor pains gave me no choice. Luckily there was a huge tree that had a cove so we slipped into it and hid from the rebels who were frantically looking for us. Pain shot through my body as the baby begged to be released into this world full of chaos. I begged my neighbor friend to deliver the baby. She fearfully answered saying “I have never delivered a baby before. I can’t do it and won’t do it.” My screams gave her no choice. I lay there and looked into her eyes knowing that I had to trust her. The baby’s head appeared, and just when it did, we heard the rebels getting closer. In her fear, my friend pulled the baby’s head too hard in an effort to deliver the baby quickly. We heard the baby’s neck snap and I knew I had lost my baby. There was no time to lament over my loss, I had to save my life and that was all that mattered right now.

We stayed in the bush for two weeks hiding from the rebels and made our way to the border of [the neighboring nation of] Ivory Coast exhausted and in pain. When we got to the border, I was too sick to stand and had to get to a hospital soon. The authorities however refused to take me on the canoe to the other side. They feared I was too sick and might die on the way. We stayed at the border for another week.

Fortunately the second canoe decided to take us across the river and we got to a hospital. I had no money, no place to sleep, knew no one in this new country and couldn’t speak the language. No one would take me in because I reeked of urine. My bladder had been ripped due to the fast delivery of my baby. I had suffered [a birth injury called] VVF but had no clue at the time. At night, we would wait around a chop bar [restaurant] till they closed and would sleep there till early morning. We hoped there might be scraps of food left for us to eat.

One day I was sitting by the road side wondering whether my brothers had made it out of Liberia. Were they alive? If so, which country had they crossed into? A Ghanaian lady suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and said “You look like some one I know in the Liberian refugee camp in Ghana.” Knowing my aunt who resembled me had made it to a refugee camp in Ghana early on in the war, a little glimmer of hope rose up in me. I told the Ghanaian woman my story and was certain the lady she spoke of was my aunt. This lady took me all the way to Ghana and reunited me with my aunt at the Liberian refugee camp.

Unfortunately, VVF left me isolated from others. I had no friends and stayed home most of the time crying and feeling sorry for myself. One day, a Nigerian lady saw me weeping and decided to take me to the hospital only to be told after the surgery that I had to pay an amount we couldn’t afford. For four months I was like a slave in the hospital, I wasn’t allowed to go out because I owed money. If I paid, they would let me go. Other patients who found ways and means to run without paying did so leaving me trusting that God would provide. My aunt had to sell charcoal for months to get me out of there. The United Nations tried to take me to the United States but the name on my documents had been spelled differently. They thought I was a different person so I was refused a visa. I believed my life had come to an end.

Still leaking, I went to another hospital who told me about Mercy Ships. It took six years to finally get the help I needed. Thank you Mercy Ships, I will never forget the kindness you have shown me, and all the prayers that have kept me alive. God bless you in all that you do. Mercy Ships has not only helped me in my physical need but they have instilled in me the desire to go to back to school and make something of myself. I plan to go to school to become a journalist, go back home to my country Liberia and build a house and find my brothers so I can take care of them. If it is God’s will I will get married and start a new life.

People think I blame my lady friend for the death of my baby. I don’t see her as the one who took my baby’s life but the one who saved my life. God saved me from the shadow of death."

Bee Keeping and Waterfalls

2006-09-04T08:50:00.000+12:00

Hello there again, as promised a few photos of my trip on Wednesday with the Community Development Services womens bee keeping project.

Kate Beck runs the project, which started by training about 45 women in the art of keeping bee hives. Bee keeping is a lucrative job for women in Africa, as it is relatively low maintenance, yet the honey produced yields a reasonable profit. Earlier in the outreach she in partnership with the Ghanain Forestry commision ran a training camp for 3 days, a photo from which I posted under my projects post a couple of weeks ago

Every week, Kate visits a woman or two who attended the training and were given all the necessary equipment in their village. The task is presenting a video about bee keeping to the villagers, with the aim of educating them about what bees can do for their community, and also how to keep safe around hives.

Kate invites crew members to go with her to the villages to help her present the video, and encourage the women involved with their small presentation afterwards. We had a great time entertaining the kids until it was dark enough to project the video, and being shown around the hives and village. Note the gumboots - donated by a gumboot company in the UK!

The two women from the village we went to were very please to host us, and we had about 150 people show up to the education session.

In relaxing news, today a group of us - including 3 NZers went on a day trip to the Beautiful Boti Falls north of Accra. About two minutes after this photo was taken it started to pour. It was the first time in the whole of our time in Ghana that it has rained, and we were completely drenched! In the photo are fellow Kiwi nurses Jo Hill and Cairin Sharp - both from Auckland.

I thought I would throw this pic in too, of a group of nurses on a trip to the mouth of the Volta River last month. The river was just beautiful, and we had a marvelous time, staying in straw huts on the beach. The sunset was unreal, and so was the company!

Plastics African Style

2006-08-26T11:06:00.000+12:00

Hello there, I hear through the grapevine that Bawa's story really touched some of your hearts last week, he certainly touched ours here on the ward! This week I thought I would share with you about my month of plastic surgery, and in particular a little dude called Ebenezer.

This is me and Ruth Van den Burg, out nurse advisor for plastics and maxillo-facial surgery. I was pulled of the ward to work alongside Ruth for three weeks, sharing my nursing knowledge about my favourite specialty! We were responsible for overseeing the care of the patients recieveing plastic surgery on board for the month that Dr Tertius Venter was on board the ship. My major job was to help Ruth with the dressing changes of all ot the patients.

Those of you who know this is what plastic surgical nurses do best - so I was in my element! Most of the patients had suffered burns at some stage, and the skin contracts as it heals, pulling tightly over joints. We use skin grafting to relase these contractures, and restore function to the patient as best we can.

There are some wonderful little kids whom I have unfortunately caused a bit of pain when changing dressings, but with the use of good pain killers, blowing bubbles, stickers and of course sedation, we still get along fine.

This little dude trying to touvh the ceiling is Ebenezer - here is a little of his story, written by our communications department.

When veteran South African plastic surgeon Tertius Venter arrived onboard the Mercy Ship, he found his exam room a bit crowded. There were 117 patients waiting dockside to see Dr. Venter his first day on the job. During a marathon screening session, July 25, Dr. Venter agreed to perform operations for 102 of these patients.

One of the first patients to receive surgery onboard the Mercy Ship is a badly burned little boy named Ebenezer Addo. Ebenezer was out playing with a friend one day when he stumbled into a field where charcoal was being made. The red-hot coals lay smoldering, hidden beneath a thin cover of topsoil.

The heat was so intense it quickly melted Ebenezer’s plastic sandals to his feet. Confused by the sudden pain, the boy reached down in a futile attempt to brush away the hurt and so his hands were also badly burned. The pain quickly drove Ebenezer to his knees and he crawled to safety, leaving his legs burned as well.

In the developed world, a child so badly injured would be immediately rushed to a specialized burns unit. But as in many poor countries, Ghana’s healthcare system is a pay-as-you-go service. Ebenezer was admitted to the hospital, but his burns received little attention because the family could not afford the cost. As a result the burned flesh contracted into rock-hard scar tissue, pulling Ebenezer’s hands and feet into misshapen claws.

“The thing about burns is, if you don’t treat them in good time they heal by what’s called ‘secondary tension’ or ‘contracture formation’,” Dr. Tertius explains. “This means the wound pulls closed by itself and that will pull your fingers closed in the palm of your hand or pull your shoulder up so that you can’t move it…a frozen position. “So we release that and treat that with skin grafts. It’s obviously very satisfying to do that, particularly with small children who come in with their hand in a little ball and he can’t open his hand and you can release that with skin grafts and they do very well. They get a lot of function back in those hands.

Ebenezer is still in recovery onboard, but the grafts are holding and his prognosis is good. The boy’s mother, Matilda, is so impressed with the Mercy Ship she’s decided the vessel and crew must be heaven sent. “I believe the nurses and doctors are little angels dropped from heaven just for my Ebenezer to get a chance at living again,” Matilda says. “My boy is alive, he smiles and I see the light in his eyes.”

Dr. Venter is preparing to leave the Mercy Ship after treating roughly half of the 102 patients accepted for surgery. He’ll return in November to perform operations for the remaining patients. Interestingly, Dr Venter supports his frequent collaborations with Mercy Ships through the proceeds from a cosmetic surgery practice in Ireland. In just a few months’ time he can earn enough to spend the balance of the year treating the forgotten poor without charge.

Ebenezer is known by the ward nurses as spiderman! Until next time.....

Bawa's Story

2006-08-17T02:49:00.000+12:00

Hello everyone. This week I wanted to share with you Bawas story. It was prepared by two of our crew photographers Esther Biney and Ashleigh Pitt, and Bawa was happy for us to share it with you, so here it goes!

A relentless sun and clouds of dust poured in through the open windows of the old bus as it bounced along a back road in West Africa. Beads of sweat cut muddy tracks across the faces of the passengers. In spite of the heat, one man onboard wore a heavy scarf wrapped around his head and his shirt buttoned all the way up for the entire 15 hour journey. Bawa Tarfo was afraid what might happen if his fellow travelers saw the horrible tumors disfiguring much of his body.

For years Bawa lived with the tumors called keloids: scar tissue gone wild and growing in large folds and pouches on his head, face, neck and torso. The physical pain and discomfort were exceeded only by the humiliation and shame Bawa felt when others noticed his deformity. Living so badly disfigured was a horror. Everyone stared with shock and loathing.

Traditional doctors tried strange herbs. Quack doctors gave advice that nearly killed him. Blades and strings had been used in the past in unsuccessful attempts to remove his keloids, leaving his pain and disfigurement even worse. Dejected and hopeless, he’d been living behind his scarf now for a full decade.

First in line, Bawa was the first to be screened. He was also among the first to be accepted for surgery. Bawa held the tiny yellow appointment card to his face and wept quietly.

Nothing in life had prepared him for the experience of being taken onboard the big, white hospital ship for treatment. He was still in his own country, but suddenly living in a western world. He watched the nurses and doctors closely. They weren’t related to him or any of the other patients, but they were treating everyone with great love and respect anyway. “I have never been pampered so much in my life like I have been here on the ship,” Bawa marveled. “Not even my mother loved and cared for me like the crew. I watched in awe as crew who weren’t even medical staff would come and visit and talk to me. I don’t want to leave this ward.”

Doctors removed 8 pounds of keloid tissue from Bawa’s body. Wrapped in bandages after his surgery and still in pain, Bawa’s eyes spoke volumes. The haunted and wounded look in his eyes had disappeared to be replaced with confidence, faith and gratitude.

“I am over excited because I am a changed person,” Bawa said a few days later. “Not only am I changed on the inside but on the outside as well. I am a new person and very handsome. I am ready to go find my wife; if she accepts me I want her back

Inspiring don't you think!

Mercy Ships Projects

2006-08-10T04:52:00.000+12:00

Hi there! I thought I would let you know a bit about the other projects that Mercy Ships are involved with, although the medical focus is strong, there is plenty more going on off the ship!

One of the Mercy Ships projects is the construction of a maternity hospital here in Tema. A team of very hard working guys are spending their buisness hours in the hot sun digging holes, pouring cement and generally constructing a ward along side local labourers. It is a big job, especially in the heat and will hopefully be finished later in the year.

The water team are aiming to drill 30 wells, and construct hundreds of latrines during our time in Ghana, working alongside the government and community members to ensure the skills are passed on. The team also includes an educator, who goes into the local communities and schools to teach and encourage better sanitation and hygiene practices. I was lucky enough on one of my days off to go with the Water and Sanitation team to a village 2 hours north of Tema where they are in the process of constructing a well. It was great to get out and see what the other departments are up to.

The village is really neat, and will benefit greatly from having a clean water supply within walking distance. We certainly take for granted the fact we have drinking water come out of our taps at the turn of a knob! It is estimated that having latrines within a village can reduce disease within a community by around 70%, so It is certainly a worthwhile project.

Another project Mercy Ships is working on is a bee keeping programme. The Community Development team has trained about 52 women in bee keeping, and on Weds 30 August, a friend and I will be heading out with CDS to help with some community teaching around bee safety. This will be great - and the project will give a number of women greater earning capacity. I will post some more info about the bee keeping programme after my trip in August.

So as you can see, the ward and the medical work is just a part of the work Mercy Ships does here in West Africa. Thanks again for your interest, hope you are all well, Soph!

VVF Ladies Go Home

2006-07-29T00:22:00.000+12:00

Hello there. Today was exciting as a bunch of our patients who had successfully had their VVF (Vesico-Vaginal Fistula) repair left the ship for their own villages. Today 8 women were presented with a new dress by Mercy Ships, and we had an opportunity to hear their stories/testemonies and of course sing and dance with them!

Here is Doctor Steve and Doctor Heather with the women on the gangway. The one at the front of the line, Chris had her baby at 14, whilst escaping from liberian rebels. She lost the baby, and has leaked urine constantly since that time. She is now 22, and today is healed! She is a wonderful woman, so positive and such a blessing to all in spite of her circumstances. We have so much to learn from these women about life and God.

It was amazing to hear a story from one woman, who has been leaking urine for 8 years. She had a dream 2 years ago about a house on the water, the house she felt was a church or something similar. Imagine her suprise when she was brought to the Mercy Ships screening by a nurse from her home village in the north of Ghana a hospital on the water. Wonderful stories, and a priviledge to be a part of them.

Elmina Visit

2006-07-25T03:28:00.000+12:00

Hi there. I thought I would ease up on the heavy stuff, and tell you about my weekend! A group of 8 people from the ship, did an over nights excursion to Elmina and Cape Coast. It was four hours drive from the Port of Tema, and well worth it! We stayed in a little hotel in Elmina, with the most amazing view out of the window of the river and the famed Elmina castle. It was a wonderful place full of colour, smells and noise. It is a major fishing village, and the locals glide in and out of the river in their brightly coloured fishing boats (which are pretty similar to Waka's) with their catch!

The castle is situated at the head of the river, and its construction was started in the 1400's. Originally it was owbed by the Portuguese, who used it as a trading post for gold, spices and unfortunatlely slaves. The castle was then taken over by the Dutch, who held it for a couple of hundred years until the British took it over, and how it is most definately Ghanain!

It was a very humbling and moving experience visiting the castle, as its major role was that of trading slaves. It was most comparable to my visit to the Nazi Concentration Camp at Dachau, and it was hard to imagine all the atrocities that went on there within those walls. The most awful part was a cell where misbehaving slaves were thrown to die - they would put up to 30 people in these cells, and not dispose of the dead bodies until all the men had passed away. There are horrible stories of rape and torture, which all of us found difficult to stomach.

At the end of the tour, we all read aloud from a plaque on the wall of the castle that read 'NEVER AGAIN'. That's for sure.

We spent some time at the beach swimming in the ocean and were even lucky enough to witness a beach side Ghanain wedding celebration! But were back being tourists the next day at the Kakum National Park, where I saw a real wild monkey! We did the canopy walk there, cantilevered above a beautiful forest. We saw lots of beautiful buterflies, which made coping with the height of the swing bridges a bit easier.

It was nice to get away from the ship, and see some of what Ghana has to offer. I was back at work today, getting ready for our plastic surgery run to begin, now that our Plastic Surgeon has arrived. I am very excited as this is my kind of work. Will keep you posted, until next time, Soph.

I was not able to upload photos today - my server is being difficult - so as soon as I can I will post them!

Life in the Ward

2006-07-18T21:52:00.000+12:00

A new week, with new challanges. This is Prince. He is one of many children from Ghana who suffered from a large tumour on the side of his face. He and his father came to the ship on the first evening the ward was open, and Prince was one of the first people we operated on in Ghana, with the aim of removing his tumour.

Prince goes home today! He is 9 years old, very friendly and has the most awesome smile. He doesn't speak english, but we have some very helpful translators on the ward who help us to chat with him. He is now a veteran of the ward, and is basically the boss guy. As he has felt stronger, he has joined us on the aft deck of the ship for singing and another nurse and I taught him how to use a swing. He is pretty good now, but we have to really make sure he does not fall over.

The other child in the photo is Daniel Walls - a kiwi kid who lives on board the Anastasis, who had 'adopted' Prince. The adopt a patient scheme means that crew members who do not have access to the ward like myself, and often have no opportunity to relate to patients are able to have the same opportunities as us nurses. Daniel and Prince get on like a house on fire, and last night Prince came up to the deck to watch us play a bit of cricket - which he thought was hilarious!

It is strange sending patients home, but Im sure prince will have a much better chance at a normal life from now on, and it has been a priviledge to be a part of it! Here he is with some of our other patients on the Aft Deck the day before he went home.

Thanks for your interest!

VVF Screening

2006-07-12T10:32:00.000+12:00

Hello there.

A busy time here on the Anastasis, as Monday was our VVF screening day. This screening was separate from the main screening day because the surgeon Dr Steven Arrowsmith only arrived on the ship on Sunday! Three nurses from the ward - myself included, spent the day seeing about 20 women with Vesico-Vaginal-Fistulas. This is a hole that has formed between the Vagina and the bladder/urethra - usually occurring after obstructed labour (sometimes a labour lasting 3-5 days!)

These women most likely loose the baby somewhere through the labour because they are not able to access a cesarean section. THe pressure of the baby on the bladder and internal organs is too prolonged, and these organs necrose (die). As a result these women (and girls) become permanently incontinent of urine. Think of the implications in rural Africa. You can imagine that this usually means the women are outcast from society, their husbands leave them, and they are basically emotionally, physically and spiritually scarred for life.

It was a hard day - on questioning these women it turned out that most of them had lost many children, one woman had 4 out of 10 children still alive. There is so much pain for them, the least we can do is help them out. In most cases we are able to repair the fistula (hole) and restore their continence and of course their dignity. It is a very exciting time, and it has been encouraging to work alonside Dr Steve - who has a real passion for caring for these women. He trained in fistula repair alongside Catherine Hamlin (The famous gynaecologist who has worked in this field in Ethiopia for the last 40 years) and I really reccomend you check out this website to fully appreciate how lucky you are to live in the west.

http://www.fistulafoundation.org/hospital/

On a brighter note, today we were able to take some of our many patients up to aft deck to have some fresh air and join in with some worship African Style! One of the most amamzing patients - a woman called Peace danced up a storm, despite having had a massive tumour removed from the side of her face only 3 days ago. What an inspiration and blessing to us all. I will post some photo's of the event soon!

Thanks for your prayers,
Soph:)

Precious Child

2006-07-06T20:58:00.000+12:00

Here is a photo typical of those people we saw at screening last week. Today we attempt to repair about 4 cleft lip and palates on board the Anastasis. This little girl is one of the many people our max fax surgeon Dr Gary Parker can help, and we look forward to seeing her in the ward soon!

Screening Day

2006-07-04T06:29:00.000+12:00

Well, I know it has been a while - but I have been waiting for our communications department to post all the photos from screening! We were not allowed to take our cameras so as not to intimidate people - and the official photographers snapped them on our behalf. It is only today that any have come through.

I thought I would just put one up - showing the line of over 3000 people who lined up for up to two days to be seen by our crew! I have never done so many manual Blood pressures in my life, taken so many medical histories - and doing it all through a translator - which is an interesting experience!

Many of the people we were able to offer help to - and have theatres scheduled from now until January! We have been doing a lot of cataract surgeries this last week - Dr Neil Murray from Tauranga has been overseeing those ops and it has been great to learn a lot about eyes. The first max fax surgery was today - and I properly start work on the ward tomorrow morning.

Missing you all and thanks for your prayers!

Soph

Prayer Requests

2006-06-26T09:51:00.000+12:00

Hi there,

Just a request for all those praying people out there! Today - Monday 26 is screening day! In particular my home group - who meet tonight need to be aware that at the same time you start homegroup we will be just beginning to screen patients! Therefore - I would love it if you could help out with some staunch prayer:

1) That those who come to the screening will be those people that we can offer help to
2) That we have the strength and stamina to last the whole day seeing patients - many whom we will have to turn away.
3) That those who come to the screening will be witness to Gods love for them through us

Thanks guys - If you could also pray for an anaesthetist to come from August - that would be an added bonus!

Soph

A Very Busy Week

2006-06-24T11:04:00.000+12:00

Hi there. Not much has changed since I last posted - but Ill let you know I have been learning a lot about Ghana!! It was great to be in the town when they bet America 2-1 to qualify for the second round in the World Cup Soccer! Unfortunately Ghana meet Brazil in the next match - we will have to wait and see - luckily we have no Brazilians on board, so we can all support our host nation in unity!

We have been in the ward a bit more since I last posted - setting up the unit for next week. We begin screening on Monday - and expect about 5,000 people to come to be assessed. I will be working taking medical histories from the patients, working with the doctors and nurses to help decide who we will be able to help!

In the meantime - I met up with the other Kiwis on the ship for a NZ photo - Some of you may know these people - spot me in the shade, and my mate from WSCF Lisa Swan!

More from me when something exciting really does happen, Soph:)

I Have Finally Arrived!

2006-06-20T01:28:00.000+12:00

Hello everyone,

Greetings from Tema, Ghana! It was a long and arduous flight to make it here - about 40 hours total - but was greeted at Accra by a friend from the ship, which made the arrival so much nicer!

It is hot and dusty - but trees and vegetation are plentiful. Ghana is soccer mad - with the defeat of the Czechs in the World Cup Match proving a great talking point!

The ship is larger than I thought - and looks great tied up here at the dock. I share my room with two others, and I have already met lots of great people - The head of Surgery Dr Gary Parker has been here for 19 years, and I had lunch today with people who had served on the Anastasis for 8 and 9 years! So you may not see me back as soon as expected.

Well thats all for now - Medical screening of prospective patients starts on Monday - and from there we will begin our surgeries and other outreach programmes including construction and water purification projects. IN the mean time I am attending hundreds of different briefings and orientations - so I am keeping busy! I will post some photos when I figure out how to use the computers here!!

Until then, Soph

Only 5 Weeks To Go!

2006-05-08T23:05:00.000+12:00

Hello again! Well the movie fundraiser was on Wednesday night and was a great success! We managed to raise around $3300 from the evening - which will go to help pay for my crew fees, insurance, and flight costs!

Thanks again to everyone who was able to come, and those who were not but donated anyway. Thanks to those also who donated prizes for the highly successful raffle, and the Penthouse Cinema for hosting us. Big thankyou's to my Western Suburbs Christian Fellowship Homegroup, who put on the evening and helped by cooking, serving, and general event management - with the amazing Jo Heyhoe at the helm. I could not have done it without you!

5 weeks to go, and things are getting busy! I have recieved my first lot of vaccinations, purchase my tickets tomorrow, and end work in a month!

Thanks again to everyone who made my fundraising effort such a success :)

Movie Fundraiser

2006-04-01T16:30:00.000+12:00

Hi again, just an update on the fundraising side of things. I am having a fundraising evening - showing a movie pre-release called "On a Clear Day", a British film made by the same team as 'The Full Monty' and 'Brassed Off'. Click on the link http://www.iconmovies.co.uk/onaclearday/ to learn more about the film.

The evening is on Wednesday May 3rd, at 8pm at the Penthouse Cinema in Brooklyn. Drinks and nibbles will be provided, as well as a chance to enter a raffle. Tickets are $20 each.

We have to know numbers a week prior to the screening, and for that reason we are asking that you purchase your tickets ASAP as no door sales will be available.

I really hope that you can make it along, and that you feel free to bring lots of friends too!

See you there!

My First Post

2006-02-26T09:34:00.000+13:00

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