Goodbye, Farewell!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless, Sophie:)

Reuben's Story

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

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

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

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

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

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.