Happy Thanksgiving!

So I told you yesterday I would get back to you on the price of a cow. It is about 150000CFA or about 300-350 USD!...That is for a grown, milk producing cow. We can't wait to give mamma the money toinght! I will be going with another nurse to take her to the bus at 530am tomorrow. She knows someone in Parakou that she thinks will know where she lives and can direct her in the right direction. (She is the one on the right).

Wow! I can't believe it is Thanksgiving. We played some Christmas music on the word...felt strange, but did make it seem a little more holidayish! So I lied about Monday being my last ward day. I was pleasently suprised to get called into the ward today...although slightly sad I would miss my weekly 12k run(well, maybe sad is not quite the right word!)

We are down to 8 patients in the hosptial now. It was a wonderful morning of smiles, laughs, dressing changes, and praying with the patients. Although..we did have a new admit. Even though we did not agree..Dr. Gary decided to do a last minute surgery yesterday.



Sneetch has a hemibeakectomy -tumor from lower beak removed. He should recover ok. We had everyone round on him this morning including, Dr. Gary-surgeon, ward physician, ward supervisor, charge nurse, post-op nurse, wound care nurse, hospital administrator, counselor/discipler and ICU nurse. He was a hit with the other patients on the ward. His language is Bika though and we have not found a translator who speaks that dialect...so we are doing a lot of miming. We have someone who speaks sqwauka but it is not similar enough to translate. He will return to us in Togo for a flipper flap graft.

On a more serious note I had to say goodbye to Veronique, VVF pt, today. She had gone home and come back with an infection. She was always so smiley and joyful and learned quite a bit of english while here too. She still has an uproad battle, but sure goes at it with her chin up and a smile on her face!

Tonight is thanksgiving dinner. Jessica, my roomate, and I made pies and hand turkey invitations last night and transformed our usual sitting area in the dining room into a holiday table! We enjoyed yummy food with some good friends!

Just another day...

Monday was my last day on the ward as a nurse:( The ward closes Friday. Yesterday consisted of lots of scrubbing, cleaning, moving, packing, scanning charts, and of course dancing in between! Funny how a little bit of music and good friends can make ANY job enjoyable! Here are a few pictures interesting happenings of Tues. Nov. 24th.


Even the kids from the hospitality center joined in to help. No child labor laws here right?..:)

The quote of the day is from Danae in central supplies when Ali and I went to get some baby formula. As we were leaving she says, "Oh, and by the way, if you are going to need that cow, let me know and I'll donate." Oh the random things you hear around here. One of the mamma's on the ward had sold her land and cow for medical help for her cleft lip baby after her village disowned her. Her baby had surgery but she has no money and actually does not know where her village is to get back. So today Ali's we were going to try to figure out the price of a cow so we can take up a collection for her. Ther verdict is still out...but I will keep you updated!

Are We Sinking?In the afternoon the laundry room and ward kitchen flooded...about 4-6 inches deep of water...so much it went over the lip at the doorway and was traveling down the hall past xray and towards central supply. So in a matter of minutes there was quite the commotion on deck 3.


At dinner time I found out that a tanker 18 miles off of our coast was attacked by pirates in the afternoon. The chief engineer was killed before the pirates got scared off. The tanker is from Monrovia and now in our port. I have been praying for them...what a traumatic experience! There is a news article about it on bbc: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8376715.stm. Guess it is pretty bad along the coast on either side of us. Don't think we will have a problem though as we don't have too much precious cargo. And I think the pirates would be in for a rude awakening when they got on and realized how many crew are on board!

Prince Eddie

It is 4am and I am on my last night of 3 night shifts. One of the translators just made fresh squeezed orange juice and brought it into A ward for the 3 of us working tonight. Oh, the little things that make life so grand sometimes:)

I know I have been slacking the last couple months on my blogs so I am trying to slowly write a few that should have been written long ago.

Prince Eddie is a patient who was here for burn contractures on one of his hands. He was screened when the Anastasis(old ship) was in Ghana but was put on the waiting list and not called. When he found out the ship would be in Benin he came again for screening. This time he was able to get surgery. Even though he did not get treated in Ghana he did not lose heart or joy.

Prince Eddie had a smile that could light up a room. I have to say it was also refreshing having an english speaking patient.:) This patient was such a joy to take care of. He was here at a God ordained time I believe. He was always encouraging the nurses and telling them what a great job they were doing. He was always reading his bible and even prayed with other patients who were having a tough time.

I was working one day when he handed me a poem and I wanted to share it with you. Prince Eddie is a very gifted poet and ended up writing several poems while he was here, but one in particular really stood out. After I got this poem I immediately brought it to Ali and Suzanne to share with them and it almost brought them to tears. At that time on the ward we were dealing with some really hard cases and patients who did not have a good prognosis. One of the patients he prayed for actually had a rare kind of lymphoma and the boy actually ended up passing away. This poem was a reminder of why we are here and a welcomed encouragement in a great time of need. Without further delay...here is what he wrote:

Angels Amongst the Sons of Men

The day the Big White Whale landed on the black shores of Africa was a blessed day to the Sons of Men.
It came with Angels to walk amongst the Sons of Men.
Why do I call them Angels? Let me tell you of my time with them.

I came onboard the White Whale with rooms filled with
the lame
the maimed
the formed
the deformed
the wrong
and the rough.

And deep into the darkest part of the night, I saw men and brethren,
maidens and ladies, though flesh as us, yet with hearts as Angels.

Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night,
through the pains and aches of men;
They, with hands to heal and mend,
bringing from above the Father's love to the Sons of Men.

Some they cut.
Some they tie.
Some they seal, and yet others
they fix with tools untold.

Like messengers of the Most High they came.
Not thinking of their own, they risked their lives
and sailed the seas to lands beyond the endless world,
to shores of Men afflicted and in pain.

Their hearts and lives they came to share,
as Angels walking amongst the Sons of Men.

Some in this life are born to pass,
and some are born in life to live,
Yet these Angels are born to preserve humanity.

Though some may see lives as waste,
yet with speed they move to save.
With words of love and touch of peace,
they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.

You were born as Men to your lands,
and yet as Angels you served the earth.
Gold is digged from earth beneath.
Treasures are hunted on high seas.
But love so pure and true
can only in hearts like yours be found.

Your labor in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save,
For every bone you mend and every face you straight,
The Lord of Life and Light will light your path and guide your life.

For you are truly Angels amongst the Sons of Men.




Prince Eddie wrote that as a thank you to the nurses here. He explained that he wanted to write what the other patients also thought but could not express well without speaking english. He was very touched by his surgery and stay here and in turn left behind powerful impression and some inspiring poems.

A Visit to Edith's

First of all...my mom has been here for a week now and it has been so fun having her here and being a part of the ministry first hand that I have told her so much about! She started work right away so has not had much time to get off the ship except to walk on the dock. Wed. she was able to finally get out when she went to visit Edith with me.

Edith is the housekeeper/dayworker on the ward that I have written about many times. She is very dear to my heart. She has been wanting me to come out to her house to visit for quite sometime and after she had her surgery that delayed it more. Well, this past Wed. finally worked out for me and a friend to go. It was neat how it worked as this way so my mom could come along. My mom has really enjoyed getting to know Edith and Edith was so excited to have her along as well.

Edith lives about an hour away from the ship with her daughter and husband near the agriculture site that Mercy Ships is helping with. It is a long bumpy dirt road to get there. It had just rained so that always makes that trip a bit more adventurous! Mom enjoyed the long drive and finally getting out to see some of Africa.

They have a typical humble African home out in the bush as Edith says. It is so beautiful out there...nice to be away from the city. Edith cooked some yummy fish and sauce with rice. It was incredibly delicious! We took lessons as we watched her get her grinding board and grind the tomatoes into a paste and cook up the yummy meal. Even Mary, her daughter, helped stir the pot once in a while. In the meantime, Luara, mom, and I enjoyed playing with Mary and the neighbor kids. I had met Mary when they came to the ship and she kept asking her mom when I was going to come out. Apparently she had been really excited that I was coming and told her friends at school that a yovo was coming to visit her.:) One of the neighbors had the multiplication table written on a chalk board and repeated it several times for us. We got our work out as we were human jumgle gyms for the 3 kids to climb up and down on...was great fun!


We only had the car for 4 hours so we did not have time to go see her husband's agriculture site and meet the neighbors this time. I am hoping to get back there though. We enjoyed many laughs, dancing, and a yummy meal together before we had to go back. I am so humbled by the hospitaliy of the people here. I know they do not have much money but Edith had gone to buy a special big fish for us and make a really nice meal. SHE kept thanking US for coming out there...it meant so much to her. I always feel like I need to give something in return to help pay for the meal but I know that would be offensive to them as this is their special gift to us. It was so fun for me to have mom be a part of that and for her to be able to meet the family of Edith who means so much to me. I am looking forward to sharing more great memories and experiences with her in the coming weeks.

Zemidjan Bingo

So one day Ali and I were riding in the car noticing all the oh so random things they put on their zemidjan bikes here. We decided it would be so fun to make a roadtrip game called zemi bingo. You would have a bingo board and would have to find a zemi that represented each square. For example, one square could be a piece of furniture, one a live animal, one 5 people on a zemi,etc. We still have not made it, but maybe for the next road trip:) I have collected several entertaining pictures for your viewing pleaseure:) Many things I have seen on zemi's I would have thought I couldn't even fit them in my car at home...yet they manage carrying it on a motorbike. Some of my favorites that I have seen or heard include a door, large live pig, couches, 6 live goats, family of 5 (who needs a 4 door sedan?), and my all time favorite...a casket!

Joy Comes With The Mourning

We had a patient and family a month and a half ago who really impacted me and many of the nurses here. I have been studying the book of Esther and through that and this patient God really taught me a lesson in humility and trust.

Baby Hubert came to us as part of the baby feeding program we do. He was 9 months, but looked SO tiny and week and wieghed next to nothing. He stayed on the ward quite awhile and we all fell in love with him. It was so hard to watch his mamma just not seem to care about him...she wasn't motivated to feed him and you could tell the way she held him that the bond was just not there. It is hard to understand how this could happen. You see, he has been sick since he was born and he did not get the scars on his face like his siblings because his voodoo practicing parents were not sure they wanted to claim his life yet.

My friend Suzanne and I were on night shift together with him for awhile and enojoyed taking turns holding him. Even though he was so week and small he had such energy...he was a fighter. He was finally slowly putting on weight when he fell quite ill all of the sudden. He was diagnosed with malria and soon got a horrible rash, his heart starting beating quite fast, and lungs started getting stiffer and stiffer. He was soon moved to the ICU for isolation at first and later intubation(as we did not know what infection he had)/life support as his little body could not keep up with the infection.

Through this time there was so much prayer for him and the staff. Many of us kept wondering why this would happen...he was doing so well and then this happened. I felt like God would heal him...he had too...afterall, God brought him to this ship and we are a Christian ship that provides healing!!!!

Hubert did not make it. This was really hard for us to take and process. However, through this time there family was able to see how much we desperately loved and cared for Hubert and his family. His older sister Pauline was very distant when she first came and would not smile and did not seem to have a very stong bond with mamma either. As time progressed however you could see the change in her disposition and even her bond with her mom. Hubert's dad wanted nothing to do with him at first. And I was in the ICU with them one of the last few days Hubert was with us when his father asked me if he could hold Hubert and give him a bath! It was amazing to see the parent's hearts change and really care for and love Hubert by the time he passed.

Yes, Hubert's passing was very hard on us and the family. But through this God taught me once again that his plan is SO much bigger than ours. Hubert's life is precious and he was loved soo much by the time he went home to be with the Lord. But God had a bigger plan in this than healing Hubert. Through his life glory was brought to God and God's love was shown to him and his family.

This is where the book of Esther comes in. There was an edict made that all the Jews were going to be killed. At that time there was much desperation and mourning amongst them. God however, in his perfect timing and providence changed that and ended up protecting the Jews. He turned their mourning into joy...and in a way that only He could so that He would get the glory. He also used Esther and Mordacai to fulfill this...two common day people who probably did not aspire to be used or seem qualified. In the same way, even though God did not spare Hubert's life I know God had a plan for this. He turned mourning from Hubert's death into joy in the new family relationships/bonds that had formed and renewed. And the family who openly talked about their practice of voodoo was open to talking about God by the end of this.

Since this time the family has come back to the ship. Pauline was all smiles as was the husband and mamma. They are a new family. We can never understand circumstances or why things happen, but we have to look at the bigger picture and trust that God is faithful and works through all situations. Yes, we need to do our part in using our knowledge to provide care and pray against strongholds and pray for healing...but at the end of the day we need find peace in the fact that God is God and we are not. As it says in Is. 55:8-9, "For my htoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts." We also know that God does not willingly bring harm on his children: Lamentations 3:23-33, "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."

We have to place to judge why Hubert did not stay with us, but we can find peace that does know what He is doing and that He can use any situation to be glorified!

For Such A Time As This

Last Friday my evening shift started off like most and actually was pretty calm. Around dinner time one of our translators called me into the kitchen to which I found Edith, our housekeeper, crawled up in ball on the floor in lots of pain. Edith is one of my favorite day workers whose wedding I had written about earlier. To make a long story short, we had her checked out and it was quite probable that she had an ectopic pregnancy which is very painful and would call for an emergency surgery back home. We do not do ob/gyn surgeries on the ship so we had to arrange to take her to a local hospital that evening. It was a total God thing that she was working for us to see her and get her to help immediately. She is a very strong woman and had been living with the pain for a while because her and her husband did not have money to go to a doctor.
I was not very busy and since she is so near and dear to me I was able to lay with her while she was getting tests done on the ship before leaving for a hospital. Ali was doing charge nurse with me and gracious enough to let me go to the hospital with Edith.

It was such a blessing to both her and I for me to be with her Friday and most of the day Sat. Edith was in so much pain and so scared. I was able to sit with her as we waited for the doctor and pray with her and sing. Several times when it got quiet she would turn to me and say, "Liz, you know what I am thinking?", and proceed to share with me her feelings about losing her baby, how her husband will deal with this, and questions she has about what is going on. She could not stop saying thanks to me for being there and at one point told me I was like her mom as I let her rest her head on my lap and stroked it. We are the same age and at that point I felt like I was her sister. Although our lives are so different they seemed so close. I could not imagine going through what she did without having another close female beside her for comfort and a good hand squeeze when the pain was at its worst. I waited with her until midnight just sitting in silence at times, and at others hearing her awesome testimony and about her family...1st husband who died, her one child, and her remarriage.

Finally we were told they were going to postone the surgery until early Sat. morning. I decided to go to the ship for sleep since her church friend was staying and come back at 6am. We were told she would have surgery at 5 or 6am. When I got there, there were no doctors in sight. She was fed up with the pain and wait so she marched down the hall to where the doctor was sleeping and knocked on the door to wake him up! Only in Africa do you wake your surgeon up to tell him to get a move on!

One of my dear friends and fellow nurse from the ship, Suey, came with Sat. which was so nice! We waited with Edith's husband and church family as they did surgery. Since I had worn my scrubs they actually called me in to watch the laparoscopic surgery. It was quite a clean and sterile environment...I was impressed with it compared to other places I have seen. The nurse would come out occassionally with a slip of paper with writing on it, upon which we would take to the pharmacy there to get what it was and bring it back to her (since you have to buy all your supplies in advance for medical treatment in Africa). About 30 minutes after they took her in we took the first slip to the pharmacy and brought back an ET tube. Suey and I couldn't stop laughing. We were like, well, "guess they havent intubated her yet since we are bringing her ET tube!" Later we were sent at times for IV fluids, antibiotics, pain meds, tubing, etc. We decided we could see what stage of the surgery they were at by what supplies they were sending us to get!

It was quite the experience to be with a friend through a surgery in an African hospital, but I believe God had brought us together earlier in the outreach and had me working the night she was here for a reason. God is always in control and I believe it was He who had her in so much pain here Friday night so we could get her help and I and some others could help financially since they would not have asked for it yet truly needed it! I was so grateful to be able to be with her through this difficult time.
"And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." -Rom. 8:28

Please continue to pray for Edith and her family..that she may be free of infection and pain as she is still recovering in the hospital.



Some other interesting tidbits from those days for those of you who are not tired of reading...;)

-Sat. morning they had hung another IV after the 1st finished. The nurse left the room and I didnt think they would prime the tubing and would let the air flow into Edith that was left in the tubing since Suey has seen this done. So while the nurse was gone we disconnected the IV and primed it. Turns out the nurse came back to prime it and was probably confused to see no more air in the tubing...Suey and I just looked at each other and snickered.
-Recovery room consisted of a few nurses who were rarely in the room and checked Edith's blood pressure every 30 minutes for about an hour until the next pt came in and needed the vital machine.
-The whole surgery, medicine, hospital fees, etc. totalled approx. 200-250USD! A steal when you compare the same procedure to the cost of that in the states...yet a fortune for people here!
-We were not allowed in the recovery room unless we had scrubs...which I at the last minute decided to wear Sat. Suey did not so they finally gave her a sterile gown to wear. We laughed that to us it was more for our protection than the patient's as they left soiled beds just sitting there after the patients were long gone.
-The patients had to use their own buckets from home for bed pans and of course had to have someone go out and buy them food when they wanted to eat.
-Edith had to wait 6hrs post op before they would allow her to have even a sip of water.

I know there are more things, but it is 530am on night shift so if I think of more I will add them later:)

"Africa: 1 Yovos:0" -Suzanne Zickell circa Aug.2, 2009

I know...2 blogs in 1 day...I am really outdoing myself:) However, this is just a short funny story I had to share.

So tonight 4 of us who play tennis regularly went to the place we usually go for a little Sunday evening tennis. We went at 8pm which is a little later than usual, but not much. This is a fairly nice "club" by African standards. Well, we get there and the lights are off and it looks like no one is there. We are a bit confused but thinking since it was a Benin national holiday yesterday maybe it is closed for the weekend. We ask the guard why it is closed. He proceeds to tell us that all the workers decided they didn't want to work any more today and went home...there was no real reason they were closed, just that. LOL...TIA. We found this quite amusing, yet for some reason not a bit suprising. We pulled ourselves together after a good laugh and drove back to the ship. Right when we got back someone who had seen us leave asked us how tennis was and why we were back so early... in which Suey responds...well, lets just say, Africa-1, Yovos-0. For those of you who do not know, yovo is what all the African people call white folk. Anyhoo...pretty funny. I laughed so hard.

Im going to have to try that one when I get a job someday back in the states. "Ya know boss, Im just not feelin like workin right now..think Im gonna head home for the rest of the day."

"Excuse me, can I get a pair of briefs with my drink?"

By now I have figured out that the moment you think you don't need a camera is when you will regret not having it. Last week a group of us went for a walk after dinner to get some passport pictures for a Togo visa. On the way back we decided to stop at O'Grille...a local favorite...for a drink before heading back to the ship.

We sat down and proceeded to order while looking at the table next to us and noticed a group of 3 African men getting a drink and a man selling them boxer briefs. The briefs were layed out all over the table as the men rummaged through them. We all found this quite amusing when Richard, one of the guys with us, mentions that he actually needs some. Well, of course we couldn't let this slide and helped wave down the brief salesman to come to our table. We insisted that he buy some from this guy...seriously, how convenient! We helped him pick out 3 pair of the non sketchy looking ones.

This is where the bardering comes in. None of us can speak much french and we were trying to get him down on the price. The concensus was to try and get the 3 pair for 1,000 cfa each. It was quite amusing watching us all try to do this each our own way when finally I yell out, "trois (3) for trois". He understood this, but everyone was dying laughing at me and my amazing french/english combo. I don't think I'll hear the end of that for awhile. All in all it was quite the successful outing...passport photos, drinks, and briefs for Richard. Ya just never know what goodies you'll end up finding on a trip out:)

Aneho, Togo in pictures....

Four of us went to Aneho, Togo a few weekends ago so the guys could surf before one of them went back home to the UK....here are some pics from the weekend.

The Oasis hotel we stayed at. Looks abit dodgy from the outside but really pretty nice....except for the REALLY hard cement-like pillows:)

Walking around town cause it was rainy and bad surf Sat. morning.

Everyone was really excited about the "side path" I took.:)

We stumbled upon a beautiful cathedral...something you do not see often in Africa. It just so happened to be named Peter and Paul's cathedral...ironic that Peter and Paul were the two guys on the trip.

We even got someone to let us up to the top of the bell tower!

Headed to the beach in the afternoon for some surfing...

A few boys could not get enough of the surfers...they burst out into hysteric laughter everytime they crashed:)

Fear Person!!!

























A satellite is a necessity here of course!

The monkey at the hotel being all dramatic for us....