A Picture or Two Will Do

Here are just a couple pictures I have taken. I hope to get one soon of the veiw of the town from the ship. It is quite beautiful, but it is often dark by the time I have time and think about it...

Reminder that screening day is this Saturday. Please pray! I will be back on the pre-screening team. Which means saying no to lots of people...and praying for wisdom to say yes to the right ones. Although me saying yes only means they will get screened for surgery, but still please pray for wisdom as we try to work through thousands on Saturday...also pray for stamina emotionally, spiritually, and physically...for the whole crew! May God be glorified Saturday and the right people be present for us to help!

The 500 year old cotton tree downtown Freetown. Beautiful big tree with the most unique huge trunk! This tree has seen soooo many things...if only it could tell stories.

Frisbee with the locals. As you can see my light grey shirt is dark cause I dove and caught the frisbee in the ocean as a wave crashed over me. Probably my one and only sweet sports move in my lifetime:) Of course the next day we got an email not to be barefoot on the beach and not to swim here...oops. Water felt woderful and it was so good to get off the ship a bit. So far I have not become deathly ill;)

Of course their endurance way outlasted us but it was great fun. Hope to play them regularly. The best part was at around noon when we had played 2 games to 10 and us Mercy Shippers were exhausted thinking it was over...when their coach said, "ok, 10 minute break before final game." Haha...we crawled onto the field for one more but convinced them to only play to 7 for the last game:) We actaully starting winning the last game..at which point they put in all their best players:)

"Wake Up and Eat"

One of these days I will get around to actually updating the country I am in on my blog...one day:)

In the meantime I just wanted to write since I have not updated since we opened the ward on Sunday. It is SO exciting to have patients...especially REALLY cute little bowed leg ones running around! Im not going to lie though. The first few days have been maddness! I could make a huge list of all that we have dealt with, but I will spare you and only tell you a few to give you a feel. I find much of what I say is hard to translate without having experienced the ship and the hospital ward, but I will do my best to relay that. One of the first obstacles included getting 22 patients right from the start (as a result of the failed screening - we brought some from up country). Many were meant to be "hotel" patients not needing care but we had about 6 with malaria, 4 with scabies to name a few. So now we have 22 patients and trying to staff for it when we were not prepared. We more or less have all new nurses on the ward with LOTS of questions. They have had an orientation but no precepting like nurses get later in the outreach when we have experienced nurses to do this (Don't get me wrong, this is how it usually is and it's great...but just adds to the chaos). Then on top of that we have new local translators we are responsible for training as they start this week. This is just the very small list. So as you can imagine as we work we usually get 4 questions for every one that we answer;)

The new nurses have been AWESOME and really have stepped up to the plate. I think after these first 2 weeks of training everyone things will calm down a bit. God has TOTALLY provided though. Every moment I think about all that needs to be done or all the issues and think there is no way this is going to pan out...I know deep down God is in control and will be faithful and provide in the moment for what needs to be. And He has done this every day. It is amazing how things have come together. I always wonder why I ever underestimate God;) You'd think by now I would have this figured out. Yet I often find myself doubting again...only to be proven wrong by God. He always ends up showing up..maybe not as soon as I'd like, but faithful every.....single.....time. In his own timing and his own way.

So before I bore you any longer I just wanted to let you know I am doing ok and surviving my new role as assistant ward supervisor. It has been very busy but God has given me the strength, wisdom, support I need when I need it.


A cute story for the road:
In the midst of putting in another 12 hour day today and the chaos of again moving beds around to accomodate constant change I just had to laugh and got to enjoy the kids and some fun moments. At one point we had just moved a few patients into B ward along with some new arrivals. The 3 caregivers were asleep on their beds in the empty ward and 3 little ADORABLE kids (2 with casts on both legs) were sitting on the floor shoveling food into their little mouths. At one point the kids were telling their parents all to wake up and eat. One by one the parents woke up, streched and realized it was dinner time. I just loved how the little ones were running the show. Maybe you had to be there, but it was the cutest thing. Times like this make me smile and keep my mind focused in the right direction - not stressed but enjoying life's little moments. Oh, to have a childlike view on life...and not take it too seriously!:)

National Clean Up Day

Well, it's national clean up day here in Sierra Leone today. I find it a bit amusing. From looking around in town when I had been through I think it will take more than one of those days to get this city looking nice and no trash everywhere. Although, I was impressed when a friend of mine dragged me off the ship today for a bit in between work. There were actually large trash piles everywhere. A friend of mine works in the engine room and said apparently it is all getting dumped into the river and causing problems for our ship and clogging up vents down below.
So I guess national clean up day here is also national pollution day as well:) It was soo good to get off the ship for a bit though. People here are so friendly and I have to say it is refreshing to be back in a country with english signs and english speaking people so you can have a conversation longer than, "hi, how are you."

The wards are finally looking ready for opening tomorrow. I did panic a bit on Friday when I walked through Friday evening and there was still nothing in many of the cabinets. Many of us worked hard today including the central supply team and got the wards stocked, yeah! Sure will be an interesting day tomorrow and week this week. God has been so good and faithful though! We are all excited to have patients. Getting off the ship into town today and being around the Sierra Leoneans was very refreshing too...a good reminder of how much I love the people of West Africa and why I am here. Sometimes you get so caught up in the busyness of your own work you forget what it's all about and need a bit of a reality check.

Opening Soon In A Ship Near You!

Sorry I have not had a follow up post for a few days. It has been rather hectic around here!

As for the screening day...we did not have a second screening day after Monday. It was too risky and we did not want more damage done. The captain is still reviewing tapes and notes as to what happened. Two men were arrested Monday for contributing to the chaos. And what we have heard from those around town is that they are ashamed of how the people here acted and hoping we don't leave. So at least there are no hard feelings, but I feel sad for the people here that they feel that way. The plan is to try for another screening day within the next couple of weeks so please pray for that!

As for the hospital here...we are set to open Sunday. We did get a couple patients at screening Monday and we actually have many patients from up north who had already been screened by the advance team so we will bring them down early to fill the first couple weeks of the schedule.

Since we had a long dry dock and had to empty the wards completely it has been quite hectic starting back up again. I am in a new leadership position as well and feel quite overwhelmed, Im going to be honest. Please pray for efficiency and wisdom the next couple days as there is still lots to do before Sunday. We have a great team of nurses and God has been great! Please pray for leadership on the ward and on the ship, especially this next week. We are all running a bit ragged!

One of my good friends pulled me aside at one point during the ward open house Wed. cause she knew I was stressed and said, "Liz, look in the ward there (there were 4 nurses dancing to 80s music)...how can you be stressed when you have such a great team." It's true...the team of nurses we have have been amazing in helping us get ready and I know it will all work out!

2 Corinthians 4:7
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Screening...Freetown.

I do not even know where to begin this post. I think I will try to keep it on the shorter side just because I and each one of us here are still trying to process things in our own mind and don't know where to begin to express today's events.
For starters...here is the official report from the Mercy Ships blog:
www.mercyships.org/blog/entry/screening-day-update

We knew there would be thousands of people waiting for us at the national soccer stadium in Freetown when the first crew arrived after 4am. And yes, this was definitely the case. The line that NEVER ends is always a heartbreaking thing to see, yet encouraging in that we get to help many of them. Almost all of the ship was present to help with this huge day. Usually there is some unrest in the crowds and our team of security is able to handle it. Today however, this was not the case. By 0930 events started to unravel that caused people to storm the gate. People were pushing, shoving, and literally trampling each other. People began to climb the fence and our team turned from screening patients to triaging those who were getting hurt and attempting crowd control. Many crew have memories now of patients being trampled several people deep, and pictures that I am not going to even describe in this blog. Several of our cars started taking people to the local hospitals and one man lost his life. To say today's events were tragic is an understatement. We shut down screening by noon at which point we packed up and left quickly. About 20 of us stayed around and tried to do some pre-screening of those that were in the stadium already to get a few more patients. This worked for about 45 more minutes until the situation got unsettled again at which we piled into the back of the pick-up and landrovers and left also.
It is a very somber atomsphere here on the ship tonight. I think we only put 150 patients into the computer database for surgery before things got out of hand.
The whole thing breaks my heart. People here have no money. Many of these people have traveled from LONG distances to stand in line since yesterday morning for hope...probably not having anything to eat or drink in the meantime. Africa is full of poverty and people are desperate. It can definitely be a rough place sometimes. We are used to seeing many difficult things, but this is a whole new thing. My heart truly breaks for those who were hurt today but even more to all those who really need us and need surgery who we could not see.
Please, PLEASE, pray for the leadership of the ship as they deal with government, families, staff, in dealing with the situation. Pray for wisdom and peace. We are trying to figure out a way to do more screening in a safe manner but it is proving to be a very difficult sitation. Please pray that we can reach those who truly need us. We saw so many people in line with huge tumors but it was not safe to go out and get them. Pray that God connects us with them somehow.
Praise the Lord that all the Mercy Ships staff are safe as things could have gone much worse. God protected us! Also, we are thankful that more people did not get hurt. We have followed up with the ones taken to hospitals and they should all be ok.
I know at times like this we cannot even begin to know why this happened or why God allowed it. I do know I serve an awesome, mighty, sovereign God though. I know he will bring us through this and I know his ways are greater than ours. May we trust and rest in that.
Please pray for the crew as well as many have grave images carved into their mind. A couple of my good friends helped take care of the body of the man who passed away and will always have those images with them.
We are continuing to press on, but need ALL the prayers we can get. Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers!

Back On Board My Floating Home

So I am wiping the dust off this blog and starting it up again. Not much to say yet, but I finally arrived safe and sound last night after a flight cancellation in Brussels...but free hotel and 600 euros cash, so cannot complain. I was quickly brought back to my new reality when I sat next to a gentleman from Liberia on my flight from Chicago. He left during the civil war and has not seen his wife and some of his kids in 15 years since! I cried tears of joy and sorrow listening to his story. I have been around people like that quite a bit in my life now but will never grasp or imagine the reality of that. I think that is a good thing.

The hour water taxi ride to the ship was amazing. Felt good to have an ocean breeze against my face again. I do have to admit that I had my escape route planned if the boat capsized though. It was a bit rocky at times and the engine never seemed to stay going for any amount of time:)

Today I was able to relax a bit and have breakfast with old friends. I sure does feel like home. I need to head to bed soon here as tomorrow is screening day. THE big day. Lines of thousands of people will line up with high hopes of life change. Surgery often means being accepted and having a life again and being told no is devestating. I will be leaving at 0530 to head to the big soccer stadium in Freetown. This year I get to do data input (put their names and info into a computer). I am excited as this means everyone I see will be happy and getting surgery. Last year I did pre-screening which means I had to turn many people away. That really wears on you emotionally, spiritually, physically!

So if you are reading this in time please pray for Monday and Tuesday (March 7,8)....for wisdom, discernment, empathy, strength, etc. for all involved. Pray God will give wisdom as to who we accept and who we don't. It is an exciting day but also very, very hard. More to come later....