Farewell Peets!

This last Thursday our lovely Peet family - my ship family here on the ship - left after seven years service with Mercy Ships. Here Tim and I say farewell to them at Government Wharf.

They will be missed by so many!

A sign that was hung off Deck 7 for the Peets.

Observing Surgery...

Mercy Ships crew have a rare privilege of being able to sign up to observe a surgery once every field service. Since the last time I observed surgery was almost exactly three years ago, I felt it was definitely time to see for myself the physical healing occurring in our Hospital.

So this past Monday I donned scrubs and headed for the Operating Rooms where my surgeon friend Dr Mark Shrime was undertaking a max-fax tumour removal. But before I entered his OR, I first witnessed a couple of cataract removals. This is such a simple procedure that the surgeon, from start to finish, is able to complete the surgery in eleven minutes flat! And it is really special that these people who were once blind can now see!

I then made my way into Dr Mark's OR where the tumour removal was getting underway. This tumour had caused the lower jaw and teeth of this young girl to be pushed out of place, and thus the skilled surgeon had to remove both tumour and lower jaw. He replaced the jaw with a titanium plate - the new jaw (with bone from the hip) will be grafted on this plate in the coming months. Even as they stitched the face together again the transformation was already visible!

The last surgery I witnessed was a hernia repair and that was also very interesting. I am so in awe of our skilled surgeons who perform many operations every day. They are true heroes.

My trip to observe surgery really showed me what an amazing honour it is to serve here on the Africa Mercy. As a non-medical crew member I can sometimes forget why we are here, but this brought it right home again! There is healing happening on those wards, and those who were outcasts will now lead productive lives! This excites me!

Skilled hands at work in the Operating Theatre.

Surgeons, anaesthesiologist, and nurses all hard at work.

US Coast Guard in Sierra Leone...

While I was taking the ferry over to Lungi last week I noticed a ship pretty far out of its own territorial waters. It was the US Coast Guard Cutter Forward, docked along the port from the Africa Mercy. I'm not sure what mission she is on, but I was certainly excited to see a US Coast Guard vessel in real life since I've only ever seen them in the movies or on documentaries. I think these cutters, although rather old, are some of the prettiest ships afloat.

US Coast Guard Cutter Forward (WMEC 911)

Bye-Bye Ben!

This past Thursday my friend and cabinmate for the last two-years, Ben Calvert, departed. Ben served in the Academy as a High School Teacher and PE Specialist and did an amazing job in all that he did. It was sad to see him go but I am excited for all that God has in store for him and his future wife Hannah! (Photo: Ben removes his name tag off the door of cabin 4330.)

I had to do some purser business at the airport so I accompanied Ben all the way across the river on the ferry. Here we are as we pass the AFM.

Quiz Night!

The last two Tuesdays have seen a new tradition emerge on the Africa Mercy - Quiz Night! Teams of four compete in a general knowledge-based quiz on topics such as Science, Name the Movie, Name the City, Music, as well as a round entitled "What part of the AFM is this photo from?" and many others.

It's really fun and competitive too, as teams battle each other in some pretty impressive costumes. I did not take part in the first Quiz Night, but last week a group of us formed a team, the Mercy Parsnips, and came in a respectable second that night.

As you can see, this was a popular event!

The Facebooks definitely had the most innovative, impressive outfit!

4 Nations... 5 Blood Donations!

This past Sunday I got a message on my pager - "1734". I knew who it was without having to check. It was the lab, and they needed my blood. A patient scheduled for surgery the next day had a rather low haemoglobin count of 7.3, and it can be risky performing surgery on someone with such a low count.

My one unit (450 mls) flowed out in four minutes and, after the customary photo of me holding my blood, was taken to the patient. And after the unit of my blood, his haemoglobin count jumped up nearly three points to 10.2 - much healthier!

It's always a privilege and so fulfilling - especially as a non-medical person - to be able to donate blood and serve the Hospital in this way. This was my 5th blood donation on the Africa Mercy. I donated twice in Liberia in 2008, once in Benin (2009), once in Togo (2010) and once now in Sierra Leone! Here's to many more blood donations into the future!

With my unit of O-Pos blood.

Have you seen a smaller bottle of Coke?

I was browsing through one of the supermarkets here in Freetown and came across this bottle of Coke.

It's glass and holds 200 mls of Coca-Cola, and is manufactured in the UK. I've never seen such a miniature bottle of Coke!