Arrival Photos

Here are some photos taken by another crew member…he takes much better photos than Ido, and my camera fogged up from the humidity for most of the actual arrival.
These are all taken from the ship, and show the surrounding port as well as the area for the fishing boats and one of the beaches.

Benin Arrival by Michel P

Arrived!

We finally arrived to Benin this morning, and have now docked and had a small welcoming ceremony. Here’s a view from the dock.

We stayed out on the decks for some time as we docked, and I think we were all amazed at just how hot it is outside. The temperature is 90 degrees, but with 70% humidity and no wind, it feels much much hotter.
I had all of my bags packed and ready to leave to go up country with the screening team when we found out that the ministry of health did not have enough room for the entire team. So that means I am not going north after all, which I’m quite sad about. But what can you do? I guess this is just another reminder that I am in Africa and need to be flexible!

So I’ll be working with the rest of the crew to unpack and get ready for the numerous ship and hospital receptions we have, and then for screening next week.
We have a briefing this afternoon and will find out a little more about Cotonou and Benin in general, so I’ll fill you in as I get information.

Not so fast…

So much for being in Benin in the next 30 minutes. We were on schedule for getting in to Benin this morning, and then… one of the engines decided not to work. We have only been running on two engines for the majority of the sail, but in order to manuever in to port we need all four engines. When they were turned on as we caught sight of the Benin coast, something started malfunctioning. We sat for a while as the crew tried to fix the problem, but now the captain has made the decision to drop anchor where we are to work on the problem.
So now we’re just waiting (and rolling back and forth). I’ll let you know when we get there.

Already heading in to Africa…

After 9 days of sailing, we are now about 30 minutes from getting to the port of Cotonou, Benin!  We’re all excited about finally getting to the port, and setting up so that we can get to work.
There will be a formal reception to welcome us to Benin once we arrive, and then we will have a briefing from the team that has been in Benin preparing for our arrival. We will not actually be allowed to leave the ship until it clears customs, so we will be standing on the decks for most of the day watching the welcoming ceremony on the dock. It is warm and muggy outside, but thankfully it’s cloudy, so it won’t be too hot standing outside.
This morning I was informed that I will be going with a group of 8 others up to North Benin for the next 5 days to help with screening up there. There will be one surgeon, two PA’s, nurses and PR staff going in the group. The ministry of health in Benin has set this trip up, and when we have asked for details, they say, “we’ll go when we go, and stay where we stay”.  I guess this is my welcome to Africa- it should be interesting to say the least!
The somewhat concrete information that we have is we’ll be leaving tomorrow morning and going to the northern cities of Parakou and Natitingou. Apparently we’ll be traveling through the plains of Benin, and then these northern cities are in the mountains and high plains.  I didn’t expect to get to see this much of Benin so soon, and I’m very excited to go.

Please be praying for wisdom, patience, and compassion for our team as we head up north.  Screenings can be an exciting but difficult time, because many of the people we will see have no other place to turn for help.  We will be able to help some, but there will be many more that we’ll have to say no to, and I am not looking forward to that.
Here is a map of Benin, and you can see the two cities that I will be traveling to below.  I hope to write more about the arrival ceremonies before I leave tomorrow, but for now, I’m going up on the deck to catch the first glimpse of Benin…

Where is Olivia?

This is the location of our ship as of today, February 5th.  So far we are on schedule to arrive in Benin on February 9th.

We have had great sailing weather for all of the trip. The first few days were cool and dry, but yesterday morning I walked on to the deck expecting the same, and was instead suprised by the familiar feel of warm, muggy air.  A dramatic change from the past few days.  I’m told this is the beginning of Africa.  The weather in Benin is quite hot, and the average humidity in Cotonou is 80-90%.  Straightener or not, I think I’m doomed to have frizzy hair for the next 8 months.

Otherwise there is not much news to report.  No pirates have been spotted, although I’m told we still have some known “pirate waters” to go through between here and Benin.  I’ll keep you posted on that!  And I’ll try to give updates when I get them about where we are each day until we arrive.

Sailing and yoga

We’ve been sailing for about 24 hours now, and have had nice calm waters so far. The ship rolls quite a bit- I can’t imagine what it would be like if we had bad weather. Hopefully we won’t find out.
This morning I decided to do a little yoga (yes, roommates, I took the Rodney Yee video) to start out my day, and it was interesting. Yoga is a challenge for me anyway, so add a see-saw element to the floor, and it becomes humorous to say the least. Especially warrior three pose. But there were no injuries sustained, and I think I’ve even talked a couple of people in to joining me tomorrow.
Otherwise it’s the weekend, so everyone is relaxing, reading, sleeping, and congregating for things like The Office marathons.
We will have a church service this evening, and then starting this week there’ll be informational meetings about Benin that we can attend, as well as general orientation meetings for the new crew.
I’ll probably be helping out in the dining room during the day until my job gets up and running in Benin.
I’m working on posting all of my pictures to a website for everyone to see, so be looking for that soon.

Stowaway checks and pirate watch

Yes, the title says it all, we’re sailing to Africa!  We had a pre-sail meeting with the captain Thursday night, and were informed that Friday there would be stowaway checks on board, and then because of the recent pirate attacks, he might be asking for volunteers during the sail to stand night watch for pirates.  It sounds like a joke, but it is becoming a serious issue on the eastern coast of Africa, and now has started spreading to other areas of the world.  You can be praying for safe travel as we sail along the African coast for the next 9 days.  

In other news, on Friday there was not much work left for those of us on the non-technical side of the crew, so many people spent the day off the ship.  I had morning safety meetings, and then went with a  friend to a beach about 5 miles north of Santa Cruz.  It’s the only beach on the island with white sand.  Most of the beaches are made up of volcanic rock, and are black, but someone decided that they wanted a white beach on the island, so I’m told that this sand was actually brought over from the Sahara.  I would have liked to see black sand, but alas, those beaches were much further away.  It was a cool, windy day to be at the beach, but the scenery was beautiful.

Then I went with a family and a few other long term crew out to dinner in town at their favorite restaurant. It was Italian, and quite good.  After dinner we walked around the city for a few hours, relaxing and stopping to let the kids play and enjoy the peacefulness of Santa Cruz.   I can tell that those that have already been in Africa were taking it all in, taking advantage of the cool air and relatively quiet streets that will not be found once we are in Africa.  It was an enjoyable night, and I appreciated being able to be around a family.  The families on Mercy Ships have reminded me that I am a part of a unique community here that must work together, no matter what sort of work is being done, in order to serve eachother and those around us.   I know there will be good and hard parts of living in community like this, but I’m looking forward to what I’ll be learning along the way.

PS: Don’t worry Jake, if there are pirate watches, I will defnitely be volunteering for one.

Haven’t had to walk the plank yet

 

After over 24 hours of travel and layovers, I arrived in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands late Tuesday evening.  I was immediately welcomed on to the ship, had my photo taken (after 24 hours of traveling mind you) and shown my new room.  It’s a snug, 6 person “berth”  that I am sharing with 3 other roommates at this time, who are from Switzerland, Holland, and the UK.  So yes, I am the lonely Texan.  I had a brief tour of the dining room, and roamed up to the deck on top before heading off to bed.  It was dark outside, so I wasn’t able to see what the view was like, but Wednesday morning brought this view of the port.  

Actually, it was more like Wednesday afternoon that this view registered to me, because in my half asleep stupor at 2 AM, I reached in my bag to grab 2 Advil for a headache and somehow got a hold of not one, but TWO Dramamine.  I didn’t figure this out until after I woke up enough late in the morning to actually look at the bottle I grabbed in the dark.  Thankfully, the haze in my mind wore off around lunch time, and the rest of the day was much more memorable. 

The rest of the day Wednesday was a day off for us newcomers, so I went in to the city with a couple that had just arrived, and we did a little shopping and walking.  Santa Cruz is a relatively large city (it even has an Ikea!), but the streets are small and quaint, and remind me of parts of Barcelona.   And the island of Tenerife is very mountainous and beautiful, as is seen by the picture- they have mountains that are over 3700 meters, the tallest in Spain in fact.

That evening we had our official tour of the Africa Mercy.  It’s eight stories tall, 500 feet long, and VERY easy to get lost in.  I live on the third floor, which is where the operating rooms (or theatres, as many people call them) are, as well as post-op and the hospital wards.  So my commute to work is about 30 steps down the hall.  Rough, I know.

Here are some pictures of my room.  My bed is the bottom bunk with the pink polka-dotted blanket (didn‘t quite pick that one out), and I have one of the closets.  If you look down the hall there are 2 other rooms like mine and that’s it!

The entire ship is preparing for sail, which means that we are involved in tying down anything large that might move during the trip to Benin.  I have just found out that the trip takes 9 days instead of the 5 days that I was expecting.  The crew nurse was handing out sea sickness pills this morning in preparation for sailing late tomorrow night or Saturday.  We’ll see how I do…..

No, there are no bodies in my bag

The day has finally come, and after a prolonged packing effort, I should be on my way to Africa at 12:50 this afternoon.  I will fly to Miami, then Madrid, and then to the Canary Islands where I will meet the ship and sail with them down to Benin.  I had my last Tex-Mex meal last night with the family, and am now ready to go! 

While packing I decided to make sure that a person couldn’t actually fit in my bag, as I was concerned that the eventual weight and size of the bag might make the airport security team suspicious.  Don’t worry though, as seen below, a normal sized adult couldn’t actually fit in the bag, and my sister and brother are not missing any of their children, so we’re good.  

I’m hoping to post once I get to the Canary Islands with lots of pictures for y’all to see where I’m living.  Thanks for all of your prayers and support, I will miss everyone!

Ten Days and Counting

Well, in ten days I will be leaving my home sweet home in Texas and heading to Africa to work with Mercy Ships.  I can’t believe it’s almost here.   I have been pretty excited with the prospect of going overseas, but now I’m getting a little anxious as the date gets closer and closer. 

As I’ve been preparing to leave, I’ve been overwhelmed with the love and support that all of you have given me.  Thank you so much for praying for me and encouraging me.  I have promised that I will write and keep everyone up to date with my experiences while I am over there, so here it goes…

To start off, let me tell you a little bit about Mercy Ships and what I will be doing while I’m in Africa.  Mercy Ships is a Christian organization that was formed about 40 years ago in order to “bring hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor”.  They currently have one operating ship called the “Africa Mercy” that travels to different coutries on the west coast of Africa.  The ship (not to be confused with a boat, I’m told) is the world’s largest charity hospital ship with 6 operating rooms and 78 ward beds.  It will be docked in Cotonou, Benin from February 2009-November 2009, and will offer free surgeries to the people of Benin during that time.  The surgeries include cleft palate reconstruction, cataract removal, clubbed foot surgery, gynecologic procedures, and facial tumor removal/reconstruction just to name a few. 

I have the opportunity to serve as a physician assistant (PA) in the orthopedic department as the orthopedic clinical care coordinator.  This entails working with the surgeons to select the patients receiving surgery, and then taking care of them before and after their operation.  Basically I get to be a part of providing physical healing and hope to people who otherwise would not have any for their conditions.  I am sure there are many more details that I will add in the coming months about my job and Mercy Ships, but for now I’m excited (and a little nervous) to get started.