Hut Hello

Kathryn. me. Kristen. & Paradise

Paradies Lost & Found

After all the Christmas hustle & bustle, a small vacation sounded nice! The day after Christmas piled in a Tro-Tro with my two good girlfriends Kat and Kristen to head for "Ada Foah" "PARADISE", as we were told by a few who had been there! After our 2hr ride we got dropped off in the middle of a marketplace in which we were left to find our own canoe ride to the tip of the penisula. A young, local boy approached us and assured as as we winded through the market and his village that HE could get us there... soooo we looked at each other and decided adventure was what we had come for, so why the heck not, what else were we gonna do? We hopped in his canoe he had carved himself and set out about 2 inches above lake level, a 30 minute boat ride to " The Estuary".

Along the way we passed a feast for the eyes, one section ~ naked kids jumping off their fishing boats soap~sud bathing or swimming/chasing after us to smile and greet us!!, woman gathering water in their buckets to start lunch, and men bring in their fishing nets... to the neighboring section: white, pot~bellied rich men sitting on their verandas dining and sunbathing with their jet ski waiting nearby. Thankfully, passed that confusing neighborhood front... further and further up the lake until we stopped at a little beachfront with several simple huts and a quiet neighboring village on the otherside of small lagoon. One side of the pennisula the lake, the other~ the ocean!

Settled into Hut 12.. one double bed with a hot pink mosquito net for the three of us to share, a sand floor, four palm leave walls, and a straw roof...no running water, no electricity. a community latrine. yep. thats about it :) spent the first day laying on the beach and playing soccer with the locals. That night made a bonfire and stayed up until we were told the moon would bring in the sea turtles to lay their eggs. When it was nice and dark and the moon bright, we headed to the beach with our flashlight to check for turtle prints. They look almost exactly like tractor prints!..and b/c there are no vehicles anywhere around here... you know it when you see it. Followed a couple tracks, but the turtles had already made their circle up the beach and were back in the ocean. Finally followed one a long, long way..seemed this turtle had already layed its egg as we could see the big circle it made at the top of the sand hill...but it was winding around confused and lost in how to return to the ocean. We found it up the beach making a wheezing sound, it was so tired, it was having a hard time moving. Before we knew it the "hut" manager~ Winifred, decided to SAVE THE TURTLE. so he and our new german friend Hanz pushed the turtle all the way to the entrance of the sea. The sight was incredible. The sea turtle was HUGE~ estimated about 500 pounds, looked like it could EAT me..seriously looked more like a DINOSAUR to me than a turtle.

The next morning slept in and after breakfast tried to read & journal in the hammock across the lagoon, but 6 energetic village kids and one drunk man had other plans for me! The kids wanted to swing me, and then SOMEHOW found myself giving the drunk man a "Love 101 lesson" as he spilled out his decision to marry either me or the other local 16 year old he had his eyes on, who was ALSO right next to me~ giving him the evil eye with her arms sternly crossed, ha. I hope my ranting saved that girl :) His name...Papa ZuZu, the coconut buisness man...enough said. next... well if you can't beat em' join em'... grabbed another Mercy Shipper and we headed into the children's village. Went further and further into their village as we played endless games of tickle tag ;) met the Big Chief and got a funny photo with him. and finally in the late afternoon made my way back across the lagoon for another canoe ride tour further up the river. By the time we got back to the huts it was about dark and we needed to head home.

Made it all the way back in our tro~tro and to my cabin were I was so excited to show my roommates all the amazing photos and video footage I got the past 2 days, when... i came up empty handed. At the bottom of my pack.. no camera to be found. I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach..and am puzzled how it all came about. All i can figure is after we looked at the photos in the tro~tro, remember putting my hand down deep inside my pack, but maybe b/c it was dark i "thought" i put my hand inside the pack but it was just to the side of it... I don't know.. all i know is that I hope whoever finds my camera can really use that money to get their family ahead a little bit.

What I loved about "The Estuary" is that it was actual tribal land belonging to the chief I met. This hut "hotel" was just an extention of their village.. their locals passed THROUGH it and there was no scolding by the manager or evil eyes given, only warm greetings by all the foreign hut "resorters" and staff. We were all one community. It felt really unique in that way.

And when I watched the children and mothers and father...there was ONE thing that stuck out in my mind.. They were SO FREE. They walked around with no possessions to worry about clinging to, no schedules to be bound by, just the day and whatever it brings. So as much as I felt horrible about losing my camera... i couldn't cry, b/c what i've witnessed with these people, is what I've witnessed over the past 2 1/2 months here with the Ghanians over & over again.

" Do no lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20

" I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" John 10:10

These verses stick out in my mind when I see them. There has been a lot of mind games and questions swirling around in my head trying to sort out what I make of poverty..its ups and downs riches...ups and downs. I don't know if i'll have it answered by the end, but I do know that these simple people may not know who the first person to walk on the moon was, or even care about it... but they know A LOT about whats important when it comes to being free in their spirit and pure in faith. I hope its contagious, b/c its really attractive. Paradise lost is sometimes Paradise Found.

* sidenote. God is GOOD! Ironically enough.. The Mercy Ship photographer was at the same place as us and tagged along with us for pretty much everything, so many of those pictures that meant so much to me will be replaced by hers when she gets back...and probably much better! A camera is replaceable, I'm just SO thankful some of those trip's amazing memories won't be lost in picture form.

Wish you all a merry, blessed new year*

Christmas times*

Merry post Christmas :) I don't know about you but I always get a bit sad the week following Christmas... what an AmAzIng season and event it represents*

The Christmas season was buzzing on the boat..we had a German Christmas, a Swedish (Santa Lucia) Christmas, a Dutch Christmas...a VERY interesting Ghanian Christmas eve service, & of course an American Christmas celebration. Christmas AROUND the world!!! It's a Dutch Mercy Ship tradition for everyone to leave their shoe outside their cabin Christmas eve for people to fill with presents. Christmas morning my roommates and I gathered outside our door to find a small mountain of goodies :)

On the ward Christmas morning, the patients woke up to find a pillowcase with a bow tied around it at the end of their beds. They didn't get it at first?? As the nurses encouraged them to untie it, they peered inside, and pulled out a gift specifically for them. I'm sad to have missed it. But Christmas evening I worked a shift on the ward...and it was magical :) Each patient pulled out their gifts for me and held them up proudly on display, smiling the cutest smiles ever from age 4- 65 :) We only have about 12 patients left on the ward during this break, so little nursing was needed, but MUCH celebration! They drummed, we danced, we sang, we watched christmas movies, we played games, we ate...some liked my brownies, and other tried to HIDE it and told me they liked it. ha. :) I think the hot pink frosting scared them & they are not used to sweets. Wish i had that problem! Had a wonderful conversation with a patient's father who through his son's several operations on the Ship has turned from Muslim to Christianity and was so elated to express his joy in this seasons meaning; the birth of Christ~ the Son of God, coming down in humble human likeness to be a living example of service & sacrifice! Maybe the most joyful man I've ever met. Wish you could wrap THAT up & take it home!

The week before Christmas had some great day trips! Was able to go to one of our local villages~ Ashiamin, to see our HIV/AIDS team do some education in the local church. They are educating several community leaders through 6 different classes: 2 on "What is HIV/AIDS?" 2 on "Counseling/Community Support Pre/Post HIV tests" & 2 on "Basic care of an HIV/AIDS person"
It was some of the BEST teaching I've seen here so far, the group was VERY responsive. Ghana has one of the least HIV/AIDS population in Africa, but it is still prevelant. There is a big focus in Ghana now to support and not condem/outcast those with HIV/AIDS. These leaders will be in charge of continuing education and starting a support system for these people in their communities. exciting!

Christmas eve eve I went to the Nswam's Women Prison to give out presents and celebrate with them. Mercy Ships has been in partnership with them in our Rabbit and Bee Harvest projects. It was a very interesting experience, one i think you just have to be there for... But I can tell you their prison grounds were the most bright green I've seen in all of Ghana so far; the prisoners do all their own gardening and cooking. They walk freely between their cement homes and grounds, enclosed by a simple but tall cement wall. They were either dressed in White or Blue dresses. White meaning a crime other than Blue~ murder. Some are said to be on "Death row" but it is only a title to which later goes down to "Life Sentence". There is no death row in Ghana. I can't describe it, but their walk, their deep song, their faces (for the most part) seemed free. Much more so then our American prison systems. It wasn't scary, the grounds almost seemed peaceful. Kate, the M.S. leader that has been working with them talked about how although they may be enclosed by big cement walls, with Christ they are free, born again. Some women let me hold their babies, which they only get to keep with them for one year. It all seemed kind of ironic, but ....true. wish i had more time there.

Christmas Eve!! woke up and drove to the local beach to see the bright orange African sunrise with the surf gang. Wasn't planning on setting foot in the ocean, as i have a slight phobia of it, but my friends boogie boarding looked too fun to miss out on, so i edged my toes in and made a fast splash into the ocean before i changed my mind. After about an hour of boogie boarding and no bites yet!!! I tried surfing. Lol and behold before i knew it my friend Lucy pushed me ahead towards shore and I stood up and rode the wave all the way in. Got up several more times, got my butt kicked several times too! It was no family fireplace Christmas Eve, but i'd say it was the next best thing!

Kaitlyn & Naomi

A quiet Sunday afternoon on the ward :)

Ghana Outreach Update~ stats

Tema Outreach Update*
as of Dec. 5th

Just wanted to give you a New Year's update on the Mercy Ship Tema Outreach. We are scheduled to be finished here in Ghana by mid Feb. Our last surgical date onboard is Feb. 2nd.
Here is a bit of whats going on over here. God is doing wonderful things here, not only physical, but very much giving hope and changing hearts. Feb 25th we will sAiL to Liberia to begin a 10 month outreach!!! The Africa Mercy is rescheduled to meet us May 15th!

1) Reconstructive surgery- accomplished to date: 277 Goal: 500
(ie 277/500) Common patients I see: Hemimandiblectomies r/t facial tumors, thyroidectomies r/t goiters, burn
contracture release r/t acid burns(abuse) & fires, cataract removals, Benign tumor removals

2) Vesicovaginal Fistula Repairs- 31/70 Many more to come in beginning of January. Please pray for courage for these
woman as they re~enter society after being abandoned for many years.

3) Dental Clinic- 2,565/4,500

4) Eye patients (cataracts, strabismus) 968/2,000
training locals- 15 eye workers
17 eye professionals

5) HIV Aids Care & Prevention: starting volunteer programs to equip locals to teach locals
83 participants from 23 communities/churches
Hope to have 2+ Mercy Coalitions created
* Although Malaria kills more people in Africa than AIDS!!!, much edu is needed in this area. Please pray for receptive
ears and earnest workers. Common myths keep this disease alive (ie- A.I.D.S. American Invention to Discourage Sex!
or that if they sleep with a virgin it will cure them!)

6) Fountain Head Christian School
The local community communicated a need to expand the school beyond Elementary school to include a Junior High so their
children would not have to switch schools. This is a Christian school lead by YWAM, Many influential government leaders
are sending their children here! Please pray for the staff as they have a daily impact to change the future of Ghana :)
*added on 6 classrooms, 2 offices, staff room, bathrooms

7) Tema Polyclinic Maternity Ward
To be completed in January
Project requested by Minister of Health to meet a "felt" need.

8) Ashaiman Youth Health Center
Giving youth a safe place to come to for HIV/AID edu and help
To be completed in January

9) Water & Sanitation
13/38 Wells completed. Mercy Ships working with a local company that has committed to complete what we are not able
to do before leaving in Feburary. The Minister of Health identifed the areas for us where there was the most need.
Local villagers are also being taught how to build effective latrines.

10) Bee keeping
training 52 local woman, 1st Harvest in January!!!! These woman work for Ghana Forestry & have committed to do
continuing education for locals~ passing on their new knowledge.

11) Agricultural Training
Ben, our agricultural expert just arrived last week. Please pray for him as he jumpstarts this program!
training HIV Africans to start a produce business, starting late December.

12) Empowering Woman
154 participants graduate Dec 13th, after having started
snail, rabbit, or mushroom businesses! Wonderful woman!

13) Strategic Health Initiative Program (SHIP)
Partnering with Medical Ambassadors to teach 30 men and woman to be their Village's Basic Health and Sanitation
Leaders. Pray for the new leader's courage, effort, and effectiveness in spreading the word! Have gone out with the
director several times..she is very creative and thorough! Pray for Jean's perserverance in finishing strong.

14) Church Leaders Conference
300+ local pastors to meet mid January Topic: Unity

Thanks so much for your support in so many ways :)

ELF :)

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE!! If you haven't seen this.. you simply must :) Even if you have.. you should watch it AGAIN :)

"The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!"

Christmas season!

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE!!!! :)
(tarps & hard hats)

Christmas season is getting into full swing here!!! Portholes being decorated with lights and greenry, Advent services, Christmas movies on the deck, holiday baking! - I was completely lost in the market maze yesterday among the pigfeet and plantains, when i literally stumbled across a cake decorating store? I was able to buy some red food coloring and green sprinkles!! Thats the first store like that I've ever seen here! It was definetly a gift from God. Its fun to see God cares even about the little, silly things that are important to us :) He is providing me with exactly what I need here and more. Also, today I moved into my new room with two good friends. We are all here until end of May so no more constant new roommates! It only took me about 10 minutes to move, ha. Thats a first :) And NO MORE acrobats to get into & out of my bed.. aah :)

It really is starting to feel like a home and family here. Now if they would just let me go to breakfast in my pajamas! As much as I truly do miss all of you, especially around the holidays.. I'm REALLY looking forward to spending it this year in Africa. Its a totally different feel here. I look out the Tro~Tro windows and see the mud huts passing by and think.. this scenery is like baby Jesus's time :) I get so easily caught up in the hustle and bustle back home, but life is slow pace here, no matter what you wish. No Big Santa's plastered on store fronts or the "obligated" gift giving. I wander through the market and hear "O Holy Night" among scattered pieces of tinsel decorations..and it just feels simple..peaceful, like the real reason for Christmas is not able to be disguised by mall sales.

I can't believe it, but somehow my work schedule gives me the 22,23,24,25 off as well as New Years Eve and the 1st. I was fully prepared to work many of these as patients will still be with us. To tell you the truth, if I can't be with family I think the ward is the next best place to be. The patients and parents on the ward have grown so close to my heart. I LOVE spending time with them, they are such amazing people. Teaching me SO much. So I think thats where you will find me Christmas day.. giving them a taste of Betty Crocker's frosted brownies with red frosting and green sprinkles! I'm love my job here, my life here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.. for now :)

a heavy heart

this week i lost a dear friend and co-worker back in Texas due to a tragic car accident... i don't think i've ever had such a hard time accepting some is gone before... i think its because she has always been so vibrantly full of life. i close my eyes and shes right there, telling a funny, inappropriate joke ;), or giving personal care to the families on 4W, i've always thought of her as a cornerstone to our little unit, keeping our chaoticness together with her hard work. ... i want so badly to be with you guys, please know that i've been thinking of y'all all week, want to just sit and be with you.. i absolutely hate being so far away right now. you guys are in my prayers, praying that God brings peace and his arms around you all during this. i feel like i have so much pent up emotion right now, but i can't release it. one good cry and maybe i could squeeze all the pain out.

its funny how you cry when you don't want to and can't when you want to. the ward has had some difficult moments as well this week. had to cancel a surgery of a little girl's burn deformed hand due to having malaria and a dangerously low red blood cell count. it couldn't be rescheduled like it normally would be due to our already full schedule til the end of our outreach in Tema. not only that, but i was told to discharge them by 7am to make room for incoming patients as we are getting short on beds. (had come 8hrs away from deep in the mountains) as i sent them away i've never seen such visible hope drain from a mother's face before. i choked up inside and couldn't even manage to say a prayer with them, i had the translator do it. the mom was so disappointed, knowing she could never afford on her own to have this surgery done in a local hospital. she refused to hug me goodbye..it made me want to throw up. ... but God is faithful and gives tender mercies in between questions we may never understand.. if nothing else it made me realize the strong impact it must be to do the surgeries for the ones we can..

God was good to bring it a bit full circle with a quiet week on the ward, with plenty of time to spend with the kids and just play. Regina (whose picture is above, just before she decided to PEE on me!) is here for the same type of surgery as the other girl i had to turn away. (she had some burn contractures on her arm and side released due to falling into a firepit a year ago) shes spent the week on my lap just wanting to cuddle, offering the new ability of moving her arm again to give me hugs and blow kisses :) God knew just what i needed.

Its ironic how we want control in our life to keep everything within our understanding, but somehow..when life seems to become crazy for awhile- i'm learning all i really wish to do it throw my hands ups, not in defeat, but because i realize i don't know how best to take control, and if God's above and near, looking down on this mess seeing the big picture, then its better left to him.. and accept he knows what he's doing. i may never understand why these things happen, so i will take time in each season as He brings it Eccesciastes 3 "a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance". ..... Lydia, you are dearly missed.

Moto

Thank you Miranda's small group!!!! We look forward to the toys you will send us very much :) Look at the pathetic toys we have to play with now...stephanie's stethoscope!

Wli children

Wli Village~ weekend outing

HoHoe, here we go

Took a tro tro to the HoHoe area for a weekend in nature! It was wonderful and so refreshing :) From Hohoe there is a little village called "Wli"about 15 minutes by taxi, where we stayed Saturday night. This village is the real deal! No longer concrete huts, but red mud huts scattered among the lush Africa jungle. Each person, adult and child stops their banging of cassava for dinner with their long wooden sticks, or from carrying big, metal water buckets on their heads, along the trail to hold their hands up and say "You are Welcome" These people are beautiful! There is so much behind each set of eyes.

Saturday took a short hike to the Wli lower waterfall and stood there for a long while just feeling the power of the water crashing down 1600 feet above us. It was so windy! After the locals gave us a beautiful African dance performance and dragged me up on stage for a dance lesson, and after the drums stopped drum, drum druming through the night..slept until the rooster outside my window crow, crow, crowed at the top of its lungs, ha! Got up since sleeping wasn't an option, ate a good breakfast, and headed out for our 5hr trek up the beautiful mountain range to the upper falls. It was quite the adventure..switchbacking up the mountain did not exist..instead we made our way straight up! or straight down! with either a 6 inch trail...or no trail.. pushing back jungle brush well above my head. Our little, guide Alfonso told me there was a 100% chance we would not encounter any snakes... i told him i think thats a good number :) What we did encounter was hundreds of beautiful colored butterfies, bugs, and preying mantis. It was crazy tiring, but well worth it. I think i'm gonna go back, as the cook offered to let me join in behind the kitchen to learn the secrets of making Fufu, and their special..mushroom soup!

On the way home smooshed in with a tro tro full of locals, and my friend Hettie & I asking them a million questions about Christmas celebration in Africa, and starred out the window getting a glimpse of African nightlife in the country. Amazing weekend :) and Christmas is around the corner here now, on and off the ship!

Man of my dreams!

Found me a chocolate man! table of drying cocoa beans from the Wli village forest

Ghanian culture

learning Ghanian culture...

have 70 different dialects...offical one is English :)

average daily income is $5

Tribal marks most often seen on the ward-
a horizontal line below the left eye (even on babies!)
on forearm, homemade ink pen tattoos- first line is for their name, 2nd- name of
their Tribe, 3rd- name of their father's tribe

Known for production of Cocoa, rice, gold, fabrics

It is an insult to wave, point, or shake with your left hand as that is the hand you supposedly "wipe" with! Considered "unclean" and rude

Knives, spoons, forks do not exist at the dinner table! You must use your right hand as your spoon.

Main dishes: Fufu (mashed cassava), Banku & Kenkey (fermented maize), beans, rice & fried plaintains.

"Madarse" is Thank you, "Dabie" is no in Twee...the only words i know and can remember thus far. the word please doesn't exist.

"Toilet" means # 2. They laugh at me if i say popo!

"Minerals" means Coke or Fanta (soda)

lanes on the highway serve no purpose

take your shoes off before going in a home

they love their Nigerian soap operas.

will have cellphones and a television in their home, but no running water and 1 bed for the family.

4 choices for transportation: foot, taxi, tro-tro, or bus. You take your chances with all of em'!

If you go to a remote village..make sure you meet the chief. If he offers you a small glass of potent alcohol, pour a few drops on the ground before drinking as a sign of honoring the forefathers. Tribal political power is as prevalant as the offical government.

Ghanians are very friendly people! They will always remember your name. Very generous and outgoing.

sometimes a little TOO friendly. Marriage proposals, and I Luv yous, come after "my name is ___" ! I read that this is because otherwise their Ghanian woman don't take the men seriously.

* Reading a book on Hot and Cold cultures.. and their cultural characteristics, how they socially interact with people differently. Its called "Foreign to Familiar". They consider the southern U.S. a "hot culture". Hot- more relational oriented/indirect communication Cold- business first, direct communication. Living in Texas the past 2 years, and growing up in Michigan, its been really interesting to look back at my life, and now here in Ghana and see how right on the book is... and figuring out how to not offend people with my own cultural norms from both places, or even where i fall in that scheme! Good read for travel lovers :)

a latte' rest

Laying low this week in the air conditioning, catching up on some R & R between work. The Ward has been fun, but crazy as its a full on pediatric ward for me now. Lots of Cleft lip and palate repairs, palatoplastys, debulking/amputations, cataracts, etc. If one cries...they all get upset and cry! I found out this week balloons make for better pain control than narcotics! It looks like a circus down there now! :) ahh gotta love organized chaos! (kids suddenly on the floor squatting by their beds peeing into containers they've found, as they are used to doing) Charades can take you pretty far if a translator isn't near by. Always an entertaining shift...never boring thats for sure.

If anyone is interested in sending toys, we have a PATHETIC toy bin: half of the puzzle pieces missing, fully colored in coloringbooks, mismatched lego connector pieces. Toys are a wOnderFul method for distraction during wound care, pain control, and/or to simply pass the time, waiting for healing; I would love to see that thing double, brimming with functional toys, new or used~ in fact, i'm making it my new personal mission. Also, this is so funny to me for some reason, but the adults LOVE to watch the old Ten Commandment movies over and over again! (EVERYDAY) VeggieTales too. If you have any old ones laying around you stopped watching 10 years ago or would like to donate some toys, please let me know!!!!!

Started a new side hobby as well this week... on my way to becoming a Starbucks BaRistA*! We have a coffeeshop on the upperdeck in our meditteranean lounge area where staff goes to relax and hang out... You want a latte', a lotta lattes i'm your girl :) I'm not gonna lie, it was a little like the chocolate factory episode on " I Love Lucy" trying to get all the concontions right, but so fun for me, luckily the training has only begun.

Thursday evening, got a tour of the engine room. Amazing! I'm even more convinced engineers are brillant, genus people! I felt like I was in a spaceship~ there is a whole underworld to the ship you would never know is there! The engine pistons run three stories high!

There is a tropical storm nearby this week so the boat is moving a ton, huge waves crashing on the breaker. Even the slightest movement makes you feel like you're going crazy in the head, tipsy topsy.. hope its over soon.

This coming week I do night shift duty, but the following weekend my friend Hettie and I are planning a trip to HoHoe to see a waterfall and climb the highest point in Ghana. Until then, I'm happy with laying low :)

the bead factory

Saturday took an adventure to the bead factory! Had to take a Tro Tro (kinda like a big van) to a town called KPong 2 hours away. Fit 25 people in there! This is the furtherest away from the ship I've been so far, the more outside of Tema we got, the more green and lush it became. Reminded me a bit of the tropical Dominican mountains and forest...beautiful!

Saturday is also the only day of the week that people in Ghana have funerals. So as we drove through the village streets, we saw probably about 10 funerals taking place. They dress in black and red linens. For them, a funeral means a celebration of life. They carry the casket down the dirt road while family and friends dance and sing along their sides. It was amazing, made me all teary- eyed.

After a Tro Tro ride, taxi, and walking about 2 miles on foot, the end of the middle of nowhere dirt path led us to circle of small buildings (the factory)surronded by HUGE mango trees. Mr Cedi of Cedi beads himself gave us a demonstration of how each one is hand crafted.

Most are made from crushed glass bottles, others are made from red dirt/clay from termite mounds. Apparantly their saliva used to build their homes, helps the clay they make their beads out of withstand hot, hot temperatures during the firing. Each molds of bead are fired around 800 degrees celcius! If they are hand painted they need two rounds of firing and 2-3 days of cooling.

After the demonstration went to the local bead market and did some shopping! It was SO fun to wander through rows and rows of hanging beads. Went home and have spent Sunday morning, stringing and creating my finds. Most strings of beads cost anywhere from 20-60 cents. However, they also had a section in the market with lots of older beads that were a little bit more expensive; bought a few beautiful, long, white beads that been handed down from generation to generation through their grandparents. For all my artsy amigos, I documented the bead making process for you on the photo link. enjoy!

Olivia & her Mushroom hut

Olivia, 23y, is one of 24 woman chosen in a M.S. program to help start a mushroom business. She graduates from the program in December and hopes to sell her mushrooms to local hotels and resturants. Met her Wednesday doing home visits with my friend Uta. Got to go into 6 different woman's homes in Ashaimen to see how the construction of the mushrooms huts went. She did a fine job! She is also a fabric maker and one day soon, she has invited me to go back to shadow her for a day in the tye dying fabric factory in the middle of the village to see the process. I'm very much looking forward to this :) Did I mention how much I'm loving all this!

the African cradle

"aunTie Steph"

On attempt #4 success! Lets just say there is a reason God made African woman with big packages up front... not holding on me!! This is the way woman carry their bebes here :) They laugh at me in the ward when i pick them up and put them on my hip. Its so precious to see them sleeping in these at the marketplace.

O.R.S. education

In Ashiamen village- the poorest community outside Tema. These are 5 out of the 25 local leaders being taught and trained in Maternal Health principles. They are learning how to take the knowledge back to their villages and educate their communities. Today, sat in on one of Mercy Ship's communitiy dev. classes on how to make a O.R.S (Oral Rehydration Solution)to replace fluids lost from rampant diahrrea. A pinch of salt and a palm of sugar!! Taught simple signs and symptoms to look for in severely dehydrated children and adults and how to treat it, how to break the cycle of diseases that cause diahrrea. Taught three cheap different ways to purify water. (Around 30,650 people die each day from diahrrea)
We had a fun time mixing up the O.R.S. and taste testing each others. I think I put too much salt in mine!

Fishing village

Monday morning went on my walk to the lighthouse and decided to go a bit further outside the offical port walls... what i found was absolutely breathtaking. This is just one of many pictures i tried to capture of this little fishing village in Tema. Fish 3 feet long in bowls on woman's heads, baskets and baskets full of little fish, crabs, stingray. New boats being chiesled into being among the old tattered ones. Thousands of fish being washed and then thrown back onto the dirt to be dried and sold. A little further up the beach we saw remains of old sunken ships, a soccer game, and smoke houses where goats and little children where coming out of no where. This is like a little piece of heaven on earth :) I felt so alive, I can't wait to go back!

(link on the left for the rest of the pictures)

view from my favorite spot at the lighthouse

Agnes my dear & me

She got to go home this week! I will miss her.

Sam & Bernice

Full Moon *

Hello! What a week its been~ was it a full moon this week? Strange things kept happening. My week started with a big CRASH... monday night at the end of my shift we were all sitting down to give the next batch of nurses report when i heard a pulse oximeter beeping on one of my collegue's patients. I walked over to see what was causing it and our very first Thyroidectomy patient (removal of a huge goiter)was coding!! She turned a horrible ash color, eyes rolled back and the left side of her neck started to swell to the size of a cantalope completely occluding her airway! I just froze for a second..looking at her is disbelief, we had JUST talked about how bleeding was a RARE risk from this type of surgery. Adrenaline kicked in and ran for the oxygen and crash cart, 911 emergency team was called and about 20 minutes later she was put on the pulley system to the OR to reconnect her carotid artery. Found out later she lost all her blood, but was quickly replaced with IV fluid and blood tranfusions. Well, I guess God answered two of my prayers... I got to see my miracle and she lived! I keep playing it over and over in my mind and there is no way she should have survived that. I was sure she was gone. It was quite emotional and hard for me to continue work this week, but the staff has been great and we are all really becoming a team. My nightmares have ceased thankfully and 2 days ago she was extubated and walking around making funny comments as she is still a little doped up!

The other real life nightmare this week was happening simultaneously as the code... the sewage system was broken on 3/4 of the toilets on the ship for 2 days! enough said. Its fixed now, thank goodness.

Got another new roommate this week that i'm really excited about. She is working as one of the Community Health directors (one of my other huge interests here) and seems to be really adventerous, I'm looking forward to getting to know her better :)

This week got to go see some of the other ministry sites. Mercy Ships has some on-shore projects such as building a maternity ward unit extenstion to the local hospital. They designed it after the typical model here in Ghana (4 women laboring in ONE ROOM!) yikes. Its interesting how modesty plays a big part here in some ways but not in others?? Also building a HIV/AIDS education center just for teens as they found out that many weren't going to get help b/c they were afraid of running into their elders at the local hospital. They just layed the foundation. I have such a huge respect for these workers. They make it brick by brick in hot, hot weather (6 degrees from the equator)!! Also saw the dental and eye clinics Mercy Ships has out in the community. They were using the same building as a local community health center in which this week in 5 days Ghana is trying to immunize every kid under 5 for Polio and Measles, still killers here. It was a bad house!! ha. Babies everywhere!

Had to get away from the full moon a bit this week, so we had a roommate day and rode bikes to the local health club to swim for the afternoon. The ocean is not safe to swim in around here b/c of riptides and bacteria. Besides riding while inhaling much gas and dust, wearing pants in 100 degree weather... its was a little piece of heaven! Also ventured out to the lighthouse near the port and its absolutely my favorite place around here. If you go in the morning you can see all the colorful, beat up sailboats heading out to catch fish for the day. Its like something out of National Geographic, each boat has three pieces of timber crafted between a bedsheet to become a sail! The sea is gleaming and its stunning, a place for fresh air and peace. I love it. God is good to get me through this week.

Nursing Friends

Anne from Sweden, Roomie Julie from Minnesota, and Caroline from Canada doing a happy dance after eating some real food~ some much needed double chocolate brownies!! yum. Simple pleasures :)

Slimy Snails!

Mercy Ship's Community Development teams are teaching a group of local promising, but struggling woman the art of bee, snail, and rabbit keeping as a means to start a local buisness of their own. This is a project I'll be checking out in the next few weeks and am hoping to get involved in! Their HUGE!!! There are TONS of them!!!

Roomie

This is one of my fabulous roommates. I met her back in March at the Mercy Ships course I took and we both just happened to be put together as bunkmates here! As we both work as ward nurses and both have the same name we have already been given nicknames. She is Stephanie ObibenEE (word for black in Twee) and I am Stephanie ObrunE (word for white)! It works out quite nicely as the locals like to shout the obvious out to us anyways, ha. The wrap skirt I have on is one I had made from the the fabric I found at the local market- I should fit in now right ;)

GHANA GAMES tournament teammates

patients....patience

another week. time is playing tricks on me- i feel like i've been here a long time, yet the week went by in a flash. God is good. I came here to give, give, give... yet in just two short weeks the patients on the ward have given and taught ME SO MUCH. The picture I included this time, is the "after" picture of the woman in the last entry, that recieved surgery on a Mercy Ship. I've never met this woman, got her picture of the M.S. website, but it is a perfect pictation of the transformation that is taking place here, its amazing. This deformity is more common in this area of the world than anywhere else, and no one knows exactly why? Because of this deformity and many others we see on the ward, they are treated as total outcasts to their societies, not wanted by family, not given work to provide for themselves, as many think their deformities were caused by evil spirits. This culture is very much into Animism. Over the past two weeks that i've gotten to know the patients staying with us, they have completely melted my heart. I worked several night shifts this past week and looking over the ward in the middle of the night, it made me laugh- looks like a M.A.S.H combat zone with everyones bandaged head, arms, and legs! Unlike my job at Children's in Austin, the patients tend to have a longer hospital duration time, which i'm really enjoying as i can get to know them better. Went for a walk in the morning and ran into my blind pt (Janlop) i told you about last time. He saw me coming 20 ft away :) He was just coming back to say thanks!

Some of my favorites... Solomon~ who smiles even when he sleeps, Edward~ who wakes up every morning to meticulous check out his trach site and new nose, Agnes~ the 80 year old who randomly sits up and does a little jiggy when she's happy, and tries to drive a tricycle everytime we take her out on the deck for fresh air, Kate~ who gives me a BIG thumbs up EVERYTIME i look her way to see if she's doing okay, Bernice who insists on calling me her "motha" (mother):), and Samuel who could hardly talk or eat b/c of one of the largest facial tumors Dr Gary has seen in his 20 years here, who when he got his bandages off the other day, burst out with tons of questions for me and preachin' it! ha These people are incredible- with so little, they have the spirit of a giant. Many come timid from years of social isolation and leave a different person- singing and laughing, smiling. The humbleness and simpleness of these people hits me to the core everytime i look at them, everytime. I look forward to going to work at this place.

I think the biggest thing I'm learning here so far is what patience looks like. I look at the patience these people show day after day, contently sitting in their hospital beds waiting to heal, from huge wounds~ physically/emotionally/spiritually, and it makes me realize what an instant gratification person i can be in my own life. I want the world to work around MY timing! What i want, when i want it. These people put me to shame and i'm thankful for it. I can feel myself struggling inside with certain issues of patience in my life, but being here i know i am being forced to work on them and God is faithful to do his perfect will for my life. I just need to trust in God's timing, not mine. It took alot of passion to get here, I don't want it to become mediocre just because I'm here now.

Speaking of timing issues... Africa Mercy is scheduled to be finished and meet us in Tema, Ghana this Feburary...but there is a chance that for any number of reasons i'm sure, it might not be (it has a long history of being delayed). They are extremely hopeful this time, but if it is not, the ship I'm on now, The Anastasis is not able to sail or have passengers after mid Feburary under the law (too old!) People joke around here the ship wouldn't sink from the bottom, but from the TOP....and its true. The other night we were all sitting in the dining hall eating dinner and part of the ceiling started caving in from someone taking a shower above, and just last night i found a leak in our ceiling about 1 foot away from my bed! and when I told my roommate about it today she said.."oh just put a diaper over that spot, thats what we usually do, not worth fixing b/c we are moving soon!" yikes! haha The point is. I would really love to continue with Mercy Ships in Liberia in Feburary, so please be praying for the completion of the ship or we will all be sent home!

As for what i did with myself for the rest of the week, lets see...tried to go to a supermarket Monday but it was closed for Ramadan. The trip wasn't a lost cause though b/c it was an incredible sight to see hundreds of African Muslims flooding out of the local mosque all in their finest white linens. After that I spent the afternoon off the ship helping put together housing units for rabbits and snails that local woman will be taught how to start a business with. Tuesday learned how to play Cricket and almost got my head chopped off by the ball!!! Wednesday got to go to Sister of Charity Orphanage- one that was started by Mother Teresa. The nuns really do wear those blue and white sarai's wrapped around their little bodies!!! 2 rooms held 50 children under the age of two!!!! Only 6 nuns to run it- pretty well run for that i must say. I was exhausted from playing with em' after 3 hrs, i don't know how they do it. no idea. A little 2 year old kid with two different size legs just wanted me to tickle him...for hours! ha. he had an amazing grin :) They are beautiful children. We were not allowed to take pictures, which is probably for the best, but one mental picture will never leave me from that day- six tiny girls in dresses sitting on a little bench in a row, with the nun kneeling down, lining up the six bowls and six spoons by each one, taking her hand to feed them a spoonful of cereal one by one down the row, and then starting at the beginning again til it was all gone. All shared one cup filled with water. Snacks are bits of bread they are expected to learn early how to hold and eat themselves.
Today, finally got my body back on schedule after a few night shifts, went to church and a local wedding, and later we had "Ghana Games" and a Barbeque on the Aft deck. My team is in the picture above. I didn't look at our score, i'm pretty sure it wasn't worth looking at. ha! But it sure was fun!

As for this week, not much planned. Will go observe the mobile dental and eye clinics off ship, as well as the maternity ward they are building on Wednesday. With the arrival of a new surgeon we will be starting a bunch of thyroidectomy's (Goiter pt's) this week! Gotta go study up on that!
Miss you guys :)

My First Week!

Its hard to know where to begin... I think I've spent the majority of this week in some state of shock! The dynamics of this ship are incredibly interesting. There is over 300 staff, that include 35 different nationalities. I'm not even sure how many floors there are on this ship as it is a giant maze with lots of dead ends and secret stairways. I'm constantly turning around! I live in cabin 7C (near bottom, front of ship) with 5 other girls; 2 from the U.S., 1 canadian, 1 New Zelander, and 1 from Switzerland that is leaving this Sunday. Most are ward or OR nurses, and one a dental equipment sterilizer.

On work days, my day starts around 0630 with breakfast and off to work by 0700. The nurses give report to the oncoming shift and we pray for the upcoming day and patients together. The day shift works 7am-2pm, evening shift 2pm-9pm and night shift 9pm-7am. We work 5 shifts one week and 6 the next, getting every other weekend off. The ward is on level B, as well as the lab, X-ray, CT, 2 OR rooms, engine room, bank, post office etc... Because we don't have any place to store blood, the lab has a list of ship mates with their blood type on the wall and if a pt in the OR should need some, a matching ship mate is paged overhead to the OR room to give blood! Its a walking blood bank :)

Eye/Cataract patients are quick, easy surgeries and go home the same day. Yesterday I got to take care of a sweet 60 year old man that was blind in both eyes. Because there are so many here in Ghana with cataracts, in order to help more, the surgeons fix only 1 eye so there is time to cover more patients. I got up early this morning to take him down to the mobile eye clinic were they removed his eye patch. He sat there for a few seconds and then we said...Can you see!? and he got a huge smile on his face and said yes! He started shaking all of our hands and laughing. We then took him to the chart and as where before he could only see the very top letter E....he could now read all the way to the 2nd to last row! It was amazing to see. He left to walk home on his own!! The ship's name is Anastasis which means "Resurrection" in Greek, where the ship was built. It really carries out its meaning, huh!

For major surgeries, the patient comes to admissions the night before to be oriented and sleep over until they go to the OR in the morning. There is alot to be covered during orientation for these patients as many have never seen a hospital, toilets, a ship, or white people before!! There are usually always two surgeons on board. They group patient's surgery's based on what the visiting surgeon can preform. For the next few weeks, we are doing mostly Maxillary-Facial surgeries... this includes removal of HUGE benign tumors, burn scars, cleft lip/palate patients. Although wound care, treatments, medications are mostly the same, the diagnosis are extremely different! For many of these facial tumors to be fixed, they have to take out a part of their infected maxillary bones (jaw), and replace it with a bone graft from the iliac crest (hip bone) or rib, and then take skin graft from the thighs!! ouch!!! If these tumors are left untreated, many would suffocate to death as it cuts of their airways or are not able to eat.

These patients are TROOPERS, even with huge dressings, extensive wound care, nasogastric tubes, and catheters, many are fine the 2nd day post-op with tylenol or motrin!! In the states... I gaurantee we would be dishing out loads of morphine and codiene!!! For the ones that don't speak English (about 1/4) we have translators at the bedside to help out. The two other main languages they speak are Ga and Twee. In the afternoon we are given time to take our patients out on the Aft deck to play and get some fresh air. I can't really say that this port is very senic... the port side consists of huge barge machinery and big, metal containers for exporting... i think its mainly rice and cement. I have been told if you look over the railing at night on the ocean side, you can see local naked Ghanians swimming in the water with rice bags they have stolen from the shipyard, ha!!! There are hundreds of fish that hover by the ship at night! I am told that near Christmas we will move onto more plastic surgery, cleft lip, cleft palate and VVF (Vesico-Vaginal Fistula) patients.

I am feeling rather comfortable on the unit, it feels good to know all my preparation was not in vain! Working with nurses from Sweden, England, Australia, Canada, Germany, etc. i'm sure will keep things interesting.. as everyone has a their cultural preferred way to preform tasks, even outfits... they still wear pleated dresses and skirt uniforms in many European countries!!! And because all medical supplies we use on the ship are donated and sometimes ancient...we are constantly having to figure out how that particular piece of equipment from that specific country works! crazy.

Today I went into town for the first time as well. Walked about 30 minutes to the marketplace. It is a FEAST for the eyes, nose, stomach! Smoked fish heads staring at you, woman frying plantains, pig noses, cow back skin, mashing tomatoes, carrying platters of fruit with huge knives on their heads!!!!!!!!! Oh and they have a stand where they sell snails in their shells bigger than my hand. They lady had to constantly pick them off the ground and put them back onto the table :) Many of the stands consist of walls of beautiful, bright and intricate patterned fabric. I found some nice blue fabric and hired a local woman to make me a wrap skirt. On the way home, I had some fresh pineapple and a coconut, water & pulp... delicious! cost 75 cents :) even better. I will try to capture some of this stuff on my camera in the future... they want you to build a relationship with them first. Also, not able to take pictures on the nursing ward, only when we take them to the upper deck, There are a few patients I already want you to meet. I'll try to get them on here next time :)

My big Friday night plans consist of the nursing girls going into town to the gas station (local hangout and night club) to have a pizza party. I'm told this will be interesting! I have no doubts, ha! This coming Wednesday I go to the Sister's of Charity HIV baby orphange to just "play". I'm having a blast :) I downloaded some photos on the link to the left to give you a tour of the ship. I had a ton more but haven't figured out how to get past the max megabit limit per month yet.. i'm working on it

Love
steph

Getting ready!

Oct. 8th. 2006
"Grow in the soil of hope. Step out bravely and beautifully, growth occurs in the mystery of God's timing" Trigg Johnson

Its almost time to go... I can't believe its finally here; waited and worked many years towards this dream. There is this jOy that wells up inside of me everytime I've thought about joining Mercy Ships over the years, indescribable... Its kinda like the feeling one gets when diving into a crisp lake, seeing the first snowflakes of the new season silently coming down, or holding a baby... but x 100 :) Its peaceful, refreshing, hopeful. I'm excited to put this passion into practical action; to get my hands dirty, to hear stories, to be part of another's physical, emotional, spiritual healing process.

I'm excited about it b/c it feels like I get to live IN my favorite word...HOPE! Webster describes it as "to desire something with expectation of obtainment."
*Vaclav Havel ~ "hope is a way of life, an orientation of the heart"
*South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that people of faith are "prisoners of hope"... To me, this dream of joining the organization's mission and vision, has literally felt like its "captured" my desire, held me firmly, and there is an overall secureness that God has blessed this "dream" and allowed it to come to life, to obtainment!

In Gustavo Gutierrez's book "The Power of the Poor in History" he very bluntly says "but the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her excellence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginallized by our social and cultural world, despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order."

Howard Zinn writes, "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishy romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of the world in a different direction. The future is an infinite succession of presents."

I share all these insights to explain the deep extent of this conviction on my life. It is a powerful conviction I'm glad is present and continues to push me to new ground. Despair paralyzes, Hope gives life. As a fairly new nurse and young woman I have much to learn about the how the world works and why; but what I do know is that if I have the power and resources to make it better, more beautiful, the way God intended, then there is deep joy in that. That is what I want my life to be about.

I look forward to, with anticipation, other hopes to come to life through this journey as well. I don't know exactly what i'm walking into, or what I will find, but I'm confident that this is right for me in this season of my life. I hope you will come along with me to :) I look forward to sharing this adventure and my patient's stories with you through this blog! I have exactly the amount I need to go, team effort* every single one of you was needed!!! :) I love you guys and thanks again for all your support in getting me here. Stay in touch~ please :)
My mailing address with be:

Mercy ShipsM/V Anastasis/Medical Dept.
P O Box 2020
Garden Valley, TX 75771-2020USA

P.S. If you look to the left you will see a link for more Africa Pictures...will be updating periodically, so feel free to check out future slideshows