Routine, but not normal

We've been here for over three months now, and we have our routines.  For me, I usually go to the Hope Center once week to visit recovering patients.  On the way there in the van we are usually very chatty.  It's always a great group of people, and there are always new people to meet.

On the way back to the ship, it's quiet in the van.  We're all rather subdued.  For me, it's just a bit overwhelming.  We've just seen the patients, and we're all just looking out the windows at the streets of Douala.  We see cattle grazing out of dumpsters, crazy traffic, poverty.

I was also at a dress ceremony this week for the women who have had surgery for childbirth injuries. They receive a  beautiful new dress to represent a new start in a healed life.  I heard testimonies from women praising God for their healing.  These women have suffered, some  for eight, ten or fifteen years.  They have suffered from a condition that is non existent in our country, because everyone in our country has access to safe surgery.
It's not fair or just, is it?

My latest favorite author, N T Wright says, " Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleness of the present world... That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God's new world, which he has thrown open to us."
We are called to bring God's kingdom to this world.
And that brings joy.

Debbie

A Day in Hospital Supply

One day I started a conversation with one of the Mercy Ships photographers as I was making some deliveries to the various hospital wards.  He started taking my picture as I went about my routine.  Apparently one turned out that he was willing to post and here it is. I was caught in the act of working.

All of the crew are volunteers and work full time. My hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with an hour lunch and rotating call for evenings and weekends.  Not a bad schedule.

We start each day with a group meeting so we are all caught up on the issues and priorities of the day, we divide up responsibilities and then pray before we start our work.
The priorities are the operating rooms and the wards.  We have some computerized storage cabinets but many are manual storage cabinets and shelves which we visually check each work day and restock as needed. This is usually finished in the mornings.  After that we handle other orders and other special requests.

One of the big challenges this year is implementing a new inventory software system.  There are always start up issues whenever an organization changes to a new system, and we have done a lot of problem solving and adjustments in the couple months I have been here. We are getting better at how to use this system more efficiently.

In addition to the Wards we get special orders from several other medical departments.  We also have to move and rotate supplies, restock our central area, and do cycle counts.  Because we get our supplies shipped from the USA or from The Netherlands, we never know when the next one will arrive.  We can be pretty sure they will be late.  It's never easy to get a container into an African port and get through customs.  When there are shortages we also get resupplied by people traveling to the ship as they bring an extra duffle bag packed full of medical supplies.

We recently finished our eye surgery. We were proud to say that we never had to cancel one surgery due to a supply shortage. As a result over 1500 Cameroonians who were blind can now see. 

Chuck

Small miracles

I was at the pool this afternoon, talking with two nurses and a pharmacist about two of our smallest patients.  One was a five year old with pneumonia, and the other was a baby with RSV.  Both of these children ended up on the ship at exactly the right time.

The oxygen and supplies showed up on the ship two days before anyone knew that they would be needed.  Because of the lack of medical care in their communities, neither child would have survived. Both are now doing well!   The baby with RSV will go home for a month to get stronger before she is admitted for her surgery.

We don't always understand God's miracles.There is a baby at the Hope Center who will not have surgery for her large facial tumor, because she would not survive the surgery.  They are treating her by trying to cut off the blood supply to the tumor.  The young mom is reassured that she is a good mother, doing all she can for her child.

Debbie

Limbe part 2

After our tour of the wildlife sanctuary we were eager to get out of the heat and spend the day at the beach.  This is one of the most beautiful beaches with very dark sand due to volcanic activity.  Mount Cameroon is near this region.  We saw a lot of hills around the area, but the clouds prevented a good clear of Mt Cameroon.

We arrived at a private beach visited by a lot of Mercy Ship crew.  The beach is owned by a hotel and restaurant.  While we awaited our lunch orders, we enjoyed some wonderfully refreshing water with good waves at low tide.  This was one of the cleanest beaches I have ever seen.  From the water we had beautiful views of mountains.

 We claimed a nice covered area with tables for lunch.  It was build over the waters and provided a good breeze and good view.



We had some well prepared barracuda along with fresh vegetables, potatoes and rice.

Everyone travels with lots of water,
 but a cold coke was really refreshing.

After lunch the tide came in and we were over the water.

After a little too much sun and a good burn that lasted most of the week, we returned home and made it in time for dinner.

The trip took us past a lot of banana plantations and other interesting sights.  During one traffic jam we did a lot of people watching and enjoyed such unique sites such as a motorcycle with a large (dead) pig strapped on the back.   Most of the motorcycles have at least 3 passengers.  They constantly weave in an out of traffic and get through the traffic jams better than any other vehicle.  We heard there is a helmet law, but I haven't seen anyone with a helmet.  The motorcycles are not licensed or registered, so we see them everywhere.


Chuck

Limbe

Life on the Africa Mercy is not all work.  We can go off ship and explore during our time off.  We took a trip with 12 other crew mates to Limbe.  Limbe is a town about 70 Km from here which takes about 2 hours travel time.
Our first stop was to visit a wildlife sanctuary.  Our tour guide Francis was very informative about the animal life in Cameroon.  The wildlife sanctuary is a place of rescue.  They attempt to return these animals to the natural habit when possible.

Notice the English signs.  This section of Cameroon is in the Anglophone region where English is primary, then French.

We learned a lot about gorillas.  These social creatures cannot survive alone.  Some will never be able to be released.  One of the gorillas had four wives!  Another could only have one wife because he was the most aggressive one there.  His wife was feisty enough to keep him in line.

Because the electric fence was not working properly the animals were not allowed out of their caged areas.  We didn't really mind as we were close enough to see them.

The chimpanzee is considered the smartest of the primates.  I suppose this is why NASA used them at the start of the space program.  At the wildlife centre, the chimps all learn to press a button on the water fountain when they need a drink.

This is Francis, explaining about the gorillas.


Chuck

The Eyes Have it

We went to the inservice this week given by Dr Joe, a pediatric opthalmologist from AZ.  A lot of life changing procedures happen when Mercy Ships arrives in a country, but screening for eye care can have immediate results.  Just think of the difference it makes to be able to see clearly!

Eye screening can be a very simple thing to do, and often a pair of glasses can change everything.  The ship also provides cataract surgery, with dramatic results.

One thing that really stood out to me from Dr Joe's talk was this: Life in Cameroon is hard.  When you look at the demographics, there aren't many old people in Cameroon.  To be able to picture it, imagine a class of 20 elementary students. Every year, there will be 5 less students.  Wow.  Screening, helping eye problems, and training local professionals to do the same can make a huge difference in the quality of life here.

Debbie

It's not French???

It was a wild time at the Hope Center this morning.  We had a lot of people. We even ran out of coloring pages from the story.  Lere had us all up and dancing.

 The song that we always sing, and that I can't understand, is in Zulu.  No wonder I can't understand the words.  I thought it was in French.  I don't know if that makes me feel better or not.

 I met a German couple that had lived in Rochester with their family for two years when he worked for Kodak.  Their son is working on the ship, and they are here visiting him. Here he is dancing in his borrowed dining room pants.  He had been wearing long shorts, but not long enough to cover his knees.  So Moira found him some uniform pants.  They were a little on the large size!

Chuck got to meet them at lunch so we compared Kodak/Rochester history.  When they were in Rochester with their four children, they worshiped at Browncroft.

Debbie