hungry & falling on my knees

I cannot believe it has been almost 4 years since I stood in front of my home churches in Idaho & New Hampshire announcing that I would be serving as a volunteer, missionary nurse on a ship in Africa! I vaguely remember reading an excerpt from a “Welcome to Mercy Ships Letter” that I received out loud in church as part of my prayer requests as I was heading out into the land of the unknown (life on a ship in Africa). The excerpt I read said “the ship culture is one of constant change: change of location, change of personnel, and change of climate. Relationships, though intense, are often short lived, and this can be emotionally painful. Relationship conflicts are difficult to avoid and need to be worked out which can be a frightening experience for some people. For this reason it is important that crew members are emotionally robust with healthy coping mechanisms…”



I was also informed the “ship environment is hazardous and uncomfortable for various reasons. Decks may be slippery, there are lots of steep staircases, and there are many things to trip over or to hit your head on. The environment is often noisy, which can be mentally exhausting. There are occupational hazards associated especially with technical jobs. Heat can take its toll and dehydration is a risk. Sea travel can result in great discomfort from motion sickness. The ship air conditioning system recycles a high proportion of the air, resulting in frequent exposure to coughs and colds…”


Basically, I had signed up for the adventure of my life…and if I was going to survive life in the metal box, where I would eat, sleep, work, socialize, pray, and share every moment of life together with about 400 other people from 35 different countries; I better have an excellent prayer team... All the challenges the “Welcome to Mercy Ships Letter” explained didn’t even touch on the intensity of working with and among the poorest of the poor, experiencing patient deaths, crew illnesses, having to tell patient after patient that our surgery lists are full and that we have no space to help, having limited supplies, falling in love with chocolate children that the Lord calls home before we are ready to say good-bye, and seeing the intense pain and suffering of a multitude of people right out my window. Yikes!


I actually laughed when I read the letter I had received and knew I had nothing to fear because God would go with me everywhere and I would be able to accomplish whatever he called me too… I still believe and fully know without a doubt that it is God ALONE who enables me to get out of bed every day and it is God ALONE that allows me to perform the work he called me too, but…Yikes!


I have burst into tears 4 times in the last 40 minutes alone and I feel like all my emotional robust, health, vigor, heartiness, strength, toughness, stoutness, spirit, beef, sturdiness, muscle, resilience, and durability have gone out the window! Tomorrow is our last day of surgery for the Sierra Leone 2011 outreach. The hospital officially closes November 25th and we still have many surgical patients desperately in need of miracles so that their wounds heal before the ship sails away in December. Many of my treasured friends are leaving within the next few days and I don’t know if I will ever see them again on this earth. My roommate and current best friend is leaving tomorrow and I will have a new bunkmate within 24 hours time. I also have two huge term papers/reports to write within the next few weeks describing the entire plastic and orthopedic surgery experiences aboard the ship this year and I feel like I have a bad case of senioritis!


To be “emotionally robust” is an understatement for my need at this time. I am hungry…and falling on my knees...as tears roll down my cheeks, I ask you to sing/pray with me & for me, the lyrics to the song I am now listening to…

Hungry (Falling on my Knees) by Kathryn Scott…

Hungry I come to You

For I know You satisfy

I am empty, but I know

Your love does not run dry

So I wait for You

So I wait for You

I’m falling on my knees

Offering all of me

Jesus You’re all

This heart is living for

Broken I run to You

For Your arms are open wide

I am weary, but I know Your touch

Restores my life

So I wait for You

So I wait for You

So I wait for You

So I wait for You

Jesus, I am so blessed to be stressed here in Africa, serving in your precious name. I am blessed that I have friends and family, worlds apart from me, who care enough about me to read this, that support me to be here, and pray for me. Thanks!

My Krio Vocabulary

It seems like just yesterday I got off the airplane and stepped into hot & humid Sierra Leone. How can it be that I have already been here over eight months and in just a short time, my floating home will pull up anchor and sail away? All the Krio I have been learning will need to be put aside and I will have to give French my best shot again as the ship is heading to Togo!



Nonetheless- for the remainder of my time in Sierra Leone I will continue to work on my Krio. Below are a few of the words & phrases I have added to my Krio vocabulary over the past few months. The words and letters are all pronounced just as they sound and look. Try the phrases out for yourself or imagine me running around the ward and the streets of Freetown repeating the phrases.


Mohnin-o- Morning!


Aw di bodi? How are you? Literally how is the body


Di bodi fine, how usef? Not bad, and you?


Ah tel God tehnki- I cannot complain- I tell God thank-you


Di bodi de na klos- Fine- the body is in the clothes


We yu nem- What’s your name?


Ah nem- My name...


Ah gladi foh mit yu- It’s nice to meet you


We go si bak- See you later


Tenki ya- Thank- you


Ah tell yu bohku bohku tenki- I thank you very much


Ah taya- I’m tired


Ah noh get natin- I don’t have anything


Ohmohs ah foh pe? How much do I need to pay?


Aw mus for dis tin ya?- How much does this item cost?


Ah go want mehk yu bi mi gal friend- Will you be my girlfriend?


Nar dis merecine ah for take?- It this the medicine I should take?


Ah get pain na me an, bak, bele, ed, nek, trot- I have been in my hand, back, stomach, head, neck, and throat.


Udat- Who is?


Os- House


Paddy- Friend


Pikin- Children


Yestade- Yesterday


Tide-today


Tumara- tomorrow


Nehxt tumara- Day after tomorrow


How yu slip? How did you sleep?


Mishef, ah noh lek pehpeh plehnti- I don’t like hot pepper too much


Aw di chop? How’s the food.


Ee Gud- It’s good


Yu lehk go wet? Do you need to urinate?


Well, that’s it for now. We go si bak!

hot-pink, ruby-red, cast shoes

I remember seeing him those first few days after his surgery sitting on a small chair with his two little legs and bandaged feet tucked up on the corner of the chair. In reality, I don’t know if he actually understood that he wasn’t allowed to walk or if the pain in his toes and feet kept him from attempting to walk, but there he sat.


Both of his feet had been burned when he was small. One moment he was playing, the next moment his precious chocolate colored skin connected with a boiling liquid and all the skin on his toes burned. He didn’t have the luxury of medical care and over time his burned skin contracted. His toes fused together then folded completely down and under.


The time came for him to start walking, but it was difficult. He attempted to waddle around and eventually learned to mobilize by walking on the sides of his feet. Shoes wouldn’t fit correctly and he didn’t even have individual toes to mangle into a flip-flop so at least the sides of his feet could be protected from constant contact with the hard African soil.


The tiny skin grafts we put between his toes started to heal and the doctor said he could start to walk. My little patient with bandaged toes and feet timidly clung to the wall contemplating if he actually wanted to walk or not. The physical therapist and I encouraged him saying, “Walka- Walka, you can do it, Walka- Walka” which is the Krio way of saying “Walk.” He glanced over his shoulder looking for approval and confidence from his mama. His tall, beautiful, African mother lovingly nodded her head, persuading her son to take his first steps on his new feet and toes. He stumbled, but we encouraged him to keep walking. We held both his hands in ours and encouraged him to walk. The bandages on his feet made him easily loose traction and he sometimes slipped around like he was on and ice-skating rink. I couldn’t help but laugh as he slipped around on the floor in his little hospital gown and bandaged feet. But, each time he fell down we picked him up and encouraged him to keep walking.


Weeks and multiple bandage changes later, one of my co-workers questioned if it was time for our little patient to try wearing a pair of shoes. I called the PT/OT team and told them about our idea. I got sidetracked and involved in other patient care and missed the PT/OT visit, but all I know is one minute my little patient was stumbling around the ward with his little bandaged feet and then almost instantaneously he was running down the hall-way and in and out of the ship stairwells. I could barely keep up with him. My patient had received a brand new pair of tiny, hot-pink, cast shoes- that look like a snazzy pair of orthotic Velcro high-tops. And it was seriously like magic, as soon as he put on the hot-pink shoes, he was in another world, he was free! He ran, jumped, skipped, and rarely slipped. It was like he had found his own pair of Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, clicked his heels together, and was whisked off to another land.


The little cast shoes he put on were not magical, nor ruby-red. On the contrary they were hot-pink, but it was awesome to witness my little patient getting whisked off to another land. Not a magical land called Oz, but the land of healing…and I am so honored that I can witness this healing every day in the place I call my home…there’s no place like home…there’s no place like home….there’s no place like home…

Thanks father in heaven, that because you live in my heart, I can make a home wherever I am. Thanks for my little patient in his hot-pink, ruby- red, cast shoes and that he found healing in my home/your home here on the Mercy Ship.

balloon soccer & tangible hope

Over the past few months he has been getting stronger and stronger. His little crutches have become one with him. His once unstable gait has vanished and has been replaced with a near run as he cruises around on his one leg and two supporting crutches as if he had perfectly healthy legs and no crutches at all. He has been working very hard with our physical therapy team. He has come so far. It seems like just yesterday that he woke up from his first surgery and “asked for a balloon.” The days when we had to give him multiple medications to deal with the pain from his exercises are long gone. And it seems like it was years ago that we were using tough love to force him to lie on his stomach to stretch the stump that was left of his leg; knowing if we didn’t make him stretch he would never be able to wear a prosthetic leg in the future. I am so proud of him!

A few weeks ago our little patient, that I am so proud of, our plastic surgeon and physical therapists took a small road trip across town to a soccer field. The exciting part of the road trip was not that the trip destination was a soccer field because soccer fields in Freetown are just like Starbucks in Seattle! No, the awesome part of the field trip was who was playing on the soccer field itself. Our little friend got to see the Sierra Leone National Amputee Foottball/Soccer Team play! Our small patient and my co-workers watched the professional soccer players with wonder and awe. The athletic army with crutches played a better game of soccer than most of us with two perfectly formed legs could ever hope to play. I can only imagine what my little friend/patient was thinking as he watched a soccer team of amputees, people just like him doing what all little African boys love; playing soccer.

Although his road hasn’t been easy and the only soccer game he has played lately was a game of balloon soccer with our physical therapy team, I trust my patient’s future is bright. He has been fit with a prosthetic leg and just three days ago he was discharged from Mercy Ships’ care. I know the world around him will tell him what he “cannot do”, that he “will fail”, and “that he is different and can never fit in.” But, I believe it won’t be long until my little patient leaves behind games of balloon soccer for more. I saw it in his eyes as he gave me a high-five good-bye and was ushered off the ship after receiving a round of applause and roar of encouragement when he was paraded through the dining hall during lunch to wave good-bye to the rest of the crew. He will remember the days he spent with us, the days he saw his healing come, and the day we showed him hope for his future on a simple soccer field; a field of dreams.

“In order for hope to be credible for the future it must be tangible in the present” (US Ambassador Robert Seiple). Thanks Lord for your Hope & for Healing.

just a little of what I did...

I rounded with the doctors, handed over to the nurses, assisted the nurses under my management with dressing changes, went to bed meeting, made patient assignments for the next shift, ran to the pharmacy to seek their guidance in figuring out how to give an IV medicine orally because we don’t have the oral form of the medicine. I prayed with my patient who is discouraged that it is taking so long for her wound to heal. I discharged a few patients from my ward, admitted a few into their vacated spaces.  I attended a quality assurance meeting with hospital management. I answered emails from previous surgeons. I was called into the crew clinic to consult on a case where the crew physician wasn’t certain what the patient had.  I diagnosed the patient with one of the tropical diseases I had learned about in my course of tropical diseases and I prescribed treatment for the patient. I went back to the ward and welcomed a group of guests from Belgium to my ward, explaining to them what types of operations we do and explained the basics of how things work on the ship, among the visitors was Miss Belgium.  I chased a few of my chocolate children/patients around the ward and down the hallways when they escaped from the ward.  I kissed all the babies I could.  I gave one of my longer term patients, a four year old, cheeky, little princess, a mini syringe for her to “medicate” her baby doll that she has named after one of the nurses, “medicine” for the doll’s bandage change. My little patient smiled, giggled, and ran off to play with the other little ones in the ward.  I ran out to the dock to give one of my plastic surgery patients TB (tuberculosis) medicine, as she was recently diagnosed with TB and needs to learn how important compliance with treatment is so that she can be cured and not have complications, thus she has to make contact with us daily to take her medicine.  I carried around one of my patient’s babies strapped to my back so that the patient could focus on her physical therapy session. I could go on forever…but that’s just a little of what I did in one shift as a nurse manager on the Africa Mercy, the huge hospital ship floating off the coast of Sierra Leone, the place I am so blessed to work and proud to call home.           

Ground-Nut & Pumpkin



My little ground-nut! You know how we call cute, small babies, "peanut" in
the Western World? Well, in Sierra Leone, they call peanuts- ground-nuts so
I decided we must call this precious little one "ground-nut!"



I love this kid! We call him Pumpkin! His little cheeks are so kissable
and he is so round and chubby, like a precious little pumpkin!

Fishing Boats & Towels

It breaks my heart and I hate to admit it, but he has been on the ward with us since we removed the small football sized tumor from his shoulder more than four months ago. The surgery to remove the tumor from his shoulder went extremely well. The skilled, South African, surgeon that removed his tumor grafted new skin from his right thigh to cover the gaping wound that was left in his shoulder after removing the mass that had protruded from his arm for far too many years. A few weeks after his surgery his skin graft had taken and his shoulder was healing. He started to learn shoulder range of motion. He was ecstatic when he got to use his regained shoulder range of motion to wave at his brother, who was in a fishing boat that randomly passed by the ship one afternoon during the patient’s daily trip outside to deck seven of the ship. We loved watching him stare at the clock each day waiting in anticipation for the daily patient trip outside. Another day he randomly saw another one of his family members float past the ship in a tattered fishing boat and the smile on his face melted our hearts. We got so excited for him and his “family sightings” from deck seven, that we started making nursing notes in our charge nurse handover notes about who he got to wave at each day. His happiness added to our happiness.


Although his shoulder was healing well, the donor site on his thigh that we grafted skin from was not healing well. Then it got infected. As soon as we thought the skin was getting better, another area of infection would appear and the fragile skin that was healing would once again break open and pus. This cycle of almost total healing, then wound breakdown has continued and despite our best efforts, his years of malnutrition and poor skin condition in general have made his healing process extremely lengthy and prolonged.

He has been sad, depressed, discouraged, and questions why it has taken so long for his leg to heal. We ask the same questions. He misses his wife and kids; the waves from deck seven of the ship aren’t enough. He needs his family, but they live too far away and cannot travel each day to visit him. We are discouraged, but know God is big enough to heal his leg. And praise God, just this past week his healing has sped up and we pray that soon he will be able to go home.

Yesterday, he asked to speak to me and I hate to admit it, but I tried to avoid him, not wanting to tell him once again that he was not ready to be discharged. He started to speak to me in Krio, the main language here in Sierra Leone. I understand most Krio, but wanted the support of a translator to help me explain once again to my patient that I didn’t know why his leg wasn’t healing, but that I was praying with him for it to get better, and that we weren’t giving up on his healing. He agreed to wait for me while I found a translator. I prepped my translator, telling her about the situation before we approached my waiting patient. With a heavy heart, we approached my patient once again and I had my translator start to explain to him that it wasn’t time for him to go home yet.

She started speaking in a local tribal language and smiled at me and was laughing with the patient. I was confused and interrupted her, telling her to tell the patient what I asked her to tell him because I was certain if she had really told him that he couldn’t go home, that he wouldn’t be laughing. She stopped me and said, “No, Laura, it is okay.” I was dumbfounded. It wasn’t really okay. My patient has been here more than 130 days and his wound still isn’t better. She said, “No, it really is okay, He just wants to know if when he finally goes home if he could take a towel with him. He doesn’t have one at home.”

All the heaviness that had been on my shoulders lifted. I breathed a sigh of relief and told my patient he could most definitely have a towel when he goes home. He smiled from ear to ear, shook my hand, and thanked me for all we are doing for him, and walked back to his humble bed, in a busy ward, to wait for his healing, but somehow comforted by the idea that he would have a towel to take home.


Dear Father in Heaven! Thanks for my patients. Thanks for the healing YOU WILL BRING THIS PATIENT. Thanks for the chance to be here & thanks for simple things like towels. (Next time you use a towel- please pray for my patient, that he will soon heal & be able to take home the towel I promised him).

...No Matter What...

Carrying the load of being the Orthopedic & Plastic Surgery Team Leader/Ward Manager,
the Assistant Ward Supervisor, & Interim Ward Supervisor all at once was intense!
This photo is evidence of just how I felt.
I wanted to get into a box (well, you can see I did that)...hide...or get shipped home! 
I didn't get shipped home, but I did fly home for a much needed break a few weeks ago!
Despite the challenges I have faced here on the ship this year....
I resolve to live by the lyrics to one of my current favorite songs by Kerrie Roberts...NO MATTER WHAT!

No Matter What
I'm running back to Your promises, one more time

Lord that’s all I can hold on to

I’ve got to say this has taken me, by surprise

But nothing surprises You

Before a heartache, can ever touch my life

It has to go through Your hands

And even though I, I keep asking why

I keep asking why

No matter what, I’m gonna love You

No matter what, I’m gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But if not, if not - I’ll trust You

No matter what (no matter, no matter what, no matter)

No matter what (no matter, no matter what – no matter, no matter what)

When I’m stuck in this nothingness, by myself

I’m just sitting in silence

There’s no way I can make it, without Your help

I won’t even try it

I know You have Your reasons, for everything

So I will keep believing

Whatever I might be feeling

God You are my hope, and You’ll be my strength

No matter what, I’m gonna love You

No matter what, I’m gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But if not, if not - I’ll trust You

No matter what (no matter, no matter what, no matter)

No matter what (no matter, no matter what – no matter, no matter what)

Anything I don’t have, You can give it to me

But it’s OK if You don’t

I’m not here for those things

The touch of Your love is enough on its own

And no matter what, I still love You

And I’m gonna need You

No matter what, I’m gonna love You

No matter what, I’m gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But if not, if not - I’ll trust You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But if not, but if not, I’ll trust You

No matter what (no matter)

No matter what (no matter, no matter what)

No matter - no matter what

(No matter - no matter what)

No matter - no matter what

(No matter - no matter what)

No matter - no matter what

Baby Therapy

...Some say Stop & Smell the Roses...
I say...Stop & Cuddle an African Baby!

Answered Ice-Cream Prayers

There are few things in life that excite me more than a big bowl of ice-cream! It doesn’t matter if it is 7:00am on the coldest winter morning, with snow-flakes falling out of the heavens, or 113* degrees at 2:00am on a hot summer night, I feel ice-cream is always an appropriate snack. Simply put, I love ice-cream! My love for ice-cream has followed me all the way to Africa, which has created a small empty spot in my life for the last few years. I’ve looked, believe me, I’ve searched, but there isn’t a Dairy Queen, TCBY, Dip n’ Dots, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry's, Jean's, FORE-U, or Dairy Twirl, anywhere around here!



I fill the ice-cream void in my life as able on my vacations and trips home, but sometimes I just need a good bowl of ice-cream here, when I want it! Thanks to a buddy of mine, his creativity, camp counselor history, and love for surfing the internet searching for fun recipes, my selfish “ice-cream need” prayers have been answered and I can now have ice-cream anytime I want! Try-out the following recipe for a yummy bowl of inexpensive, missionary in Africa, soft-serve, ice-cream! For fun you can add different spices or items to your mixture for a different flavor of ice-cream. We made mango, chocolate, cinnamon, & coconut-ginger flavors! Enjoy!


1/2 cup milk


1/2 teaspoon vanilla


1 tablespoon sugar


4 cups crushed ice


4 tablespoons salt


2 quart size Zip-loc bags


1 gallon size Zip-loc freezer bag


a hand towel or gloves to keep fingers from freezing as well!


Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in one of the quart size bags. Seal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Too much air left inside may force the bag open during shaking. Place this bag inside the other quart size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. By double-bagging, the risk of salt and ice leaking into the ice cream is minimized. Put the two bags inside the gallon size bag and fill the bag with ice, then sprinkle salt on top. Again let all the air escape and seal the bag. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake and massage the bag, making sure the ice surrounds the cream mixture. Five to eight minutes is adequate time for the mixture to freeze into ice cream.


http://teachnet.com/lessonplans/science/plastic-bag-ice-cream-recipe/

...everyone loves a little ice-cream...
american, austrian, american, american, kiwi (from new zealand) 
(a few of my ice-cream making friends- from left to right by country of origin)...

Happy Late 4th of July from Sierra Leone





Cabin Sweet Cabin

Thank you Jesus for a comfy bed & for the small things, like the fact
that my roommate's duvet matched mine! I love an organized- color-coordinating cabin!

I am so thankful for my living room. Most cabins on the ship do not have a living room.
My couch is made out of towels, extra blankets, odd shaped pillows, old car cushions,
 a rug rolled up, you name it & I probably have it rolled up under the blanket you see. 
All in all...it is pretty comfy! Thanks Mom for teaching me how to be creative & thrifty!

Thank you Jesus for my fridge! Most cabins on the ship do not have their own fridge in them.
Thank you Jesus for the grace & patience you are giving me with roommates that are trying
to grow science projects in the fridge!

Thank you Jesus for my extra-large living room!
 I was blessed to be assigned to one of the cabins that has the largest back space- living room/pantry/office/entertainment center/laundry room out of the entire ship....
Seriously Jesus, thank you for my Cabin....Sweet....Cabin

Plastic Surgery Team 2011

...Surgeons, Nurse Team Leader (me) Nurse Clinical Educator, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist...
also known as the torture team...the kids scream when we come near them (dressing changes & exercises)
but we know the temporary pain they are experiencing is worth the gain they will have in the future...

Special Visitors



...and then there was the day at work when the President & Vice President of Sierra Leone stopped over...



...here i am to worship...

Where his right leg had once been, only a stump remained, he would never walk normally again. He was not out of the woods yet, the infection that has started to creep up his leg could have gone farther than we knew. His road to recovery was just beginning. Our hearts were heavy, but we thanked God for a successful, safe operation, and prayed that God would hold this little boy in his hands and be with him as he woke up and faced the reality that his leg was gone.



…As the anesthesia wore off, he came to, and all he asked for was a balloon…


It has been over a month now since he had his right leg amputated. He has never once complained. When I come into the ward in the morning, he is one of the first to shout out, “Mornin, Laura, how da body?” I greet him from across the room and say, “Mornin Doctor, how u sleep & how are the other patients?” He giggles and tells me the rest of the patients are fine. As I look around the ward at my plastics patients, all the other children hide their eyes, believing if they don’t make eye contact with me, they won’t have to have their dressings changed. As I am still scanning the room checking how everyone is doing, my little balloon loving friend, volunteers to have his dressing changed first. I say, “Doctor, that is very brave of you, but very wise, as we have many other dressing changes to do today and I need your help, so we will do yours first, and then you can help me encourage the other patients to have theirs done too!” He giggles again and hops out of bed, grabs his crutches, adjusts the toy stethoscope, around his neck that we have given him to play with, and he says, “le go, le go” (meaning let’s go, I’m ready).


Another nurse assists with his dressing change as I assume my post at the computer updating all the patient information on the computer census. I get lost in mounds of paperwork and sorting out of this and that. I run in and out of the ward, looking for this medicine, creating the item that the nurse needs out of a piece of that tubing and this device and then with the most sincere, straight face, I explain to the new nurse how to use what I just created. She looks at me like I am crazy and I just smile and say, “We do things a little differently around here.” I call the doctor and ask what antibiotic he would like me to use instead of the one he just ordered, because the pharmacy just informed me we are all out of the ordered antibiotic and won’t have any more until the next shipping container arrives. I dash off to the lab after receiving a text page saying... “We’ve got something interesting for you to look at…” I rush into the lab with a grin on my face and say, “don’t tell me, I want to see if I can figure it out on my own.” After a 5 second peek down the microscope, I announce “schistosomiasis mansoni!” The lab tech nods her head in agreement. I say, “Cool, well not for the patient, but cool” and dash out the lab, once again reminding them to call me anytime there is anything interesting to see so that I can keep working on my skills.


In the hallway, on my way back to the ward, I see a beautiful African mother carrying a little buddle of brightly colored, African fabric in her hands. I know that inside the bundle of fabric, there has got to be one precious little baby. I smile at the mother and urge her to let me see inside the fabric pile that she holds with such care. I grin from ear to ear as I see a little head covered with a mop of curly hair a little baby with a cleft lip smiling up at me. I tell the mama her baby is BEAUTIFUL…and I bounce off toward the ward.


Once back in the ward, I sit down at the desk and make assignments for the evening shift, considering each nurse’s skill set and determining which patients they are best gifted to care for. With a list of 10 million other things I still have to do before the shift finishes, running around my head, I move on to the next task in front of me. Tackling each challenge and question I am presented with one at a time, I smile and carry on. As I am still working madly on everything that needs done, I hear this little voice singing “hear I...I am...hear I...I’m tooo worshp…hear I...I am tooo bow down…hear I...I am tooo worshp…” the little voice continues repeating the same line over and over… “hear I...I am...hear I...I’m tooo worshp…hear I...I am tooo bow down…hear I...I am tooo worshp…” I look around the ward wondering where the little angelic voice is coming from and wonder how she learned the words to one of my favorite worship songs. I ascertain the voice is coming from a little girl who I find sitting next to my balloon loving friend. The two of them are coloring together, sitting on the floor next to his bed. She keeps singing and he just looks up and smiles at me.


I stop everything I am doing and listen to her singing as best she can, stammering over her words. I pause… and confess once again that that is why I am here…that’s why I am on a hospital ship in Africa…that’s what it’s all about…here I am to worship…here I am to bow down… here I am to tell them that YOU ARE MY GOD! You are altogether lovely, altogether worthy; altogether wonderful to me…Here I am to worship!

...All he asked for was a balloon...

He had a small sore on his leg, just a scratch, a mere nick in the skin. Had he lived in the Western world he would have just ran to his mother and the two of them would have headed to the bathroom sink to wash off the blood and apply a Snoopy band-aid. The sore would have healed within days…



Instead, he lived in Africa… The pinpoint sized cut didn’t heal; it got infected and increased in size. Unsure what to do about the infection growing in their son’s leg; his parents took him to the local traditional healer-witch doctor. The witch doctor poured a boiling liquid on the little boy’s fragile, infected skin. Now, on top of infection, the little boy had deep burns to his right leg that eventually healed, but healed but with the skin in a contracted form. The burns disfigured the little boy’s right leg, making it impossible to run, play, or walk without crutches; a small, innocent abrasion, changing forever the hopes and dreams of a little Sierra Leonean boy.


That little boy made it to the Mercy Ship. He underwent two surgeries last week to clean up one of the chronic infections that he has dealt with in his leg every since the original scratch showed up. On his third surgery, the skilled plastic surgeon’s gently released the contracted skin that had been holding his leg hostage, in a locked position; they grafted healthy skin to cover up the skin that he had lost.


Such a brave little boy, three surgeries in one week! Anyone else undergoing the type of surgery he had would have been in intense pain requiring a narcotic drip or pain pump, he barely made a peep, his pain controlled with mere Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and an occasional tablet of Codeine. He sat contently in his corner bed coloring pictures of African animals. Who would have known that cheetahs and frogs are actually 12 different colors? He was so polite and would laugh and laugh as his crazy nurses danced around the ward during ward worship time.


After surgery he got a fever, but it was less than 24 hours post-operatively, too soon for a surgical infection, could this little boy who had been through so much already, have malaria as well? The lab smear-viewed and partially diagnosed by myself, declared he indeed had malaria. Anti-malaria treatment started, but the fevers didn’t subside. A few days later vomiting, diarrhea, and massive bleeding from his right leg started. Emergently, we rushed him back to surgery; our plastic surgeon and general surgeon worked for hours attempting a vascular surgery- a venous graft from his left leg to where an arterial bleed had started in his right leg. The rest of our general surgical cases had to be cancelled for that day.


While the surgeons began another hour of surgery on our little patient from the corner bed, I gathered the nurses on the ward once again to pray for the surgeons, the little boy’s family, our little Sierra Leonean patient, and for all the patients whose surgeries had to be put on hold because of the emergency. We remembered how in history, Jesus had cured a woman who had been bleeding for years, of course, God could cure our patient that had been bleeding for a few hours. God carried our little man through surgery. His bleeding stopped; we gave him a few units of blood, one from the very anesthetist that managed his respiratory and fluid balance status while his fragile body was asleep. We cared for him in the ICU and prayed fervently that his leg would be okay, that blood flow would be sustained, and that he would heal quickly. Our little Sierra Leonean patient woke up from the grueling surgery, smiled, and all he asked for was a balloon.


A few days have passed since our little patient’s miracle surgery, but he isn’t doing well. His leg has lost blood supply and in a matter of minutes he will be returning to surgery for an above the knee amputation of his right leg.  He didn't ask for any of this...He didn't ask for infection, He didn't ask for burns, He didn't ask for malaria, He didn't ask for surgical complications....All he asked for was a balloon...And all I ask of you... on his behalf... is that you pray....

Africa Mercy Easter Celebration 2011

He died for you...Will you now live for Him???

...Amazing grace how sweet the sound...

...Jesus, thank-you for the cross...

...Love so amazing...so divine...demands my life...my heart...my all...

International Nurse's Day 2011

...Our current nurses on the Africa Mercy are from ALL over the World...
A few of the countries we are from include...
America, Canada, Australia, New Zeland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa,
Ireland, Scotland, England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Germany, & Belgium!!!
Different countries, different backgrounds, different nursing styles, but our heartbeat is the same...
to see HIS name glorfied as we aim to bring hope & healing to the people of Sierra Leone!!!

...Orthopedic Ward- Part of the Ortho Team...

Ortho Ward- Sierra Leone decorations & birthday banner
the patients made for our physical therapist being displayed...

...Happy Independence Day Sierra Leone...




...Daniel, one of our amazing translators, & me displaying an 
Independence Day Scarf-Banner that was given to me (a gift from a patient)...

 

...i won't let my love grow cold...

It's been far too long since I last wrote… I do feel horrible about that…but let me give you a general overview of life in the last 4 weeks…


 I was sick…along with many other crew members…So many of the crew were plagued with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, that the captain ordered a mandatory “diarrhea” survey to be completed by all crew members, to determine the cause of the diarrhea outbreak ( a small scale epidemiological study- I really wanted to help count the data and look at the trends causing all the “crap” and use my knowledge from my tropical disease class to help solve the “diarrhea disaster”, but I didn’t have enough free time to volunteer to help in the epidemiological study). The results from the study are still pending, but with prayer, increased hand-washing, prayer, and more prayer, the “poopy” situation has improved.

I took worm medicine…felt better for a few weeks, worked too much…and have felt totally tired again, but I won’t let my love grow cold…

Our water situation has improved. Restrictions were lifted shortly after all of you started praying after my last update. We did not have to cancel any surgeries; we acquired drinking water, were able to resume normal water requiring functions on the ship, and we had enough water during the “diarrhea disaster” to flush toilets to our hearts content!

I have been feeling tired, but I won’t let my love grow cold…

The power and air-conditioning on the ship have been cutting in and out many times in the last month. The port we are currently sitting in is filthy! Although I have a coveted window in my cabin on the ship, the view out my window is less than exciting. What I see is far from a tropical paradise, with crystal clear water, instead all I see is wave after wave of trash, rubbish, plastic bags, medical waste, an occasional wooden fishing boat, and innumerable objects of filthiness floating past! All of the filthy debris has managed to repeatedly clog the ventilation and engineering systems on the bottom- outside of the ship, resulting in power outages and blocks in the ventilation on the ship! Our ship divers have been working daily and hourly to keep the ship in operation. In past outreaches, being on the dive team was a side-job, requiring only a few hours of volunteering per week, this outreach; diving has become a fulltime job & we are in an urgent need of more divers. I cannot promise views of tropical fish or coral reefs to would-be-potential divers, but I can promise adventure, so if you know any certified divers that are crazy enough to come to Sierra Leone to dive in E-coli infested water… for His glory…send them my way.

I have been working too much…I am tired, but I won’t let my love grow cold…

Sierra Leone celebrated 50 years of independence! The patients decorated the ward with paper chains in the colors of the Sierra Leone flag; we wore blue & green scrubs in honor of the celebration, and went all out in craziness, celebrating Independence Day with our patients & translators!

I got sick again, spent more time in bed, on the toilet, and near a bucket, didn’t eat a real meal in over 72 hours… and felt tired, but I won’t let my love grow cold…

Jesus is RISEN! He is RISEN indeed! I celebrated my second Easter onboard the Africa Mercy! It was a special week, reflecting on God’s incredible passion & love demonstrated in Christ’s death & resurrection!

Many crew members and nurses have had to suddenly leave because of unforeseen circumstances at home. Two of my nurses left and upon their arrival home, their beloved mother passed away. Another one of my ICU nurses was life-flighted home because of cardiac arrhythmias. Our receptionist hurried home because her father became ill, upon her return home, he passed away. Three crew members’ grandparents have passed away. And our phlebotomist just had to rush home this past week because of an ill family member.

Orthopedic surgeries for the 2011 Sierra Leone outreach are officially finished. My last little casted children are being discharged home with brand new legs and the ward beds are filling up with plastic surgery patients.

I have been tired…I have been too tired to write… My perfectionism has kept me from writing because all my creative juices are gone and I hate to post updates when I have no creativity. I have been too tired to go to the beach or to explore Sierra Leone on my days off. I haven’t gone off the ship since Easter. In the past month, I can count on one hand the number of times I have gone outside, even though, outside is only a few steps away every day.

May 12th we celebrated international nurse’s day! I love being a nurse!


God is my strength…an ever present help…when so much goes wrong..or not the way one may have planned..it is tempting to give up…to stop caring…to throw in the towel...A book I like to refer to daily says “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…” (Matthew 24:12) Caring hurts…Loving people always involves risk…Human nature says to self protect…and in this protective mechanism, we may let our love grow cold… we may start looking out for number one…But I declare…that I will refuse to let my love grow cold…in the heat, when I am tired, with stomach cramps, without showers, when things happen that I don’t understand, in the dark without electricity…I won’t let my love grow cold… I have been working…maybe working too much…and that has made me tired, but I won’t let my love grow cold…

                                        ...Nursing Assignment #1- Play with the new patients...

1st Patients of the Sierra Leone 2011 Outreach



...nurses...nurses...nurses...

Hospital Staff- Management, Admission Nurses,OR Nurses, PACU nurses, Ward Nurses, Out-Patient nurses, & Pallative Care Nurses... 


                                                            ...home sweet home...

Port- Freetown, Sierra Leone- My home-Neighbourhood for the next 10 months while Mercy Ships is in Sierra Leone 

 

...the long & the short of it...

LONG- I have been working very LONG days and shifts lately. This past week I worked about 70 hours in a 5 day period. Yikes!


SHORT-This past Wednesday the captain informed the crew that we are once again experiencing a water SHORTage. The captain asked us to ration water and limit the use of water to only essential needs. The crew laundry room was closed. We started using disposable dishes in the dining room. We stopped changing bed linen in the hospital unless it was very soiled or a new patient was coming in. We covered all the shower heads in the hospital bathrooms with plastic bags and have implemented having our patients take bucket baths instead of showers. We were reminded once again to be taking true “ship-showers” which involves getting wet, shutting off the water, soaping up & applying shampoo, turning the water on to rinse off the soap, turning the water off, then applying conditioner, then running the water one last time to get the conditioner out. A process that SHOULD limit water use to less than 2 minutes total per crew member, per shower. (Because of my long shifts, & being too tired to shower, I personally haven’t washed my hair in a week, scarves work just fine& I have had baby-wipe showers since Tuesday. I was hoping for a longer shower this weekend, using a few of the minutes I didn’t use during the week, but that won’t be happening). We closed down part of Starbucks because it takes too much water to wash the blenders and coffee making devices (I don’t drink coffee anyway and cannot fathom drinking a hot drink when it is hotter than Hades outside, so this cutback hasn’t hurt my feelings too much, but I have some co-workers who seriously need their coffee every day, so this could be an issue). We were informed that when all the water sloshed out of the swimming pool that it would not be filled again. (I have dreamed of using the swimming pool, but have been too tired even on my days off to walk the 5 flights of stairs that would lead me to the swimming pool that is made out of shipping containers and sits on top of the ship, so even if I had the energy, I guess I won’t be using it anytime soon). We also started the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow & if it’s brown flush it down” motto.


With all these cutbacks we hoped that we would have enough water to continue surgical operations, run the sterilizer, cook, and maintain adequate amounts of water to drink. The captain requested more water trucks to come to the ship- knowing that even if water was delivered we would still need to ration water because it takes up to 72 hours to treat the water we receive to make it clean enough to use.


The water didn’t come. And even with all the cutbacks mentioned above, somehow we consumed 15% MORE water on Thursday and Friday than last year at the same time, on a busy day, with ALL usage of water permitted. Yesterday, the captain closed the crew galley, we are no longer allowed to wash personal dishes, or bake on our own, because this requires water usage. The galley won’t be allowed to serve lettuce & other fresh vegetables because it takes too much water to wash and clean them. The water supply to the showers was cut off. All hot water was shut off. We are trying to supply enough water to flush the toilets and wash our hands. The captain is looking at different ways to supply water to the ward and the captain is looking to see if there is a leak or if we are losing water somewhere. We are praying that we receive a water delivery, but were told that the sources that may deliver water are not as reliable as normal and the water we receive may be dirtier than normal, requiring more time to treat it and make it safe to use. ALL that to say- we are SHORT off water: please pray.


LONG- My orthopedic patients are getting LONGer legs & arms as we provide surgeries to straighten what was crooked, to re-align what was out of line, & to stretch what has been curved. I love my patients!


SHORT- I am not the only one working overtime, many of the other hospital managers are working crazy hours too. Tempers & patience may soon be running SHORT: please pray.


LONG- I LONG for God to continue filling me with his strength, wisdom, energy, patience, love, gentleness, kindness, goodness, and passion to continue serving the people of Sierra Leone!

Random Update Points

-The water situation is improving- normal restrictions continue to apply, but praise God, we have secured enough water to: drink, run our sterilizing machines, wash our hospital laundry, wash the dishes for our family of 400, to flush our toilets, to wash our personal laundry, and to have an occasional “ship-shower.”



-We have officially completed our first full week of surgeries. This year we are starting with the orthopedic, eye, and maxillo-facial, surgical specialties. We have some of the most beautiful children on-board right now. It isn’t a secret that I love the African children, but the ones with cleft lips, bow legs, and club feet are my favorite and my ward is full of them!


-This year I will be working as a ward nurse, a charge nurse, and during our 10 weeks of orthopedic surgeries I will be the Orthopedic Nurse Team Leader- which sort of means I am the nurse manager of the Orthopedic Ward. My ward has 40 beds and almost all are full! My responsibilities include organizing beds- admissions & discharges, rounds with the surgeons, kissing the babies, writing daily progress notes, sitting on the floor with the babies, assisting the ward nurses, blowing up balloons & making sure the little kids share them, answering questions, playing balloon volleyball on the ward, changing dressings, finding the elevator when it gets lost upstairs, sorting out the location and placement of supplies in my ward, assisting with patient allocations, kissing babies, arranging follow-up care for the orthopedic patients, orienting and welcoming our new day volunteers-translators to the ward and helping them find things, reminding them to wash their hands, & guiding them in the right direction when they are lost, working with our physical therapists, frequent runs from deck 3 where the ward is, to deck 6 where the only working ice machine is, to get ice for all my patients with aching legs, hugging the children, praying with the patients when they are in pain, answering more random questions, running to the lab to see the malaria parasites that my patient was just diagnosed with, talking with the dietician to see if we can order milk for my patients since the pharmacy has no great source of calcium supplements for the patients, trying to get the translators to distribute the milk to my patients instead of letting it sit in the kitchen all day, making post-operative checks, ensuring the patients are receiving adequate amounts of meds to relieve their pain, smiling at my patients, making sure the patients get craft supplies, delegation, putting up curtains with magnets around my patient’s beds for privacy, kissing the babies, dancing or attempting to dance when we have worship time, and of course any other task that may presents itself! I love my job!


-This past week I worked 69 hours in 6 days, averaging 11.5 hours a day. God has given me amazing strength! Unfortunately, I caught the respiratory bug that is spreading around the ship. My throat is as rosy as my sun-burned skin, my body aches all over, my nose is running, I feel feverish, but couldn't be happier! I love being back in Africa!  

All Mercy Ships' Crew Are Safe...but Prayers Appreciated!

Please Lift up the People of Sierra Leone & The Mercy Ships' Crew in Your Prayers...

A very sad incident occurred in the course of screening activities on Monday in Freetown, Sierra Leone of which you need to be aware.


Initial incident reports indicate that when screening personnel arrived at the stadium this morning there were 700 people already allowed into the stadium and a large crowd outside. Sometime after 9:30 events yet to be conclusively determined occurred to agitate the crowd and cause it to storm the gate. In response 200 more people were admitted to relieve pressure, but tragically 13 were injured, including one fatality and two life threatening situations. Mercy Ships personnel on site cared for the victims and accompanied them to hospitals. No Mercy Ships personnel were injured. Ongoing investigation will determine the facts. Please keep the individuals affected and their families in prayer, and pray also for the entire crew. This is certainly a time to pray and believe that God will work all things together for good in this tragic situation.

Mercy Ships is deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today during medical screening at the Freetown National Stadium when a crowd stormed the gate resulting in several injuries and one life lost.  Mercy Ships personnel working at the site attended the injured and accompanied them to local hospitals. "Our hearts and prayers are with the individuals and families of those affected by today's events. The occurrence of this incident in the course of activities intended to restore lives is tragic. We move forward with tremendous sadness, but great determination, to assist as many people as possible in the next ten months," stated Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens.


Mercy Ships exists to serve the forgotten poor and has served Sierra Leone five times over the past two decades, also helping establish two land based health care facilities. For the next ten months, Mercy Ships will be providing surgeries for qualified patients while working alongside the Sierra Leonean Government to support its five-year healthcare plan and strengthen the functions of the national health system.


All Mercy Ship Crew are Safe, but Prayers Appreciated!!!

a quick note

I am back in Africa!!!

I am in Freetown, Sierra Leone!!!

I arrived safely on the ship after a flight from London to Brussels, a layover in Brussels, and a sketchy, water-taxi ride across the river/ocean (more to come about this adventure)...

I love being back on the ship!!!

I/we need prayer...we are currently relying on a dwindling water supply that the ship carried with them from South Africa... our reserves are quickly running out...we have not yet been able to secure our supply of water with our host country, Sierra Leone, because we recently found out the local water is contaminated with e-coli...this issue presents a small problem... not only for the local people, but us...we are in need of extra water at this point in our outreach because we are in the middle of cleaning & scouring the hospital, sterilizing our surgical instruments, & cleaning all our equipment that was stored in containers while the ship was in dry dock. With the water shortage we have had to halt all but essential uses of water...

Intervention is needed from God in the area of the port. The day after the ship arrived in Sierra Leone, control of the port went from government owned to private ownership. This change is huge & the ship is in the middle of it! We need a mountain of shipping containers to move so that we can secure our dock & set-up our dockside units.

I/we/the people of Sierra Leone need your prayers....tomorrow & Tuesday...are the screening days for Mercy Ships. The day we triage and select those that we will be able to operate on during the next 10 months & those we will not be able to help. We are holding the screening at the local stadium in Freetown. Please pray that those we can help will come to seek help & pray that those we will be unable to help will stay away. Pray for divine intervention in the entire process...We expect thousands of people to come...

I must go to bed now. Morning is going to come before I know it!

Crazy Professors & Sterile Coconut Milk

 Only four short months ago I began my adventure of diving into the textbook world of tropical diseases and in two weeks that formal swim in a sea of unending information & knowledge will come to an end. I have been privileged to sit under the instruction of some of the greatest tropical disease doctors, epidemiologists, inventors, nurses, and adventurers of our time as I have studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, here in London, England. I have sat in awe as I have listened to great minds explain their life work of trying to invent a malaria vaccine or a new treatment for one of the neglected tropical diseases. My professors are crazy (one of them purposely infected himself with worms to test the theory of their help in treating asthma and Crohn’s disease), but my professors are also crazy- passionate about making the world a better place, and so am I.

I have learned so much during my short time studying tropical diseases here in London. I have learned some incredible things that will no doubt help me in the future as I volunteer as a nurse in the remote corners of the earth. For example, supposedly coconut milk is sterile, so if ever short on IV solution, I can pop open a coconut and let the infusions continue. I learned how to deliver a baby in the bush. I learned how to numb & pull teeth. In war zones, diesel vehicles are safer than gasoline powered vehicles. I have learned how to identify parasites under the microscope & how to type blood.  Poo is the most dangerous thing in the world. And when in foreign countries, remember this saying to protect yourself from inevitable pain: cook it, boil it, peel it, or don’t freakin eat it!

I have also discovered some incredibly humbling things about the reality of our fallen world. The statistics about the numbers of those dying daily from preventable diseases is unreal. Also, although difficult to fathom, despite all the poverty and intensity of daily life for one group of African women, when asked, the one thing they wished for above anything else, was a safe, clean place to go to the bathroom. They didn’t wish for peace, air conditioner, food, clothing, washing machines, or a life free from war and pain, they simply wanted a clean, safe, place to go to the bathroom. Having a bathroom for them meant comfort, freedom from constant smells & flies, the chance to escape some of the horrible diseases caused by improper sanitation, prestige, the chance for visitors, and life… You see, because of their tribe’s beliefs, the women in their village were not allowed out of the house during the day. That meant they could only go out when it was dark. Living without electricity, the village latrine was located in the dark, outside the village boundaries, and all too often the village women were raped and killed just in the attempt to relieve themselves.

My eyes have been opened to more of the sad reality of this world and I am convinced even more that instead of constantly debating policy, politics, religion, and waving our fists in the air during those intense conversations with God when we yell at him wondering how he can even exist when there is so much suffering all around, that we need to get out in our neighborhoods, schools, cities, states, countries, and world and show them the love that God asked us to pass on. Hug a friend, smile at a stranger, heck, hug that stranger, mend those broken family relationships, visit the widow, cook a meal & share it, pray for your enemies, and love as if you have never been hurt.

I have only a few more weeks in London and many of those days here I will spend pouring over the facts and specifics about schistosomiasis, trichuris trichiura, leshmaniasis, plasmodium falciparum malaria, kwashiorkor, filariasis, hookworm, tetanus, lepromatous, loa loa worm, trypanosome rhodisiense, mycrobacterium leprae, hydaatid disease, entamoeba histolytica, trypanosoma cruzi, cholera, onchocerciacis, & tenia saginata, all in preparation for my final exams. There is so much I have learned and so much I still don’t know. There is so much my professors know and still so much even they don’t know.

Many times in our lectures, we have discussed the care of patients in remote, resource poor areas, and our professors have said, “what next?” and we would come up with some creative way in which we would deal with the situation without modern medical technology. Then the professor would say, “and what next?” the “what nexts” would continue on and on until even the brainiest student in my class didn’t have any more suggestions…at that point it was almost as if one could divide the room in two groups by simply looking at facial expressions…humanitarian aid workers versus missionary nurses… Although it breaks my heart when caring for patients and we run out of options because we lack simple supplies that are so readily available at home…I don’t have to feel defeated because it is when we are weakest that He is strongest and it is when we are at our breaking point, our whit’s end… that He carries us…