more excitement than on christmas eve

     100’s of meetings have taken place over the past few months. A registration process for Mercy Ships’ dentists, nurses, and doctors has been agreed upon. Legal surgical consent age has been discovered. An oxygen supplier has been located incase of failure with the ships’ supply of oxygen to the wards. Pharmacy import licenses have been obtained and Mercy Ships “should” now have no trouble with customs to import the drugs needed for Mercy Ships’ patients. A local pharmacy that appears to be reliable has been found and agreed to sell Mercy Ships medicines if something goes wrong with our import of pharmaceuticals. The pharmacy appears to have a constant supply of Levothyroxine (Thyroid medication) required after removal of goiters, so thyroid surgeries can be performed on the ship this year. Local Tuberculosis and HIV clinics have been located if patients come to Mercy Ships needing treatment (considering we are a surgical ship, not a clinic providing primary health care services, but we are happy to refer patients to available resources in their own neighborhood that they may not be aware of). Local surgeons and doctors have been met with; Mercy Ships has taken their partnership requests and is seeing where we can learn from each other. Ways for collaboration with local hospitals and medical staff have been sought. Surgeon training and anesthetist training experiences are being organized. Permission to use the ship’s incinerator to burn Mercy Ships’ medical waste has been granted.
     We have a place to “park” our ship for 10 months. The ship should be supplied with water on a regular basis. We have contracted with a security team to keep us safe in the port. Over 24 Mercy Ships’ land-rovers should be registered in Guinea so we can freely drive around the city. Customs procedures “should” be ironed out so that our frozen containers of food from Holland and medical supply containers from the USA should be given to us without delay when they arrive. Over 200 local day volunteers have been interviewed for translation skills, tested for TB, and given initial training for volunteering/working alongside Mercy Ships crew over the next 10 months and assigned to various departments on the ship.
     A site off- ship has been located for Mercy Ships’ Dental Clinic. Half of the building that was not in use because of its condition was renovated with the promise that it will be borrowed and returned to the clinic after Mercy Ships’ departure from Guinea. The site now has working electricity and water. Denture makers have been found so that Mercy Ships dental team can contract for making about 500 prosthetic teeth, implants, dentures for some of the patients Mercy Ships will treat needing tooth extractions. Emergency medical evacuation procedures have been discovered in case Mercy Ships’ crew members needs those services. A few sites around the city have been identified and the site directors have agreed to let Mercy Ships’ Eye Team hold mini- selection days throughout their stay in country in their buildings free of charge. Security reports about the sites have been written and turned into Mercy Ships’ Security Team for approval because at times over 1,000 people have shown up to Mercy Ships’ eye screenings, looking for help, so security is paramount. Prosthetic eye makers and glasses grinders have been found. A ward in a local hospital, not far from the port, has been renovated and loaned to Mercy Ships so that they can provide off-ship housing for 40 patients from the interior that come to Conakry seeking treatment from Mercy Ships. Since many of these patients will travel days to reach the ship, the commute isn’t realistic for them when they need to come back and forth from the ship for weekly post-operative checks, so they now have a place to stay, a “Bed & Breakfast” of sorts. After the ship departs, the hospital gets their newly improved medical wing back! Prosthetistis and Orthotists have attempted to be located so that Mercy Ships’ orthopedic patients can obtain braces, splints, and such after club foot surgeries and correction of certain bone deformities.
     VVF surgeries have been discussed with Engender Health and USAID (NGO’s that provide funding for helping women with fistulas). A list of over 113 women currently living with fistulas too difficult for local Guinean surgeons to treat has been presented to Mercy Ships and Mercy Ships is seeking ways to assess as many of these women as possible to operate on them. The concept of Palliative care has been presented to multiple doctors and NGO’s with little response or knowledge of “hospice” or “home-healthcare” being found; identifying a knowledge gap and teaching opportunities for Mercy Ships’ Palliative Care Team. A morgue has been identified and “rough” price estimates have almost been obtained if the unfortunate situation arises in which Mercy Ships needs local morgue services.
     The 1,200 volunteer crew members, from over 36 different countries around the world, who make their way to Guinea in the 10 months the Africa Mercy is parked here, have been granted free visas and “should” be able to enter the country with their luggage and without being hassled for bribes at the airport. The local police “should” be starting to understand that those driving Mercy Ships’ land rovers around town do not pay bribes, will not put up with corruption, and stand for integrity, if they are guilty of a real traffic violation they pay, but if they are being hassled and detained for money, they will not pay (multiple personal experiences have lent to achieving this goal). Government officials, customs officers, and port workers “should” be starting to understand that Mercy Ships does business differently, striving to be people of integrity, no matter what, no matter how many times, they have to visit the same office, or put in the same request for an item, they will not pay into the cycle of corruption that brings one to the front of the line.
     A farm has been identified where Mercy Ships’ “Food for Life” project can work; a project aimed at increasing food security for Guinea and teaches local farmers organic agriculture skills in nutrition and crop production. Missionaries living in the interior have been met, what Mercy Ships can and cannot do has been explained so that hopefully Mercy Ships will be connected with patients they can help and others know who to refer to Mercy Ships. Peace Corp volunteers have been briefed about Mercy Ships and emails from them are flying in with potential patient information. Orphanages, prisons, schools, and NGOs have been found to see if Mercy Ships crew can volunteer their time with them and help in any manner while the ship is in town for 10 months. Press releases have been written, and a huge convention center has been granted to Mercy Ships to use for free for their main screening day that is just around the corner! Much more has been done, but at this point it is minor because the culmination of the last 3.5 months of work will come together tomorrow as the Africa Mercy sails into Conakry, Guinea! The excitement in my heart is more than that on Christmas Eve! The past 3.5 months have not been easy, challenges have been faced, tears have been shed, I have learned much about my character and undergone some “character formation school” (something prone to happen when living with such a multi-cultural team full of “leader” personalities in such a small space), and I have made it to this point…
     Father God, it was in your strength alone that what has been done has been done! As my ship, my home, sails in, may there be a tangible sense falling on this country, that something great is about to happen and may your kingdom and grace pour down on Guinea as hope and healing are unleashed!