Screening Day

What is Screening Day?

It is hard to describe but will try.

At the beginning of each Field Service we have one mass screening for potential patients. It is advertised for weeks on the radio, through churches and by word of mouth. We invite people with certain medical problems to come and then we see if we can help them. Often the line starts forming days before hand as people are desperate for help. Once they allowed into the Stadium they are lead through different stations manned by Mercy Ships Crew. First the go through pre-screening to see if they fall in to the areas that we can help. At any point if we can no longer help they are given the opportunity to see a counsellor and visit the prayer station, as hard as it is we can't help everyone. Then they are escorted by Mercy Ship Crew to Admissions where their medial history is taken and vitals are noted by nurses. Then they are escorted to see the different Medical specialists, Orthopedics, Paediatric General Surgery, Maxilla Facial, Plastics and VVF(birth injuries). After the Surgeons confirm they can help they are given a full medical screening by physicians and anesthesiologists, then they are scheduled for surgery, before they can leave they visit the lab for blood to be drawn and the pharmacy for vitamins and iron tablets to build their build so they will be ready for surgery. The final stop is for a photo to be taken and attached to their file so surgeon can use these to prepare for the surgery. They now are ready to leave the stadium and with the precious Surgery Card staying which date they must report to the ship.

Yesterday we saw close to 2, 000 patients who all went through this process! Not to mention the 4, 000 friends and family who came with!

(To capture a small part of Thursday please have a look at the YouTube Video on the left)

Words can express what it was like to play a small part of the Screening Day on Thursday.

To be able to look into the eyes of a child who's face has been eaten away by a tumour and know that in spite of what you see, is a little person that God loves with His whole heart and who He want to make whole.

To hold the hand of a little girl who's fingers have been melted away by a radical burn and know that she is 'wonderfully made' is hard to comprehend with the rational mind, rather it is something needs felt with your heart.

To witness the joy on a little boys face, who has only one functioning leg and a make shift crutch, as he beats you playing soccer was priceless.

To see the faces of adults and children alike light up, as you do something as simple as blowing bubbles, was a reminder of how simple treasures do not have to cost anything.

To realise that no matter what i thought i was there to give, could never measure up to what i received!

I will never forget what a privilege and honour it was to be there and see God moving in the lives of the people of Benin.

I can't wait to see what God brings to completion as we spend the next 10 months in Benin. I will keep you posted!

Africa Mercy in the Port of Cotonou

This will be home for the 10 months! A visual picture of where I will be.

Hospital Open House - Friday the 13th

As we prepare to begin our 2009 Benin Field Service the ship is filled with busy people preparing all the areas of the ship. This pass Friday the Hospital opened it's doors to the whole crew and gave us a taste of what was to come. Below are some fun photos of the festivities....

The ward are not the conventional white clinical approach, rather filled with vibrant colour and very soon great activity as patients arrive next week when surgery begins on the 24th February.

The Operating Theaters where open for us to see, usually they are closed off to crew, and we all could try our hand at different skills needed in the OR. Above Dr. Paul Theron an anesthetist from South Africa shows our 'future' surgeons the skill of intubating a patient.

Next the surgeon arrives ready to help in any way. We start their training very young on board!

Once the surgery is complete, the next step would be to stitch the patient closed. In order to be ready to Dr. Gary, our faith MaxFax surgeon for the last 24 years shows crew members the art of stitching.

We have arrived!

We have finally arrived in the port of Cotonou, after a rocking and rolling night at anchor 2 miles off the coast, after our 10 day sail.

We were due to arrive yesterday morning but experiences some difficulties with our engines and were forced go to anchor while the engineers worked hard to fix the engines that we needed to enter the port. (Left: The M/V Africa Mercy docking in the port of Cotonou, Benin, West Africa)


The Cotonou Port is a very tricky port to enter with difficult currents and sharp turns. After many hours of hard work the engines were fixed and ready to go and we entered the post around 9 am this morning. Sadly the welcome committee had drastically reduced over night, but it was good to be met by our advanced Team and close to dry land. The port authorities are very strict and even though it is 7.30 pm and we have been in port for over 10 hours we are not clear to leave the ship and go onto dry land. (Right: friendly fisherman welcome us into port)


Even after just a few hours you realise how developed the nation of Benin is, compared to Liberia. Last night the city lights were clearly visiable from my port hole. Lights! A lighthouse on the harbour wall! These are things that you would not see in Liberia, at least not yet. In a strange way now that we have arrived in Cotonou, i am beginning to miss Monrovia. A place i called home for 18 months. I am looking forward to discovering what Benin has to offer and to see what God has install for our crew. It is a very exciting time. ( Left: The tug boat waiting to help us turn sharp right as we enter the port, in the fore ground is our Advanced Team and Mercy Team waving us in.)


The next few weeks will be a busy time. As we prepare for our mass screening day and set up the hospital and get ready for 10 months of service.



'So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.' 1 Corinthians 10 v 31

A Saturday at sea ...

I think I quite easily take this time at sea for granted and then you have moments like we had yesterday afternoon. Let me take a step back.

What do you do on a Saturday at sea on board the Africa Mercy?

In the last 6 months i think you would have normally found me in my office trying to catch up on work missed while teaching... but yesterday I had the most relaxing day i have had in a while. I decided to take a book out onto Deck 7 and read in the Sun. It was a glorious day. At about 2 o'clock the over head page when say there were Dolphins on the bow - something that has become 'normal' the last 10 days. This time it was a pod of about 30 dolphins by far our biggest sighting this sail. They stayed around for about 20minutes before swimming a way.

About an hour later the page goes again: "This is a drill, MAN OVERBOARD! All crew on look out for 'Boxy the Sailor' last seen on the aft port side 3 minutes ago." Throughout the sail the Captain conducts drills which we have to practice. So the ship stops and turns around, a 20 min process. We hope Boxy is a good swimmer! 25 minutes the bits of Boxy were spotted and the crew congratulated on a successful drill. Not sure i can swim for 25 minutes so am not going to plan to fall over board anytime soon.

No sooner had i settled down with my book, when the over head page goes again: "Whales on the starboard side. 3 killer whales spotted, 1 male 2 female." So up we get and run (walk fast, no running on board) to the starboard side to see this amazing sight. A family pod of Killer Whales. I would have thought seen that we were so far south, off the coast of Ghana the water would have been too warm for them, but no there they were. They didn't stop for us to have a long look, just carried on their way. (the picture is one of the females, they didn't play along and pose for a good photo.)

After the long lazy afternoon i managed to finish my book and retreat to the air conditioning of the ship and enjoy a evening playing cards with friends. A Saturday at sea on board the M/V Africa Mercy.

Surrounded by nothing but beauty...

It is a humbling and awe inspiring experience looking out to sea and seeing nothing but .... you feel incredibly insignificant yet privilege all at the same time. The below photograph was a moment captured, even when there is nothing out there, God sends something to remind you that He is God.

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints,

of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord.

Day 5 at Sea

After 5 days at sea you would think that the crew would be crawling the walls(bulkheads) to reach dry land but it has been such a smooth calm sail that we are enjoying the natural rhythm of things. The bow of the ship is open for crew to get some fresh air and to sea the waves crashing against the ship. And if you are very lucky you get see a few dolphins and even whales in their natural habitats.

Today I decided to take my Junior High Bible Class onto Deck 7 (Outside deck) to enjoy the last of the mild weather. Studying the passage of Scripture from Mark 4 where Jesus Calms the Storms, has new meaning while sail on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully there were no storms to content with but the students were able to put themselves in the Disciples shoes and relate closer to their perspective. This is another example of the unique experience my students have - going to school on as ship.

(Photo on the right: the bow of the ship cutting into the waves, picture me dangling over the edge to take the photo)

As we travel closer to our destination, Cotonou, Benin we feel the temperature rising even 80 km out at sea. Tonight the sunset was masked by the last of the Harmaton (dust storms from the Sahara which blow through West Africa each summer.) Benin's average temperature is 30 degrees Celsius with 80 - 90 % humidity. We are are slowly preparing ourselves for the heat!

A New Day as dawned....

This week has been a very exciting week for me! After 6 months of being understaffed and having to cover multiple positions I was able to start the week with only one job title - Principal of the Mercy Ships Academy. This sounds rather impressive and very grow up. I am excited about this new era and look forward to serving the families whole heartily in this position. As much as I will miss the day to day contact with the children that class teaching brings, I am looking forward to being able to focus on one job rather than being pulled in 20 different directions, feeling like I was in permanent crisis control mode.

We now have 10 full time staff members and 5 part time teachers covering from 3 year old Preschool to Grade 12 - 15 years of schooling. We are starting our recruiting for the 2009/2010 school year and hope to fill all our positions from the start of the year. (The above photo of the Mercy Ships Academy and Staff was taken last year in November in Monrovia, Liberia)

Leaving Santa Cruz, Tenerife

Yesterday the M/V Africa Mercy left the beautiful Port of Santa Cruz and started our 10 day sail to Cotonou, Benin. It was a perfect day to start our sail - the water was calm and the wind was only a gentle breeze as we left the harbour. Tenerife has become our second home as we journey there each December for technical work and restocking after the year in West Africa.

New Year's Resolution :)

After 2 years with Mercy Ships, I have finally decided to commit to be a better communicator! Hence the creation of this blog and the attempt to add posts regularly. As my skills develop so will the creativity of the entries. My hope is to add regular posts about events and everyday things that have become normal to me but are unique to the crazy world of 'the ship'.