May 27th --- weekend May28/29 --- May 30

May 27th

Friday morning I was on a 10-7 shift in the OR. Anilee and I met up in the morning and headed over to the eye clinic. We met Matthew there and spoke with him to see how he was feeling. The surgery had gone well and Matthew was very excited to be able to drive his taxi again in a few days, especially wearing his new sunglasses! Mercy Ships does a lot of prevention teaching to patients. Because Pterygium is more prominent in places that are very sunny and dusty (both of which Sierra Leone is), there is a lot of emphasis on preventing re-occurrence of this condition.

We had a special guest in the afternoon on Friday. The president of Sierra Leone came to the ship to address the people on board Mercy Ships and to thank us for the work that we were doing for the people. There was quite a bit of security and we ended up having to pack lunches and eat where ever we could as the kitchen was closed off to crew members while awaiting the arrival of the president. It was amazing to hear Dr. Gary Parker address the president and give a speech on all of the work that has been done so far. Dr. Gary (as he likes to be called) is a maxillofacial surgeon and has been on the ship for over 25 years doing cleft lips/palates as well as all of the large facial tumours.

May 28/29 Trip to Mama Beach

On Saturday morning early 15 Mercy Ships crew members gathered together and jammed into a Poda Poda along the driver and 2 friends.  A Poda Poda is a taxi van (about as big as a full size van) that depending on how creative you are, can fit quite a few people inside. On This excursion we managed 18! The drive was about an hour and half through the town of Waterloo and many other small villages. It was very eye opening to see all of the villages and the people going about their daily lives. The horn of the Poda Poda would blare off and on as we passed through the village because people would try to race across the road in front of us and oncoming traffic would try to pass other cars as we were approaching. Everyone held on and there was only on moment when there were gasps inside the Poda Poda as we almost hit a man trying to cross the street who didn`t judge our speed correctly!

inside the poda poda... it was hot and sweaty, jammed full of people but it was fun!

beautiful scenery on the trek

We made it safely to Mama Beach after 1 minor detour. The Poda Poda`s originally thought we were going to Kent to take a boat to Banana Island (you can see it is a little further on the map above). The beach was beautiful and we had a relaxing overnight stay at Eden Park Resort. It was very clean and safe.

getting ready for the sun

Mama Beach

The rolling hills in the background were so beautiful

We spent the day enjoying the sunshine! The village at Mama Beach is mainly a fishing village. While we were suntanning we saw some of the villagers working to pull a net. It took a while to figure out exactly what they were doing... but we figured out that really early in the morning the men put the nets way out in the ocean and then during the morning they pull the nets in (they have a rope at either side of the bay and by pulling on either side they slowly drag the net in to shore bringing it into a circle shape to trap the fish inside).

Sarah and I helping the fishermen pull the nets around the bay

I love this picture!!! you can see all the rope that is coiled up from bringing in the nets

(sorry I couldn't get it to rotate to be upright)

Later in the afternoon, while Sarah and I were cooling off in the ocean 2 boys swam up to us. It was really funny because at first they kept their distance and just looked at us. I smiled and the smaller boy came up and quickly touched my hand and swam away. They eventually started to play with us in the water and talk to us. The bigger boy (in the picture below) is Morris and the little boy is Ali. They spoke very good english (which they learned in school) and ended up staying with us for most of the weekend. Morris works at the resort that we stayed at. He sweeps the floors. The boys ended up being our tour guides for the weekend showing us different areas of Mama Beach! It was so cute to have a little 10 year old walking us up the beach and pointing out the sights.

Ali, Morris, and I swimming

After a long day in the sun the boys were tired

In the evening we had a nice dinner in the open air looking out onto the sea. It was quite beautiful! We ended off the night with some star gazing on the beach. We saw the most vivid shooting start I have ever seen. It looked like fireworks in the middle of the sky! I shared a room with my friend Sarah. The room was very hot but it was comfortable and mosquito free!

A wonderful dinner! Everyone had fresh fish except for me... I had fish of the land (ie. Chicken)

The next morning Morris and Ali returned and showed us the beach side of Mama Beach Village. We met a fisherman who allowed me to photograph him. Apparently in this village the men fish all week and on Sundays they go to church and then take time to repair their nets so they are ready for another week! 

Repairing the nets

Morris showing us that the this type of Jelly Fish do not sting

 

The boys from the village came in front of our resort and started a soccer game

We had a great time at the resort. As it neared time to leave, the clouds came rolling in and it started to pour! Our trip home in the Poda Poda was a little bit more scary as most of these vans have no tread on their tires. Our driver was quite alert though and we had no accidents. We did however witness a few. At one point as we were in town nearing the ship an oncoming Poda Poda decided to pass when there was not enough room and he took out part of the side of the Poda Poda infront of us. He hit our rear view mirror but did not do any damage. It was funny because the Poda Poda in front of us stopped to assess the damage but the van that hit him just continued to drive away. The other interesting thing about our drive home was that the driver was sitting on the right side of the vehicle while driving on the right side of the road! These vans are not in very good condition... due to all of the rain there were many big puddles/lakes in the middle of the road. every time we went through one water would spray inside of the van and soak us with muddy water! Lets just say I had to take a shower once we arrived back at the ship!

Some of the flooding during the rain

Monday May 30

Today it was back to the working grind in the operating room. I am in opthamology again this week but we have 2 new surgeons. It was such a change to last week! We were busy all morning and afternoon. In the end we did 27 cases (25 cataracts and 2 pterygium). We had such a rhythm down in the end it felt really good! I scrubbed all morning and then after lunch circulated for 2 patients.  Everyone leaving the room was so thankful to God and to the medical team. Everyday that I have been able to help a few more people gives me such a greatful feeling, knowing the difference that the short surgery we do will make in their lives!

This evening I went with a group of people to do british aerobics from a DVD! It was actually really fun! Exercising is the one thing that is really hard to do on the ship so it was nice to be able to get in some physical activity during the rainy evenings!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Talk to you soon!