Well... it's finally here... the Africa Mercy has arrived... after waiting and waiting and dates being pushed back and back further. But she has finally come and it was an amazing day of celebrating and fun! We had everyone out there with flags, and waiting on every corner of the Anastasis watching as the Africa Mercy slowly came through port and docked beside us! it was a really neat experience and I am so glad that I was able to experience that. It was like being a part of history watching it come in and people come down the gangway [View Full Entry]

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Like I promised from my last entry, I want to tell you of the story of Winndey... a patient that I admitted about a month ago here on the Anastasis... Winndey was found by one of the crew actually at the Bong Mines train station that I have now been to since going there last week. I am unsure of exactly how they met, but I'm sure while waiting, because there are many people that linger around us, they may have started a conversation. The crew member found out about a problem he had and told him to come to [View Full Entry]

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Well, we have been in "transition" for a week now and I have found myself really missing the patients and working with the translators. It is an odd feeling so far to be here but not working as a nurse. I have volunteered myself and my services to te Operations Director, Graeme Walls, who is in charge of the whole transition. I am his personal assistant! And you guessed it, he's a bit stressed out and all over the place, going to meetings, talking to everyone, constantly answering emails... cause it's not like we have done this before... moved onto [View Full Entry]

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Screening day... the busiest day so far. It is a day where hundreds and thousands of people come to a soccer stadium in hopes of free surgery. As soon as something free comes up, automatically people will come with whatever ailments they have just to see if they will be helped and get something for free in a country where nothing is free. It is a day where people will wait in line for hours on end in an anticipating hope that someone will be able to treat their sickness they have for so long carried with them. Most people [View Full Entry]

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Today is almost a sad day for me as it is the last day I will be doing admissions. No, I didn't get fired!! ha ha... but we are shutting down the operating room to get ready for the transition period for when the Africa Mercy comes. I have not really mentioned much of this transition, so let me give you a bit of background. The Africa Mercy is another ship that has been getting rennovated and comissioned for the last 8 years to take over the Anastasis, as she is very old and well used... SO, finally after many [View Full Entry]

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Again, I am reminded this day how lucky I am to be here serving in this way. Every sunday morning there is a worship service on the ward of the ship because of the patient's are unable to leave the ship to attend a church service. Many parents and caregivers stay with the younger patients as it is required that those who are under 15 must have a caregiver with them to help take care of them. We have many children here who we help. Many of the children are here for a longer period of time because of the [View Full Entry]

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So here I am again, finding myself sitting in a comfortable seat in the lounge with air conditioning on my day off, to catch up on some emails, and read and write in my journal that I am keeping and I can't help but think of how lucky I really am. I went for a walk this morning and there wasn't even a breeze and the morning sun was already SO hot. Not a cloud in the sky today. It is beautiful, but hot, and I am thankful for the ship today, being able to get away from the hot [View Full Entry]

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Hello All. I hope this entry finds you all well! I must say... I have been having some pretty cool experiences here making friends and meeting new people. Everywhere I go, everyone here in Monrovia knows that Mercy Ships is here... so people yell out and call to us... Hey You, you from Mercy Ships? And then we stop and say yes... then they proceed to tell us their problem, so we can tell them about the next screening and the clinics that are set up at the hospitals for them to be screened. One such neighbor who did that [View Full Entry]

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I have now been on the Anastasis Mercy Ship for one week and it has been a week of new and exciting learning and adjustments. It's wierd to think that I am in West Africa, because I live on a boat that has airconditioning. And sometimes because the ship is so big, I forget that I am on a ship. I feel sometimes like I am back in college living in dorms, eating in a cafeteria, having certain meetings at 0730h when I like to sleep in, and living with people again!! I have 2 roommates in a cabin that [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to my adventures to Africa which are no short of excitement from the first plane to the day I got actually to Liberia on the Anastasis Mercy Ship. I must begin by telling you a bit about how African travel is here with my story of the layover. I left from London in the afternoon in hopes to be at Monrovia, Liberia where the ship is stationed at Freeport. Knowing that I would have a quick stopover in Freetown, Sierra Leone I decided to not worry too much. People get off the plane, people get on and we take [View Full Entry]

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