Blogs from West, Congo, Africa

We will be sailing soon. We are preparing to do checks for stowaways and some crew members are being trained to do pirate watch. We will be going through an interesting point - 0° longitude and 0° latitude. For those of you who may not know, it is the point at which the equator (0° latitude) and the prime meridian (0° longitude) intersect. It has no real importance. It is in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, about 380 miles (611 kilometers) south of Ghana and 670 miles (1078 km) west of Gabon. We are headed to the Canaries and dry dock where the bottom of the ship will be cleaned and routine maintenance will be done before departing for Benin. The Africa Mercy was to go to Guinea, but plans were changed because ... read more

“Are you sailing?” That’s a frequently ask question at the present time. Many people will be departing the Africa Mercy just before we leave for dry dock in the Canaries. There are many celebrations and tearful farewells. The last patient left yesterday. All departments are getting ready for the sail. The hospital needs to be packed in containers and the rooms scrubbed down. The tents (for rehab. eye clinic, admissions, etc.) need to be taken down. The vehicles will loaded onto deck seven. Many things arebeing packed away and tied down. Anything that could move during sailing needs to be packed or tied down. Fuel is being loaded for the trip. We had our first muster drill last Thursday. It is a very busy time. I am working in the Starbucks Café and Ship Shop on ... read more

I arrived into Congo and Mercy Ships on Thursday, the first of May. It was exciting to get a warm welcome from fellow crew members I served with in Togo and Guinea. It was an uneventful flight. The lack of signs in the New York airport resulted in my spending extra time in terminal 3 looking for a way to get to terminal 4. But I made all the connections. Starting Monday I will be working in the sales section of the Finance Dept. I have this weekend off. Last night I went to a neighborhood about 14km away with a dozen crew members to show a discipleship film in French. This was the third visit to that location from Mercy Ships. There were about 50 people of all ages. White plastic chairs were set up ... read more

I arrived in Pointe Noire on the 30th April 2012, after a fairly event free flight on Interair, a South African airline. My mission was to do an electrical installation on a ship. The clouds were fantastic as we cruised at 10 000m above Mother Africa. After touching down, going through customs and immigration was fairly easy. I had a LOI (letter of invitation) and was met at the arrivals hall by and agent from GETMA Congo. It was about a 10 minute drive to Hotel Elais , which is a 4 star hotel in the centre of town. It has a pool, and outdoor restaurant, as well as a nice, but expensive bar. The following morning, it was 1st May, Worker's Day, and what better way to spend the day sitting at the pool, with ... read more

Initial reaction of intense disappointment. Where has the city so revered by Europeans and Congolese alike been hidden? True, the coast with its Atlantic waves and golden sand (just like light brown demerera sugar) is stunning. Yet the oil rigs and Disney style resorts invade the beauty. There is an air of something perverse, although that could just be the presence en masse of macho, chain smoking oil rig workers who expulse an aura that money is power. 21 July 2008 I have seen the light. Driving down Avenue Charles de Gaulle at night with the illuminated facades of shops, restaurants, casinos and night clubs shows Pointe Noire in a new light. It almost seems like a European coastal resort - save for the drone of generators and accompanying stench of burning diesel. Yet once beyond ... read more