I am here

Hi everyone-

 

I am here on the ship!

 

So sorry for the long absence from my blog- the last weeks have flown by and now I realize I did not post anything for the whole month of November. According to my blog I have been in Brussels for a long time. Really- we did go to Guinea and do field service, there was only one day of waffle eating in Brussels.

After Brussels my team had our two and a half weeks of field service in Conakry. I will post more pictures later- we worked on a playground at one of the local hospitals (Jean Paul II) that Mercy Ships has teamed up with. It was some long, hot work days, but so rewarding to see the playground taking shape and at the same time make many friends in the community. I will be able to keep visiting there with some of the off ship ministry teams. This was a precious time- we put so many aspects of our training sessions at the IOC into practice.

I am so thankful for the carefully planned preparation that Mercy Ships gave me in Gateway. We finished the playground on November 6th, and on the 7th we had a ribbon cutting ceremony. It just so happened that on the 7th the Minister of Social Affairs was paying a visit to Jean Paul II Hospital. There was a special reception for her that we were invited to, and afterwards she came down to cut the ribbon. She even wore a yellow hardhat on top of her fancy African head wrap! There was a television crew to get footage for a national news broadcast of her visit.

November 9 was the big day- one that I have been imagining since the phone call back in March telling me my application was accepted. Time to go to the ship. The Africa Mercy. My new home.

We all piled one last time into the taxis- after over two weeks we became good friends with the drivers- and headed for the port. Traffic was busy and it took about an hour to get there.

In Africa you usually put at least four across the back seat of the small yellow cabs. It is a tight, warm ride but after a couple weeks we figured out how to sit pretty comfortably. The windows are always rolled down, and there is always lots to see.

Arriving on the port, rounding a corner and catching my first glimpse of the big, beautiful white ship:

We climbed up the gangway with our luggage, were welcomed in reception by members of the hospitality team and recieved a whirlwind of information in a short afternoon. We had a tour that first afternoon, but I still found myself getting a little lost on the first few days. All the hallways look very similar so it is easy to get turned around.

 

 

In my cabin:

I actually moved from this cabin to a different one a couple days ago. This one was a 6-berth, now I live in a 4 -berth with 3 other long term crew. But this was my spot for the first few weeks on board, and it was very comfortable! I sleep really well here. Actually the hardest thing is that with no window it is really easy to oversleep if I don't set an alarm. It hasn't happened on a workday. Yet. Also, I can be so quiet in the cabin when I am the only one in it. But, when it is before 6 in the morning and I am trying to get ready for work without disturbing my bunkmate I feel so clumsy and loud. Really- I think I knock something over on accident every morning. My bunkmate has assured me that I am not bothering her though.

A few views of evening from Deck 8:

A view of the port: the two tents are where the admissions and rehab team work.

To all those back home who have been praying for me and thinking of me: thank you. Moving to the ship has been a transition- a joyful one but still a change. It is constantly busy here. At all hours of the day or night there are people around in the cafe, lounge or dining room. Transitioning from living with my gateway team of 12 to a large vessel with a crew of 350+ has its challenges, and it doesn't happen without some moments of feeling a little lost. I am really loving it here though. It felt so good to put on scrubs and be a nurse again. Every surgery day I go down to the dock with a couple of the eye team day workers and carefully lead the cataracts patients up the gangway onto the ship. They are usually nervous, but still so happy to be there. I love this work. I am finding my place in this community, and I know that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing for this season. Thank you for your support- thank you for your prayers.

 

 

Photos- day in Brussels

Our flight from Brussels to Guinea on Wednesday was cancelled and scheduled again for Thursday, so our travel agency put us in hotel and we had 24 hours to explore.

I had a 1 euro waffle and it was wonderful!

We arrived safely here in Guinea last night, more blog posts to come.

 

 

my gateway family!

The video I put together as my final project for the gateway program:

The best gateway ever... from Nicole Pugh on Vimeo.

 

LEAVING FOR AFRICA IN THE MORNING!!!!

 

Screening Day in 2 minutes video

 

Thank you to the Mercy Ships videographer who put this together

 

only photos...

 

I was a firefighter for a day!

Yesterday was fire fighting day of Basic Safety Training week! We learned how to fight different types of fires, put on our equipment in under a minute, and breathe with the masks in a smoke filled container.

Learning to put on the masks:

We set up our pants and boots to put them on quickly...

All ready:

We rescued "Buck" the practice dummy.....he was really hard to move.

Snack break! (Romina and I are in the middle of eating one of Shirly's delicious scones)

It was a good day! I don't feel that I have a new calling to be a career firefighter, but I liked the exercises. :)

 

The gateway fun run!

It started out as the Gateway Half Marathon...

Then it quickly became the Gateway 5K...

And yesterday we held the "Gateway Fun Run"! The run took place at Tyler State Park, and was one lap around the lake (about 2 miles). I was the photographer for this event, here are a few images from the day:

Romina getting excited for the run...

The runners before the race...

We even had official t-shirts, thanks to an afternoon of tie-dying last weekend and Nicole and Dangyra's hard work. We really didn't see much of them on Saturday...they were in the laundry room spraying on all the Africa patterns.

All the runners returning...

Maryke- jumping for joy at the finish :)

We swam in the lake after the race. Dave tried to teach Maryke and me how to backflip off the dock. I got pretty close, but need more practice. I stood there backwards at the edge, my heels hanging off, and it took so much effort to make my head go backwards behind me. But, I had such an encouraging audience cheering me on I had to at least try! Even the couple who was running the snack shop came out onto their porch for the entertainment.

This week is Basic Safety Training- and early tomorrow we get to practice fire fighting! Today we learned how to put on our gear and use the oxygen masks. Photos will follow soon. Leaving for Guinea next Tuesday!