Knock, knock! Is anybody home?

Yes indeed, there is somebody home.  In my blog absence, life has been full of interesting adventures.  Looking back over my blog posts, I realize that they have been rather sporadic and event specific, but they may leave the reader with questions of the overall picture.  Let me give a recap of the last 5 months.  It is a rather long report, but I want to cover all the happenings.

Garden Valley, Texas 

"Gumby survival suit"

To begin my journey, on January 24th, I flew to Mercy Ships International Operations Center in Garden Valley Texas (near Tyler, Lindale and Van) to participate in a 5 week training course geared towards Mercy Ship's long-term volunteers.  I also participated in a Basic Safety training program where I dragged a 220+ pound dummy from a smoking cargo container, fought a blazing fire, saved the life of a plastic head through C.P.R. as well as overturning an inflated rescue raft in the water wearing a “Gumby survival suit!”

Impfondo, Congo

Discovering my lack of strength

Battling the rusticles

On March 4^th, a team of 7 of us flew to Impfondo, Congo (a town in North Congo along the Ubangi River).  We came to this remote city to serve the staff of Pioneer Christian Hospital.  Our major project was to revive an old playground that lay dilapidated in the grass.  Seesaw’s without seats, swing-sets without swings and a slide whose chute threatened to break away from the frame were our friendly greeting.  Through long hours of hand-sanding the rust off of the metal framework, priming and painting, digging holes, mixing cement, laying gravel and hanging fence, we aimed to provide a safe area where the families living at the hospital could play.  Aside from the physical work giving our muscles a challenge, we were able to practice living together in community in less than ideal conditions, limited food selections and no personal space.  But those challenges only made us stronger and our team bonded in a way that I would not trade.  Other than toiling in the heat, I also made rounds with Sarah, a wound-care nurse who visits different lepers in their homes and treats the after-effects of this disease.  With a small bag full of bandages, iodine and gauze, we cycle through the outskirts of town to clean the feet of those who can not feel the infection eating away at them.  So gracious and humble, visiting the outcasts of society, Sarah really is living as Jesus did. 

Pointe Noire, Congo

  On March 22^nd, we bid farewell to the smiling faces of new friends and the bright new playground and flew to Pointe Noire where we joined the Africa Mercy.  Home sweet home.  

Very handy stackable moving crates - thanks to Dr. Mark

Two days later, I returned to my work in the Mercy Ships dental team.  A few friendly faces from before, and many new faces, the dental team immediately welcomed me in.  There were many differences in patient need in Guinea to that of Congo.  There is more wealth in Congo, and we found that many more of the patients had had access to dental care at some point already.   We did not see     the "bombed out" mouths here- where we’d have to extract all the teeth in one quadrant.  There was still a need for dental care, but not as extreme.  

  Mid-May, we began to 
disassemble the clinic, and pack it all away in a container to be taken to our next country of service, Benin, where we will reassemble it once again. 

 "Dolphins on the bow, dolphins on the bow."

Somewhere along Africa's west coast  

We sailed out of the Congo and began our two week luxury cruise to the Canary islands.  The memorable voyage included crossing the equator at the prime meridian, pods of dolphins frolicking in the waves off the bow, as well as the start of my new career –  more on that in a moment.   

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

We arrived on the Island of Gran Canaria at ‘Port du la Luz’ in Las Palmas, on the northeast corner of the Island.  Seeing as our dental clinic is packed away in a 40 foot container, I'm not much use as a dental assistant right now, so I decided to take up engineering!  Drastically different from the pristine halls of the hospital, this engineering experience has opened my eyes to so many technical things that have to happen behind the scenes during the dry-dock period, in order for the hospital to function throughout the field service. 

The ship now sits in dry-dock, grossly dissected and running on limited power.  The rudders,
propellers and bow-thrusters have been removed for maintenance, and a team of technical crew are bringing in new equipment and replacing the second half of the hospital floors (The first half of this project was completed last summer.)  As the plumbing is being improved, we have the adventure of intermittent fresh water outages – which means no water for drinking, plumbing or laundry.  Our air conditioning will also be turned off until the ship is back in the water.                

At these times, we pretend that we are staying at the Africa Mercy campground.  Walking down the gangway and across the parking lot to use the washroom is not the most convenient thing, but the bed I sleep in sure beats any mattress that camping every offered!

I will continue to explore the fascinating world of marine engineering for 3 more weeks.  During this time, I invite you along on my adventures - to see the ship in a whole new light.  To you marine buffs - these entries may bore you to tears, but to all you regular folk, you may be just as fascinated as I was to watch the dismantling of the Africa Mercy.  

Stay tuned...