Nuts and Bolts

Disclaimer: Although I am currently serving with Mercy Ships, everything communicated here strictly reflects my personal opinions and is neither reviewed nor endorsed by Mercy Ships. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercy Ships.

It has been over one week since I arrived on the ship. I cannot believe it’s been over one week since I boarded the Africa Mercy. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I figured I should explain different parts of my experience by categories because I am sure everyone is curious to know about everything. 

The Ship

     The ship is an eight deck hospital. The actual hospital is on one of the lower decks while everything else meant to run the ship takes over the rest. There are cabins throughout the whole ship. There is a dinning area (galley), a Starbucks cafe (The head of the Starbucks corporation sits on the board of Mercy Ships. With that being said, we have nonstop Starbucks whenever we want. Granted, we do need to pay a small price for specialty drinks), the Ship Shop for all of our shopping needs (within reason), a hair salon, a swimming pool, a workout room, an internet lounge, an entire K-12 academy, a laundry room, a crew kitchen, and lots of other little meeting rooms and open deck spots. Yes, the ship does rock from time to time and I can feel it from time to time. Most of the time I forget we are on a ship. The quarters and hallways are cramped for my tall self. I have met another gentleman who is four inches taller than me. Luckily he is working off site so he does not have to walk about his entire stay with his head cocked to the side. 

     The ship was originally a train ferry in Denmark. Her name was the Dronning Ingrid. Remnants of her are all over the ship. Her name can be seen on the front of the bridge, pieces of old railroad tracks are still present in the engine room, and much of the interior design of the ship has been maintained. There were originally six decks to the ship. The second deck was large enough to hold the trains. After Mercy Ships obtained her, the second deck was turned into two decks. There is also a room on one of the upper decks called the Queen’s lounge. This room was made specifically for the queen when she traveled on the ship. 

     If you go up to the top deck and take another set of stairs, you can find our small, but quaint swimming pool. Another upper deck contains areas for the patients to get out and breathe some fresh air. Things become very stuffy when the patients are stuck in wards all day. Every day in the afternoon, all of the patients who are able to go up there for some much needed outside time. 

The Hospital and Congo Culture

     The hospital is broken up into wards. Each ward is dedicated to a specific type of patient/surgery, but there are always changes and overflow from other wards. I work on A Ward which is general surgeries. We have been receiving a lot of plastic surgery and maxillo-facial (head and neck) patients. The wards are set up like what you would see in movies from the 50’s. There are a lot of beds in one room with a center dividing wall separating the beds; half on one side and half on the other. The interesting thing about the culture we are reaching is that the majority of patients come with a caregiver. The caregiver is by the bedside or congregates with other caregivers in the center of the room. At night, the caregivers sleep on a mattress directly under the patient.

     Before each shift and at the end of a shift, we have a time of prayer. I then will work eight hour shifts most of the week. There are a lot of things we need to get accomplished in that time. Patients are constantly going to and coming from surgery. We are also responsible for transcribing all orders, specifically medications, onto the medications list. The physicians and surgeons are topnotch. They make their rounds the evening before and they explain everything they will be doing for the patient. Then they discuss things with the nurses. I like the nurse/physician communication set up here.

     The majority of patients receive some kind of supplemental nutrition with their diet. These vital nutrients aid with tissue growth and healing. It may not taste good, but it is definitely a vital part of the care we give the patients. At meal times the patients and caregivers receive traditional African meals. Sometimes I wish I could try a bit. The way life works here in the Congo, and most of the African continent for that matter, is that people do life in a community setting. Everyone wants to stick together. I do not think anyone would choose a private room over the wards if they had the option. The caregivers and the patients take care of each other from an emotional and social perspective as much as the doctors, nurses, and day crew take care of the patients and caregivers on a physical and spiritual perspective. It is amazing to see each one helping another out, getting the attention of the nurse on another’s behalf, and creating new friendships, especially amongst the children. We have Day, Evening, and Night crew who are local Congolese people who speak the languages of the people. The main languages spoken here are French, Lingala, and Kituba. They are able to translate everything we say. I am continually impressed with their translation skills as well as the amount of energy they bring to the wards. One night, an evening worker led a very passionate group prayer for all of the patients, those getting ready for surgery and those recovering. I was moved by his compassion and love for these people. His people. We also have a great chaplaincy group which comes through the wards and sings praise and worship songs. We clap along with them. I love it.

The Food

     I would have to say that we are very spoiled when it comes to food. There are two food lines set up buffet style in the galley. You can eat whatever you want and how much you want. We cannot get food outside of the dining room times unless we purchase something from the Ship Shop or sneak it out of the dining hall and into the crew kitchen or our bunks. Meals consist of a wide variety of choices each week. We have African Tuesday where we have a traditional African dish for dinner. Lunch times are basically leftovers from the night before. If you missed dinner, don’t worry because you’ll have it tomorrow for lunch. The cooks get really creative with their leftovers. We have had numerous main courses be turned into lunch salads later that week. I would say the ship goes through one hundred loaves of bread a week. Everybody eats bread. There are gallons of juice, coffee, and tea (sometimes 1% milk as well) all day long. I think I may have put on a pound or two. My favorite thing to eat are “toasties,” as my British counter-parts call them. It’s a grilled cheese. Bread and cheese are available for every meal and I think I have at least one to two toasties a day. The produce we receive is freshly grown from a carefully selected vendor in country. We have lettuce, cucumber, tomato, apples, oranges, mango, and grapefruit to feed two ships’ worth! I love it! Once we make it through the line, there is a special area where you can put whatever kind of topping you want on your food. There are dressings, spices, nuts, olives, jalapeños, spreads, peanut butter, Nutella, and plenty of other tasty options. Needless to say, I am well fed here. Then on Thursdays after one of our community meetings, we have ice cream. Yum!

Coffee and Tea

     Drinks are of the utmost importance here on the ship. The two main drinks of choice are coffee and tea. As you would guess, there is a typical division between who drinks coffee and who drinks tea. I was recently educated on how to appropriately make a cup of tea (because there is a wrong way). I learned the difference between regular tea and builder’s tea. Coffee, on the other hand, I understand. The coffee in the galley is fresh brewed Starbucks, which is a small luxury I appreciate. Then there is the cafe which makes plenty of lattes, frapaccinos, and expressos. There is something very unique about this Starbucks Cafe. The symbol on the sign is not the traditional two tailed mermaid we are accustom to seeing in the states. The symbol is fashioned into a star-like ship on the ocean. The reason for this is that the symbol of the mermaid is seen as taboo; a bad symbol. So obviously we cannot have a mermaid symbol on board when we have many local people working on the ship.

Ship Life

     Ship life has been interesting. I really like living in this kind of community. There are constantly people everywhere. This can play to my advantage as well as to my disadvantage. I enjoy sitting down with all of my new friends from around the world and joke about whatever we are talking about. The majority of everyone knows everyone. We have dozens if not nearly one hundred day crew workers from the country working on the ship alongside us. We are teaching them just as much as they are teaching us. I really appreciate every single translator I have in my ward. They are fluent in three to four languages. I am fluent in one and a half. They make reaching the people easier. 

     It amazes me that there are so many people from all over the world working together for one common cause. Each member of the ship plays a vital and necessary role. There is not one person that does not fit into a special spot here because we all play our part. You would be surprised with the wide range of jobs available on the ship. There are doctors, surgeons, nurses, pharmacy techs, radiology techs, house keeping, cooks, shop workers, secretaries, communications, human resources, the Ship Shop, the Starbucks Cafe, engineers, chaplains, a hair dresser, teachers, physical and occupational therapists, dental hygienists, eye care technicians, and so on. I had no idea there were so many jobs on this ship, but there is a wide variety of needs here.

Traveling to the Africa Mercy

     Greetings from the Africa Mercy! What a journey it has been so far. For those of you who did not know, my flights were crazy. I flew from O'hare to New York Tuesday night and had a twelve hour layover. Being as I did not want to sleep in the terminal, I booked a hotel affiliated with JFK airport. When I woke up the following day, I caught a late morning flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. That flight was the longest flight I had ever been on. We flew for about 15 hours. I was stir-crazy by the end of it all. By the time we arrived, I had watch two movies, the Golden Globes, an episode of Modern Family, completed a few Sudoku puzzles, and read through a small chunk of one of my books. I sat near some people from Brooklyn who made quite the scene when we boarded. They had a few drinks and were liberal with their words and volume. Needless to say, every hierarchy of security on board came to talk to these people including the captain himself.
     Once we landed in Johannesburg, I had a few minutes to make it across the entire airport to get to my flight. It turned out I had more time than I thought which made things a little easier. I had the most unique departure experience. The terminal did not have your traditional gates for departure. There was one wall with dozens of glass doors. In front of every couple of doors were desks where passengers' tickets were checked before leaving. They then would file into large buses and they would taxi them to their flight. Fun fact: People in South Africa drive on the left side of the road. My flight was three or so hours. At this point I have had little sleep and my eyes were exhausted. We landed in the middle the pouring rain. Welcome to Pointe Noire.
     I discovered that there were two others on my flight that were being picked up by Mercy Ships. We piled into the official Mercy Ships jeep and headed to the ship. The city was wet and muddy from the rain. People were walking on the side of the road as drivers recklessly made their way through the city. We entered the port and were nearly to our destination. We then turned a corner and there it was. The Africa Mercy. It was so surreal. This was the ship I had been dreaming of for months and there it was; right in front of me. The security guards were very particular, but the power of the words "Mercy Ships" carry a lot of power in this community. We entered in through the gates soon after. The rain had let up some, but we still walked out in the rain. I carried my bags up the gangway and into the ship. I had arrived.
     My experience began soon after. I was photographed for my ID, escorted to my bunk, and given my welcome paperwork. My room. Wow. It was nice and small. There are a total of four people living in the room, but it is partitioned into to separate "rooms" with a bunk bed in each. As I unpacked, my bunkmate came in and we exchanged greetings. It turns out, he is from South Africa. As time went on, I soon became accustomed to meeting people from all parts of the world. I would have never imagined how many people there really are on the ship and how many more places they are all from. I ate a very nice dinner and finished up the night at a weekly community meeting. After the meeting there was ice cream in the cafe. This was a fun social opportunity for me to meet new people. I did meet a group of British girls who worked in the ward. After a very exhausting day of travel and ship life, I climbed into bed and fell asleep.

Today is the Day

     Today is the day! I cannot believe how fast this day has come. It seemed like only a few months ago I was dreaming of what is to come and now those dreams are becoming a reality. Sixty days ago I started the aggressive countdown. Fifty days, forty days, thirty, twenty, and ten. My excitement has exploded tenfold in the last week.
     My last night of work was over a week ago and now it seems like it was last month. I remember having a wonderful night filled with laughs, food, and fun. It was a funny thing, that last night. Not only was it my time to leave, it was time for another nurse to leave as well. She and I have been going at this nursing thing long before we were ever hired at Swedish American. We went to the same colleges, graduated in the same class, were hired at the same time on the same floor, and left at the same time. It was rather poetic. She moved to another area of the hospital and I am leaving for the Congo. As I cleaned out my locker and said my last goodbyes, a bittersweet feeling welled up inside my chest. This would be the last time I would see these people for a very long time. I wish the best of luck to them as they continue to work for such an amazing hospital and continue to care for those who need it in our community.
     Once I was done working my last night shift, I transitioned myself into a normal day life routine. What a difference that made! I never realized how much working night shift can change someone. There are some who are meant to work nights. God bless you! But I can only speak for myself when I say I am 'me' when I am on a day routine. A week before my last shift, I got coffee with a dear redheaded friend of mine. She mentioned something in our conversation that I cannot get out of my head. We are not ourselves when we are in stressful situations. I can say that I have not been myself for a while and that is disheartening. Ever since I shifted my body into a normal biological rhythm, life has been happier.
     All last week I set up lunch, coffee, and dinner dates with everyone I had wanted to say goodbye to. Of course there were people I missed and I wish I could have had a more meaningful goodbye, but that is the way things go in life. We can only play the cards we are dealt, hope for the best, and pray for victory. At every one of those meetings I talked about everything under the sun about my trip, what I will be doing, and when I will be back. People care and that's why they ask. Thank you. I did not feel sad or blue whenever I said goodbye. The reality of the situation had not settled inside my spirit yet. I was running on excitement and adrenaline.
     Then on Sunday we had my going away party. We had over seventy people walk through our home and give their blessings and prayers for my trip. I had my poster board set up with all the nitty-gritty details of Mercy Ships. As people meandered through the house, they would find themselves in the kitchen which was filled with fruit, vegetables, cupcakes, meatballs, and even penguin-shaped cheese crackers. Celebrating brave decisions reinforces the need to make more of those kinds of choices. We wrapped up the party and my sister and I whisked ourselves away to a distant land called Machesney Park for Lifegroup. The guy leader of the group had asked me to share about my trip and anything that may be on my heart. I spoke on something I was pondering about on the ride up. What defines a person who chooses a career in the mission field? What characteristics make a good missionary? Who is a missionary? As I mulled these thoughts over I came to one simple conclusion. Any person who feels called to the mission field does not have missions as their first career choice. The maturing process is delicate and drawn out. We start with Jesus at the center of our hearts and we grow from there. He plants a seed of love where He stands and urges the Spirit to grow that love until it blossoms into compassion. Then compassion releases it's beautifully sweet essence into the air around itself. Anyone walking by is caught off guard by the strikingly pure smell coming from this awe-inspiring source. We cannot help but love those around us; to the point of moving us into drastic action. I have seen with my own eyes the need this world has and I am moved to fill that need.
     After I spoke, the guy leader said some challenging and humbling words. His words were filled with encouragement and determination. I was on the verge of tears, tears of joy that is, as he spoke. Then the group laid hands on me and prayed for me as well as the journey ahead of me. Their prayers were deep and heartfelt. I let out a huge sigh afterwards. So much positive emotional energy stirred in that room. I cannot even begin to explain the amount of blessing which is upon my life and only given to me from my Father above.
     Yesterday, I spent the evening with one of my closest friends. He has been such a huge encouragement and supporter of me. Words cannot express my gratitude and love for him. I asked if he was going to cry when I leave. It took him a minute, but he said no because this goodbye is not a permanent goodbye nor is it going to be the last time we speak. "Until next time," are the words I am looking for. I had to drive my car up to have it fixed while I am away. Another piece of evidence proving my intention of leaving this country. I gave her pat with my hand. "Until next time, my dear."
     Everything started to fall into its appropriate place. All of my errands were completed. My bags were packed. Now what? I wait patiently and pray my flights leave on time. Everything will work like clockwork now. Tick tock. Tick tock. Board the plane, fly through the air, land, and repeat two more times. I have an idea of what I will experience and what I will see, but I cannot guarantee my reaction will be what I anticipate it to be. I know the Lord will guide me through this time. He will hold my hand as we navigate this adventure. I am excited for what is to come and who I will meet. Let the Lord take me to far away places. I want to go to the ends of the earth in search of people who need my help. Here we go! I diving headfirst into the unknown. Three, two, one... Geronimo!