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.