deel twee

This is the second part, but I can't get it in the right order... but that doesn't really matter..
Dit is het tweede deel, maar ik kan het niet andersom plaatsen, maar dat maakt niet zoveel uit.

part one / deel een van de reis (niet voor vegatariers of kinderen!!)

I hope you had a great Christmas time. Before Christmas I had the privilege to travel around with three lovely ladies, two of them left early to spend Christmas back home in the States.
It has been a very eventful, beautiful trip with many blessed meetings in Ghana.
Below the photo's to tell a bit of the story.

BE AWARE..... following images may be shocking and not suitable for children!

LET OP... de volgende beelden kunnen schokkend zijn en niet gepast voor kinderen!

I killed a chicken... / Ik heb een kip vermoord

after the beheading, we had to pluck the chicken / na het onthoofden ook plukken

there it is... / daar is tie dan

washing my feet after the bloody scene / even de voeten wassen na de bloederige scenes

next day ready to be eaten / volgende dag klaar om gegeten te worden

Tema

First of all I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed Christmas and an amazing 2012!

Secondly, I can let you know that we arrived safely in Ghana yesterday. Thank you so much for all comments, prayers and the way you guys are involved. Sometimes it seems like I'm repeating myself by saying that, but I really mean it! It's really encouraging to see that the stories are read, and that there are people about 5000 km away, are still very involved. Thank you so much!

Before sailing to Ghana, we had to do the necessary things to prepare the ship. After my job in the hospital was done, I started to work as a deck hand again. Below are some pictures that show how the land rovers are brought on deck.

On December 5 we had a short visit of Sinterklaas.

We were able to donate 64 bags of blood to one of the local hospitals. During the outreach we built good relationships with various hospitals in Sierra Leone and this hospital had just gotten a special fridge for blood. So whoever wanted could donate a bag of blood and bless the people of Sierra Leone.

Finally we were ready ...  you could hear the engines at full speed, the mooring lines were pulled in, the ship began to move slowly and we lost sight of the city of Freetown

Halfway the sail there was a sort of fuel stop. The captain wasn’t very comfortable with the set up and saw all sorts of potential dangers, but fortunately everything went well. A large tanker was lying next to our Africa Mercy. It was about 70 miles off the coast of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Two large ships moving around in the ocean ... it took quite a while to get everything ready and then fuelling went on all night. At night there were people standing watch to see if the tension on the lines was ok. I stood watch from 4 am to 8 am.

Working on the bridge was fun again. One of the main tasks is to be looking out to see if there are other ships in the area. But in the meantime there is the marine life that can be admired. Soooo cool! It continues to amazing me, so beautiful! This sail we saw a couple of large groups of dolphins, some whales, lots of flying fish and a sea turtle.

I still had a good amount of hours to take time off, so next week I’m going to travel with a Dutch girl and two Americans. We will be back on board for Christmas, so we can celebrate with our ship family.

So again, I wish you a great Christmas time! I hope you will enjoy family, friends and people around you and the miracle of the coming of Jesus on earth.

Big Hugs &
Blessings
Maaike

Saying goodbyes...

It really has been an intense time of saying goodbye. Thank you all so much for all the encouragement and sweet comments!

One of the girls had come up with a little practical joke. She invited a bunch of nurses to come to the dock at 22:00. No further notice of what was to come .... After a couple of things she shared with us, she suddenly started a water balloon fight! You can imagine that it wasn’t very quiet that evening :-D

At the end we were wet, but we still loved each other and there was a big group hug.

 As the photos make clear... many goodbyes. A very large group of nurses has gone now and there will be more leaving next week. It will take about another week before we sail. Once we’re sailing, I will notify you as soon as possible.

We also had to say goodbye to the day volunteers. All these men and women that have worked with us throughout the year were invited to a thank-you party. This year I worked with the same team of day volunteers every day, so we had build up relationship during that time. I am really proud of those who worked in my ward. Great people! With some tears and hugs it was with a heavy heart, we said goodbye.

The big hospital cleanup has begun and it really starts to look like we are getting ready to sail. Everything needs to be packed and secured, floors are scrubbed, wax is removed from the floors and a nice new coat of wax is applied. It is a lot of work, but it makes a big difference!
 

Today is a very special day for my friend Christina. She is getting married today (and unfortunately I can not be there :-( … but I am there in thoughts ...)

 
On board we had another wedding last weekend. It was a fifty-fifty Western-African wedding. It was very nice to be there and to see two lovely people committing to each other.

To my delight I finally finished my end term report last week. It was a tough job next to the pack up, but I hope that some improvement will come from it and that it will eventually benefit the patients.
Since that task is behind me, I can finally start working on deck this Monday.








Big hugs &
Blessings
Maaike

hospital closing

 Last weekend was a really relaxing weekend. With a group of divers from the ship we went to a nice beach and had a small dive trip. We went to the beach with full tanks and all the equipment we needed. First we had lunch and after that we put all our gear in a small boat and spent an hour and a half under water.

Later that evening we did a night dive, which was really cool too. There wasn’t a whole lot to see except some lobsters, crabs and small fish that were attracted to the bright lights, so it became a short dive, but still fun. The stars were even more amazing, because out in the ocean, there’s not a lot of light pollution :-D

The next day we went in again and it was even more relaxed since we knew our way around a bit better. My buddy Cassidy liked to look closely at things too, instead of rushing around, that was really nice. We had another hour and a half to look under every rock and between parts of the wreck.

The spot where we went diving was around a rock formation where a small ship had sunk. There was no place to really get inside the wreck, but there was a big diversity of sea life on the wreck and on the rocks around it. Corals, big and small fishes, starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and snails from bright yellow, to orange, red, blue, purple, pink, brown, and combinations of all colors of the rainbow. It was amazing again to see how much life is under the water surface and how God loves to create beauty.

We slept in a tent, had a great outdoors shower and had hammocks and a beautiful beach to relax on after the dives.

 

We also had a big farewell party at the end of last week had. The theme was "Tell Papa God Tenki" which we hear regularly on the wards. It was a good time for all patients, day volunteers, nurses and doctors to thank God for all the good things that have happened during this outreach. Several patients shared stories about how their lives had changed. It was really a good time with the necessary dance : D

By the way, yesterday and today Ramatu had a very special dressing change. She is the girl that was in my ‘boot camp’. Normally she needs a lot of drugs to get her through the dressing change, the last two days she did not need drugs and she did not even cry. There has been a lot of prayer for her, so we are very thankful that she is able to tolerate the dressing changes a lot better now. We are very proud of her.

Yesterday my ward was emptied out. The few patients that were left, were transferred to other wards and they will be leaving Thursday or Friday. After that, the hospital is officially closed and there won’t be any patient care. It’s always a weird time, saying goodbye to patients and on Friday we’ll have to say goodbye to our day workers and in between there are a lot of nurses leaving, which means even more goodbyes.

Also news from the home front. It’s Saskia's birthday today! Congratulations sister!
Unfortunately, I learned that my grandmother was admitted in a hospital. Suddenly the distance between Sierra Leone and The Netherlands is very large.

Many thanks for your encouragements and comments!

Big hugs &
Blessings
Maaike

end of the outreach in sight

Hello all!

Time has gone so fast over the past weeks and it is definitely time for you an update.

Today was the last day of surgery. Next week, the hospital will still be open, but at the end of the week the patients are all discharged. Some patients simply discharged and better, others still with wounds that will be treated in a local hospital. Two of the volunteers who worked all year in the outpatients clinic, will continue to do wound care there.

Another joyful event for me was the arrival of my box filled with dutch yummy stuff, chocolate, ‘kruidnoten’ and the book that my aunt wrote. It seems silly, but sometimes those things from home are so familiar and are a treat!

The wards and the whole ship are starting to pack up. I'm really happy that my successor is now taking over a big part of my responsibilities on the ward, so I can focus more on the pack up process.

I'm also still working on the finishing touches put in the current report that we as team leaders to write. That's a big job and requires a lot of energy.

With the end of the outreach in sight, the season of farewells arrived. Yesterday Tom has flown back to England and today Kate left. There are many more going away in the next few weeks. Some people go on vacation, but most crew members are coming to the end of their commitment and moving on. That's always a difficult, emotional time.

A very special event was the marriage ceremony on the 5^th of November of one of the guys on deck and one of the volunteers from my ward. Somewhere in the beginning of the outreach they met each other and now there was a wedding :-)

Another couple, who both worked on board the past two years, will marry next week. Quite special to witness a true African wedding. Although it emphasized that I was not at the wedding of Joerie and Marjanne and won’t be able to go to the wedding of Christina and David. Mixed feelings. But I enjoy the special things.

I am also doing some pedagogical work. We have a girl in the ward, Ramatu, that caused a lot of unrest and seriously misbehaved in another ward. She is now in my 'boot camp' with strict rules, consequences for bad behavior and rewards for good behavior.

She is a very bright child and has a really strong character. It's nice to see how she reacts positively to this rigorous approach :-D

Today we had a little party on the ward, because it was the last day of surgery. Ramatu had to stay at her part of the ward, since she has an infection in the wound. She did so well today, so at the end I told her that I was very proud of her.
It was a real party with patients giving their testimonies and of course lots of dancing and singing. We can still see and hear that God is touching lives. It is a privilege to be part of this. And you have been part of it too, through all your encouragements, prayers and financial support! Thanks a million!

Big hugs &
Blessings
Maaike

 Vandaag gewoon een aantal foto's

ik hoop dat je ervan geniet!

one more week of general surgery

Last week I was enjoying a week off. It was a wonderful time. I feel really spoiled. We have seen and experienced so many beautiful things, what a trip!
For those who like to check things out on Google Earth, I’ll put the places that we visited in my story.
Unfortunately, my plan to travel with Abas did not work out, because he still resides at the Hope Centre, so we are able to keep an eye on his wound.

Monday four of us girls checked out, handed back our keys and got on the road to adventure. We went up north, since I had already travelled to the east and south of the country with Tom and Mekenzie, so the first destination was Makeni. Earlier in the year there was another group of girls that went to Makeni and had met a pastor who had nice place to stay. We travelled with 10 men in a station wagon (1 driver, 2 on the seat beside him, 4 on the back seat and 3 behind the back seat).
The pastor welcomed us and told us we were lucky, because he was just about to go to Freetown for a few days. Since we now his guests, he postponed his plans and accompanied us during our adventures in Makeni. We went to the beautiful waterfalls in Bumbuna, we walked through the town and the market, climbed the mountain next to the village and we visited a school where we met one of the patients who had a surgery on board this year.

 

 

 

 

Kate contacted a girl who was working further inland in a mission hospital. We were welcome, so our journey continued towards Kamakwie. Again with local transportation called a poda poda. The four of us sat in the back, which is quite normal for African public transport. One of the other passengers was a policeman who worked in Kamakwie. Halfway through the trip a colleague of his stood next to the road with two men handcuffed together. They were accused of some crime and had to go the nearest police station. That was in Kamakwie, two hours further :-D How often can you say that you two hours with two men handcuffed together in a packed bus have been .... So again a new experience:-D 

 
Finally when we arrived at the hospital, we were welcomed with open arms by Melinda, the girl who previously had worked on board and now worked in the missionhospital in Kamakwie, and the two American doctors who run the hospital. What a great couple! Originally they are GP’s, but here in Sierra Leone they do surgery and they run the pharmacy and they have four full wards and various programs for TB, HIV and malnutrition. In their "spare time" they tutor biology, economics and English.

There was a pregnant lady on one of the wards that was bleeding. After some research, they decided that she had to have a Caesarean that evening. We were allowed into the OR and I witnessed the first birth in my life ... and didn’t faint ... Now I'm really a nurse ;-)

 

The next day we walked through the village and enjoyed the wonderful environment. We saw all kinds of special animals and plants. 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the conversations and the passion that these doctors had for the people, for God and for their work.Occasionally they come to Freetown for a weekend and they advised us to go to Sussex beach. A secluded beach with a beautiful hotel for not too much money and hot showers. After a week of  bucket showers it seemed like a good plan. They had called us a taxi driver who was willing to bring us all the way to our place of destination. So 11 hours later we were at the hotel.

 

We enjoyed beautiful sunsets, great swimming in the surf and got a tan :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we got back to work. To my delight, two men with longstanding infections had been discharged from the ward. We have two other men admitted who still need daily wound care, so we are praying for good wound healing. From this Friday on there will not be a general surgeon anymore. Then the big pack up starts….
I have many more stories, but this is again just enough reading material.

Big hugs &
Blessings
Maaike