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