Clinic Dedication

Friday I had the pleasure of travelling to the site of the Tenegar Clinic that Mercy Ships helped to rebuild at the request of the Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The Tenegar village is just up the road from where she was born.

The ceremony on Friday was a dedication of the clinic and the guest of honor was the President, herself!

There was a great crowd, both from the community and also from the ship, that came to celebrate the opening of the clinic and to see the President. The event was supposed to start at 2:30pm, but true to the culture, the President and her entourage arrived a couple hours late. Around here, the time serves as a rough estimate to when things may happen. This whole issue of time keeping was emphasized in a humorous way as we waited. To my left, Glenys, my fellow OR nurse from New Zealand, happened to look at her watch and announce the time was 3:30. We agreed that surely the President would be there at any moment. Then, ten minutes later, my Liberian neighbor on my right looked at her watch and exclaimed that it was already 3:15! Their watches were 25 minutes different! And I think Glenys' was closer to correct. But what is time, anyway?

One part of the ceremony was the "gowning" of some of the key facilitators of the revival of the clinic and it's surroundings. Below is the managing director of the Africa Mercy, Ken Berry.

Not only did the team from Mercy Ships help the villagers to rebuild the clinic, they also helped them to plant crops and to dig a well. It was very exciting to see the work that is being done in the communities while surgeries are in progress on the ship. This was my first "field trip" to see what some of the other Mercy Ships team members are doing in Liberia. It was a good day!

Jenny