This and That

The most important thing I have to report today is that for the last two and a half weeks we have been livin' a dream! That dream is the realization that we now have a TEENAGER IN THE HOUSE!

It's true. Joey turned 13 on April 7, 2009!! Joey celebrated by hosting a "Lord of the Rings" marathon in the Youth Room for a few of the guys on the ship. They started the first one at 1pm and finished up after 11pm! And at Joey's request, I made pizza for dinner and baked a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing. We even bought ice cream (Fan Ice from a local super market) to top it off. It was a "fun, Lord of the Rings-y" day, according to Joey. And a highlight for the guys was when they pulled the head off the breadman from our previous post. Poor breadman!

On Easter Monday, we played in the rain with our friends, the Albrechts, at Au Jardin Helvetia, a rustic hotel about 45 minutes from the ship. We really enjoyed the rest and refreshment that day provided.

Here you can see the snail round-up by the kids.

Joey and John have been working on scouting merit badges in their spare time. Here, John is having fun testing Joey's knowledge of First Aid.

And below is a phot of Joey navigating an orienteering course that John mapped out for him in Cotonou. It may not be the typical Boy Scout orienteering course, but it's the environment we have to work in.

Joey's hope is to advance to the rank of First Class before he joins with his old troop for Boy Scout Camp at Camp Raven Knob in June. Yes, we have plans to go home for a visit in the summer!!
On another note...I had the opportunity to give blood to one of our patients last Friday. There was one fellow who lost a good deal of blood during his surgery. The blood bank is made up of crew members who are willing to donate on a moment's notice when the need arises. So when you get called, you go to the Ward where you hop onto an empty be and the lab technician pulls a nice unit from you which then goes directly to the patient. It's a pretty cool thing to know you are providing warm, life sustaining blood to someone in need! We were critically low of this patient's blood type, but when people heard of the need, more signed up to give.

Below you can see three crew members who were giving at the same time this past week to meet an urgent need while a patient was in surgery.

Jenny

Been Busy!

Life's like a river current, isn't it? It just keeps on flowing, and we do best to lay back on the water and flow right with it. If we try to stand up and stay in one place, we hit a good deal of resistance, but the current keeps moving...just swirls around us and flows on. And I've learned that you are supposed to float down the river feet first so that you aren't as likely to get your feet caught on things on the bottom of the river that will pull you under. That position also keeps you face-forward. There's no point in looking back at where you came from. You need to keep your eyes on what's ahead, or you'll bump into a rock or get caught in low-lying branches, and cool things will pass by without you even noticing!

So, we've been caught up in the river of life. We are now about to begin the 7th week of surgeries on board the M/V Africa Mercy. Monday through Friday the current is the swiftest for me. As I've been trying to juggle the things and situations that need my attention, I've also been able to spend a little time playing my favorite roll..."scrub nurse". And I've been witness to what may be the fastest surgical time in the world! The other day, I worked with our neighbor and fellow North Carolinian, Dr Bruce Steffes, on "hernia day" (which is every day in the general surgery room. There are SO many!). He was able to repair bilateral hernias on a 5 year old in 10 minutes, with a total OR time of 22 minutes! Amazing!

Dr Bruce working with Dr Mark Shrime on a goiter a few weeks ago

John's been spending a little spare time fishin'. Last week he had some interaction with a fellow on the dock that gave some good insight about asking and receiving. Below are some photos of the strange looking fish he caught. It wasn't big, but it was interesting. Some of the locals called it a "snake fish".Joey got to spend 3 days in the Galley with Eddie the Baker this past week. The Junior High and High School kids got to have some "Work Experience". Joey got up around 4:30 am and learned about baking. He also was able to help make the pizzas for the crew's dinner on Thursday evening. That was one of the highlights of his time in the galley. He's very passionate about pizza! They had a little extra fun making this "bread man" too.

Bethany and David have been trying to get as much "Deck 8" time as possible. Deck 8 is where the pool and climbing frame are. The pool is a refreshing oasis in the hot climate. And David has been challenging himself to cross the monkey bars without falling. So far, he's crossed more than 13 times! (He's counting!)

And so we float on down this river that's life. The nicest days are the ones where the current is slow and we can pay attention to the beauty on the river banks. Those would be the weekends of life, I guess!

~Jenny~