Second Screening Success

I found myself at 4:30am this morning in the dining room grabbing some breakfast for a good reason. We were on our way once again to do a screening because we were running out of patients to help. The last two weeks of surgery have seen great results and wonderful changes in many lives.

Although the painful memory of our last screening day is not 'fresh' it was still present as we made our way through the dark yet busy streets of Sierra Leone at a ludicrous hour to a new screening location in the city of Freetown. My thoughts turned with respect to our crew who had been doing security since 4pm the day before and all through the night. Amongst them were 'pre-screeners' who were going along the line that continued to grow through the night checking on each person's condition. The purpose of this was to send away those we could not help, in doing this it made the crowd more manageable.

Michel and I found ourselves once again in Plastic Surgery and also General Surgery. We had put out word and pictures to let the people of Sierra Leone know the particular conditions we could help with and Goitres/Thyroid growths was one of them. My emotions began to surge with frustration though as I received news that before the ship arrived the government has agreed to ensure that at least five pharmacies in Sierra Leone would be stocked with the medication that needs to be taken daily after thyroids are removed. If a person has their thyroid removed without this medication available they will die within five years. Sadly the government has not held up their side of the deal and we find ourselves with no medication so at this point sadly unable to treat huge disfiguring goitres. There is still hope that they will provide the medication yet we will just have to be patient and pray for a miracle.

Everywhere I looked I felt shock fill my body, surrounding me were the saddest eyes I had ever seen. The people of Sierra Leone who have been in hiding for years had come to seek help-many hid behind material blankets but others sat knowing full well that we saw them.

I have learnt as a nurse to become a master at guarding my facial reactions, it has taken years to develop this skill because I believe it is very important for people not to see shock or disgust on my face. My hope is that they will see love and gentleness. I am learning to look into people's eyes and appreciate them and value them before looking over there body with an objective medical eye. I know this is essential because many have not had another person "see" them for years let alone touch them. Nothing prepared me for Abdul though, after introductions I began to scan his body and as I noted his kneck had not goitre protruding out of it and that his hands were not contracted from bad burns I felt puzzled about why he had come. I was not prepared though when he removed his hat carefully to reveal a bulging tumour sitting directly ontop of his head. I was suprized as I felt my ownjaw drop open.

Thankfully our prayers were answered as cloud cover was wonderful in the morning and we were reasonably comfortable sitting outside examining patients. The definition of desperation hit me as I realised that the same woman from an hour before was sitting again before us. After giving her the sad news we were unable to help her one hour before she had gone out the gates and joined the end of the line again in hopes of a 'second-chance'.

As we were packing up a nurse came to me and said "here's your last person" I turned to find the sweetest little five year old girl-she stretched out her hand and placed it in mine. I was amazed to look down and see that on her right hand was eight digits and her elbow locked into position unable to bend or flex. Her grandfather sat next to her looking at us with hopeful eyes and it was a lovely way to end the day of screening as we booked her in for surgery on the schedule this year.

Thankyou for reading:)

Screening Day Desperation

Our security crew left the ship at 4am-we had breakfast at 5 and were on the road by 5:30am through town-so amazing to see how many people are already on the street-I guess because it is so cool at that time in the morning-it is easier to work. My heart felt sad to see so many people sleeping on the side walk as we drove by-poverty that is so often missed as it is not often we are up and around then.

My heart was warmed to see many people smile and give us the thumbs up as they saw the convoy of 20 Mercy Ships vehicles passing by-well aware it was screening day.

As we drew close to the National Stadium my eyes filled with tears as I made out clearly in the darkness the screening queue that had no end. A friend doing security told me as I arrived there were two thousand people in the queue already (at 4am) and more joining. We set to work setting everything up and Michel and I actually ended up walking in the first few people who were to be screened first.

We then went to our Plastic Surgery Screening Station where we worked with our translator Jonathon who is a lovely Sierra Leonian man and was one of the 179 day volunteers chosen to work with us this year-they are given a small amount of money which is great because it helps provide employment (there is a seventy percent unemployment here). Our wonderful friend and Plastic Surgeon Dr Tertius Ventor comes to the Africa Mercy twice a year and will be here for five weeks in May and September. Michel and I were put in charge of screening his patients in preparation for his arrival.

I felt frustrated to hear that people had “sold” fake tickets to the people waiting in the lines outside because as Mercy Ships we aim to give fairness and equality in the screening process and see every patient who is waiting in line. To hear that tickets had been sold was dissapointing as we do not want any price to be put upon the medical care and love we wish to show these people. They had also been allowed to enter the stadium gates so our security had to escort them out and unfortunately this caused many people to be upset as they were walked to the end of the queues which was now snaking its way through and around the city-it's tail end finding itself discouragingly insight of the beginning.

Our screening process although slow was going really well and the candidates for the plastic surgery were touching my heart. One woman had travelled from the neighbouring country of Guinea, a long journey with a foot that was completely contracted up causing it to form a stump.

Mid-morning we received report that the stadium gates and security were having trouble with the crowd becoming unruly, with this we began to pray for peace among them. At ten o'clock all medical staff were requested at the main entrance where the gates had been pushed open in utter desperation and many had been trampled leaving people everywhere injured. As Michel and I arrived on the scene were clearly identified many suffering from heat exhaustion and it was hard to know who to attend to first. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a man being carried through our security who had formed a human wall and managed to regain control of the gates again. A team of us began to care for him as he was unconscious-we had three doctors and four nurses work as hard and quickly as we possibly as we could and thankfully we had all the medical supplies we required. Sadly despite fighting as hard as we could he was declared deceased and taken away. Everyone looked shocked at the scene in front of us and tried their best to continue to care for the people who were suffering from heat exhausting and minor cuts and bruises.

I stood dumbfounded as those around me shared about how mother's had been passing their babies under the gate in sheer desperation that they would be seen and helped by our medical screening teams.

We slowly made our way back to our stations and continued to screen patients, however it was only minutes before we were given strict instructions by security to pack up and leave.

Michel and I found ourselves ourselves back on the ship after an hour of Freetown traffic, our minds reeling from the day.

The whole ship feels a little rocked and subdued at present however overall the atmosphere is still united and there has been a debreifing time which has helped a lot. The screening that was to take place tomorrow has been postponed and our leadership are working hard to find a solution to how we can screen the people and still maintain their safety and our own. We were very sad to hear that two people have been arrested by police who were found to be deliberately inciting the crowds to hysteria, the motivation for this we are not sure about. Thankfully no Mercy Ships person was injured today-just a little shaken up.

Disclaimer: I serve with Mercy Ships. Everything here, however, is my personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercy Ships.

Heartbroken and Hope-filled

My heart felt heartbroken and tears streamed down my face to hear the news of the disaster that struck New Zealand just over a week ago. An earthquake located in the business section of the city Christchurch caused buildings and houses all over the city to callapse leaving hundreds trapped and many lives taken at one o'clock in the afternoon. I spend five years in Dunedin (which neighbours Christchurch) so I have many good friends who live there and as I heard grim reports and I felt desperate to find out they were safe. With limited (African) internet access I waited until I was able to finally find out information and hear out about whereabouts of friends. During this time of waiting and hearing news from New Zealand it has been so hard to be so far away. It dawns on me the price that is paid to be so far away from your “home country” when such a tragedy hits so close to home. Despite the thoughts of Christchurch and the suffering of the people there and the many prayers I have prayed for them; I know this is where I am supposed to be and feel peace in that knowledge.

It is so hard to believe that I have been back onboard the Africa Mercy for a week now. What a magical feeling it was to stand and watch the ship emerge through the fog on the horizon. The atmosphere on the dock was electric as the African marching band passionately played and the ship continued to come closer towards us, revealing hundreds of crew gathered on deck waving down at us. It was exciting to see so many familiar faces and a sense of peace and joy settled upon me.

Dr Gary Parker with a boy he operated on ten years ago who had a cleft lip and palate repair.

The Port workers were striking so some of our boys (including my fiance Michel) had to help dock and tie down the lines of the ship. Once all was secure and the gangway was down the managing director and his wife descended down the gangway to greet Sierra Leone officials on the dock and welcome speeches were given. My heart was touched with hope and joy as a young Sierra Leonian boy, aged ten took part in the ceremony and his story was shared. He was born with a cleft lip (facial deformity which prevents infants feeding properly and results in malnutrition) and this was repaired onboard the ship when he was four months old. It was wonderful to see the tangible results of a life changed and an encouragement in our purpose here.

It was awesome to come onboard the ship and instantly feel a peace and settled. After living on land for the past three weeks the luxury of a warm shower, electricity and good food was heavenly.

We are currently working (scrubbing) hard to clean and prepare the hospital for surgery and patients. The ship has been in dry dock for the last six months in hot, humid conditons so there is a lot of cleaning to be done. On Monday we will hold the big screening at the National Stadium for the people of Sierra Leone, where thousands will queue in hopes of surgery and medical care they could never afford or hope for. I know this day will be charged with hope and also emotion as not every person can be seen and treated. I will be apart of the Plastic Surgery team who will screen those with disfigurement and many cases will be bad burns that have caused contractures.

Thankyou for reading:)