When Michael was here, he introduced me to two boys in the community right outside the ships, Simba and Abdul. Ever so often, when I'm going into town, I see these boys and we chat a little bit. Yesterday, I was waiting for a friend at the gate that leads to the ship, and Abdul was there with a bunch of his friends. I went over to say hello and I ended up talking to them for over two hours. There was about 8 of them and others kept coming. They were mostly between the ages of 12 and 16.They said that they always see people leaving and coming to the ship, but most people never stop to say hello, and definitely do not spend time talking to them. We talked about everything- about their families, about Sierra Leone, about school, about America, about the ship, my job, and my family. We talked about church, and I asked them if they had gone that day (this was Sunday). Some of them said they were Muslim and went to mosque on Fridays. One went to the church Michael had set them up with and all the others didn't go. We then started talking about faith. Some said they were Christian, others said they were Muslim, and one boy, named Mohamed said he was both a Christian and a Muslim. When I explained to him that he can't be both, because they are very different, he said "Well I don't have anyone to teach me the difference." We then started talking about the Bible, which none of them own. We talked for so much longer, about all sorts of things and I just watched as they interacted with each other and joked and enjoyed the company. I really enjoyed myself. After about 2 hours, I left them to head back the ship (my friend never showed up). B.S., one of the boys who is actually 19 years old, walked back with me and he shared how his greatest desire is to go back to school. He had only completed 3 years of secondary school, when his family abandoned him. He now lives alone homeless in one of the containers near the dock. He says he has no support and often feels so hopeless. He asked me to pray for him. I prayed for him and then told him I would see him tomorrow.
Today, after work, I met the boys, the group was now much larger, about maybe 10 or 12 boys, outside the gate on my walk to the tailor in town. They walked with me and told me about their days at school. B.S talked about how he just waited all day for when I was getting off work. We walked to the tailor and they all waited as Alpha the tailor finished my skirts. The boys pride themselves and say they are my body guards, and that if anyone comes near me they would protect me. They are all great boys and I want to somehow help them, especially B.S who just needs someone to sponsor him so he can go to school and become the electrician he wants to be. I also want to reach out to them to share the love of Jesus with them. Today we talked a little bit more about Christianity. When we were waiting at the tailors, another group of 3 men began talking to me. Each of them was a Muslim, and they were asking what being born again meant. They scoffed at the idea and didn't really seem to be interested, but it sparked some conversation. I am hoping for more opportunities to share the love of Jesus with those in the community. The boys walked me back to the ship and were sad when I said goodbye because I am working in the evening for the rest of the week, and they all attend school in the day. We plan to meet again on Sunday, where we will take pictures so I can share them with you. Mohamed has also invited me to his home, which I am honored to do. Please pray for these boys- B.S, Mohamed, Mohamed #2, Abdul, Abdul #2, Elija, Saidu, James, Sorie, Alieu, and the others. I will post pictures of them at a later time.
There is such a need in Sierra Leone for the truth. Syncretism is so evident and prominent in the culture, where Christianity and Islam is nearly combined. The people are so tolerant of each other, so much so, that there is no distinction made between the two walks of life. There are so many children in Sierra Leone and not enough mentors and role models in the communities. I asked some of the guys on the ship to see if they could help encourage and teach the boys and they told me they couldn't. I feel inadequate to do so, as a female for one and because I am not much older than many of them, but I know that God has a purpose in that he allowed me to meet these boys. Maybe it is simply to share His love with them. I pray for clear direction, so that God can show me how to reach out to them and to help them in any way I can. Please join me in this prayer.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Go Primary School!
I mentioned a little while back in the Jesus Film blog, that I had met Pastor Nat, the pastor of the nearby church and how he had invited me to visit the school. We made plans to do that and today, he met me at the gate and we went there for a few hours.
We took a poda-poda into Wellington, a part of Freetown about 15 minutes away, which is actually the same town that Pastor Abu's church is. After arriving in Wellington, we took okadas up the crazy, treacherous, steep rocky mountain and arrived close to the church, where we continued on foot into Koya Town. I haven't mentioned the okadas yet. Partially, on purpose because I don't want to scare my mother. But I've ridden them many times now and have survived, so I can now share this additional means of transportation. An okada is a motorbike. Mom, breathe! ;) I jump on the back of the okada driver and ride wherever I need to go. It is so convenient as they can maneuver quite well through all the traffic, that a taxi or a podapoda gets stuck in. I happen to like it best, mostly because its a quick ride, its loads of fun, and its not nearly as "expensive" as riding in a taxi. They can be quite dangerous, as the drivers weave in and out of traffic, and the helmet they may or may not give you don't usually strap on. I don't really know how well it would protect if something were to happen. I try not to think about that, say a prayer, and jump on! Love them :)
Anyways, we reached the church, which is actually a new building they just finished. The church, Go Living Baptist Church, has held three services in their new building so far. It is just a concrete frame, with no benches, no windows, no doors. However, Pastor Nat is very thankful for their new building, as they had been renting the building the church was previously in. The building was simultaneously being used as the school, which it continues to do. I will explain later.
While in the church, the pastor asked that I pray for the church and the ministry and work that goes on there, which I did. We continued on to the school. The church has started three schools. The first one is located in Masaika, one of the provinces, about 47 miles away from Freetown and has about 85 children. The second school is located in Rokan, another province and is located about 40 miles from Freetown and then is an additional 7 miles from the highway. That school has 120 children. This school, Go Primary School, was started in about 2008 and currently has 115 children. It is a grade school that is from preschool to grade 6. The schools were established to provide education to vulnerable children; the "vulnerable children" include those who have been subjected to child labor, street kids, school dropouts, orphans, and children from single parent homes. The schools are considered by the government as a "mission school" and Pastor Nat has included in the curriculum RME or religious moral education and uses his schools as a means to present the gospel to the community, many which are primarily Muslim communities. As you can see from the numbers, there are many children in this small community who benefit from the school having been created.
Education in Sierra Leone is not free and for many families, its a sacrifice to send their children to school. It is often easier to use one's child to do work at home than to send them to school, which then promotes and leads to child labor. Because it is often difficult for poor families to send their children to school, The Go Primary School , has some children that are getting a "free" education. The administration determines how much each child needs to pay for their education and they base the tuition on the vulnerability of each child in that community. There are others in the school whose parents can't afford to purchase uniforms for their child, which you will see in some of the photos. These children are still encouraged to attend school. This cost gets absorbed by the church who currently supports all of the schools.
The Go Primary School is currently located in a rented building. When the building was simultaneously being used as the church, the church was paying the rent for the building. Now that they are somewhat two different entities, the school is now responsible for supplying the money for the rent. This is difficult because every child isn't paying for tuition, and therefore the church is having to help support the rent fees as well. The campus includes two buildings; the second building is currently rented out as housing. The owner of the buildings now wants to sell the buildings, which poses an issue for the church and the school. The owner want to sell the whole compound, which is the two buildings and some land and is selling for $16,000 US. Please pray the Lord provides the money so that the church can purchase the buildings so the school and the work there can continue.
The teachers in the school are volunteers. They are only paid a small stipend to provide the education to the children. Many of them also are receiving continued training at the Teachers College in Sierra Leone. Please pray for the teachers as they give of themselves, their time, and their resources to provide a Christian education to these children.
Each school day runs from 8:30am to 2pm. The students have a number of classes. The have Social Studies, English, Math, Science, Verbal, Literature, Quantitative, French, RMA (Religious Moral Educations) and CPA (Creative Practical Arts). As mentioned, the school goes from Preschool to Grade 6. When I arrived with the pastor, we walked into the first room of the school, which held the first grade class. The children were soooo cute in their pink uniforms. The whole class stood up and greeted us with this long citation which included "Welcome Pastor Nat, Welcome Auntie." We then continued to each of the classes, where they all did the same thing. One class, I think the Grade 3 class didn't know how to greet me and said "Welcome Pastor Nat, Welcome friend" and the teacher corrected them and said sternly "Welcome Auntie." Auntie is the phrase used to address another woman of the community. I am honored to be accepted as so. When we greeted, I think it was the grade 2 classroom, a student said to me, "Do you remember me?" I looked at him and recognized his face, but didn't quite know from where. He then told me that his brother Alie was a patient on the ship. Now I remember. I could never forget Alie. After all, his mother is Kadiatu, the woman I have written about. He told me he was in the preschool. When we greeted the preschool, Alie ran to me and hugged my legs tight. He certainly remembered me! :) Pastor Nat and I went into the one office, a small small room off the side of the preschool, where we talked about the school and he shared with me the needs. He wonders what can be done so that help can be provided for the work that is going on here. While in there I could hear the preschool kids, singing and reciting their numbers and the alphabet and learning to spell small three letter words. It brought joy to my heart. Such precious children!
After we talked, and prayed, we left the office and took some pictures. Pastor Nat wanted me to be in a picture with each class. Then as we were leaving, all of the children gathered in the center room, also the Grade 1 classroom, and sang "Tell Papa God Tenki", a common song here in Sierra Leone, thanking God for all that He has done. Of course, my camera battery died as I was trying to get a video of them singing. Major disappointment. I then prayed with all the students and we left.
It was such an amazing experience and I hope to visit again soon. I really want to see how God can use me to help the work that is going on here on this mountain. Pastor Nat has seen the needs of this community and has tried to address them, doing so in a large way by having the school, which provides a Christian education to the children. The curriculum is provided by the government, but the RME curriculum is donated from a Christian organization. The school has to follow the governmental curriculum so that the 6th grade students can take the NPSE, the national entrance exam for secondary school. The 5th and 6th grade classes were actually preparing for that test during my visit today.
So here are the loads of pictures from today. Pastor Nat took some more photos after my camera died and after he gets those to me, I will upload those as well. Enjoy!
We took a poda-poda into Wellington, a part of Freetown about 15 minutes away, which is actually the same town that Pastor Abu's church is. After arriving in Wellington, we took okadas up the crazy, treacherous, steep rocky mountain and arrived close to the church, where we continued on foot into Koya Town. I haven't mentioned the okadas yet. Partially, on purpose because I don't want to scare my mother. But I've ridden them many times now and have survived, so I can now share this additional means of transportation. An okada is a motorbike. Mom, breathe! ;) I jump on the back of the okada driver and ride wherever I need to go. It is so convenient as they can maneuver quite well through all the traffic, that a taxi or a podapoda gets stuck in. I happen to like it best, mostly because its a quick ride, its loads of fun, and its not nearly as "expensive" as riding in a taxi. They can be quite dangerous, as the drivers weave in and out of traffic, and the helmet they may or may not give you don't usually strap on. I don't really know how well it would protect if something were to happen. I try not to think about that, say a prayer, and jump on! Love them :)
Anyways, we reached the church, which is actually a new building they just finished. The church, Go Living Baptist Church, has held three services in their new building so far. It is just a concrete frame, with no benches, no windows, no doors. However, Pastor Nat is very thankful for their new building, as they had been renting the building the church was previously in. The building was simultaneously being used as the school, which it continues to do. I will explain later.
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The outside of the church building |
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| The inside |
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| The view from the church "window" of Koya Town |
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| What will eventually become "toilets" |
While in the church, the pastor asked that I pray for the church and the ministry and work that goes on there, which I did. We continued on to the school. The church has started three schools. The first one is located in Masaika, one of the provinces, about 47 miles away from Freetown and has about 85 children. The second school is located in Rokan, another province and is located about 40 miles from Freetown and then is an additional 7 miles from the highway. That school has 120 children. This school, Go Primary School, was started in about 2008 and currently has 115 children. It is a grade school that is from preschool to grade 6. The schools were established to provide education to vulnerable children; the "vulnerable children" include those who have been subjected to child labor, street kids, school dropouts, orphans, and children from single parent homes. The schools are considered by the government as a "mission school" and Pastor Nat has included in the curriculum RME or religious moral education and uses his schools as a means to present the gospel to the community, many which are primarily Muslim communities. As you can see from the numbers, there are many children in this small community who benefit from the school having been created.
Education in Sierra Leone is not free and for many families, its a sacrifice to send their children to school. It is often easier to use one's child to do work at home than to send them to school, which then promotes and leads to child labor. Because it is often difficult for poor families to send their children to school, The Go Primary School , has some children that are getting a "free" education. The administration determines how much each child needs to pay for their education and they base the tuition on the vulnerability of each child in that community. There are others in the school whose parents can't afford to purchase uniforms for their child, which you will see in some of the photos. These children are still encouraged to attend school. This cost gets absorbed by the church who currently supports all of the schools.
The Go Primary School is currently located in a rented building. When the building was simultaneously being used as the church, the church was paying the rent for the building. Now that they are somewhat two different entities, the school is now responsible for supplying the money for the rent. This is difficult because every child isn't paying for tuition, and therefore the church is having to help support the rent fees as well. The campus includes two buildings; the second building is currently rented out as housing. The owner of the buildings now wants to sell the buildings, which poses an issue for the church and the school. The owner want to sell the whole compound, which is the two buildings and some land and is selling for $16,000 US. Please pray the Lord provides the money so that the church can purchase the buildings so the school and the work there can continue.
The teachers in the school are volunteers. They are only paid a small stipend to provide the education to the children. Many of them also are receiving continued training at the Teachers College in Sierra Leone. Please pray for the teachers as they give of themselves, their time, and their resources to provide a Christian education to these children.
Each school day runs from 8:30am to 2pm. The students have a number of classes. The have Social Studies, English, Math, Science, Verbal, Literature, Quantitative, French, RMA (Religious Moral Educations) and CPA (Creative Practical Arts). As mentioned, the school goes from Preschool to Grade 6. When I arrived with the pastor, we walked into the first room of the school, which held the first grade class. The children were soooo cute in their pink uniforms. The whole class stood up and greeted us with this long citation which included "Welcome Pastor Nat, Welcome Auntie." We then continued to each of the classes, where they all did the same thing. One class, I think the Grade 3 class didn't know how to greet me and said "Welcome Pastor Nat, Welcome friend" and the teacher corrected them and said sternly "Welcome Auntie." Auntie is the phrase used to address another woman of the community. I am honored to be accepted as so. When we greeted, I think it was the grade 2 classroom, a student said to me, "Do you remember me?" I looked at him and recognized his face, but didn't quite know from where. He then told me that his brother Alie was a patient on the ship. Now I remember. I could never forget Alie. After all, his mother is Kadiatu, the woman I have written about. He told me he was in the preschool. When we greeted the preschool, Alie ran to me and hugged my legs tight. He certainly remembered me! :) Pastor Nat and I went into the one office, a small small room off the side of the preschool, where we talked about the school and he shared with me the needs. He wonders what can be done so that help can be provided for the work that is going on here. While in there I could hear the preschool kids, singing and reciting their numbers and the alphabet and learning to spell small three letter words. It brought joy to my heart. Such precious children!
After we talked, and prayed, we left the office and took some pictures. Pastor Nat wanted me to be in a picture with each class. Then as we were leaving, all of the children gathered in the center room, also the Grade 1 classroom, and sang "Tell Papa God Tenki", a common song here in Sierra Leone, thanking God for all that He has done. Of course, my camera battery died as I was trying to get a video of them singing. Major disappointment. I then prayed with all the students and we left.
It was such an amazing experience and I hope to visit again soon. I really want to see how God can use me to help the work that is going on here on this mountain. Pastor Nat has seen the needs of this community and has tried to address them, doing so in a large way by having the school, which provides a Christian education to the children. The curriculum is provided by the government, but the RME curriculum is donated from a Christian organization. The school has to follow the governmental curriculum so that the 6th grade students can take the NPSE, the national entrance exam for secondary school. The 5th and 6th grade classes were actually preparing for that test during my visit today.
So here are the loads of pictures from today. Pastor Nat took some more photos after my camera died and after he gets those to me, I will upload those as well. Enjoy!
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| Preschool |
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| Preschool |
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| Grade 1 |
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| Grade 1 |
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| Grade 2 |
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| Grade 3 |
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| Grade 3 |
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| Grade 3 teacher
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It is a challenge to have the children consistently attend school. The children all seem to have the desire to be there, but there are many challenges, including the amount of work at home, tuition money, uniform money, etc. On our walk to the road, we met a few students, who weren't in school. One of them it was because she still didn't have a uniform. Pastor Nat explained that she can still go to school. Another child was doing household chores. It was very humbling for me. I have never been thankful for school, for the opportunity to go, and that I never had to worry about if I would be able to attend. I have always taken education for granted. I now have a new appreciation for my own Christian education and for the opportunity I had to attend secondary education.
Some of the needs Pastor Nat mentioned that the school has.
- Benches- there aren't enough benches for the students to sit on and in the classes some children are standing during the lessons.
- Blackboards- because the school only has one textbook for the teacher and not enough for each student to have one, the teacher has to transcribe the text from the books onto the blackboards so that the class can follow along
- Chairs- there are no chairs for the teachers
- Tables- aside from the student desks, there are no tables for activities or for the teachers
- Ability to provide allowances for the teachers- they sacrifice their ability to work elsewhere for pay to be here with these children
- Teaching and learning materials- textbooks, paper, pencils and other learning materials for the children and teachers
- A bell- There is no bell to call the children to school in the morning. Most people do not have a way of telling time and thus don't know when school is to begin.
- A clock- There is no clock even in the school in order to determine the time of day
- Drinking rubber and cups- there is only one barrel for water for the whole school, whereas one is needed for every classroom. This is a container that is used to fetch water. There are also no cups, though, for the children to drink from
- A small feeding program- Pastor Nat really has the desire to have some kind of feeding program at his school, even if it is only once or twice a week. The feeding program would provide food for the children during the school day. There is currently a lunch hour, where the children are dismissed to go home to eat, but many of them don't and just hang around the school until the time is up or go home to do some chores. There are feeding programs in the governmental schools, and Pastor Nat believes it may be incentive for some who don't come, to come to school.
- A computer and printer- This would allow the teachers to print off some learning materials for the students.
- THE BIG ONE!- to be able to purchase the school building from the current landlord.
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| The children closing their eyes while I pray~so cute! |
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| The children waving! |
Monday, October 17, 2011
Some of my fellow bloggers
Most of the others on the ship blog as well and they have great stories to share. So when you're all caught up with my posts and want some more to read... check out their blogs. These are some of the good ones. Enjoy.
http://www.iknowwhoholdstomorrow.blogspot.com/
This is the blog of one of my roommates from Canada.
http://alirae.net/blog/
The best blog I have ever read. This nurse has been with Mercy Ships for years and also has traveled elsewhere in the world. Her blog even won an award for being on of the top 20 travel nurse blogs. An amazing nurse and person!!
http://racheljonesrn.wordpress.com/
This is the blog of a fellow nurse and Connecticut native! She writes so well. Enjoy!
http://africameetsdanielle.blogspot.com/
Another nurse's blog. She does alot of in the country adventures and has great stories to share.
http://nauticalnursing.blogspot.com/
This nurse is hilarious! So much fun and her blogs are just as fun!
http://jky2003.blogspot.com/
This blog is by one of our cooks. It shares a whole other side of Mercy Ships.
http://www.iknowwhoholdstomorrow.blogspot.com/
This is the blog of one of my roommates from Canada.
http://alirae.net/blog/
The best blog I have ever read. This nurse has been with Mercy Ships for years and also has traveled elsewhere in the world. Her blog even won an award for being on of the top 20 travel nurse blogs. An amazing nurse and person!!
http://racheljonesrn.wordpress.com/
This is the blog of a fellow nurse and Connecticut native! She writes so well. Enjoy!
http://africameetsdanielle.blogspot.com/
Another nurse's blog. She does alot of in the country adventures and has great stories to share.
http://nauticalnursing.blogspot.com/
This nurse is hilarious! So much fun and her blogs are just as fun!
http://jky2003.blogspot.com/
This blog is by one of our cooks. It shares a whole other side of Mercy Ships.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Day in the OR
I failed to share the day I spent in the operating room. I'm sorry. So here it is! We, as crew, have the opportunity to spend a day in the operating rooms if we desire. A few weeks back on one of my days off I did this. I was able to observe three operations and it was cool to see what goes one in the OR, as well as see how the staff, all from different countries work together.
In the ward, we all work well together, but we all have our own patients and we don't often encounter conflict or a clash between two styles of nursing or in different ways of doing a nursing task. In the OR, the scrub nurse works so closely with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. It was definitely a great thing to witness.
In the first operating room I visited, our general surgeon, from Uganda, was doing an inguinal hernia repair on a child. Something that I have been curious about since being here is why there are so many inguinal hernias, and why there are so many in the young boys as well. I don't have an answer, nor do I have any proof really if the incidence is more than it would be in the Western world. Once I find the answer, I will be sure to share. This was a boring surgery and almost complete by the time I went in. I watched as the surgeon isolated and removed the sac in which the hernia had protruded, as he finished the surgery and closed the patient.
The second operation I witnessed was performed by an ENT surgeon from South Africa. He was removing a few neurofibromas that had formed to the front, back and side of the patient's ear. That was a cool surgery to watch.
The third operation was a flap release on a patient who had previously had a flap created to make a top lip. The patient was a 12 year old girl who had had cancrum oris when she was between 1 and 2 years of age. Cancrum oris is a gangrenous disease that destroys tissue of the face, mouth and cheek. It occurs in third world countries, as it occurs where the predisposing factors of malnutrition, dehydration, poor oral hygiene, and poor sanitation exist. As a result of the disease, if one survives, there is usually significant facial destruction. This patient had a missing portion of her top lip.
I had met this girl at the Hope Center prior to her first surgery and she was so conscious of her missing lip, that she wanted to cover her mouth in all the pictures we took together.
Three weeks prior, she had an Abbe flap surgery done, also known as a lip switch where the bottom lip is used to create a flap to the top and she remained that way for three weeks so that blood supply to the new top lip remained. This surgery was releasing the flap and creating two lips, an upper and a lower. Very very cool surgery to witness. The Max-fac surgeon here on board is an amazing gift to West Africa. He's from America, but has been doing surgeries in West Africa and with Mercy Ships for many many years. He is so talented in his ability to reconstruct faces and correct deformities. It truly is incredible! I saw her a few days after the surgery, and though she still has steristrips to the site, she has two beautiful lips, with which she will some day soon be able to smile with confidence!!
I was able to see how everyone worked well together. The scrub nurse not only provided the tools and supplies to the surgeon, but also acted as the surgeons assistant, often holding retractors in place and pulling portions of skin back, etc. In two of the operating room, the two nurses, the scrub and circulator both worked together at home. That was cool because they already had their own sort of system going on and were used to working with each other. The surgeons were all very good at working with others and were very patient with the others in the room. The anesthesiologists were all great! One was from the UK, another from Holland and the third from Germany.
I was not allowed to take pictures of the operations themselves, but here are some photos of the OR. Enjoy!!
In the ward, we all work well together, but we all have our own patients and we don't often encounter conflict or a clash between two styles of nursing or in different ways of doing a nursing task. In the OR, the scrub nurse works so closely with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. It was definitely a great thing to witness.
In the first operating room I visited, our general surgeon, from Uganda, was doing an inguinal hernia repair on a child. Something that I have been curious about since being here is why there are so many inguinal hernias, and why there are so many in the young boys as well. I don't have an answer, nor do I have any proof really if the incidence is more than it would be in the Western world. Once I find the answer, I will be sure to share. This was a boring surgery and almost complete by the time I went in. I watched as the surgeon isolated and removed the sac in which the hernia had protruded, as he finished the surgery and closed the patient.
The second operation I witnessed was performed by an ENT surgeon from South Africa. He was removing a few neurofibromas that had formed to the front, back and side of the patient's ear. That was a cool surgery to watch.
The third operation was a flap release on a patient who had previously had a flap created to make a top lip. The patient was a 12 year old girl who had had cancrum oris when she was between 1 and 2 years of age. Cancrum oris is a gangrenous disease that destroys tissue of the face, mouth and cheek. It occurs in third world countries, as it occurs where the predisposing factors of malnutrition, dehydration, poor oral hygiene, and poor sanitation exist. As a result of the disease, if one survives, there is usually significant facial destruction. This patient had a missing portion of her top lip.
I had met this girl at the Hope Center prior to her first surgery and she was so conscious of her missing lip, that she wanted to cover her mouth in all the pictures we took together.
 |
| A good picture of Usman, Abie, and me! |
Three weeks prior, she had an Abbe flap surgery done, also known as a lip switch where the bottom lip is used to create a flap to the top and she remained that way for three weeks so that blood supply to the new top lip remained. This surgery was releasing the flap and creating two lips, an upper and a lower. Very very cool surgery to witness. The Max-fac surgeon here on board is an amazing gift to West Africa. He's from America, but has been doing surgeries in West Africa and with Mercy Ships for many many years. He is so talented in his ability to reconstruct faces and correct deformities. It truly is incredible! I saw her a few days after the surgery, and though she still has steristrips to the site, she has two beautiful lips, with which she will some day soon be able to smile with confidence!!
I was able to see how everyone worked well together. The scrub nurse not only provided the tools and supplies to the surgeon, but also acted as the surgeons assistant, often holding retractors in place and pulling portions of skin back, etc. In two of the operating room, the two nurses, the scrub and circulator both worked together at home. That was cool because they already had their own sort of system going on and were used to working with each other. The surgeons were all very good at working with others and were very patient with the others in the room. The anesthesiologists were all great! One was from the UK, another from Holland and the third from Germany.
I was not allowed to take pictures of the operations themselves, but here are some photos of the OR. Enjoy!!
A bit out of my league!
So this past week, I was again on a stretch of night shifts. I went into them anticipating great nights, becuase most of the B ward patients were hernia patients who wouldn't require much during the night hours. If I only knew that I would actually be on C Ward, which is our overflow unit, which is currently populated with Maxillofacial patients.
To say the least, I was out of my comfort zone. I had gotten used to and quite comfortable with all the general patients and even the plastics patients, but hadn't yet cared for a max-fac patient. The first night I was actually split between B and C ward, and I was thankful that the C ward patients I had were a few days out from their surgery dates and generally slept through the night. Three of the patients had had ICBG surgery.
That stands for ileac crest bone graft. Patients who have facial tumors removed from the lower portion of their jaws often also require mandiblectomies (or removal of the mandible or lower jaw). During that initial operation, metal plates are placed to create a new jaw and then after that initial surgery heals, the patient returns to have the bone graft. Bone is taken from the top of the hip bone and manipulated and placed onto the metal plate to provide added strength to the plate. This is necessary so that the person will be able to chew and eat as one with a normal jawbone would be able to. These patients, as can be imagined, have alot of pain and actually require bupivicaine injections into the hip for a few days post op, in addition to oral analgesia to help with the jaw pain. I also had a baby who was post op day 1 after having a cleft lip repair. This baby required scheduled pain medication during the night but otherwise slept. So all in all it was a great night.
On the third night of my stretch, I was placed solely in C ward and had 10 max-fac patients to care for myself. What a challenge! I felt so overwhelmed when getting handover, firstly because they were all max-fac, secondly because I was by myself, and thirdly because there were many things I was going to have to do that I haven't done yet while being here on the ship.
I had 5 ICBG patients, all in different postoperative stages, one still had her bupivicaine catheter in her hip.
One patient who was post op a hemimandibulectomy (portion of mandible removed). She had a cancerous tumor which had been removed. After surgery, she had some issues with healing and developed some necrotic tissue and nerve exposure. She was experiencing alot of pain and may eventually need to go back to the OR. She had an NGT for liquid feedings.
There was another patient who had a displaced jaw and was post op (I forget the name of the procedure). During her immediate post op period, however, she was unable to swallow meds and ended up needed a nasogastric tube for medication administration.
I had a pre op cleft lip repair baby and a post op cleft lip baby, who had just had surgery that day.
My last patient was a young girl who had a supraorbital mass that was going to be removed the next day.
Sounds busy enough, right?! I asked the Lord for grace for the night and I'm so glad He was with me along the way. It was one crazy night! It was the first night where I didn't get tired or had time to sit. It was go go go all night. Pain meds here, pain meds there, feedings for this baby, oral rehydration for this patient, NGT feed for that patient, preop washes for the preop patients, starting IV fluids on this patient, more pain meds here, vital signs on all of them and those who were postop only 1 or 2 days, it was vital signs every 4 hours. I had one patient who started vomiting. Another choked on his meds. It was quite the night. I thank the Lord He helped me through.
I was able to witness and can with confidence say that He never gives us more than we can handle. Mother Theresa once said, “I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.” I sort of felt this way, but remembered that not only does God not give us more than we can handle but He always is there to help us through. He never leaves us to do it by ourselves. How encouraging! So to all my fellow friends and readers, trust God and know that when the task ahead seems impossible or very difficult, know that we have a God who cares and who will never leave us on our own. He is with us each step of the way. Be encouraged!
To say the least, I was out of my comfort zone. I had gotten used to and quite comfortable with all the general patients and even the plastics patients, but hadn't yet cared for a max-fac patient. The first night I was actually split between B and C ward, and I was thankful that the C ward patients I had were a few days out from their surgery dates and generally slept through the night. Three of the patients had had ICBG surgery.
That stands for ileac crest bone graft. Patients who have facial tumors removed from the lower portion of their jaws often also require mandiblectomies (or removal of the mandible or lower jaw). During that initial operation, metal plates are placed to create a new jaw and then after that initial surgery heals, the patient returns to have the bone graft. Bone is taken from the top of the hip bone and manipulated and placed onto the metal plate to provide added strength to the plate. This is necessary so that the person will be able to chew and eat as one with a normal jawbone would be able to. These patients, as can be imagined, have alot of pain and actually require bupivicaine injections into the hip for a few days post op, in addition to oral analgesia to help with the jaw pain. I also had a baby who was post op day 1 after having a cleft lip repair. This baby required scheduled pain medication during the night but otherwise slept. So all in all it was a great night.
On the third night of my stretch, I was placed solely in C ward and had 10 max-fac patients to care for myself. What a challenge! I felt so overwhelmed when getting handover, firstly because they were all max-fac, secondly because I was by myself, and thirdly because there were many things I was going to have to do that I haven't done yet while being here on the ship.
I had 5 ICBG patients, all in different postoperative stages, one still had her bupivicaine catheter in her hip.
One patient who was post op a hemimandibulectomy (portion of mandible removed). She had a cancerous tumor which had been removed. After surgery, she had some issues with healing and developed some necrotic tissue and nerve exposure. She was experiencing alot of pain and may eventually need to go back to the OR. She had an NGT for liquid feedings.
There was another patient who had a displaced jaw and was post op (I forget the name of the procedure). During her immediate post op period, however, she was unable to swallow meds and ended up needed a nasogastric tube for medication administration.
I had a pre op cleft lip repair baby and a post op cleft lip baby, who had just had surgery that day.
My last patient was a young girl who had a supraorbital mass that was going to be removed the next day.
Sounds busy enough, right?! I asked the Lord for grace for the night and I'm so glad He was with me along the way. It was one crazy night! It was the first night where I didn't get tired or had time to sit. It was go go go all night. Pain meds here, pain meds there, feedings for this baby, oral rehydration for this patient, NGT feed for that patient, preop washes for the preop patients, starting IV fluids on this patient, more pain meds here, vital signs on all of them and those who were postop only 1 or 2 days, it was vital signs every 4 hours. I had one patient who started vomiting. Another choked on his meds. It was quite the night. I thank the Lord He helped me through.
I was able to witness and can with confidence say that He never gives us more than we can handle. Mother Theresa once said, “I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.” I sort of felt this way, but remembered that not only does God not give us more than we can handle but He always is there to help us through. He never leaves us to do it by ourselves. How encouraging! So to all my fellow friends and readers, trust God and know that when the task ahead seems impossible or very difficult, know that we have a God who cares and who will never leave us on our own. He is with us each step of the way. Be encouraged!
 |
| Some of our cleft lip babies from C and D ward! I took care of the one with the balloon on my first night!! Cutie :) |
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A Forgotton God?
Today in my devotions I did a mini study on the Holy Spirit. I have been using Our Daily Bread as a template, as it were, for my personal time with God and today's was entitled "The Forgotten God." I recalled the name as being the same as a book written by Francis Chan, a great author of many spiritual books. I knew the devotional would be about the Holy Spirit and the excerpt focused on how the Holy Spirit is not impersonal but rather is involved in many aspects of our lives as believers. It then began to list Scriptures that talked about how the Holy Spirit is ever living and present in our affairs. I'm going to share some of them with you. :)
The Holy Spirit is present everywhere.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there, If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. Psalm 139: 7-8
The Holy Spirit knows all things.
But God revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
The Holy Spirit has infinite power.
The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore , also, that Holy One who is to born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35
The Holy Spirit does what only God can do:
Create- The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2
Give Life- For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
The Holy Spirit is involved and engages in personal ways with us:
Grieves when we sin- And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
Teaches us- These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13
Prays for us- Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26
Guides us- However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all thruth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13
Gives us spiritual gifts- But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Coritthians 12:11
Assures us of salvation- For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6
The verse in pink spoke to me the most today. A few weeks back I was asked to do devotions for the ward nurses and the Lord placed on my heart to encourage the other nurses from John chapter 17 where the Lord Jesus is praying to God for his disciples. We started by talking about who and what is a disciple. A disciple is one who follows Christ. He is one who heeds the teaching of the Lord Jesus (John 8:31) and one who loves his fellow man (John 13:35).
As followers of Christ we are His disciples and we were encouraged by the words Jesus prayed for us. We meditated on the thought that Jesus loves us so much that He desires to pray for us and to commit us to God. He prays "Now I am no longer in the world, but theses are tin the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." Can you imagine Jesus sitting on the right hand of God, praying for those who follow Him. How awesome! We also thought about how we often don't always know what to pray and we were encouraged to know that even when we don't know what to say, we can be assured that Jesus is also praying. This verse above tells me that not only does Jesus pray for us, but that the Holy Spirit also does; and the Holy Spirit prays specifically for the things that we forget or don't even know we ought to pray for. God really wanted to make sure all the bases were covered. We are so mortal and small compared to God's greatness. We are forgetful beings and don't always know what is important. I am encouraged to know that I serve a God who knows all things and knows my needs even before they are uttered. What an amazing God! Let us never forget how good He is.
Be encouraged!
The Holy Spirit is present everywhere.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there, If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. Psalm 139: 7-8
The Holy Spirit knows all things.
But God revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
The Holy Spirit has infinite power.
The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore , also, that Holy One who is to born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35
The Holy Spirit does what only God can do:
Create- The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2
Give Life- For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
The Holy Spirit is involved and engages in personal ways with us:
Grieves when we sin- And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
Teaches us- These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13
Prays for us- Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26
Guides us- However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all thruth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13
Gives us spiritual gifts- But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Coritthians 12:11
Assures us of salvation- For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6
The verse in pink spoke to me the most today. A few weeks back I was asked to do devotions for the ward nurses and the Lord placed on my heart to encourage the other nurses from John chapter 17 where the Lord Jesus is praying to God for his disciples. We started by talking about who and what is a disciple. A disciple is one who follows Christ. He is one who heeds the teaching of the Lord Jesus (John 8:31) and one who loves his fellow man (John 13:35).
As followers of Christ we are His disciples and we were encouraged by the words Jesus prayed for us. We meditated on the thought that Jesus loves us so much that He desires to pray for us and to commit us to God. He prays "Now I am no longer in the world, but theses are tin the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." Can you imagine Jesus sitting on the right hand of God, praying for those who follow Him. How awesome! We also thought about how we often don't always know what to pray and we were encouraged to know that even when we don't know what to say, we can be assured that Jesus is also praying. This verse above tells me that not only does Jesus pray for us, but that the Holy Spirit also does; and the Holy Spirit prays specifically for the things that we forget or don't even know we ought to pray for. God really wanted to make sure all the bases were covered. We are so mortal and small compared to God's greatness. We are forgetful beings and don't always know what is important. I am encouraged to know that I serve a God who knows all things and knows my needs even before they are uttered. What an amazing God! Let us never forget how good He is.
Be encouraged!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Fatima's House
This past weekend, I went to Fatima's House, an orphanage located about an hour drive from Freetown. The orphanage was started by a local couple who took in orphans after the war. They then began taking in other children who were unwanted, albino, or who were to be given as sacrifices. As the orphanage grew, the couple bought some land about 1 hour from Freetown where they now have over 50 children ranging in ages from about 2 to 20 or so. The couple raises the children to value education and every child attends school. As a result, the children that have grown and left the orphanage are all educated- some are teachers, and three of the girls have become nurses. The couple also teaches them each to give back to the communities in which they came from.
A group of about 7 of us went and when we arrived, we were greeted by dozens of children. We had them gather together and we sang songs with them and we taught them about the Africa Mercy, its mission, the work that takes place on it and about doing God's will for our lives. We each shared what we do on the ship and why we were there and some shared about what they like most about the ship or something interesting about life on the ship. The older school age children and teenagers were very attentive. After we were done talking, we made paper replicas of the Africa Mercy from preprinted cutouts. Then we did some coloring pages with the kids, while others played soccer, and others played with another ball. It was nice being with the children who all have so much life and joy. Each child was so unique, yet they are all viewed and treated as one of the couple's children. The atmosphere was one of a large family; I believe that is how the couple intends for it to be. I even had to remind myself it was an orphanage. The young kids kept calling me "Auntie" a term used to address the women in a community. I was touched by the endearing name.
While we were visiting, the father of the house was attending a meeting with the locals. There have been recent attacks in the community and 12 kids (not children from the home) were taken this week and their body parts had been found. It is believed that children are being taken to be used as sacrifices and idol worship. Because the home is in that community and there are many children, there is extreme concern about what should be done. There is alot of fear in the community. Apparently there had been previous missing people but their whereabouts were unknown. After finding the bodies of the missing children, it is thought that the others were also taken to be sacrifices. Prayer for the home, the children and the community is needed. Pray for safety and for peace.
A group of about 7 of us went and when we arrived, we were greeted by dozens of children. We had them gather together and we sang songs with them and we taught them about the Africa Mercy, its mission, the work that takes place on it and about doing God's will for our lives. We each shared what we do on the ship and why we were there and some shared about what they like most about the ship or something interesting about life on the ship. The older school age children and teenagers were very attentive. After we were done talking, we made paper replicas of the Africa Mercy from preprinted cutouts. Then we did some coloring pages with the kids, while others played soccer, and others played with another ball. It was nice being with the children who all have so much life and joy. Each child was so unique, yet they are all viewed and treated as one of the couple's children. The atmosphere was one of a large family; I believe that is how the couple intends for it to be. I even had to remind myself it was an orphanage. The young kids kept calling me "Auntie" a term used to address the women in a community. I was touched by the endearing name.
While we were visiting, the father of the house was attending a meeting with the locals. There have been recent attacks in the community and 12 kids (not children from the home) were taken this week and their body parts had been found. It is believed that children are being taken to be used as sacrifices and idol worship. Because the home is in that community and there are many children, there is extreme concern about what should be done. There is alot of fear in the community. Apparently there had been previous missing people but their whereabouts were unknown. After finding the bodies of the missing children, it is thought that the others were also taken to be sacrifices. Prayer for the home, the children and the community is needed. Pray for safety and for peace.
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