Happy Christmas from Tenerife!

I just want to say a huge happy Christmas to you all.  I am currently in Tenerife as the ship has it's annual maintenance and surveys to ensure we are able to continue to serve the people of Africa.  It is a wonderful time for the crew to take a break and wind down from what was a long and intense field service and to spend a bit of time in a Western culture.  I am working with the medical equipment as we prepare ready for going to Togo the very end of January, however, the net couple of days are ship holidays as we celebrate Christmas.

It is weird being here for Christmas as many of the traditions and feelings (and weather!) which I associate with Christmas are missing.  With so many changes and so much to take in it is difficult to even try and get into a Christmas mood, but hopefully as we take a break I will be able to focus on the real reason I celebrate Christmas - the birth of Christ.

And finally I want to wish you again a Happy Christmas!  This last year has been a real journey getting here, and there are so many people, without whom I would not be here.  The support I have received both spiritually, financially, practically and emotionally has been incredible; THANK YOU all for everything you have done.  It is a real blessing to be able to share with you as I continue this journey, and I know the next year will be a year of many new experiences and lots of learning.  I hope that you are truly blessed over this Christmas period and the coming year.

Stars

On the first night of the sail I went out and looked at the stars and was astounded by their beauty.  As I gazed into the sky I could see hundreds of stars, far more than I could ever count.  Some prominent and bright, others barely visible, faintly glimmering.  As I stood in wonder I couldn't help but be completely in awe of what I saw.  Here in front of me were stars that were millions of miles away from me, that encompassed an area beyond my comprehension, and furthermore what I was seeing was only a tiny proportion of the universe as my field of vision is so small and my ability to see faint light is so poor.   

How humbling that here is an expanse that is far too large for me to ever imagine with happenings that have consequences which reach much further than I could imagine, yet my small problems often seem huge to me.  I love the stars, they look beautiful, they shine out for miles around, and in the dark of the ocean, away from the light of land, you are able to see far more than I have ever seen before.

Over the last few days we were privileged to watch an incredible display. The Geminids meteor shower was happening and we had a brilliant view from our floating platform, particularly as we are just coming up to a new moon.  Since I was very young I have always dreamt of seeing a shooting star (which aren't actually stars but objects - normally fragments from a comet - which burn up as they fall into the earth's atmosphere).  As I lay up on deck 8 I looked up, bit by bit I spotted these streaks of light traversing the sky.  One can't but be in awe of such natural beauty.  It was an opportunity I am very thankful to have had and one that I will not forget.

Sailing!

Whilst sailing I have had the privilege of seeing some incredible sights.  During the sail they open up the bow of the ship (that is the front for none sailing types).  It is wonderful to stand at the front of the ship and feel the wind blowing in your face.  As you look down you see the ship crashing through the waves.  As the ship goes into the waves it creates a wake of white spray just in front of the ship.  This spray creates beautiful little rainbows as the sun shines through the water droplets.  Every so often out of the spray will jump over ten flying fish.  These fish flick their tail side to side to generate enough energy to 'jump' out of the water, where the glide above the surface ahead of the ship.  Once in a while the ship crashes down in to the crest of a wave creating a larger splash and water comes flying upwards towards those of us still stood at the front of the bow, but it's a small price to pay for being able to experience these things!

As a young child I loved dolphins, I adopted one and read all I could about them, I knew hundreds of facts about the different species, their sociology and habits (alas I can't remember any of this now apart from that pink river dolphins exist but that is not so useful!).  Anyway whilst I had seen dolphins in sealife centres, and had fed them at seaworld, my desire was always to see them in the wild.  The beauty in these creatures was not in seeing them cooped up in small tanks performing the same show day in day out, but was in seeing these animals in their natural habitat, playing and enjoying being in the open ocean.  During the sail I have been blessed to see many wild whales and dolphins.  Depending on when you see them they can either be playing and swimming with the ship, or you can see the jumping and playing as they pass the ship.  My favourite moment was watching a pod jumping and dancing alongside the ship, particularly as the jumped in time with each other, with some baby dolphins alongside the larger ones.

 

 

(Pictures by Daniel Um)

We have also sailed past an incredible water spout.  These are similar to tornadoes, but they are slightly less powerful and occur over water.  For me this was extremely exciting, to see such power and occurrences that we cannot create or recreate for our pleasure.  Something that we just have the opportunity to observe and marvel at.

(Pictures by Daniel Um)

 There have also been some amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Sailing!

We have now been sailing for 8 days, we have travel up and around the West Coast of Africa from Benin towards Tenerife.  

So we say goodbye to Benin with the ship having spent 10 months here.  The following is a summary of a small part of what we have done here.  These statistics alone cannot convey what has happened in Benin through the work of Mercy Ships.  These statistics don't tell of the friendships built and the hope shared, they don't show the many local people who worked on the ship as day volunteers and spent time with us.  They don't tell you how many orphans were played with and allowed the joy of colouring, or prisoners who finally had someone to talk to, or churches who invited us in to have fellowship with them as we all realise how God is the same wherever you are.  These figures are only a small part of what is achieved through Mercy Ships, but hopefully they give a small idea of the scale of what goes on here.

33,851 eye evaluations and other treatments;
13,174 oral health education;
10,175 dental patients seen;
7,083 pairs of sunglasses distributed;
5,689 pairs of reading glasses distributed;
3,521 cataracts removed;
1,161 general surgeries;
996 reconstructive and plastic surgeries;
794 dental hygiene patients;
570 other eye surgeries (pterygia and stabismus);
231 orthopedic operations;
154 obstetric fistulas repaired;
185 cleft lip and palate repairs;
119 church & community leaders trained in mental health;
50 prison officers and workers trained in mental health;
28 patients received palliative home care;
25 oral health teachers trained;
23 local agricultural trainees;
19 mental health workers trained;
19 families trained in wound care;
18 community eye field workers trained;
10 agricultural staff trained;
6 Burkitt's Lymphoma patients received palliative support;
2 local surgeons trained;
2 local eye surgeons trained;
4 local surgeons trained in fistula repair;
2 dental assistants trained;
1 hostel constructed for agricultural college;
2 church leaders conferences attended by 602 attendants;
and 12,000 people watched the Jesus Film

In total we have directly helped almost 80,000 people in Benin. A record breaking field service for Mercy Ships.

So goodbye Benin, it was good to be here if only for a short while.

 

 

 

 

The first few days of the sail were really smooth, far smoother than it was on my Introduction to Mercy Ships course which was on a small boat (held 30 people) for a few days, however, as time has gone on the ship has begun to rock more (although it is still rather smooth really).  Certainly we are sailing onto new waters and new opportunities.

Patient story - Alba’s Tears

Our communications department here on the ship spend time documenting some of the work and goings on of the ship.  The story below was written by one of our crew, Megan Petock with photographs by PJ Accentturo, Megan Petock, and John Van Huizen.

Alba’s Tears

Ankosua was outside carefully mixing herbs and water to create a concoction prescribed by a traditional doctor in her village.   It was mid-afternoon, and her daughter, eight-year-old Alba, was sitting alone in their home.  “She should be at school right now,” she thought.  Struggling to hold back tears, she poured boiling water over the crushed herbs and sieved the mixture into a cup.  

Two years earlier, an outgoing and vivacious Alba was attending school with her friends.  Now, she spent her days hiding in a dark room, too insecure to look people in the eyes. 

When the drink had cooled, Ankosua walked inside the home and handed Alba the cup.  Taking the cup, Alba tilted her head back, creating a small gap between her cheek and the large tumor that filled her mouth.  Slowly, she poured the liquid into the small gap and swallowed in intervals.   

While she watched her daughter struggle, Ankosua thought back to the day she first spotted the small bulge on Alba’s gum line.  Never could she have imagined the fear and discouragement it would cause her heart.   

After Alba had drunk the entire cup, she began crying. 

Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into the tear-stained eyes of her daughter.  Slowly, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest.  As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong. 

But Ankosua was depressed.  Alba had performed this routine hundreds of times, but the tumor hadn’t gone away.  In fact, it was growing.  At times, it felt like it was shooting out of her mouth, causing her great pain.  Ankosua realized the traditional herbs were not working.  There were no other options.  All she could do was keep trying and pray the herbs would begin to work. 

***********

“When the tumor first appeared, my husband and I took Alba to the hospital, but we didn’t have money to pay for it, so they wouldn’t treat her.  We had to use traditional medicine,” said Ankosua.  Alba was taken out of school so her mother could give her the traditional medicine daily. 

When asked how the community treated Alba, Ankosua stared at the floor and remained silent.  After a 10-second pause, she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and she painfully replied, “Some people received Alba with good hands.  They prayed for her and encouraged me.  But others shunned her. They said, ‘Go away, we don’t want to see you.’”    

Whenever it was time to eat or drink, Alba hid herself from other people.  If she went out in public, she kept the tumor covered with a rag.  It served as a disguise and caught the foul-smelling and constant drainage. 

After two years of watching her daughter struggle, a woman in her village told Ankosua of a hospital in Benin that was performing free surgery.  Finally – a glimmer of hope!  They scrounged to get enough money for transportation and traveled to the hospital, which was hours away. 

However, Ankosua’s new-found hope quickly morphed into deep disappointment. 
 
“We were there for two days, and nobody attended to us.  I asked a woman who worked there why we weren’t being helped.  She said, ‘They don’t do surgery for free, you have to deposit money.’ I trembled when she told me that.  I had come with nothing,” said Ankosua sadly.

After Ankosua explained that she had no money for treatment, the woman told her about Mercy Ships.  “This woman had heard Mercy Ships was in town, helping people and healing people for free. She gave me directions to the Africa Mercy, and I immediately went,” Ankosua added.

****
Still attached to noisy monitors and IV fluids, Alba had been dozing in and out of sleep since returning to the Africa Mercy ward.  Finally, a few hours after surgery, she opened her eyes and sat up.  Seeing she was awake, Becca, her nurse, came to Alba’s bedside and handed her a small mirror.

Alba looked down, paused in a state of bewilderment, and began touching the empty space on her mouth.  The tumor was gone.  After 20 seconds of staring, a single tear rolled down her cheek.  With great determination, she tried not to cry.  But another and then another tear soon followed.  Finally, she gave up trying to hold them back and cried freely.  Alba’s tears were earned through years of heartache and rejection.  They were mature and raw – heavy tears for an eight-year-old to cry.   

Ankosua stood next to her bed the entire time, carefully observing her daughter.  When Alba began crying, she turned away.  Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into her tear-stained eyes.  After two hopeless years of discouragement and depression, healing had finally come.  The mixture of joy and pain in that moment expressed itself in tears.  

When Alba regained her composure, Ankosua returned to the bedside.   Carefully, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest.  As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong.   But her heart was too overwhelmed with joy.  Tears of relief and joy flooded her eyes as well. 

They sat and cried together, each tear serving as a testimony to the transforming power of God’s mercy. 

Alba Labi before receiving free surgery on the Africa Mercy.  Alba kept her tumor covered with a rag and hid whenever she ate.

 

Alba sits with her mother, Ankosua, on the Africa Mercy ward after receiving free surgery. 

Alba sits in the Africa Mercy ward after receiving free surgery.  “I am really happy that I have been healed, and I pray God will bless everyone on the ship,” said Alba.

American nurse, Becca Taylor, and Alba’s mother, Ankosua, look on as Alba leaves the Africa Mercy.  “I am so happy – I am rejoicing that Alba could receive free surgery. Thank you,” said Ankosua.

Black out day

Every so often the ship has to undergo some maintenance to ensure that it continues to function well so we can live on it so comfortably.  We have a crew of ship personal who work in the bowels of the ship keeping it running.  Whilst I am not completely sure of all that they do (and am sure I don't appreciate it half as much as I should) I know that it is because of their hard work that life here on ship runs so smoothly.  However, due to many factors (such as the poor state of our generators which need replacing, the fact that we stay in port for 10 months of the year, and that we sail in the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Baltic sea where the ship was originally built to sail) occasionally the power has to be turned off to do some essential maintenance.  Saturday was blackout day, the toilets stopped working at 6:45am and the power went out at 7am leaving only the emergency lighting to guide us round the ship (the hours aren't so unreasonable when you realise that breakfast is 6:30-7:30 during the week so people are used to being up early).

Most people (although not all - some love the peace and quiet on the ship during blackout days) try to get off ship on these days.    I had been invited to Bab's Dock which is a favourite haunt of the Mercy Ships' crew on their days off.  For me it was an opportunity to get off the ship and out of the city of Cotonou, seeing a bit more of Benin on the drive.  

The drive to Bab's dock takes you off the tarmacked roads of the city, onto the paved roads of the suburbs and then to the dust roads of the countryside.  We had the privilege(?!) of riding in one of Mercy Ships' older land rovers, the doors don't really quite shut, the plastic around the seatbelt holders has disappeared, occasionally the horn just decides to start beeping and the breaks squeak rather a lot.  Although, we were very blessed to have a car to go out in, and realistically the doors hold shut even if they are maybe not as closed as we would normally like, the seatbelts do up, the horn did not go off (it's rather funny when it does anyway) and at least the breaks work and anyone in the way knows you are there!  I was in the back of the car and was able to survey the countryside as we bumped along.  

The road was wonderful, it is a coastal road and gives beautiful views of Benin's gorgeous, but lethal waters (rip tides are prevalent at all the beaches in Benin and pose a serious risk to anyone who ventures into the water).  As we drove we passed a curious line of men holding a rope, similar to how you would if you were doing a tug-of-war, however, it wasn't until we had gone another half mile down the road that we saw the opposing line.  It turns out that they were holding the ends of a rather long net that they were pulling in from the sea.  

Dotted in view of the road were various buildings, some were made of blocks, similar in size to breeze blocks.  The blocks were being made beside the road by mixing together cement and placing it into molds and then out in the sun to dry.  Some had walls made of sheets of woven palm leaves, some were made of corrugated iron, and some of the more smart buildings had brick walls.  These were then topped with roof tiles if it was a posh building, more corrugated iron, or woven palm leaves, or alternatively thatched.  It was a sight to see such a mixture of tiny shacks and small homes alongside these smarter buildings where they used the brick and had windows and curved walls and fancy roofs.  There were also many unfinished half built buildings which seemed to be relatively untouched despite their unfinished state.  Every so often we would pass a play area, with all the normal items found there, various climbing frames and swings, but made of wood and old tires rather than the metal ones that are common to the UK.


Anyway we bumped along the road until we reached Bab's dock.  Well not quite Bab's dock, but where you park to get the boat through the mangrove swamps and across the lagoon to the rather luxurious wooden dock that is Bab's dock.  You are greeted by beautiful wooden canoes and wooden decking with plenty of space (and cushions and chairs) to lay and sit on in the shade of the palm trees.  There's a volleyball net in the water (which is rather shallow the whole way across the lagoon), a bowls area and plenty of space to chill and relax.  Admittedly the water is similar in colour to iodine, a kind of rusty orangey red  due to the surrounding vegetation which can be a bit off putting at first it's great once you get in and have a swim (where it is deep enough to do so).  It is a gorgeous place to rest and have a day out and has been a real favourite of the Mercy Ships crew whilst in Benin.

Views from the Dock

The first boat I saw on arrival at the dock (NOT the Africa Mercy thankfully!)

Reassuringly the Africa Mercy looks a little different

The fishing market

The Beninois navy are the two grey boats in the middle of the picture

And me with the Africa Mercy

Images of the city of Cotonou

 

Photos

I love what I see here in Africa and would love to share it all with you, however, unfortunately people can become very offended when you take photos of them, and a camera is a huge symbol of the wealth they do not have.  Where possible I will try and take photos to share with you, and I will try and show Mercy Ships photos which relate to what I see, however, sometimes it is difficult to be discrete enough to get photos.  As time goes on hopefully I will learn some good techniques about how to take photos discretely, however, in the meantime please bear with me, it's not that I don't want you to see, it's just I want to respect the West Africans.  However, that said I do have a few photos which I will post in the next few days.

Some sights and sounds of Benin

Yesterday I had the privilege of going into Cotonou and seeing a bit of Africa (instead of the ship which is most definitely not Africa!).  In the morning we went in one of the 30 odd Mercy Ships Land Rovers and saw a couple of the hotels who let Mercy Ships crew use their pools for a reduced rate, a fruit and veg market, one of the 'gates of no return', and the Mercy Ships hospitality centre where they house some of the pre and post-op patients and do some of the assessment of the eye and VVF (vesico-vaginal fistula - child birth injuries) patients.

In the afternoon a couple of lovely British ladies took my on a long walk to see the Grand Market.  This is a large, sprawling market where all sorts of items are sold including: clothes, fabric, plastic pots, beads, wigs, fish, veg, fruit, goats (live) among many other varied items.  There are rows upon rows of corrugated iron roofed stalls lined by hundreds of colourful umbrellas (of the large sun variety).  The paths between the stalls are just wide enough for a small family car to squeeze through, if you don't mind touching the stalls occasionally, and they are filled with a constant stream of people.  Some are out shopping and looking at the stalls, some are stall owners moving about the market, some have huge baskets on their heads as a mobile 'stall', and every so often a man comes running through with a wooden cart behind him.  As the cart comes hurtling towards you, you have to manoeuvre yourself around the hoards of people to get out of the way, otherwise your foot is sure to get run over, if they don't bash into you anyway.  All around you are bright colours and patterns as the African clothes use a multitude of different fabrics which are tailored according to the persons personal preference.  As you wander around the stalls you see the stall owners chatting, braiding hair, arranging their produce (such as baby plum tomatoes) into neatly arranged little individual piles, gutting fish and generally milling about.  And the noise is incredible, people are chatting and shouting to each other, and you can hear the traffic and the never ending horns from the busy roads surrounding the market.  It is truly a bustling market like no other I have ever seen, however, unlike in the DR where people constantly pestered you to buy from them because you are white, on the whole the African's left us alone.  The only negative point was when a police car came rushing through the market and drove straight into one of the stalls.  Goodness knows how the people (there was at least 5 or so where the car stopped just seconds before) managed to dive out of the way, particularly in such a densely packed place, but they did.  Once the police car reversed out of the stall and then made it's way down the street (where there were throngs of people, yet the car would only just squeeze between the stalls) the people picked themselves up and their produce and started putting the baskets back on their stools and refilling them.  Life carried on as if nothing had happened.  The bustle returned and we went on our way.

This morning I went to an African church.  African church is very different from Western church.  We arrived just before 10 (which was after a fair number of people) and then we left at about 12:30 which was before the service ended.  The service was in English and French and had a fair amount of repetition.  The choir sang with gusto, in a mixture of the two languages, often singing the same single line refrain for minutes on end, however, they were praising with all their hearts.  Everyone sang and clapped and danced as they worshipped.  It was colourful and it was loud (although quiet by African standards) and very hot, even with the ceiling fans on throughout the service.  Certainly an experience, and I felt very tired as the service went on, I am definitely not used to such heat!

I'm on the ship in Benin, West Africa!

I have finally arrived and am now on the ship.  My journey was thankfully very smooth and whilst a little long it was very pleasant.  Currently I haven't seen much as we arrived fairly late and very tired, but a few observations I've made are:

• Africa is hot, very hot, even at 10pm
• You can always feel the ship swaying
• The doors are heavy
• And I find big groups of new people very intimidating

But I am really happy to be here and look forward to getting stuck into my job and ship life over the coming weeks.

Photos from the Dominican Republic

A few snapshots from my time in the Dominican Republic

The mound of rock at the beginning (this was later replaced with equally large mounds of sand and gravel and more rock)

 Over half of the new dinning room floor filled with a layer of rock about a foot deep

 Moving the rock to fill the base layer of the floor

 Moving the cement to put on top of the base layer of the floor (and whilst I am posing here with an empty wheelbarrow I did actually move many wheelbarrow loads filled with cement!)

 Making and moving cement

Resting after a long days work

Finished foundation and floor of the dinning room extension

Team after completing the floor 

View up into the village from the school

 View of the school from the top of the village

 In the school:

 

 Owansa (Bible teaching day) games

 

Bus that transported us everywhere!

Dominican Republic military practising parachuting as we drove to Villa Ascension

 With the girls club in Agros Negras

Having my nails done to allow the girls to practise on real clients

Front of the hotel where we stayed

(This hotel was much better than I expected, however, we shared our room with a mouse, a rat and a cockroach at various times)

Some reflections on the Dominican Republic (part 1)

So I arrived back in the US early Thursday morning (5th November) and after a debrief that day I flew home on the Friday, arriving in the UK early on Saturday morning, since then I have been getting over my jet lag, making a poor attempt at unpacking and sorting things, visiting church and seeing friends.

Unfortunately this has meant I have been slow to update my blog and I apologise for this as I really want to share about my time in the Dominican Republic.

The field service component of Gateway aims to build on what we have learnt in the classroom phase.  As discussed in previous posts, change of value is lasting change that brings about a change of world view and enables people to grow and develop after we have left.  For this reason we partner with individuals and groups who have ongoing long-term work: our partners were Sandra in Aguas Negras and Kids Alive in Villa Ascension who I mentioned in the previous post.  Alongside this work we spend time with the people in the communities, investing in relationships and demonstrating love.

The time in the DR was a time for us to put what we had learnt into action, for us to live and serve the people in a way that really seeks to empower them and bring about changes in world view that do not remove their culture, but that enable them to progress out of poverty.  This is not always simple as I came to discover.  Some things are different to what I am used to but they are not bad, however, some things are not conducive to lasting change and breed reliance on outside help and a culture of paternalism.  It is challenging to understand which falls into which category at times.

I have a passion for teenagers and young adults as this is when I really came to know God personally.  I have experienced the incredible growth that comes from having God centred advice and encouragement, and have hugely benefitted from the time and energy that people invested in me.  Why am I saying this?  Well for me personally it wasn't the naked children that bothered me, or the torn clothes, it was the teenagers who had no apparent direction to their lives.  There were many people trying to work with the children, and Kids Alive is doing an incredible job of really bringing about lasting change by taking younger children and investing in them, and is showing remarkable success.  However, it was those who hadn't had the opportunity to benefit from such a good program, who had got older and now seemed a bit lost that I found hardest.

Some of the teenagers are going to school, they do want to make something of their lives and this is brilliant, but many sit out in the village and just hang out, day in, day out.  Some just end up having babies because essentially they are bored.  It saddens me that they find this lifestyle unfulfilling, yet do not have any vision to better themselves.  But realistically how can I blame them for this?  They are living in a depressed town, fairly far away from anywhere, with no real infrastructure or economy.   There is hope and progress in this town, but it is slow and it is difficult because of the poor initial development of the town.  If I was living there I would I have a passion to work or to serve the community, maybe not.

Then the question is: how can you inspire these teenagers to strive for something more, to live different lives to those around them?  I don't know the answer to this question, I hope that somehow we as a group were able to convey some truth to them and to show them that they do not have to carry on life in the same way that they have before.

Dominican Republic - day 2

I am in the Dominican Republic!  And have managed to get to an internet cafe so thought I´d give you a brief update on what I am up to.

We left the IOC at 3am on Sunday morning and drove the 2 hrs to Dallas airport, thankfully I slept.  We then flew to Miami, again I slept, and then after a nearly two hour delay we flew onto Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.  During the journey I managed to do quite a bit of reading so was very happy (I´m currently reading Bruchko by Bruce Olsen, a book about his life as he went to work as a missionary at 19 reaching a South American Indian tribe whose language was unknown and who were said to be savage warriors).  All in all it was a pleasant journey.  We were met at the airport by Sandra, who Mercy Ships has worked with on many occasions, and the girls from a girls club she runs.  Our wonderful bus driver, Manuel, and our brilliant translator, Dennis, had got the tables ready in our team room and the girls had washed them ready for our arrival.  This was a real blessing as it would have taken us a while to set up and we were tired after a long journey.

Monday morning we went to see the work Sandra does in Agros Negros at the school and in the various community projects she runs.  It is an interesting place.  Sandra is Dominican and is doing incredible work to develop the area where she lives through teaching the children and providing new enterprises so that people can make money, however, there is still obvious need there and many people live in poverty.  Many of the houses are far too low and every time it rains they flood.  The houses are in a disorganised order and the drains are not good.  It is sad to see such poverty but such an encouragement to see how passionate Sandra is, and how she has built a program to help the people move out of poverty.  It is a real example of successful development, as it has been embraced by the community and is improving the general quality of life.

In the afternoon we went to Villa Ascension.  This is a community that was originally set up to harvest the now bankrupt sugar cane plantations.  It is far away from other towns and has a mixed population of Dominicans and Haitians which creates some racial tensions.  However the houses are in ordered plots and all have numbers which is brilliant for helping us learn our way around!  We visited Kids Alive, the school where we will be doing our construction project and looked around the village.  I was really struck by how isolated the people were and how little there was to do in the town.

Our wonderful cook (whose name has currently escaped me) cooked the most incredible spread for our dinner and we were able to rest after a long, hot day.

Tuesday we went to Kids Alive and started on the construction.  We were moving a huge mountain of rubble from the grass into the base of the new dining room in the Dominican heat.  It was hard work but we have an incredible team who worked tirelessly to get huge amounts done.  In the afternoon I played with the children, who laughed at my accent and played with my hair (including pulling it in all directions!) and then did some more construction before going visiting, however, I will post about that another time!

I will update when I can however, time is limited here and we can´t always come to an internet cafe but I hope everyone is well.

Off to the Dominican Republic

My time in Texas has nearly come to an end, and after really settling here I will be sad to leave, however, I am excited about the adventures to come.  Thankfully the next adventure is with my Gateway class, it will be a really privilege to be able to share these experiences with these people and get to know them better prior to moving to the ship.

Sunday at some time in the early hours (i.e. before 3am) I will be leaving Texas and heading to the Dominican Republic for two and a half weeks.  During this time the Gateway group will be spending time working with a couple of organisations in Puerto Plata, in the North East of the DR part of the island (which is shared with Haiti).  The main place we will be working is  Kids Alive, a supplementary school type establishment.  The state schooling in the DR is not hugely substantial so Kids Alive run extra classes for the children.  The younger children come in the morning and get breakfast and lunch and the older children come for lunch and then classes.  Providing these free meals for the children is a way of ensuring they get at least one nutritious meal a day.  Unfortunately in this poor area many of these children are unable to be fed properly, therefore Kids Alive is very popular.  Each child who attends Kids Alive is sponsored, to provide the necessary funds to run the school and provide the meals.  Those running Kids Alive have plans to extend the scheme to more children, however, they currently do not have enough dining room space.  This is where we come in, along with providing the rest of the funds to complete the project we will be helping with the construction of this new dining room, we will also be doing some teaching in the classes, and spending time in the community.  I probably won't have much opportunity to post much whilst I am away, however, I will do an update once I return.

Some of the issues in the area we are visiting are the interactions between the Native Dominicans and the Haitians, who were originally invited to the Dominican Republic to work the land during the farming season and then to leave, however they did not leave.  These two groups live in the same town and there is a lot of tension between the two groups which has previously resulted violent disputes.

What I'm looking forward to most about the DR is spending time learning with my Gateway group, particularly getting to know them better in a setting other than the classroom.  It will also be brilliant to spend time in a country with a very different culture to mine.

I think it may be challenging spending time so closely in a group, and interacting with people who speak a different language will be difficult.  However, I believe the experience will be really good for preparing me for my work with Mercy Ships and creating stronger bonds with people prior to joining the ship.

Hope everyone is well and I will hopefully update you soon!

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Well this question is all about perception, if you can perceive it does it therefore exist or something along those lines.  Whilst of course I spend huge amounts of time pondering these obviously crucial(!) questions in life, this one is not top of my list!  However, I do know that if a tree falls at the IOC I definitely hear it, particularly when it is a tree as big as this!

I might add that there are normally cars all along the side where the silver car is (in the second picture to the left of the fallen tree) and it was incredible that no cars were injured in the falling of this tree.

I can only presume that the tree fell down due to the torrential rain (yes it has rained more here than in the UK whilst I've been here) that we have had today.

Week 3 - Rejected Nooma Video

Well, when I shared my poem on Sunday, I didn't mention that the whole group presented something in some way for that part of the course.  They were all brilliant, but unfortunately I can't share them all.  However I do feel the need to share Keith's contribution.  To really appreciate the video you need to have seen Nooma videos by Rob Bell.  So I present to you Keith Johnson's Mercy Ships Gateway Project - Rejected Nooma Video!

"I attended a 3 week training course called "Gateway" at Mercy Ships. Our last day we had to present a project sharing some things that jumped out at us. During this training a video by Rob Bell (Dust - a part of the Nooma series of teachings) was shown to us. I figured I'd make a copy/parody of the video to share a few things that popped out to me. Couple things to know:

1) 22 out of 24 participants were heading to Africa to serve as missionaries... I was one of the two staying in the States.

2) They fed us snacks (very yummy snacks) about every two hours... sigh... I miss that.

If you haven't seen the Dust nooma video by Rob Bell the "look" won't mean as much and some of the subtle jokes you wouldn't get unless you were part of the Gateway.... but it should still be worth a view. Our family had fun making it :)"

A day full of surprises in Texas!

I was very privileged to have my birthday in Texas this year!  The day started with an early rise to get to the morning devotionals at 7:45am (I didn't mind this given I am a morning person and had had plenty of sleep the previous night).  I got up, perfectly happy and went to shower.  On returning to my room I was slightly bemused to find that the entrance had been decorated with lanterns and small traffic cones, particularly as I hadn't noticed the decorations on leaving the room. 

However, thankfully I was informed that I was not indeed going mad (although some would say that is because I am already mad), as the decorations were put up whilst I was out of the room.  The decorations did not stop there though.  Whilst I was out the night before, a fairly large group of people decided to create a couple of posters to decorate the door for my birthday.

The poster (for anyone who is not familiar with Mercy Ships) is jesting at how many people meet their future spouse on the ship.  I have to admit it is probably more funny for us here than anyone else as it draws on some in jokes which just don't sound as funny when explained, but I had quite a chuckle at the poster.

Anyway I went to devotionals, and the class sang to me.  Then we went and 'fixed' snacks for the people doing their Basic Safety Training (which I did four weeks ago), including a birthday cake which Nancy had kindly made.  We appear back in class for break, when yet again the class sang to me!

My next surprise came at lunch, when I was asked if I had picked up my basket?  Basket?  I wasn't expecting a basket and was thoroughly confused.  I proceeded to sit down with my lunch, and someone brought over a huge basket full of cookies for me, and of course everyone sang again!

(Picture shows the remnants of the cookies after the class had each had some).  Well shall we say my family had managed to organise for a bouquet of cookies to be delivered to me, although thankfully they didn't send them all the way from England!

In the evening, a group of 11 of my Gateway class headed over to Dallas to see Muse and U2 in concert at the Cowboys Stadium.  Sat up in the Gods (second to back row) of a stadium that seats over 100 000 people watching an incredible show listening to outstanding music.  For me it was a brilliant ending to a wonderful day, so thanks to everyone who made it so special.

The Cowboys stadium is soooo huge!