Dental clinic set up

As part of my job I help oversee the medical equipment used for our offship dental clinic.  This off ship clinic is where we provide free dental work for the people of Togo.  It can include fillings, cleanings, tooth removals and abscess removals.  Unlike many western people who generally aren't a fan of dentists, the people of Western Africa are often incredibly pleased to have an opportunity to see a dentist.  Many have suffered with tooth ache or other such maladies for a considerable time, and welcome the relief that is brought when the Mercy Ships dental team work to treat their dental problems. 

The dental clinic is based a 20 minutes drive from the ship in a three storey building which thankfully has some air conditioning (when the Lome power is on!).  On the ground floor is the wonderful receptionist Joyce and the dental educator, who teaches the people dental hygiene whilst they are waiting.  On the first floor in a large open plan room there are stations for 8 dentists and 1 hygienist.  And on the top floor there are the generators which supply the power for all the dental equipment, the compressors which provide the air for the dental units, and the sterilising room.

I spent two days out at the dental clinic helping set up the equipment and get the new suction units installed.

The place where people get their teeth pulled!

 

Refuelling the generators

Starting up the generators

 

  

Getting to work

Hello Togo!

As we approached the dock the mass of colour and sound came into focus.  Awaiting our arrival at the end of the dock was a large group of people who were singing and dancing and praising God.  The Togolese churches had joined our advanced team to welcome us, bringing with them an ensemble of brass instruments and drums, which rang out a song we had learnt only the day before on the ship, There is no other God.  The mass of colourful outfits was astounding, many of the Africans dressing in their best clothes to welcome us, they waved scarves and other fabric as they danced, a great display of excitement as the ship pulled in, making their way along the dock with us until we ground to a halt and our mooring lines were attached.  As we stood and watched from deck 7 and 8 the first of our crew went down the gangway meet the Togolese dignitaries.  We have arrived in Togo!

 

The Pilote boat delivers the pilot to us who directs us through the port waters safely to our dock.

  

 One of the tugs that shuffles us into position, carrying some of our advanced team and land based personnel.

  

Some of the crowds gathered to meet us (including buses from the local churches and a very large drum!)

  

 The Togolese navy who live next to us, and lots of green trees!

And we sail

Sunday just after lunch we left Tenerife and set off on route to Togo.  Unfortunately there has been a low pressure system out to the West of us and that is pushing some rather uncomfortable wave fronts towards us, resulting in a few days of rather rocky sailing, lots of spilt milk (literally rather than figuratively!) and difficult sleeping conditions.  Hopefully though as we move further down the coast things will settle down and be more comfortable so we can sleep a bit better and arrive at our destination well rested and ready to hit the ground running to serve the people of Togo.  On a brighter note though we have already been privileged to see some whales and dolphins!

The journey of the Dronning Ingrid

Imagine you are the Dronning Ingrid: a rail ferry, that chugs across the Baltic Sea connecting Danish islands.  You are content,  your flat bottom sails smoothly across the sea, transporting your cargo.  Then they build a road....a road that connects your two islands, and you're just not so popular anymore.  You feel your world crashing around you, but alas someone see something in you that no-one else would ever imagine, and suddenly there is hope for you.  You won't just become scrap metal, torn to pieces in a shipyard, instead you will change the world! 

But before you can do this you need a major facelift, in fact not just a facelift, but major reconstructive surgery, shoving new parts inside you (deck 4) and bits on top of you (family cabins deck 6 and 7 aft).  To some extent ripping out whole chunks of you, yet somehow managing to still keep the core of you alive.  Years pass as people grapple with your insides until you are transformed, and out of your butchered shell, once resembling a rail ferry, emerges something unlikely, a hospital.  One that looks to bring hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor. 

You are now the Africa Mercy, and you are raring to serve the people of West Africa.  But to do this you have to get to them.  You have left the safe waters you used to operate in, but you are unfazed, and excitement fills you as you travel down to West Africa.  You are braving the the Atlantic ocean to give free operations to the people of West Africa, and you are filled with joy. 

But life is hard.  You are no longer as young as you used to be, at over 20 years old you are way past your prime (remember you are a ship), and the toils of your work are beginning to show.  You were not designed for the Atlantic ocean, and your flat bottom causes you to rock and roll so violently that just occasionally you fling your precious cargo around with tremendous force.  But you were also not designed to sit in port, not least an African port for months and months at a time.  Parts of you start to cease up, and parts get clogged, and generally you lose motivation to keep going.  You are tired and you ache.

However, once a year you leave Africa to go somewhere else, somewhere cooler and calmer.  Where people come to visit you and to tend to your aching wounds.  Where you have a nice long bath (tank scrubbing and engine cleaning), and your have your annual MOT, and your safety gear is checked and replaced.  And to top it off your prized possession, your hospital is given much needed time off duty to allow the various pieces of medical equipment to be overhauled, updated, and fixed; to have exciting new equipment and pressured airlines installed; and generally to clear up the mess of tired equipment left from the past outreach and prepare for the upcoming year.  Really it's not much of a break for you, more like a combination of a health check/ deep cleaning treatment, with some minor surgeries, but you feel so much better for it, ready and renewed for the next adventure, back where you belong off the coast of West Africa.  

 

The Dronning Ingrid coming into dock in Denmark ready to disembark her trains

 

The ‘new’ Deck 4 (where my cabin is) being installed over the rail deck (deck 3) where the hospital is.

 

The Africa Mercy after the conversion.

 (Pictures from Mercy Ships)