Just another day

I wish I was allowed a camera in the hospital today, there was a picture I would have loved to have captured.  It wasn't anything special or incredible, but it was something that just showed some of what I see every day in a way that captured it well.  I was walking along the port side corridor in the hospital (this is the side where all the wards are rather than the starboard side where the operating rooms are).  In the background I could hear songs and music, African songs full of praise and energy.  As I looked down the corridor I could see the electricians, a Texan and a Geordie chatting next to an entrance down into engineering in the middle of the ship, and past them I could see George, one of my translator friends and the recovery room staff wheeling a blue trolley with a patient coming out of surgery.  I guess for many that image doesn't have much significance, but for me it symbolised the mix of what I see and do in the hospital.  I pass the patients in the corridor, and will say hello, but I don't work with them.  I don't have have the contact that the nurses do, or the insight into their problems that the surgeons do.  I work with the equipment, generally away from the patients, just like the majority of the other people on the ship.  But I do get to see the patients every day, just a little and catch a tiny glimpse into why we are here.

Ghana

*DISCLAIMER* this is a really long post, I sort of apologise, but really if you don't want to read it all, just scroll down and have a look at the photos!

The first weekend in May I took the opportunity to go to Ghana.  The Ghanian border is only about a 20 minute drive from the ship, and many of the crew have been to visit at weekends and ship holidays.  So at 17:30 on Friday 30th March we disembarked the ship and headed to Ghana.  We got across the border smoothly and found our taxi driver (who we had phoned to book during the week) easily.  The taxi had been used by another Mercy Ships group over Easter, and was very nice by African standards, we all had our own seats and there was space for our bags!  So at 19:00 we started our journey up north along the border to Wli Waterfalls.  Shall we say the journey took a little longer than expected, or more accurately 2 hours longer than the 3 we were expecting (although in hindsight I think three was over ambitious anyway).  We travelled along the roads stopping at many customs checkpoints where men in military style uniforms shone torchlight on the windscreen and looked in the footwells and the boot and then proceeded to wave us on our way.  We picked up a couple of men, and dropped them off and then picked up another three men, who piled on top of each other in the front two passenger seats.  We dropped them off and then eventually arrived at our hotel at midnight, pulling ourselves out of the car to the sounds of loud singing and drumming as a funeral celebration progressed in the village.  We grabbed our bags, paid the driver and got ourselves into the rooms and into bed, and attempted to sleep despite the noise and heat.

Very early the next morning we were awoken by cockerels!  After trying to sleep for a few more hours, we emerged from our beds and made our way out for breakfast.  Excited at seeing porridge on the menu, we waited for our breakfast to arrive and enquired about the guide we wished to use to take us to the falls.  The manager of the hotel was very helpful and sent one of her staff off into the village to find our guide!  (He doesn't have a mobile, you just go find him.)  In the meantime our breakfast arrived, however, unfortunately my porridge was rather salty and burnt, and even with honey to try to hide the taste it wasn't so palatable, but never mind.  We stocked up on water and headed to the village centre (a few little wooden stalls) and the entrance to the waterfall area (which was a table with a couple of men sat behind!) to find our guide.  We paid our entrance fee and we were off on our adventure.

Unfortunately on the journey up to the hotel I had become rather dehydrated, partly due to my water bottle being under my bag on the floor and partly due to the desire to avoid the inconvenience of needing the toilet on a long journey at night in Africa, and in my infinite wisdom had not thought that it would have been a good idea to drink more overnight to replenish and re-hydrate myself.  Hence within half and hour of setting off I was starting to find things hard.  About an hour in, the incline had got rather steep, it was rather hot and despite drinking nearly a litre of isotonic gatorade I was feeling terrible.  The views were incredible, but all I wanted to do each time we stopped was crumple into a heap.  The fluid I had drunk was starting to make me feel sick and the prospect of spending another 5 hours hiking was looking distinctly unappealing, yet I did not want to let the others down or spoil the trip by turning back.  In my mind I cried out to God, 'I can't do this, you have to get my through, you need to give me the strength to keep going'.

A little bit later we stopped and again I crumbled into a heap in the tiny patch of shade behind a tiny tree.  I was feeling light-headed and weary, and rather sick.  I didn't know how I was going to find the strength to even get up let alone carry on.  I could barely hold a train of thoughts and literally was sat with my bag still on my back, leaning backwards up the hill and staring into space.  Then it just occurred to me, clear as anything, that I needed to eat a little alongside drinking.  So I somehow mustered the strength to pull my bag around and pull out a peanut butter and jam (yes being around this many americans is having an effect on me!) cheese roll I had made the previous day.  I felt so bad that it took me about two minutes to chew and swallow a small bite and I only managed to eat three bites, but it was enough.  Over the course of the next little stretch the sick feeling I had had deep in the pit of my stomach that had gradually been working it's way up to my mouth started to disappear, and I felt able to talk to people.  When we got to the next stop, I ate a few more bites of my roll, and really started to enjoy the incredible views out across Ghana.  Out in front of us was a steep drop down to a plain which seemed to stretch for miles with a thick covering of lush green plants.  We kept going up and up, and then rounded the corner to an incredible view across from the waterfalls.  It was beautiful, but we still had quite a way to go. 

As we neared the upper falls we had to cut through a wooded area.  We scrambled up and down a thin path, over and under fallen branches, holding onto vines as we slid down.  I could hear the waterfall, it sounded so close, yet the vegetation around me was so dense I just could not see it.  I got to the end of the first section of the path and was sent on my way along the last section down to the waterfall.  I knew it was close and started to move faster, until I realised I was on my own.  It was the first moment on my own in a long time.  So I paused to savour the moment, and in doing so noticed the beautiful red flowers which just managed to push themselves out by the path, and the unusual butterflies with long tail like protrusions at the bottom of their wings.  Eventually I rounded the corner and I was there.  The waterfall was right before me crashing down into the pool. 

After spending a little time eating, and swimming and relaxing, we started the hour hike down to the lower falls.  The first part was horrible.  The glorious downhill stretch we had to the upper falls was now a strenuous uphill climb until our path split off from that we had used to the upper falls, where it started to go downhill again.  Some of the drops were steep, and the drop to the side of the path was even steeper.  We clambered down, clinging to vines and branches along the path.  At one point we came up to a couple of tree trunks.  The first I climbed over, and then stood in between the two to tell the people behind me where the 'hand holes' were, and then proceeded to slip right under the other one knocking my head in the process.  I wasn't hurt at all, just in slight hysterics at having just disappeared under the tree.

The further we went down the track the more we separated into smaller groups.  Lindsay (who is my wonderful bunk mate) and I made our way down the now more level path, exploring the hut in the thick of the vegetation as we went.  After a while we decided to stop for a few minutes for a drink.  After being there a minute we heard this great noise as what looked like a flock of birds took off from the lower falls, but as we peered through the perfect gap in the trees above us we saw a colony of bats, who live hanging onto the rocks around the lower falls, taking off for the evening.  After marvelling at the wonderful view of these bats we continued on towards the falls, until we eventually emerged from the track, and found the hoards of people at the lower falls, it was a public holiday in Ghana and many people had taken the opportunity to visit the falls.  We stopped at the entrance to the lower falls, not having the energy to battle through the people and waited for the rest of our group.  Once we were reunited we made our way back gradually to the hotel and had a shower ready for dinner. 

After a relaxing dinner and celebration of Alana and Naomi's birthdays (with candles!!! big excitement when you can't have them on the ship even if I can't remember the last time I actually had candles for my birthday!) we turned in for an early night all fairly exhausted from the lack of sleep and the long hike.  The next morning we headed back down to view the lower falls which were beautiful, and so much more serene without the crowds of people.  After a spot of lunch our taxi driver arrived and we headed back home, arriving back just in time for dinner and a shower.

All in all it was an incredible weekend and a real blessing.

(Credits for the following photos go to Alana, Linda, Naomi, Miriam, Hannah, Tatiana, and Lindsay with one of mine for good measure, thanks girls for an awesome weekend)

The group with our ride in the background

The windscreen of our ride! (Typical of Africa - autoglass does not exist here)

Our hotel

Our hotel

To the waterfalls we go

We hike

We pose

We walk

We do strange things....?

We climb

Obligatory group shot in front of the waterfall

We enjoy the scenery

And the waterfalls

And the waterfalls a bit more

And we arrive at the upper waterfalls and swim (well wade and splash)

And we see the lower falls

Mercy Ministries - Brigade Mineur (Youth Detention Centre)

One of the Mercy Ministry places that I co-ordinate and lead are the visits to the Youth Detention Centre in Lomé.  This centre houses mainly boys (although there are a few girls there also) aged between 14-17 who have gotten in trouble with the law.  Some of their offenses include stealing, damage to property and inappropriate behaviour towards female workers in their parents house.  They are housed at the centre for anywhere between 1-12 months and have to have a hearing with the judge and pay a fine before they can be freed. 

The Youth Detention Centre is not the most pleasant place, however, it is far nicer than many African prisons.    The cells are about 2-2.5m by 3m and have two concrete blocks, approximately each the size of a single bed in.  Each cell houses between 4-6 kids, sometimes more if they have a particularly high number in the centre.  They normally get fed three basic meals a day, and they have classes during the week, however, at the weekend and public holidays they are locked in the cells.  The main room is fairly small and dark owing to the fact that less than half a metre from the wall and windows is a high wall that blocks most of the light, but exciting things happen in that depressive room

At 7am on a Monday morning I meet with the group and we head out to Brigade Mineur.  Whilst we are there we do a Biblical story, often getting them involved in acting out the story as we tell it, and then we have a thought or discussion relating to that story and then a craft.  Afterwards we have time for free play with blow up beach balls, Jenga, pairs, chequers, nail polish and friendship bracelets.

Brigade Mineur is my favourite way to start the week.  It can be a challenge to keep them focussed, particularly when the tv won’t switch off and is blaring out from beneath a cover but we have had some incredible opportunities to discuss with them and really share what God means to us and how they can also have a relationship with him if they want.  Some are not interested, and that is ok, but others have really shown interest and in what we have to say.  Who knows what the future will hold for these kids, but hopefully we can show them that there is a hope, and there is something more than what they know.  I can’t begin to describe how much fun I have here and how much I enjoy my time spent with this group of kids.

The pictures below are from when we did the story of Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding (see John 2:1-12.  We had great fun getting dressed up and decorating the room to recreate the atmosphere of the wedding.  We had cake and dancing, like you would at a celebration and acted out the story.  At the end we discussed and thought about the implications of Jesus turning the water into wine and what that told us about him, and we also thought about Mary and how she reacted, and her faith in Jesus and his ability. 

 We made necklaces and garlands and flowers

Our 'Love is...' craft from a previous week

Decorating the room ready for the celebration

Before the story

Being given flowers before the wedding (I was the bride)

At the wedding

Dancing!

And music and celebration

Acting out the rest of the story.

Patient story - Espoir Komlan

I keep forgetting to put patient stories up, and for many weeks there weren't any but finally the communications department has caught up and there are plenty for me to choose from so please enjoy this story about our orthopaedic surgeries. (Written by Elaine B. Winn, Edited by Nancy Predaina, Photos by Debra Bell and Liz Cantu)

Espoir Komlan Allabar

FOOTBALL! Just the mention of the word grabs the attention of four-year-old Espoir. A bright and very active little boy, Espoir lives in Togo, West Africa. His mother says that he " jumps everywhere all the time . " He arrived on the Africa Mercy like a bolt of electricity - energizing the entire ward.

Espoir was born with bowed legs that made him the target of teasing from the children in his first-grade class. They said his legs looked like the letter " O ." Espoir always responded, "I'm just like you !" He never let them see how their words hurt him, and he never let them discourage him. He even played a forward position on his football team.

When Espoir's mother heard a television announcement about a hospital ship that was coming to Togo to provide free surgeries, she brought Espoir to a screening. Soon he was onboard the Africa Mercy for the life-transforming surgery that would straighten his legs ... and put an end to the cruel ridicule.

Espoir is uncharacteristically still as he lies quietly in bed, recuperating with both legs straight and bandaged. He has found creative ways to keep his mind busy while his body recovers - practicing the alphabet, coloring pictures, and singing all the verses of his repertoire of songs and hymns.

His infectious joy spills out in giggles when the nurses slip the stethoscope into his ears so he can hear his heartbeat. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he flashes a brilliant smile and quickly responds, " I want to be a pastor!"

But for right now, he is eager to get back to his football team. " I want to go to school quickly ," he asserts. " I want to show them that I am okay now."

Appropriately, Espoir means "hope" in French. His mother says, " I named him that because I have hope for him - hope for him to be a missionary one day and help the poor like he's been helped ."

 Before surgery, Espoir's legs were very bowed.

 Nurse Laura Coles helps Espoir listen to his heart with her stethoscope while he is recuperating from surgery to straighten both legs.

Espoir uses a chair for support as part of his therapy, while at the Hospitality Center

Tani

Tani is one of our hospital patients.  I'm not sure of her story, however, I believe she may have been burnt.  She has lost a couple of fingers on her right arm, one eye is covered over and deformed and she doesn't have a nose.  Or more accurately she didn't have a nose, because she does now.  Gary Parker is our resident maxillo-facial surgeon on the ship, and among the many surgeries he performs to reconstruct peoples faces, he has created a new nose for 9 year old Tani.  In an intricate surgery he has taken a flap of skin from her scalp, twisted it around and formed it into a nose.  Why twist is round rather than cut it off?  Well eventually it will be cut off from the scalp, but when the nose is first connected leaving the blood vessels intact to supply the moved tissue increases the chance of the surgery being successful. 

However, with such surgery it is imperative to make sure the wounds (both around the new nose and surrounding areas and the donor site on the scalp which is gradually healing over) are kept clean with regular dressing changes.  So fairly regularly Tani goes to see Alainie or Jane, our nurses in charge of the wound care of our patients, particularly our plastics patients. 

Now the inpatient treatment room, where Alainie and Jane work, is next to the Biomedical Technicians office, where I work.  And the other day as I walked past to the office I saw Alainie and Tani and decided to say hello, as Alainie was explaining to Tani that I was her friend.  Normally when Tani is having her dressing changed her father is also present, however, this time he was not around, this led to a slightly more boisterous and lively Tani.  So I stuck around to see her dressing being changed.  Gradually as Alainie unwrapped her bandages and then proceeded to clean the wound Tani started to mess about and play.  She looked at the opthalmascopes (used for looking at eyes) and turned on the oxygen flowmeter, and then started playing with me.  With Alainie's music going in the background I started dancing with Tani whilst trying not to make it too difficult for Alainie to do her job!  Every so often Tani would wriggle away, she wasn't upset or crying, she just wanted to play!  And each time I tried to find something else to occupy her that kept her in the right place for Alainie.  Alainie always chats to the the patients as she is doing her work (in a mixture of broken French and English) and tells them what she is doing.  Admittedly Tani can't understand all of this, but she does know one English phrase which she kept repeating, I love you.  Eventually the dressing change was complete and she was able to go back to the wards to continue the craft she had been doing.

Why did I enjoy this so much?  Well, not only was it good fun, but I got to spend time with an adorable child.  Many of the patients who come to us with such disfigurements, particularly to their faces are incredibly shy and reserved.  They are used to be ostracised and made fun of.  But Tani was still a joyful little girl, who enjoyed playing and messing about, who was mischievous and playful.  She hadn't been so damaged by peoples reactions to her to become timid, but still had the spirit of a young child.  It was a joy to see how happy she was, and to know that she will have a new nose when she leaves us.  Hopefully when we are in Sierra Leone next year she will be able to come back and get her eye fixed as well.

Apology

Just a quick note to say a huge sorry for the lack of posts over the last month.  This has been due to a variety of reasons, and I apologise for not keeping you up to date, however I will try and let you know a little of what I have been up to over the next few weeks.  Please enjoy the new post below about my trip to a village north of Lome.

Ando Bedo visit

On the ship we have day volunteers.  The day volunteers fill important roles on the ship, they are vital to our work here.  Some are translators, some do the hospital laundry, some help in the galley or in the dining room, others help keep the ship clean, and more still are in the engine room or up on deck.  They help us in all areas, supporting the crew and enabling us to do this work.  Most of them are Togolese, however, we do have a new other nationalities, Ghanian, Benoise, Nigerian etc and British!  Liz is a trained nurse from England, and works part time down in the OR as an anaesthetic nurse.  Liz moved to Togo at the beginning of the year with her Togolese husband and they are working as Crosslinks missionaries here with Meci doing children's ministries.

As part of their work they are doing some community development work with a village in between Lome and Kpalame, Ando Bedo.  With the village they are trying to work out where would be best to put in latrines (toilets) and a water source.  It is imperative to understand the dynamics of a village to know where to put these facilities.  Whilst their are places which may look very good to an outsider, if they affect the normal workings of the village, or go against the customs then they will not be used, no matter how much they could improve the lifestyle or health of the village.

As such they are working with the village to try to understand how the village works, and to help them understand the implications of getting a water source (they will be the only village in the area with one and will therefore get a lot of people coming to get water from them - this could have both a positive and a negative impact on the village).  About a month ago I went with Gad and Liz to visit Ando Bedo to do a mapping project with the village.  The aim was to get the villagers to draw a map of the village showing where the houses are, where people currently go to the toilet, where the church is, where the road is, and to also find out which houses have idols in as the village has quite a high prevalence of idol worship.  The village split up into two groups, the men in one and the women in another, and Liz and Gad set about encouraging them to draw the village on the ground using a stick.  They used twigs and leaves and stones to represent different things.

It was interesting for me to see a village rather than the capital city, Lomé, where we are docked.  In Lomé, there are many buildings and houses and there are proper (although rather potholed) roads and supermarkets and such like.  It is not a western city, but it is a city and it is more developed than the villages, and there is a higher level of education.  It was fascinating to see the difference in the ways the men and the women approached the mapping, and surprising to see how difficult the women found it and how they really did not know where the houses were in relation to each other.  It was sad to see women in the house next to where we were doing the mapping watching us yet not coming over to join in despite the fact that this was meant to be a whole community effort.  The village was mostly made up of very simple houses, made of mud bricks and thatched with palm leaves.  The ground was dusty and the paths were fairly ill-defined.  There is a church but it is mainly attended only by the children in the village and not the adults, and the nearby school that was built by an aid organisation (nice large brick building) is attended by the children but maybe only two days a week, the other three they farm for the teachers in 'farming school' even though they have to pay for school as well.

Hopefully in time there will be further development in this village, but it needs to be development which is owned by the village, so that they continue to use it way into the future, that they take care of it and look after it.  It needs to be something that works with their lives.  Hopefully unity will come to a village which has suffered from some form of disagreement which has separated people and caused hurt and isolation.  Hopefully true change will come and restore these people.

First a few pictures from around the village

Above:  The coloured line across the middle of the picture is the yarn from the loom where they are weaving scarf like items

Some of the children from the village; many were very malnourished with large protruding bellies.

The start of the women's mapping process.

The finished women's map (which was alot smaller and less detailed than the men's!)

My favourite picture from my trip to Ando Bedo.

Minor Job - Mercy Ministries

On the ship we have a minor job program that allows crew staying longer than 3 months to be allowed off work for either half a day or a day a week to participate in a different job.  The idea is that this gives people the opportunity to see a different area of the ministry of the ship, to work off-ship, to engage with local people or to work down in the hospital. 

It is very easy to live in a western bubble on the ship.  Whilst there are some real challenges to living here (such as living in such a close community, having no personal space and the constant change of people), these challenges are very different to those experienced by a traditional missionary or aid worker in the developing world.  We are very privileged to have reliable power, clean running water, and good varied food, among many other things.  Because of this it is easy to forget that you are actually in Africa and difficult to have any idea of what life is like here.  My job also requires that I work with equipment, and on the whole I like that, however, equipment doesn't have much personality and with such a small team (just two) I sometimes miss doing work that engages with people. 

As a result I decided that I would apply for a minor job with Mercy Ministries.  Mercy Ministries provides off-ship ministry opportunities for crew working alongside existing ministries demonstrating hope and healing to those who can't be reached and helped through our onboard services.  The Mercy Ministries program, run by Ines Kronester, is made up of visits to a number of different local partners in the country.  We partner with existing ministries to support and encourage them, and to ensure that the work continues after we leave the country.  The opportunities are varied and include homework clubs, orphanages, youth detention centres, the local hospital paediatric wards, HIV/AIDS women's hostels.  Anyone on the ship can sign up for a session to come out with a Mercy Ministries team.  As a team leader I am responsible for briefing the team (some of whom may have no previous experience with Mercy Ministries and may not have been on the ship long) to ensure we are respectful to the organisation we partner with, liaising with the leaders of the partner organisation, planning what the group does during the sessions and coordinating the session whilst we are at the place.  This is challenging me greatly as I need to ensure that we as a team are respectful of the people we partner with and maintain a wider picture outlook on what we do (to achieve long term goals rather than short term), which isn't always understood or shared by the participants.  My hope is that I can help them to understand more about how to facilitate long term development, and to develop deeper relationships with the people I work with through Mercy Ministries.

What do I do?

It's a good question really, and one I get asked fairly regularly on ship: what do I do?

Many would assume that I am a nurse; I live in scrubs, and frequently can be seen sporting my dragon scrub hat (necessary for venturing down the operating room corridor).  However, thankfully for the patients I am not a nurse!  I work as a biomedical technician.  But what does that mean?  Most people have never even heard of this position, let alone know what the job involves. 

Well a biomedical technician (also known as a biomedical engineer or clinical engineer) works with medical equipment.  Engineers are problem solvers, they are technical, and practical, and to some extent they like to take things apart...although not all are so quick to put them back together!  I am an engineer, and as such there is a lot of problem solving in my work.

Myself and Tony, the other biomedical technician on the ship, work in behind the scenes to keep all the medical equipment running smoothly.  We look after all sorts of equipment, from your basic temperature probes, to your patient monitoring systems (which monitor blood pressure and pulse), up to the anaesthetic machines, the CT scanner, X-ray system and the machine known as the OPG (which actually stands for Orthopantomogram - it takes a panoramic dental x-ray of the upper and lower jaw).  Not only do we look after the ward and OR equipment and the imaging systems, we also look after the laboratory (on ship), the dental clinic and the eye teams who work off ship.

Our work is very varied.  We set up the new equipment as it arrives, catalogue it and distribute it.  We perform routine maintenance and checks of the equipment to keep it in good running order, things like changing the water filters for the sterilisers.  We respond to difficulties people are having with using the equipment and we fix equipment when it breaks.  We even provide some training to guide people in how to use the equipment.

When we have problems with our equipment we review the literature we have about the equipment to find the fault and try to fix it.  Sometimes we don't have much information so we get in and do some testing and look at the equipment to try to find out what the fault is.  Sometimes we have to contact the manufacturer or their support centre to help us.

All in all my days are very varied.  Sometimes I am climbing in the small space beside the CT scanner getting information to allow us to fix the lasers, other times I am unpacking syringe pumps or emergency suction units and putting them into our system.  Other days I am conference calling with a support centre in Israel, or making power cords safe again after the wires have been pulled out.  No day is ever the same, but life would be dull if it was!

(Picture to follow)

Ward church!

On Sunday mornings down on one of the wards, something special happens.  Patients, staff and Mercy Shippers gather to praise God and worship together.  Led by our Togolese crew member (Clementine) and the day workers we have an hour long service full of praise, prayer and a message.  The songs are African and sung whole heartedly, accompanied by drums and various other percussion instruments, with clapping and dancing, by the patients and day workers alike.  Some patients are able to get up and dance, some have both legs in plaster casts, but this doesn't stop them dancing, their upper bodies are swaying and moving in time with the rhythm, their arms are up in the air and they are singing loudly.  A patient shared his story of how he had been suffering with his illness for many years, but how God sent his servants to heal him and he is now feeling very well.  It is a wonderful opportunity for three different groups of people to join together, the Africa Mercy crew, the day volunteers and the patients, and share together, and it was obvious from the participation and the smiles and dancing and clapping that everyone was blessed by being there.   

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!