MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas from Congo!!! Just wanted to quickly share a few holiday adventures. 

Yesterday, I was able to go to a beach with some friends, just to hang out there for the day. We left the ship at 8:45 in the morning!!! Then made our way to the port gate to find a taxi. After negotiating our price we all climbed in and head out. It wasn't until we were on the road for 30-45 minutes that we realized our taxi driver wasn't going the direction that we wanted, in fact he was going the opposite way. 

After explaining, we turned around came back into the city, and went out on the south side of town. Luckily, a few people had been there before and so they were able to give directions and we finally found the place we wanted, Molanda Lodge. It's a nice resort on the ocean with an outdoor bar and restaurant. 

The first thing I did was lay out my towel and take a nap! After spending 2 hours in a hot taxi on not enough sleep...the nap was essential. I'm sleeping peacefully away and then suddenly I wake up because something hurt. I figured out, there was a little crab that pinched my arm which is what woke me up...seriously, did he not know how important my nap was?

My sandy bed, or the beach

I tried going back to sleep, but that didn't work out so I started walking along the beach taking pictures before heading back to the bar with some of the group for a drink. 

It's so relaxing to listen to the waves rolling into shore.

The Beach!!!

There were some nice waves, I didn't actually go into the water but I was told they were pretty strong by those who did brave the waves.

After walking on the beach for a little while, I headed up to the bar with some people who were also ready to take a break from the sun and get something cold to drink. I think that was one of the best cold cokes I've had in a while!!The bar area is actually a really nice place to sit and hang out. Someone brought cards and so we started playing card games. 

At 4 our taxi was suppose to be back at the lodge to pick us up. Once 4 passed, we started walking out the lane to the main road to wait or maybe even catch another taxi. 

Our taxi did come back for us and brought us safely back to the port gate. We made the trek from the port gate back to the ship, where we found a special dinner being served. Our Gurkha's, from Nepal, made dinner for everyone on-board. So it was yummy Nepalese curry's for dinner. Followed by Christmas Eve service and then a movie with friends.   

At 1 a.m. Christmas morning I finally went to bed, and was up by 8 without my alarm clock...very random for me. Because I was awake, I made it to the cafe to have a caramel latte.  

According to the Dutch tradition, every put shoes outside their door and so on Christmas morning you open your door to find the halls lined with shoes and presents. 

At 11, I meet my ship 'family' for Christmas brunch...which consisted of breakfast foods, omelets and fried potatoes, a lunch menu of mashed potatoes, turkey, ham, green bean casserole with lots of cookies, desserts, fruits, cheeses and all sorts of good food. 

There have been people playing and singing Christmas music...the air feels joyous and festive!!! As I wrap up this blog, I will repeat my opening statement. 

Merry Christmas!!!  

Adventures in Brazzaville

I was able to get a few days off with a couple of really cool girls, Charissa and Becky, and the three of us decided to fly to the capital city of Brazzaville. I had to work Sunday morning and got off work around 3:30, at 4 that same afternoon we were headed to the airport. The flight itself was only 45 minutes long, but I still felt like it was a long day and was ready for bed at an earlier than usual hour. 

Hotel Bravo and one of the 4 wheel drive vehicles. 

Melissa is another guest who was there, then there is the couple who manages the house, her sister, and Roga. This picture was taken in the kitchen of the house, right before we started making our dinner Sunday night. 

Monday:

Two of us slept in a little bit on Monday morning before we started the days adventure. That day we were hoping to rent a vehicle and driver to visit Loufoulakari Falls. The driver at the Hotel Bravo was busy that day, but would be able to take us Tuesday. 

Instead we went to see the sights is Brazzaville that we wanted to check out. Now, Becky knows some French, but Roga came with us to help translate and show around. Roga was on of the translators for Mercy Ships, but he left to attend school in Brazzaville, but was kind enough to spend the day with us.

Our first stop Monday morning was to see the rapids on the Congo River right outside the city.

Charissa, Becky and I

Roga and I are watching the rapids and looking across the river and Kinshasa. 

 After spending some time at Les Rapides we were hoping to find a place where we would be able to rent a boat...how cool would it be to have a boat ride on the Congo River?!! Well, there also happens to be a restaurant that has boats and drivers you can rent. Off we go to the other side of town in search of this place. 

Well, we got a taxi and everything was going just fine...until traffic came to a complete stop. It was going nowhere, and so we sat.   

People finally started getting out of the cars and standing in the shade!!

Now, you may be thinking okay, normal traffic jam. There were five people packed into the car in the middle of the day. The sun was hot and not a breeze to be had...if I was made of wax I would no longer be in existence. Finally, traffic started moving again and we eventually made it to our destination. At this point we are so thirsty, so we stop at the lounge area of the restaurant for a nice cold drink of Coca Cola. It tasted so good!!!  

I had a moment where I started playing with my camera...there were lizards around that area sunbathing...this one was right by us, just chilling in the sun

 After we finished our drinks, we climbed into our boat...another dugout canoe with a motor on the back. 

Roga standing at the front of the boat.

We were required to wear these lovely bright orange, one size fits all life jackets...I guess it was for our safety. We stayed in the boat and out of the water.

At one point, our driver slowed down and stopped at an island. On this island in the middle of the river we found a village, the driver told us that we could walk around and so we did. It was actually lots of fun, because we started to play with the kids. 

                              Standing in the Kiterielle village square.

Becky and the kids.

This little girl started walking beside me and so I reached out my hand and she grabbed it, so we walked hand in hand.

Many of the older kids were very curious about us, but were to scared to get close. It was the first time they had ever seen a white person. They would want to get close and touch you, but at the same time they were scared. It was fun just to interact with them. Later we found out that it was our boat drivers village. 

We left the village and headed back to the restaurant. The scenery along the river was beautiful! 

Trees, grass, it was all so green.

A view of Kinshasa (capital of DRC) from our river trip.

After we got back to the restaurant we got into yet another taxi, and went up to the Basilique St. Anne. It's a beautiful church, with amazing architecture.

Basilique St. Anne

We finished walking about here, we walked through the streets and up to a painting school. The paintings were really good, high quality. Of course, we couldn't take pictures but it was really nice to walk around and enjoy the different techniques and textures of the paintings.

By the time we finished with that, we decided it was time to eat dinner. Off we went to a very popular local cafe. Dinner was good, and since it was also a French bakery we got dessert to go and croissants for breakfast the next morning. 

That night, we ate dessert back at the hotel and played skip-bo on the patio until going to bed. It was a good first day.

It was such an intense several games....

Tuesday:

The next morning it was an early start to the day. At 7 a.m. we were on the road to Loufoulakari Falls. It was 100 kilometers round trip, but we were driving on dirt roads for the most of it. 

We passed many houses and people, this was a small market that we drove passed.

Then there were areas that all you saw was the road and lush green landscape. 

After a 2 hour car ride we finally made it to Loufoulakari Falls where we stayed for 2 hours, then had another 2 hour drive back to Hotel Bravo. 

Loufoulakari Falls:
all I can say is how awesome is God and his creation!

At the top of the falls

Being just a little goofy...we were trying to get a group photo just prior to this picture and the branch kept getting in the way.

Sitting and watching the falls

The falls are 'U' shaped and this lone tree on a rock was at the very edge of the falls.

We are standing in the mist from the falls and ended up getting wet

We hiked down to the base of the falls and this is a view of the river from there.

At the top of the falls, it was breathtaking!! 

After going back to the hotel we showered and changed before going out to have a nice dinner and watch the sunset. 

Walking through the craft market on the way to dinner.

The Brazzaville Monument.

The sunset!

Totally Excited!!

There has been some amazing healing on D-Ward! LC is doing so much better that he was able to be discharged from the hospital. God is so amazing!! 

That was probably the most exciting news I have to share, but I'm also excited about a little trip I have coming up. Sunday evening I'm headed to the capital city of Brazzaville for a couple days with 2 other girls. We are just going to check it out, and do some exploring in other parts of Congo. 

I'm out of exciting news now...life on the ship is pretty much the same. Although, there have been some changes, the Christmas decorations are up. There are lots of activities leading up to Christmas. There is a door decorating contest, and all sorts of other Christmas activities. It should be lots of fun, so that is also exciting. 

Picture Time! :)

It's been awhile since I've shared some pics...and so I think it's time to delicate another post to share what I've been doing. 

One of the weekly Mercy Ministries is going to a deaf school and having an art class...the 'teacher' will instruct while the rest of us move about the classroom assisting the kids...here I'm attempting to do repeat what the teacher was demonstrating...and no, I don't really have any artistic ability.  

A patient who wanted a picture

Sometimes we have dance parties at work...

Outside on deck 7...an ortho patient

The mama of one of our kids

Another patient...As you can see she has a great smile and was lots of  fun. 

 About the only other fun thing that I have done is an engine room tour. It was really interesting to learn about that aspect of the ship. There is a lot of hard work that happens down on deck 2! 

Hope you enjoyed the pics! 

An Overdue Update...

An update since my last blog, a few weeks ago it was pretty rough. Since then things have slowly started getting better. There are always going to be good days and bad days, but God is always there and amazing. Just when I think I can't take it anymore, there were a couple of people that really just sat down with me and listened to what I had to say. Sharing my inner struggles with those who are here and apparently go through the same thing has been extremely beneficial. 

It's strange, but when your here sometimes you can feel so isolated and it seems as if you are the only person struggling. I'm finding that is often not the case and it's just being willing to be open and honest with each other and not judging another's struggle. 

It reminds me of a discussion I had a young adult retreat several years ago, so often as Christians we try to hide our failures, our struggles because we should be able to handle it. God is greater than everything and he won't leave you...but what if He wants to work through those that are around you? 

When I didn't want to share what was going on in my heart with those around me, I was miserable. God felt so far away and unreachable. In my head I knew He was still there. When it finally reached a point that I just couldn't carry this burden anymore I started talking with a girl I work with and randomly just started to share what was happening. I really don't even know how that happened, but it felt good. I was no longer by myself.

After that, I was able to share it with a few more people and somehow the burden that was weighing down my heart was slowly lifting. Then I was able to somehow not worry about it while I was working and able to make some of my patients smile. That touched my heart in a way that I never would have expected. It made me happy. 

I think God used the people around me to encourage me, but until I opened up and shared what was happening they didn't know...I was keeping it hidden. 

2 months down - 7 more to go...

There are several things that have happened recently...making this last week the hardest week I've had here on the ship. To start all those that came in with me for 2 months have been leaving and so I find myself needed to make new friends. 

That doesn't sound like it would be hard when your living with 400+ people, but don't need to have 50-100 friends, all I want is a few really good friends. People that will be here throughout the field service with me, so I don't have to get to know someone and then say goodbye right away. Is that selfish of me?

The hardest part was that as people where preparing to leave and I realized that I am staying for a longer period of time I started thinking about leaving. Where would I go? Do I go home right away? Do I travel? Should I go home and then come back to travel? Which is the best option? How much are these options going to cost me? Which way is going to be the most cost effective because I don't have everything I want to travel with...

As I was thinking through all my options they started to overwhelm me and I couldn't stop thinking about them. It seemed as if I was going to go insane trying to figure this out. As all this was weighing on me, needless to say I'm pretty sure this last week I ended up overwhelmed and depressed. 

I was sleeping 12-13 hours a night, exhausted all the time, avoiding people, not hungry but eating because I knew I had to, and staying in my room when I wasn't working. Now, in case you don't know my room is dark, pitch black because there are no windows, the hospital is on the same floor meaning no windows there. Climbing 4 flights of stairs to get outside and into the sun sounded like to much effort. 

What ended up happening was a couple people I work with could tell that something was up, and they actually point-blank asked me, 'when was the last time you were outside?' I was honest, they didn't haul me outside, but really encouraged me to get out there.

Finally, Thursday afternoon I knew that I had to make some changes and so after I finally made it out of bed, I climbed the 4 flights of stairs to make it outside...then I even made it all the way to the top deck to sit by the pool. I was only out there for and hour, but it did feel good.

That evening after I ate an early dinner (slept through breakfast and lunch...) I went back outside to watch the sunset and read. With book and camera (in case the sunset was absolutely amazing) I climbed back up all 4 flights of stairs to make it outside.

While I was walking around on the top deck, I randomly started talking with someone who was sitting up there also watch the sunset. While we were talking she asked how I was adjusting to life here, and is it going well? As you heard, it obviously wasn't the most stellar week that I have had and so I was honest. She listened to what I had to say, and then said, it will get better and encouraged me. 

It was great, and then to top it off the sunset itself was pretty nice. I managed to take a couple of pictures. Somehow, I knew it was going to be okay and has been better since Thursday.

Yesterday, I was able to hang out with a newer arrival, (she's been here for a 2 weeks now) and it was fun. We also work on the same ward and next weekend we are on night shifts together...which means we have 4 nights to hang out in the ward and if everyone is sleeping then we get to chat. The best part is she is here for the rest of the field service. 

I really do love the ICU!!!

Last week I worked 3 nights, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The first 2 nights were completely normal night shifts...busy with random tasks, but not overwhelming. 

We had a patient(LC)that had been admitted for several days so we could do some more extensive testing prior to surgery. Last Thursday he had his surgery completed. 

This is someone in their mid-20's with a tumor growing inside the mouth and throat. If you looked at him, you never would have guessed...his face looked completely normal.

He was the only patient scheduled for our maxilla/facial OR that day as he had an estimated 8 hour OR time. He was in for major surgery!!! Because of the extensive nature of the surgery and the post swelling that was going to happen, the first thing the surgeons did was to put in a tracheotomy just to protect his airway. 

Thursday night, I was in the ICU with him. They left him on the ventilator and sedated overnight just to let his body rest. The next day (Friday) he was weaned off sedation and the ventilator. By Sunday, he was back in the ward with all the other patients. 

I didn't realize how much I missed the ICU until I was back in it. It felt so good to have a vented patient with drips, (morphine and midazolam for sedation), with an a-line while managing fluids, antibiotics, I&O's, neb treatments, changing vent settings as needed, and mixing up my drugs. This may sound strange, but I think that was probably my favorite shift I've had here.  

Even more than that, what I found most interesting is that throughout the night his sister would come over to the ICU just to check on him periodically. In the morning one of the day-workers (translators) told me that she was surprised/impressed that I stayed away all night taking care of her brother. 

That shocked me...what I learned through asking more questions is that isn't the normal practice of nurses here. No wonder the people here have a hard time trusting us as doctors and nurses. You don't get treated unless you can pay and exorbitant amount of money first, and then it sounds like nurses here haven't been taught what to assess and look for (that's one reason we focus on education, and have local nurses that will come to education classes and shadow in the ward). 

The other thing that stuck me, was that night ever so often when his sister would come in to check to see how he was doing, she would ask me some questions in French and I would answer in English...between the little English she knows, and the little French I have learned we could have simple conversations. 

Language can be an interesting thing sometimes...I often joke that I've learned French sign language, or it could be Kituba sign language (the local language).

As for the LC, he is doing well and once the swelling goes down enough that his tongue isn't blocking his throat, the trach will come out and he can talk to us again. Yesterday, it looked like the swelling was starting to decrease just a little...but he still has a ways to go.   

Cloudy Skies + Water = Sunburn (but a fun day!)

The last three weekends I've had to work and so I wasn't able to go out exploring since my Angola adventure. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go with some people the river where a local guy (Boris) gave us a ride in one of his boats. It was fun to be out on the water and to actually see green and breathe in air that doesn't smell like dead fish and diesel fuel.    

Here are some pictures detailing the adventure...

Another group found someone to take them too...both boats were looked like large hollowed out trees with a motor attached to the end of the boat. There were times it was just a little tipsy...kind of like a canoe :)

This is where we got on and off the boat.

I don't think I need to explain this pic...but it's me

We passed by many local village houses, and it was fun when there would be people sitting out that we could wave too, especially the kids, they would get so excited!!

Another house on the riverbank

The bank

As you can see it's a fairly large river, the island on the left has a chimpanzee reserve that is currently closed because apparently a chimp killed somebody recently. I know this reserve has something to do with Jane Goodall, I don't if she started it but I hope it opens before I leave. I think it would be fun to check it out sometime.

I was playing with my camera here...but I think it turned out pretty cool

I was sitting toward the back of the boat..

There were several little side canals (for lack of a better word)

Traveling up a side canal...it was so calm and peaceful

Boris stopped and let us explore some woods/jungle...I'm not sure what this fruit is

 Suddenly, I was wishing I could eat fresh pineapple...

At the end of the boat ride we still had some time before our taxi returned to pick us up and so Boris took us to this beach to relax until it was time for go back a meet the taxi bus

Watching the waves

It felt so nice to walk barefoot in the sand :) 

We left the beach, paid Boris, and then went to get the taxi and it wasn't there...we stood there waiting for 45 minutes and then we had someone with us that knew french and asked if there was possibility that we could borrow a phone to call. Finally, our taxi arrived and took us back to the port gate. At the port gate, we happened to come across a Mercy Ship shuttle that took us to the ship...other wise you walk the 1/2 mile from the port gate to the ship.

We made it back in time for dinner and then, I talked with some friends for awhile before going to my cabin to shower. The day couldn't decide if it wanted to be sunny or cloudy so it went between both. I know that me being by water on a cloudy day can result in a sunburn and so I but on my sunblock and drank the water I had with me (1L).

Somehow, I still managed to get a little more sun than I was expecting and so after my shower when I had a pounding headache and felt nauseous because the ship felt like it was being tossed by waves (when it really wasn't), I went to bed. 12 hours later I woke up and I feel better...but I can tell I was burned...even though part of it seems to be going away there are parts that I can still feel. 

The only thing I can think of is how much worse it could have been had I not put on my sunscreen! Then I would really be hurting!!! The plan for today is lots of water and rest, that's what I feel like I need, and so that's what I plan on doing. :)  

Overall, I really did have a lot of fun yesterday.