Our Crazy Yet Beautiful Home

There are many interesting things about living on a ship, tied to a dock, going from country to country in West Africa.  But today I want to focus on the many happenings that are taking place simultaneously onboard this ship of 500 feet in length, and eight decks high. 

At any given time we have up to 40 nationalities serving onboard.  And they are not all nurses and doctors.

Let's take a walk from deck one up to deck eight (and a half).

Deck One: Engine Rooms:

Down in this noisy and hot environment we have engineers and engine hands working around the clock to keep everything running.

Deck Two:  Cabins, Boutique, "Gym," Storage. While there are a few cabins on this deck (cabin not being a wooden chalet in the forest, but just your home onboard a ship), deck two is mainly storage.  This is where we keep shampoo, conditioner, shirts, dish cloths, Pringles, flour, coffee beans, dried apples, and all the food we need to feed 400 crew, 200 day workers, and 60-100 patients and caregivers daily.  This is a LOT of food.  We receive canned, dried and packaged food via shipping containers from Holland and from the U.S. In addition to this, every two or three days we acquire new fresh produce from our Chandler, a local connection that brings truckloads of onions, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, watermelon and pineapple.  It is weighed and paid for and we have a whole department dedicated to Procuring (getting) these goods, putting them where they belong on the ship, and getting them to the Galley (the kitchen) at the right time for the right meal.

The chandler's team bring it up the gangway, to be weighed on Deck 5, and then brought to Deck 6 (Galley) or elsewhere for storage.

Deck Three: Cabins & Hospital
If you don't work on deck three, you can actually be unaware that we are a hospital.  There aren't announcements taking place that herald each patient entering the ship.  Surgeons rotate through, staying anywhere from 10 days to several months, and bringing with them their area of expertise.  We will have a season of orthopedic patients who spend several weeks on the ward in their casts as their newly straightened legs have a chance to heal and new bone growth to occur, a season of plastics patients, a season of VVF patients, and MaxFax and General patients combined in all throughout our time.   Eye patients come - several in a day for a surgery that lasts just minutes, and they leave the same afternoon- escorted off the ship by a family member and a nurse or day worker, wearing a protecitve eye patch in place of a cataract. Potential patients come onboard to be evaluated by surgeons, receive CT scans, Xrays, and blood work.  Simultaneously, other patients are getting dressing changes, being rounded on with their surgeons, and being discharged to home or to the Hope Center where they will await their next outpatient appointment. 

Often worship is taking place in one ward with our Hospital Chaplaincy team, a group of eight day workers and two crew members that focus on the spiritual and emotional needs of our patients and their families.  At the same time, a lady might be undergoing a repair for a fistula developed through prolonged childbirth.  Meanwhile, the lab tech is running labs on blood drawn from the 12 patients with goiters who are taking medicine and monitoring the toxicity levels, to determine if and when they will be able to have a thyroidectomy.  The pharmacist is filling 300 packets of 12 Ibuprofens for the dental team - labeling them all in French, and packaging them for the dental team to pick up in two hours. 

The Infant Feeding Specialist is training moms and dads on the best way to plump up their babies so they'll be fit for surgery. The Supply Manager is restocking and ordering bedpans, syringes, sutures, adult diapers, and iv tubing that must be shipped from overseas, weeks or months in advance.  The Bio-med technician is fixing an anesthesia machine, and waiting on parts for the CT scanner, as he is paged about another machine that needs immediate attention.  The plumber has also been called to the forward office where the ice maker line has sprung a leak and now the carpet is drenched and the fiberboard cabinet is in need of repair or replacement. 

The Mercy Ministries coordinator is busy preparing her magical Mary Poppins bag full of all the goodies and supplies necessary for the next team to head out to a school, orphanage, hospital or day care center to entertain, craft with and love on the people there. 

Decisions are being made in a management meeting about which surgeries will be offered in the next field service, and what changes need to be made this spring to meet the patients' needs and the crews' needs in the best way.  This might involve a conference call to Switzerland (International Mercy Ships' Headquarters) and Texas (International Operations Center of Mercy Ships). 

In between this hustle and bustle, you have about 120 nurses living - six to a room - some of whom have worked from 10:00pm to 7:00am, and are now trying to sleep while life continues at the speed of chaos around them.

The printer is jammed, the patient scheduled for admission today isn't here (or has malaria) and we need to find another patient from the waitlist to fill the slot tomorrow.  The laundry and hospital housekeeping is working around the clock to keep the sheets and gowns and rags and floors and walls clean from the fluids of a hospital: I won't elaborate - you can envision this enough.

Ibrahim (patient) checking the heart rate of a nurse

some physical therapy taking place for an orthopedic patient in the hallway, with the help of a translator

the OR sterilizing department working on keeping the instruments ready for use

a baby in the Infant Feeding program

surgery in action

Deck Four: Sleeping Quarters
Rather an uneventful floor  - here live singles, couples, and couples with babies.  No offices on this deck.  No patients (or even unaccompanied children) allowed so during the day it's quite calm.  During the evenings it resembles a college dorm floor at times. 

Deck Five: Main level - the town square.  Here is where you enter the ship.  Here are the main offices for several of our departments (Stewards, Managing Director, Transportation, Human Resources, Finance, Hospitality, Sales, Operations Director, Purser, and Communications).  Here is where you would find our dining room, our cafe area, our library, ship shop, post office, bank, hair salon, office supplies.  This sort of the "main floor."

not all guests are greeted by the captain, nor do all guests look like this!  But, we all come through this door. This was a special Partners' Reception.



communications office getting a good cleaning from our crew services team



ship shop goodies being restocked

main cafe/Starbucks area - this is a gathering after our Thursday night meeting

Deck Six: School and more:  Deck six is where you'll find our cabin.  Also our International Lounge- home of our all crew gatherings, church services, special events (like the Nutcracker or Film Festival) and exercise classes take place here.  I am sitting in deck six currently in our Internet Cafe where we have 18 computers for crew use.  Laundry facilities, the galley (for all the food preparation) and the crew galley (if you want to make something different for your own use) are located here in addition to the Academy.  Our school has nearly 50 students from nursery to grade 12.  These kids are blessed to have an awesome advocate in Texas who spends his time raising funds and donations so we don't see "program cuts."  The students have music, P.E., drama, French, art and Bible classes regularly in addition to the core scholastic programs.  This is an amazing part of Mercy Ships, that is a hidden gem tucked away onboard.


International Lounge



midships/cafe area

school!

sometimes people even work OUTSIDE deck six, like this deck worker, who is painting the exterior of our home.

 

Deck Seven:  Deck Department:  In addition to other cabins, more classrooms, and a couple of meeting areas, deck seven is home to our Captain and our officers that make all the technical and maritime decisions about our home - which happens to be a ship.  We are registered under the nation of Malta and though we aren't constantly sailing the deep blue seas, it is still a full-time job to maintain, test, certify, drill, and update our processes, our vessel, and our crew. 

The bridge is on deck seven, where the Captain navigates when we are on the move, and visits are allowed (with prior permission).  Deck seven also has some outdoor areas where the doors open and you can be enveloped by the warm, moist air of Africa (and escape the chilly air conditioning of decks two-seven).  This is where the Academy kids can play, and also the patients come to be reaffirmed that we are still in Guinea - the sea is still right outside, and the sun still does shine.

Deck Eight: Work & Play:  For those with children on the ship, deck eight represents play time- put on your rollerblades, get out your scooter, or sit your bootie on a Big Wheel and use some energy.  Maybe you'll walk laps with a friend while your kids blow off some steam their own way.  There is also a wooden play structure with jungle gym, slide, and monkey bars. 

The work side of deck eight is just as crucial for all of our well beings as the crane loads and offloads containers of goods, dumpsters of trash, and when preparing to arrive or depart a port, even Land Rovers. 


a side view of decks seven and eight


Deck Eight & Half: Play for the crew:  Up the step metal steps in the middle of deck eight you find a little hiatus, a generous and much appreciated gift from from the Mercy Ships Swiss Office:  a swimming pool.  It's not huge, but it does the trick of providing a little oasis where you can escape from deck ____ (you fill in the blank with what applies to you) and regroup.  Sometimes it's a rowdy area with kids (and dads) cannonballing, yet moments later it could transform into the Land of Nod with volunteers strewn about on lounge chairs like limp noodles, lulled to sleep by the tunes streaming through their earbuds.  

during the week we host a few swim lessons too

And in the midst of all this craziness there are lives being changed:

• Someone seeing themselves in a mirror for the first time in years without only seeing shame and despair. 
• God stretching a person to do what he didn't believe himself possible generous beyond what he thought he could give, forgive what she hadn't been able to, or see what had been veiled before. 
• Friendships being made across cultures, languages, and backgrounds.
• Physical transformations that restore hope, love, and even faith.

This is our crazy yet beautiful home.

A Wedding Like No Other

 Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of one of our day workers that works in the Hospital Chaplaincy department - counseling and praying for patients and family members through their time with Mercy Ships.  This department has the responsibility of being there to break bad news (when we are unable to operate, when the tumors are malignant, when their blood tests come back with results that don't provide options on the ship) but also to comfort, rejoice and lift up all those other types of moments - the ones where vision is restored, when the casts are taken off and the straight legs are seen for the first time, and when a new life experiences the unconditional love of Jesus for the first time. 

Marc invited us to be his V.I.P. guests at the wedding.  Dan had a prior commitment (involving some fishing line, a boat, and an ambassador), but I accepted the invitation gladly.

Three other Mercy Shippers at the church sign

Over 20 guests from Mercy Ships attended the wedding.  The invitation stated that wedding would start at 10:00am.  A mutual friend and dayworker, Dissibardy, had asked me earlier in the week if I wanted to have something made with the wedding fabric.  I have mentioned before (see Birthday Dance Party blog from last June) that this is a common occurence at special events in West Africa.  The organizer acquires a large amount of material and those who want can purchase the yardage they need and have something tailored for the day.  Everyone has a different style, but the fabric is the same.  In this amazing network of our 200+ day workers that lead full lives outside from the work they do with the ship, we also employed another dayworker who is a tailor to create shirts for Dan and I.  He took our measurements in the dining room one day at lunch (Tuesday it was), and would have them ready for the wedding Saturday. 

Dissibardy was going to escort me to the wedding and he told me he would bring me the shirts at 6:00am on Saturday morning and pick me up for the wedding.  I told him there was no need to arrive that early, he could come later in the morning and call me when he was at the ship.  He said, "No problem.  I will come at 7:00.  Or 8:00 or maybe 9:00."  I set the alarm for 8:30 and got ready.  Hmmmm.  What do you wear with a shirt that you have never seen and have no idea what it will look like? 

I went with the safest plan I had:  black skirt, and gold sandals.

9:00 came and went and still no sign of Dissibardy.  Had this been America I would have been a little concerned.  But, this is not America.  I continued to read my book and wait.  Around 9:30 I saw a huge group of nurses and other volunteers walking down the dock in formal attire.  I assumed they were heading to the wedding.  At this point, I contemplated joining them, but I have had many appointments with Dissibardy and I knew that he might be late, but he would come eventually.  Plus, he had my shirt to wear for the wedding.  So I kept reading.

9:45 came and went.  10:00... (the start time of the wedding, as it read on the invitation)... 10:15.... 10:30....

10:40am and I peeked out the window thinking, "Oh well!  Maybe I will finish this book today instead," but there I see Dissibardy headed toward the ship with the black plastic sack in his hand that contains Dan's and my shirt. 

I run down to the gangway to meet him and bring the bag back up to my room to see what elaborate top I will be wearing.  The fabrics and patterns are wild here - many brilliant colors and patterns unlike anything I've seen before.  Not just polka dots, stripes, checks and floral print.  Here you can get a fabric with designs of cell phones plugged into chargers, living rooms with overstuffed armchairs next to plates of cookies on side tables, or maybe chickens with eggs and baskets. 

I was envisioning an elaborate, embroidered top - maybe puffy sleeves, maybe crocheted embellishments.  But, what I pulled out of the bag was: a man's short-sleeved button down shirt.  And the pattern?  Road traffic arrows redirecting the flow from one lane to the next.  I'm not sure who chose this as the wedding fabric, but it is definitely an interesting choice! 

I still have no idea why my shirt was in the style of a men's shirt.  Did I somehow communicate this by saying that Dan and I both wanted short sleeves? Or maybe this tailor has only made men's clothing in the past:?  But for sure I was the only one at the wedding wearing a man's shirt.  :)  At this point, what could I do, but put on the shirt with my black skirt and gold sandals and we head out.

We walked to the taxi stand where I knew I stood out with my white face in a sea of ebony, so I offered to hide a bit so Dissibardy could get a regular price on a taxi (white person = quadruple the cost usually).  Our plan worked and quickly I was being beckoned by a street vendor to join my friend Dissibardy in the taxi that had stopped around the curve. We squished into a taxi that already had three people in front and two in back.  (Seven is the standard number of passengers for four door sedan here).   We drove out of the Centre ville (downtown) peninsula, past the market, past the airport and into the area of town where the church was.  We paid a little bit of the fare for the old man that got into our car near the market, because he wasn't really happy with the price (Dissibardy paid 500 guinea francs of the 4,500 franc fare -approximately seven cents out of the $0.63 fare). We arrived at the town of the church, and then walked along a mud/rock path between neighbors hanging up their laundry and sweeping their front porches.  About 1/3 of a mile up the road we arrived at the church.  It was now around 11:30 and there were people there, but the church was maybe only one fourth full.

me in my wedding attire when we arrived at the church!

The satin ribbons adorning the front of the church. 

The choir started things off at about 12:00.

Now, come to find out, there would be FOUR couples getting married at this ceremony. 

This helped to explain the list of nine or 10 family names that were requesting our presence at this wedding on the invitation.  

Each couple would have their own "loveseat" at the front- a piece of satin draped over two chairs and adorned with silk flowers and Christmas ribbons. This is the way you show honor and recognition here.

The grooms were each assigned a loveseat and they sat here to worship and await their ladies.

This is our friend, Marc, who had invited us to share his special day.

After about 30 minutes of singing worship songs in French and Susu (one of the local languages here) things began for the ceremony.

Each of the four brides had her own bridal party, their own colors, dresses, and style.  Here are two of the brides below.

Another interesting feature of this wedding was that it would be bilingual.  We would have French and English for all parts of the ceremony, so we not only needed a pastor, but also an interpreter for the event. You can never be too overdressed here.  We have learned that the hard way!

 

Here are the bridesmaids for the couple we were there to support.

As they started to make their way into the church, the crowd started celebrating inside like a Super Bowl Parade.  There is no sacred area in the sanctuary where only the official photographer is allowed.  In an African wedding, anyone with a camera (or cell phone, or yes, even iPad) is allowed to stock the couple like a vulture waiting for fresh kill.  The crowd went wild - the cameras were flashing and the yelling was hysterical.

Even though the grooms had already been inside at the front of the church worshipping, they also had gone outside again and made their way up the aisle.

Next it was the ladies' turn.  The processional just kept coming and coming of bride, followed by her bridesmaids, flower girls, and then the next bride.

and the next.

And my favorite feature of the day was the fake snow in a can that was sprayed at whim when the bridesmaids felt like celebrating some more!  They were flocking the bride and groom periodically throughout the entire service.

Here's the lucky lady for our friend.

And the happy couple.

And here is the third couple of the event.

And the fourth.

Here is my view of the wedding - as we sat in the plastic lawn chairs which represent just about the finest seating that you can have.  If your church doesn't have these, you can rent plastic lawn chairs for all your special events.    I also loved the elaborate hair covers, embroidery and bright fabrics on these lovely ladies that weren't afraid to get up and dance, whoop or holler at any point in the ceremony.

The vows were spoken by the pastor, translated by the interpreter, and then each piece was repeated by all four brides (and then all four grooms) consecutively.  It was very confusing and several times the pastor cut off the fourth bride, leaving her unsure if she should say the vow (and interrupt him), or just hold her peace. 

The couples for the most part were very serious during this entire event.  Later I was told that these marriages were all arranged - if this is true, that could explain why some couples were so serious.

Check out the amazing hair designs.  That is her part! 

 

Notice the influence that the west has had on these aspects of the wedding - their veils, dresses, suits, gloves, manicured, acrylic nails.  In so many ways it looked like a wedding from at home.  I wonder what a wedding in a village here would look like.  How do you decide what pieces of your culture do you leave behind, and which pieces of a new culture do you latch on to?

A glimpse from the balcony of the sanctuary prior to the start

Marc & Kadi

Kadi repeating part of her vows.

The exchanging of the rings

A prayer before the groom can raise the veil

The first step after raising the veil is to blot away all the sweat that has accumulated in this very warm building with no fans to circulate the air.

If this is an arranged marriage, there does not seem to be any hesitation or regret here!

notice the camera in the foreground, and the man behind is taking pictures as well.  There is a continual stream of people wandering around the front of the church snapping photos at all times.

After all these steps have been completed, the pastor launched into a 45 minute sermon.  With translation, this turns into a 90 minute sermon.

I did the same as this little boy. 

As did most of our group...

After this, the wedding parties, parents, witnesses and half the church disappeared into an adjacent building to sign the marriage licenses.  This is a lengthy process.  25 minutes later we headed outside to think about getting transport to the reception, which would be held at the People's Palace (same site as Screening Day).  Here I am (in my man shirt!) with our buddy Innocent and Julie, another crew member from the eye team. 

Here I am with Dissibardy, in our wedding fabric shirts.  Dan has the same shirt waiting for him on the ship! There were about a dozen people with this pattern- some in a more orange and bright blue design, and some in this same royal blue and maroon.

While we waited for taxis, the wedding parties re-entered the sanctuary and started a dance party at the front of the church.  Dissibardy, who is from Guinea and attends this church regularly, disappeared for a good part of this dance!  Finally, we regrouped and managed to get transport to the reception.  While some jumped in taxis, Innocent found a man who had been an eye patient, who happened to have two cars (again, the disparity here is amazing sometimes!) - he drove us to his second car, and handed over keys and documents to Innocent, telling him to return the car sometime tomorrow.

Riding with Innocent was another adventure, but he did a great job keeping us safe, even if 3rd and 4th gears were hiding from him. :)

We rejoined the group at the reception in the basement of the People's Palace where the speeches, musical presentations, money dances, and explanation of the cake (made from the finest ingredients in Canada) were all a part of the program.

The bride and groom sit at the head table on this elevated platform and the guests sit around the

perimeter of the room.

Here is the cake made from the finest ingredients in Canada.  "Also, this cake represents sweetness.  So, when you partake in this cake, your relationships will get sweeter.  If you are married, your marriage will get sweeter than before.  If you are dating someone, your relationship will become even sweeter, and if you are single, then you will find someone to spend your life with." This sounded a lot like a toast before eating the cake. 

Here's another musical tribute to the couple.  Many come forward to offer some sort of contribution (musical or verbal) for the couple.

Here are the women dishing up the catered food - rice, chicken, spicy sauces all transported in thermos-type containers and large plastic buckets.  Glass bottles of soda accompanied the meal. 

And then it was time to celebrate!

All the ladies had a chance to dance in their beautiful attire - most with their hair covered as a sign of being dressed up for the occasion.

The 10:00 wedding started around 12:30 and the 2:00 reception started around 4:00 and I imagine didn't finish until after 8:00pm.  We left a bit early after giving our regards to the couple. 

We pray for a strong and healthy marriage for Marc & Kadi and the other three couples joined together last weekend.

photo credits to: Dissibardy and to Bram & Tineke for these great shots!