A Place to Hope: The Hope Center

Hope.  It is a crisp helium balloon being filled.  Beautiful.  Ready to begin on something new.  On the heels of setting out for a brand-new glorious journey.  Hope isn't about the present, but it's that breathe of expectation for the future.

The Hope Center is a place for our patients and their caregivers to be infused with this height-soaring helium.  Where they get refilled and equipped to begin this new journey.

When patients travel from many hundreds of kilometers away, sometimes they arrive earlier than their admission date to the ship.  (Travel by land in Africa is unpredictable, treacherous, and full of surprises).  When this happens, our patients are housed (for free) at our Hope Center.  When patients are released from the hospital but still need dressing changes or physical therapy appointments and live further than an hour or two from the ship, they are sent to the Hope Center to continue their stay with us.

For some this is a couple of days until they are healed enough to receive their Final Discharge and they are released to go home.  For others, this could be months. 

While boredom in Africa is a relatively foreign concept, it can mean lots of long days just "hanging out." 

Here in Guinea, our Hope Center was created out of a dilapidated wing of one of the largest hospitals in Conakry.  Our Off-Ships team worked around the clock for a couple of months to reconstruct and make this a place of beauty, a place of refuge and rest for up to 60 patients.  When Mercy Ships leaves at the end of this field service, the hospital will receive this renovated wing as a place where they can continue to care for the people of Guinea.

We have a team of 22 dayworkers who rotate between early, mid and night shifts to staff the Hope Center around the clock- 24/7, 365 and shuttle the patients back and forth to the ship for their appointments.  We have crew members who help oversee the Hope Center - managing personal conflicts, making sure everyone is safe, healthy, and being cared for in a way that reflects Christ's love. 

And of course we visit!  The patients create great bonds with many of the crew members- especially those in the nursing field who have been able to work side by side with these patients and watch their transfomations taking place day by day.  But there are also opportunities for all crew to visit, and I am so blessed to be a part of this.

Mercy Ministries is a way to connect with the local community and serve those that are doing work in Guinea.  There are orphanage visits, baby rescue centers, pediatric ward visits, schools, prisons, and Jesus Films.  And twice a week we organize groups to head to the Hope Center for a time of stories, songs, crafts and games. 

It is amazing to see the eyes sparkling of those who just days or weeks before arrived with fear and shame smothering their spirits.  The chance to hope - the chance to dream of a life that looks different - has filled their airtanks with helium and they are ready to soar: some of them for the first time in their lives.

Lamarana when she arrived

Lamarana post surgery

Maybe that's what I love about it - it reminds me that no one is beyond having the chance to hope again.  Maybe I haven't suffered from a flesh-eating disease that has taken my nose or half of my face.  Maybe a tumor hasn't grown to the size of a cantaloupe that obstructs my airway and becomes the only thing people see about me. 

Our lovely Hasanatou

But I have suffered the same sort of despair internally.  At times my heart has been ravaged by a flesh-eating disease of self-protection that has turned it to stone and prevented me from loving authentically and deeply.  Sometimes something swells inside preventing me from speaking words of life and affirmation and the only words that can eek out are those of criticism and negativity.  Other times I shroud my face and refuse to reveal my struggles, my pain, my faults, my frailty. 

There is freedom that comes with the chance to hope again. Whether it is waiting for a surgery that could change you so drastically that people see you in a new light, or the chance to dream again, hope abounds at the Hope Center.

Holiday Customs from Around the World

When you are living onboard a ship filled with nearly 400 crewmembers from up to 40 different nationalities, what "Christmas" looks like to you might not represent what it looks like to ANYONE else, let alone EVERYONE else.  So, we set aside our expectations of Christmas at home and we embrace a Mercy Ships Christmas, one that tries to incorporate a bit of everyone's home culture and traditions.

Here have been a few of the highlights:

Sinterklaas - the Dutch celebrate this, on St. Nicholas' Eve & St. Nicholas Day (Dec 5th & 6th).  The Dutchies on board set out their shoes in the hallway that night and they blessed each other with treats - chocolate covered gingery snap type cookies, spiced cookies, anise flavored cookies and hard salty black licorice candies (definitely an acquired taste!).  They also leave carrots in shoes - not like coal as a punishment, but to feed the horse of St. Nicholas. Dutchies commonly exchange gifts on this day, but not so frequently on Christmas.  As the Dutch community onboard the ship is the THIRD most populous nationality (and maybe the most proud and vocal about their heritage!), we had a big celebration this year - complete with our very own Sinterklaas arriving with his Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) helpers - similar to Santa's elves, that cause a bit of mischief and clowning around - and bringing presents to EACH of the children in grade five and under!  Thank you, Sinterklaas!



Savannah's gift was a knitting doll!

Santa Lucia is a tradition familiar to me, growing up in a Swedish Covenant church that celebrated this every year.  Again, the Swedes have made this holiday quite significant in their culture, even though Santa Lucia was an Italian young lady who was either a martyr, refusing to renounce her Christianity despite being set on fire and stabbed through the throat. Another story says that she was helping the Christians who were hiding in the catacombs for fear of punishment from Roman Emperor Diocletian, and she needed her hands free to carry supplies so she lit candles on her heads. Regardless, as holidays do, the story behind it and the reason it is celebrated has morphed into a celebration in the deepest, darkest parts of northern Scandinavia of light and beauty.

Our community gathered following a Thursday night meeting for the arriving Lucia who came with REAL lit candles on her head, sweetly singing the Santa Lucia song.  The Lucias were followed by many starboys and some tomte who brought Swedish saffron rolls to all.

The first Nigerian starboy I have seen! :)  I love international community living!

Maybe this day falls more along the American traditions - cookie bake!  Thanks to the resources of a big galley and multiple ovens, this event becomes rather simple.  We purchase kilos of cookie dough which the galley prepares for us - we roll, sprinkle, cut and label, and run the trays back to the galley to be cooked.  10 minutes later the trays return ready to be decorated.  This is fun for young and old!

Winter Wonderland is a ship tradition that is celebrated the first Saturday in December.  it is an opportunity for those creative folk on the ship to sell their wares - cards, jewelry, knit puppets, fudge, waffle cones, chai tea, and ornaments flood the common area and people can complete their Christmas shopping at ease.

Carols by Candlelight was the night for the Aussies to shine - this Australian tradition dates back more than 100 years.  Gathering together in a park for a picnic for the day (yes, Australia is in the middle of the summer for Christmas - so sandwiches, strawberries, and crackers and cheese are common Christmas picnic items!), then sing carols together (you guessed it) by candleight when the sun goes down.  We celebrated this tradition yesterday with a barbecue on the dock for dinner, and then when the sun went down had some carols, a visit by the "Wiggles" and even an African Santa!  The real candles were a treat as we don't get to usually light any flame on the ship - and no children were burned, which was even better!  We did stamp out the paper cup that caught on fire in the hands of a 1st grader, and our fire team was standing by with an extinguisher in case things got out of hand! 

The Aussies were in charge, and getting excited!

the junior and senior high were the Advent candle lighters this week

As the sun set, the tone changed outside and we prepared for singing

An Australian, American and two Dutchies made up our group of Wiggles, leading a dancy rendition of Jingle Bells for the kids

And a special visit from a Santa who brought present to all the kids!

Acapella men's choir performed two songs

Tonight we will have a traditional Christmas Eve service to round out the events.  Life goes on as normal outside- patients continue to heal in the hospital downstairs and we remember to reflect on the season no matter what the temperature might be, or where we might find ourselves this year.