And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8

Another week has gone by, another week of goodbyes and hellos, another week of transition to a new scene and eventually, a new act. I’m a bit unsure where to take this update (it’s probably going to be all over the place), but hopefully it still is a coherent look into the week.

See ya later

So many quality people left this week. It’s the end of a three month cycle since the beginning of 2019, so a lot of people finished their short term service dates and headed home. There was one particular airport run where I knew every single person who was leaving!

Rosie was the first person I ever met from Mercy Ships! We sat together on the plane on the way from Paris to Conakry. She was my foot in the door to the rehab team. She’s found a job even before leaving the ship doing a lot of the same stuff she did while she was in Guam (early developmental intervention).

Mike (housekeeper turned FSO) and Laurie (ward nurse) are a couple from NoRTh CarOLiNA (I think just outside Winston) and we got to stick both of them for blood bags!! When Laurie got called in to donate Mike was so eager to support her and take photos he came to the lab and was super sad to find out she had donated super fast and was already back out and at work! So he settled for taking a photo with her blood bag and then being super eager to donate. He eventually got selected to donate right before they left! So exciting. His blood is still on the shelf, but Laurie’s got used like the next day or something… Soon™

The Miller sisters (Maggie on the left and Allie on the right) are from O-HI-O! Maggie worked in hospitality and Allie worked in rehab (SO MANY REHAB PEEPS </3). Maggie is going to study being a nurse after her time on board! Allie’s served before (believe it or not this youthful lady is 13 years older than her sister), and I think this time around it was a great opportunity for Maggie to be exposed to the ship’s mission and see a lot of medical work in action. They’re such sweet people, I definitely want to go visit them in Ohio sometime and see their farm!!!!!

Milan (aka Milo) was our ship’s captain—the youngest to date! He was always walking around the ship and getting to know people which was really awesome. I also got to stick him for blood but his blood was so thick he didn’t finish bleeding in the time limit womp womp. It was really nice though to have a captain who was just always mingling and participating in events.

That’s the end of that airport run. Kari, my roommate, also left last week and we got a new one named Mary (more on her later). Kari left us a note which partially read, “have a good life and if I don’t see you in this life, see you in Heaven!” Bless.

Then 5am this morning we sent off Emma (between Trancy and my head). She’s also from the rehab team, from NZ! She’s such a bright personality and always so adventurous and loves trying out new things. She also is so in tune with your feelings and a really great hugger!!

A lot of the rehab team has turned over since they whole team switches out around the same time. I’ve already met a a few of their replacements and it’s been a good time doing what I can to welcome them to the ship.

Colleen also flew away back to the US. The lab is now back to 4 people. :( Those two weeks flew by but it was really cool to meet and see the hands that work behind the scenes to support the lab! She stays in VA and only goes to Texas when she reaaaaaaally has to, because THE EAST COAST IS THE BEST PLACE EVER.

Trancy leaves tomorrow, but I’ll probably write some tearful entry about her leaving next week.

Diana’s hair

I mentioned it last week but didn’t get a shot so here it is now so you can see the cool subtle pink and green and other streaks in her hair that are super cool. She’s colored it while here.

Greetings

In the cabin, we had two additions—Heather-Ann came back from PTO and BROUGHT ME 100% ORANGE JUICE FROM EUROPE

I also pretend made up her bed because of the hospitality fiasco from last week except I used all of her stuff instead to make up her bed. Complete with scribbled welcome brochure.

We also got a new cabinmate named Mary! She’s a well-loved returner and huge fan of Captain America. So before she arrived others on the ship came to decorate our cabin for her arrival.

Beautiful.

I also made friends with the family of one of the surgeons here, Dr. Sherif. His daughter Gabby drew a portrait of me on a napkin while we were in the café:

I told her she did a great job and that she should keep practicing and making drawings. Gotta encourage those young artists! She also gave me a free chocolate bar with my napkin portrait. It’s hanging up in my cabin.

We also got a new analyzer in the lab, one that we use back home! A Cepheid GeneXpert, which is a PCR instrument that was initially purchased to help us do TB screening. It only has capacity for 4 cartridges at a time (whereas the one we use back home has up to 96 cartridge capacity!), but it’s really cool to see a familiar face—erm, software. So far we haven’t had any orders, but I think we’re looking into possibly adding other tests once we get up and running and the lab does more analysis of what’s good to have available.

Unboxing!

If you see the small flat white box that Larry is holding in the first photo, it was just used to take up space for the packaging. I thought it looked like a pizza box so I used a multi-color pen to decorate it into its rightful appearance on a particularly slow day.

Also in the lab we greeted our new labbie, Kathy! Not to be confused with Kathy (oh noOooOoOOo). We have two Kathys in the lab now. New-Kathy is Kathy Rossiter (I’m still deciding if I wanna call her Ross-Boss or K-Ross or something), she’s a super brilliant labbie from down unda. Her luggage has been missing since she got here, so she’s been doing the AFM life in scrubs and items you can purchase from the ship shop. Hopefully it comes soon! Other friends who have arrived this week also had their luggage misplaced, strangely enough. Hopefully it gets located soon!!

I’ve already included this photo with Kathy in it up there in a previous section ↑ but for your convenience here it is again. K-Ross is on the far right.

Maartje leaves next week… :( BUT then we’re getting a guy named Russell who is ALSO from Australia! Male labbies are a rare breed, kind of like the mystical unicorn. 🌈 🦄 ✨ I am excited to have more Aussies join us though! I can’t wait to hear the Aussie banter eh heh heh heh.

Things related to the hospital

I got to ride the CT scanner in radiology this week (meaning lying on the bed and they just move it around). No image taking, though (no radiation)—”we’d lose our license if we did that, Jasmin.” But got some sweet pics anyways.

Ice cream on Thursday was served by the dressings team. They were all garbed up for the occasion, at least we know our ice cream was all clean . . . ?

We also had a young girl pump out this glucose result of 13 mg/dL (normal fasting glucose is ~70-100 mg/dL). She had a seizure which caused us to run the bloods on her—we’re not sure what caused her to to become so hypoglycemic. Laura tells me that it’s common in newborns when glycogen stores aren’t enough to last you very long, but this girl wasn’t that young. The mystery deepens.

In other news, the chickenpox outbreak is supposedly contained! The hospital wards and HOPE center are open for visits again! Unless you haven’t had chickenpox or its vaccine.

Outings

We managed to get off the ship a couple of times before my on-call week next week. Diana wanted Korean, so naturally WE WENT TO EAT KOREAN I love this place so much the Korean lady is so nice and beautiful and wonderful [insert hand heart].

On Saturday, the president of Guinea (!) Alpha Conde visited the port for an International Women’s Day celebration of sorts. We didn’t actually know he was visiting the port until we tried to leave for lunch on Saturday and found everything was blocked (and the rest of the port eerily empty).

Most of the women had these really cool dresses made from some maritime Guinea fabric. It was blue with a ship wheel with the Guinea flag masked by the outline of the country inside, with some ships printed around it. It was really cool! I wish I could’ve gotten some of it.

We tried to leave at the end of the event, so we managed to escape the port to lunch at a restaurant called La City that I hadn’t eaten at yet. We have two new Filipino-Kiwis on board, Monica and Zhalmaine, who naturally was included in the cohort.

Afterwards, we visited the HOPE center so Trancy could say her final farewells to her patients. I also got to see my patient friend Mariam since she’s been discharged to the HOPE center after her ward stay. It was really great to see her! We hung around for a bit before leaving, and I loved that there’s this chicken that just wanders around the HOPE center eating bugs and stuff.

When we got back, we were quite hot so we went to the pool on the deck. 2nd-grade-teacher-Lisa purchased an enormous inflatable peacock which came in the most recent container shipment, and she was testing it out on its “maiden voyage” which eventually turned into “how many people can we get on this thing without it tipping over?” The answer is five. Sorta.

Global Mercy Update

Remember the little aside I wrote about the new ship that Mercy Ships is commissioning? We got to see a cool sneak peak of how the construction is going on China. Check it out (if you want).

Other random happenings

I found that the laundry baskets on board are quite cozy and make for good place to relax while you’re having a conversation and happen to have one when you’re walking around the dining room on your way back to the laundry room

Also I entered a design for the Senegal field service shirt. The voting happens soon! Fingers crossed. The winner gets a F R E E S H I R T ! ! The thing of my university days.

African musings

My friend Kailee wrote this in her last update during her trip to Kindia. I really really really liked her writing and wanted to share it (given with permission!) Enjoy.

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Long drives

Yesterday I went for a long drive (4 hours there and 4 hours return) to a place Mercy Ship’s is working at called Kindia. Here’s some reflections of mine while driving. I was able to capture a short vide of a few of the sights – you can see it here: https://youtu.be/5n14NnDcED8

I’m writing this update from my phone on the road to Kindia. Kindia is about a 4 hour drive upcountry, and is the place Mercy Ships sponsors agricultural development and education in an effort to enhance good organic growing techniques and sus tainability. It’s special because it’s a wonderful investment into community, through the teaching of young NGO representatives who will, it is hoped, share the information and experience and help the nation reap long term benefits.

So I’m on the road. We’re in a convoy of four Mercy Ship labelled troop carriers attempting to go upcountry on a road cleaning Saturday. The concept might be novel to someone without African experience, so to explain – every last Saturday of the month all of Conakry’s roads get closed to clean the debris and Saharan dust that has accumulated that month. Today, you might realise is not the last Saturday of the month, but the ex-french-primeminister was in town last weekend, which is a reason as good as any to postpone such an event.

As the sun rises it becomes easier to see the cars and motorcycles without lights, and the landscape that is the Guinean roadside is clearer to see. I do love driving. Well – I love being driven. I love just seeing the people and views from the window. The petrol sold in beer bottles. The colourful fabrics that the women wear. The buckets and bags of wares carried on their head ready for market. The hand of mama on the top arm of their children, almost dragging them along to whatever business they’ve next to attend to. The handshakes and greetings from one mama to another. The interconnectedness of humanity and this landscape that seems to make no sense, but that somehow does.

The roadsides are burdened with rubbish. Plastic bottles and bags and wrappings. All the keep cups combined couldn’t even start to fix the rubbish here.

The buildings here are mostly a combination of concrete, wood and tin. In construction phase, a haphazard scaffolding surrounds them made of branches. The pricier places have a painted, and sometimes have a tiled facade. It’s a variety of colours – reds and yellows and greens are favourites, but everything is coated with a thick coat of red Saharan dust. The stuff just exists in the air and you stop noticing it quite quickly.

Occasionally – not often – we pass a waterway. The rivers are scarce at this time of year, and the supply is dwindling. In addition, they’re so very polluted with rubbish and waste.

Every few kilometres there is a usually cream/yellowed small tower with a bronze crescent and star atop, with a mosque attached. It’s a persistent reminder of the pervasive Muslim identity that more than 90% of Guineans share. Not many of that 90% are radical, and though most are practising, it’s so much a way of life than it is a strict belief system. An understanding of evil spirits is also very much alive, to which most of the maladies we treat on the ship are attributed to.

As we get more up country, and further from the densely populated areas, the road quality drops significantly, and navigating potholes (and vehicles coming up ahead doing the same) become the cause for delay. A careful observer might notice that potholes are especially prevalent right alongside a roadside stall. I can’t help but wonder if these holes aren’t only due to natural deterioration and wear and tear. Taxi’s pass us with baggage and people on top of them, despite their mere sedan status, and travel at speeds that don’t make sense to see the roof-dwelling passengers still on top.

At times smoke accompanies the dust. Usually it’s from rubbish piles that locals have set ablaze, but occasionally a field already picked of Ita crop is lit up to prepare for what ever will be planted next. The horizon is mostly colourless and the sky a perpetual grey. It strikes me that there isn’t much romantic about these parts of Africa. Most of it is just harsh. It’s weather, it’s landscapes, it’s living conditions; it’s people though are something else – welcoming and smiling, often laughing at small things. Perhaps they lack sentimentality but this life they life seems to leave not many other options.We left at 5.45 in an attempt to miss the roadblocks, and I think we succeeded partially. We’ve been stopped at almost every kilometre but our Mercyships status seems to be getting us through the heavily guarded police blocks at each point. We’re dodging cars going the wrong way up the road, the ever-veering taxis, already full of passengers, but stopping to pick up just a few more, as well as the countless people walking, unable to take any other form of transport. At one point we’ve also had to turn around on the highway as a truck had jack-knived on the road – not even Mercy Ship status can get us past that.

It’s interesting to say the least.

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Noma: The Face of Poverty

I received some insight into the harsh reality of poverty and disease through this week’s medical in-service provided by Dr. Gary Parker on noma, a type of ulcerating, flesh-eating polymicrobial bacterial infection that has a 90% mortality rate if left untreated. The 10% who survive are often left severely disfigured from the scarring, missing parts or all of their lips, mouth, cheek, and/or nose. It is considered a disease of poverty.

I’ve honestly been a bit hesitant to show just how severely disfigured and deformed some of the patients are from their ailments here because I don’t want to perpetuate this “poor, suffering Africa” trope that is so prevalent in the Western world. It causes a lot of people to boil their understanding of Africa down to a terrible place needing rescuing from others, when the reality is so much richer.

There is way more to Guinea than the disease and poverty, but I’m learning that if I ignore it completely it’s the same as turning a blind eye to the suffering that a lot of our patients have gone through at the hands of a disease caused by circumstances they have little or no control over. They are ostracized and outcast by their own communities, constantly in pain, both physical, mental, and emotional. I’m starting to understand and accept that the ship as an external, temporary body is in a unique position to introduce the love of God in a radical way that may be impractical to the existing communities and structures. I’m not sure if that was the best way to word it, but it’s a new thought I’ve been processing. Possibly more on that in the future.

In any case, the rest of this post will be about the talk that Gary gave on Wednesday, including some photos of the progression of Noma and the surgeries used to correct them. I think it was a really good talk about a disease I didn’t know existed until I came here, and the realities of it. It can be a very difficult truth to take in, so I don’t want to burden you unnecessarily with its graphic nature if you’re not sure you can stomach it. For those who have never been exposed to the disease and its course, it can be quite gruesome to see how aggressive it can be—the course of this disease is not like anything I have ever seen in the Western world. I’m not including it in this update for its shock factor but rather because I believe that noma (and many other afflictions treated by the ship) is a harsh reality of the health issues that the people here face. To exclude it for fear of making people uncomfortable is to be disrespectful to the truth that is their experience here and my experience learning about it.

—Jasmin

If you would like to see and read more about the noma talk that Gary gave, please keep reading. Otherwise, this is the end of the update. Go to page 2 to see the noma section.