Ships log # 3 - ANZAC day

What a week it has been !! Every surgical operation that I have been part of has been nothing like I have seen before and all have had unusual circumstances surrounding their need for surgery – for most  it is many years past the age and stage that they would routinely have been operated on and for many the condition is not usually found in western countries.  Quite fascinating and such stimulating work to be involved in – for these people of Guinea it is literally a life saver as many are suffering major eating difficulties due to their facial disease, cleft palate, or enlarged goiter.  Many have some airway obstruction and or have huge disfigurement.  One can only feel tremendous relief for them that the services of Mercy Ships have been made available to them as their home country is unable to do this.

Now I guess it was going to happen at some stage but I have officially become an OR nurse ……

- as opposed to an operating theatre nurse – and am rapidly getting an American twang to my words and having to remember different words for the same thing,  eg artery clip is a “haemostat”  !!

But an operating theatre is an operating theatre……

…and for those doubters - I am not still on holiday but am actually working !!

Best practice here also has a slightly different meaning in some aspects of practice but only to do with the limited room, supplies and disposal and processing procedures.  Fundamentally I am accepting of common practice here but you know me….. J

 Spent last night with most of the 25 NZers and Auzzis on board celebrating ANZAC day – correctly done so with pavlova - we didn’t argue over who invented it - and ANZA biscuits which they (the Auzzis) didn’t lay claim to.

(note the mango on the pav at the back of the table which is a common fruit for most meals – yum, yum)

We managed to relocate the appropriate flags from the common room ….

….and magnate them to the ship (I must say I have never heard of so many good uses for magnates) when EVERYTHING is metal  !!  eg hooks on ceilings in the OR – with no blutack or sticky tape in site J

 

                                                                   ...and for once I wasn’t the shorty in the front row.

I am away up country to a place called Kindia tomorrow overnight which is in the highlands and has some beautiful waterfalls apparently - lots of people head that way or similar just to have a break from the heat in Conakry but I am finding it mainly OK in the ship with air con.   A sun hat is essential when going ashore and you can also burn really easily, which is probably a combination of the malaria pills and the intense African sun. 

Well think that’s about it for today – need to head off to bed before 6am start tomorrow – bonsoir mon ami J

Ships log # 2

After yet another solid night’s sleep (no doubt due to either the hum of the air conditioning or the sea air) I was up according to the ships timetable to have breakfast and make my lunch (only in the wkends) and then we were off for a half hour walk to the HOPE centre for patients and their families either waiting for surgery or having had surgery.  These patients need nursing and nutritional care that could not be provided for in their home environment and they might stay there for several weeks.  I played with some of the smaller children using board games and animal dominoes. My limited French came in very useful and I was able to communicate with one six year old girl effectively and even persuaded her to let her younger brother participate as well !!  My French lesson this afternoon, however, involved finding out more animal names and revising names for colours.  But I was able to teach her numbers beyond 10 – sacre bleu !! I also interacted successfully with a 10 year old boy and we discussed what was in my backpack.  He even reminded me to close it before I walked back along the road.  How very perceptive he was and how clever of me to understand what he said J  I immensely enjoyed the morning   and we departed before their lunch was served vowing to go back next wkend.   I will endeavor to find some puzzles for them in a local shop before then as there were none at the centre and they rely on donation of equipment.  

 

This photo shows HOPE centre manager Sheryl Wells with some family members…

  

  ..and the centre is part of the Conakry main hospital building which is a sprawling construction with multiple wings and open air verandahs.

 

This photo taken of me on our return to the ship is on the dock beside the Africa Mercy with the gangplank to the right and the patient preoperative assessment tents to the left.   

There are eight decks to negotiate and I am rapidly becoming familiar with where everything is – I am also now very good at planning well in advance as one does not want go up and down the stairs too often J  But I will be very fit upon my departure I am sure.  I can’t believe how much at home I feel here ….and have had to take the role of cabin mother already !!

The days have quickly become a mixture of timetabled activities and reading, learning French, email checking (most grateful for all), blogging, swimming in the lap pool, checking what activities are coming up, putting my name down for said activities, and catching up with more new found friends.  I have already made plans for next wkend to visit some bush areas with waterfalls a few hours inland with an overnight stay.  But I must now concentrate on my first week of work which could be somewhat arduous after over 3wks since I last scrubbed up.

I would love to have more photos to put up at this point – and there have been many occasions when I would like to take some but taking them would feel like an intrusion on people’s lives.  The city is a hive of activity with children playing with small toys in the dirt, men playing soccer on a hastily made pitch which extended from one side of the pavement to the pavement on the other side of the road, mothers feeding babies sitting on wooden crates, stall holders hawking their wares, taxis tooting, loud diesel trucks being loud and issuing diesel smoke, and these are the typical street conditions …

Needless to say the 2^nd annual Guinea half marathon was still run today in 33 deg C heat and 85% humidity along these roads , police with machine guns blocking traffic at each intersection.  One of my fellow cabimates participated and did it in 2.5 hr and survived to tell the tale – I challenge my brother, Chris(of Taupo Iron Man fame), to do the same J

Well I think its bed time for me – up early tomorrow to start the reason why I intended to come here. I am so pleased to finally be here.  Also very pleased the rain has finally come to NZ – it is due here in a couple of months J

Ships log # 1

Where to start ….first impressions of Africa are of bare scorched earth and extremely meager dwellings with kids kicking a soccer ball on a bare pitch….such poverty I have only see in photos.  I am here to assist with surgery to improve the quality of lives of a lucky few people but there appears so much more that is needed to improve their lives ….and I have only had a brief glimpse of life here in Conakry during the drive from the airport to the port.

I was greeted at the airport by a very friendly local crew member and was carefully herded with 5 others off my flight from Brussels to waiting vehicles and driven directly to the ship.  But just to back track for a minute – I had a delightfully warm 24hrs prior in Brussels seeing the sights and practicing my basic French skills, and was pleasantly surprised as to how I got by with limited phrases which were said confidently and appropriately J  What fun seeing Europe again – it has been far too long but I digress…

The ship and its crew are a very friendly bunch that are constantly welcoming new people but it is genuine and I am feeling quite at home already in my 2m x 2m shared space which includes a top bunk (just knew that would happen) amongst  5  fellow cabin mates.  None of them are theatre nurses (dental assistant, preassessment nurse, lab technician, pharmacist, and occupational therapist), are from either the UK or US, are my age or half my age, but all are fabulous – I just know I am going to enjoy it here J

After a solid first night sleep I was up with the larks for breakfast served between 0630 and 0730 during the week – no slackers allowed – but served til 0900 in the weekends.  With a windowless cabin an alarm is a necessity otherwise I would happily sleep all day I am sure.  While my cabimates went off to work I filled the day with orientating myself to the essentials – library, hairdresser (already needed a haircut), swimming pool (very refreshing) and Starbucks coffee shop (yes it is essential).  By then it was time for lunch followed by my official orientation (I have never gone up and down so many stairs in one day), logging into the onboard computer system,  a look over the OR (operating theatre in plain English), and then it was time for dinner – you think its regimented around here  - well you are correct – I have my diary full with an event for everyday for the next week and have even booked a time in the laundry to do my washing in 3 days time !!  I can assure you that this is what makes this shipboard community run so smoothly and I have no complaints – I am the ultimate timetabler and love organisation – there is something to look forward to every day but still plenty of time to chill out with a good book with my I-pod plugged in.

I have not ventured off the ship but plan to do so in the morning.  Cabimate Jacqui and I are going to the HOPE (Hospital out patients enterprise) centre to see who needs assistance but more on that later …..thus my first view of Conakry form the ship…. 

… and the view to seaward….

Aurevoir til tomorrow from the Africa Mercy  J

Well the challenges have started already …… had to ditch half my belongings in Sydney after the airport weigh in scales were completely wrong !! (??)  They were at least 2kg over what they should be and absolutely no leniency to overweight cabin luggage!!  I don’t know what is the world coming to…..but better still my main suitcase was lost somewhere between Dubai and London.  Oh well never mind …. I don’t mind wearing somebody  else’s clothes… mideastern robes in Dubai and sister’s PJs in London J   Am very quickly becoming use to “less is better”  !!

During my first stop (Sydney) I was quickly rationalised into a smaller unit of living by my daughter (Clare), and it was a great spot to become accustomed to travelling away from my home turf and familiarities of life in NZ.  Second stop (Dubai) was a breath of fresh air where I explored the sights and sounds of this middle eastern country with good friend Jodie.  

Many photos of mosques and buildings (both old and new) later…

….much eating of curry and chilly…..

….deciding that being near to a camel was just as desirable as riding one….

 … that the desert could accommodate both the past and the present…

… and that it held a fascination all of its own.

…. But for those who know me very well I could not leave without buying some material – beautifully printed cotton lawn from Pakistan I believe – plus the haberdashery shops were to die for !!

Third stop (London) saw me (fortunately) navigating the underground with only a small backpack and a cabin bag (larger bag having been left in Dubai) to a welcome haven at sister Frances’ place.   Have been spending last few days exploring the local environment of Walthamstow with its century plus old terraced houses, quaint corner stores and double decker buses in abundance.

But the job of the week (til Wed anyway) is to repack for Africa and brush up on my French.  Having bought a French language phrase book in Sydney airport and “Lets learn French” CDs provided by my sister I have no excuse not to be able to “parlez une petite fransais” before arriving in Guinea.  I am surprised how much of it appears familiar after nearly 40yrs of not using that part of my brain.

So the journey begins – I am over the jet lag thanks to the homeopathic remedy provided by my mother (Felicity) – skyped family (including son Peter) for the last time for 8 weeks - and am rearing to go – can’t wait to scrub up and get used to life on board the Africa Mercy…. next blog posting on board ship…