Something extraordinary!

In some hours hours to come we will be having a big pre-Screening here in Guinea Conakry where i am right now. It will be starting at 06:30AM till 18:00PM ( 20-08-18)

On the ship we have many departments but i will focus on the department where i work which is Screening!

Our job ( Screening Team) is to select potential Mercy ships patients that is Patients that belongs to Mercy ships scope of practice.

We are 11  nurses involved in the screening all coming from different nations and i am privileged to be the only African nurse on-board.

My job is extraordinary because we are the first to see the patients and so we represent the ship.

The first contact with a patient is always important as it contributes to part of the healing process for the patient.

My responsibility together with the team is also to make decisions whenever we see patients as we determine whether or not its a patient for Mercy ships.

In some hours from we will be conducting the pre-Screening, We are expecting about 5000 patients but we have to select the patients needed for surgery by the ship and its limited as we can’t offer surgery to 5000 patients in 10 months.

In Africa the need for proper Health care is Huge as i wittiness this in my own country Cameroon where the ship was for 10 months before sailing to Guinea.  The 10 months was still not enough to see all the patients as some patients were coming at the end of the field service when the ship was about leaving.

And this is when our job becomes difficult as we get to say NO to some patients and Yes to other depending on the conditions they are presenting with and Saying No to a patient who Knows surgery on the ship is free with the limited Health Care Facility in  Africa is  very Heart breaking because most of these patients conditions Became worse simply because of lack of finances and lack of proper Health Care.

Also, moved by all of these i decided to join the ship and serve as a volunteer nurse to render help to other patients in other African countries as it was in country.

But the positive part of my job is getting to say yes to a patient then after which the patient have been seen by the surgeon and approved for surgery, that patients life changes authomatically

Then you have that satisfaction in you seeing that you made the right decision and someone’s life is changes with surgery because of the wise decisions you made!!

That is the best feeling ever!! seeing the patient i said yes to accepted for surgery .

If someone had told me i will be part of this great vision and doing this job i wouldn’t had believed but the truth is i am. and its a privilege for me to serve others.

I ask that you pray for the entire Screening team that God grants us wisdom to make wise decisions as we see all the  patients tomorrow.

As we continue in this journey, i will show you videos and pictures made by the communications department of the ship of some patients and surgery done