I wasn’t very certain about how the pre-screening was supposed to be until we started screening. when i looked at the line i saw a HUGE NEED. The need was very great to the point that the patients were struggling and could do anything to be seen by the screening nurses.
Then it came to me that AFRICA as a whole has a HUGE NEED for health care. I didn’t only witnessed it but it was a live experience because patients came to me to be screened and all i could see in their eyes was hopelessness, desperation to be HELPED. And being an African to me it was very heart breaking knowing that these patients had to wait for long hours to be seen by one of the screening nurses in my team.
We started screening at 9:30am– 18:00pm and at the end of the day we screened a total of more than 6000 patients! I guess some will ask how this was possible or if its true? Myself i couldn’t imagine that we could do that but the truth is we did!
Every nurse had a 15 minutes lunch break while the other nurses continued screening. Meanwhile some other crew members helped in security, some help to escort the patients and some helped to maintain order as the patients were been screened one after another. And i could see how people were moved by compassion to serve.
It is true were screened more than 6000 patients but we didn’t say YES to all the patients because the ship is a hospital which treats specific disease conditions unlike other local hospitals were patients get consulted for different disease conditions and get treated according to their complaints.
The first 10 patients i screened were NO’s. This was very hard for me knowing that these patients have been waiting for very long hours and they had in mind that they will receive help which was not the case and so i could see an expression of disappointment on their faces as they walked away.
But we could also say YES to so many patients according to Mercy ships scope of practice and gave them appointments to come for further evaluation which begins tomorrow.
One thing i realized was that at one point in my life i have complained several times because of some things i didn’t have. But yesterday i noticed all those things were just WANTS it wasn’t really a NEED. A want is the desire to have something you don’t really need meanwhile a Need is necessity required for one’s survival.
I would like us to reflect on those things that we think they are important to us meanwhile they are not needs but simply wants. I can tell you what i experienced yesterday was a need for Help not a want.
So be thankful for who you are and what you have because the truth is your life is another person’s.
christel's ship journey 