I has the privilege to attend one of Dr. Garry’s presentation about Maxilofacial surgeries and one of the things he said which draw my attention was when he made this comment

” The goal of the surgeries we do is to ensure that these patients finally have their place on the table with the reason being that these patients were once rejected and when they receive surgery, their lives changes and once rejected but now accepted”.

Today we visited and orphanage here in Guinea Conakry called The village of hope. It was so amazing seeing this children and having to spend time with them. we shared bible stories with them, played, and had lunch together.

While i was there i reflected on these words ” Everyone deserves a place on the table”

When i was younger,  I envied some of my friends whose parents were rich and i asked God questions of why i was born in a poor and more still polygamous family.  But even at that there have never been a day that God didn’t provide for my family. Then as i grew older, i noticed that there are other people facing more challenges than myself. And it was then that my way of thinking changed!!

Working on the ship for several months now have opened my eyes to understanding those things i couldn’t understand before and make me realize that the worst thing that could ever happen to somebody is being rejected by those who are suppose to show you love.

As a result that person is separated from everyone else and have to face the whole world by himself.
Showing love and taking care of these patients who have been rejected by the ones who were suppose to love them is what i do on the ship everyday and i get to meet these patients!!

Today i learned that whoever or whatever or wherever you are just give thanks to God because the situation your’e complaining about is what someone else needs to survive.

EVERYONE DESERVES A PLACE ON THE TABLE!!

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As you all know, the word thank you is used whenever someone has done something for you and you’re feeling so grateful about it.

A lot of people say thank you for several reasons;

• some say thanks whenever someone offers something nice to them.
• some say thanks when someone offers them food or even help them lift a load.

According to me, saying than k you is simply a way to show appreciation to someone for that which he has done or expressing your gratitude towards a good action made on your behalf.

Thank you is what i get everyday from the patients as i look after them making sure they are well and fit for surgery.

Knowing i don’t get paid for the job i do but just hearing them say thank you after i have finished interacting with them at the end of the day is just very satisfying!! And for me it simply means” I can’t pay you back for what you’ve done”.

Here is a short video about saying thank you!

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Today was amazing!! As i was screening the patients at the dock in guinea Conakry, while working i thought about the real definition of love and discovered that everyone have a different point of view as far as love is concern.

According the scripture in John 3:16 ” For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life”

To some, love is;

• Having someone who cares for you
• having someone who is always there for you or……………

having a life companion.  but as for me, love is the fact that I left my country,  came on the ship as a volunteer nurse knowing that I won’t get paid but still  made the decision to sail to other African countries and be a contribution to someone’s happiness leaving behind my entire family, friends and love ones!. The video bellow will give you  another definition of what love and how we can best show love…..

Hope you did liked it. please feel free to drop a comment, like and share!

And according to you, What is love?

This is just an overview of what happened in Cameroon while mercy ships was there!

Now we are in Guinea for another life transformation experience for the patients! We’ve started already. Today, i saw one of the patient’s with a broad smile who’s life has been changed with surgery on the dock while I was going to have dinner.

And this is just the beginning!

This week has been very busy as we had to see more patients in the screening team. In the screening team, every day there’s a nurse is designated to be in charge of the day i.e she makes sure that she runs everything on that day and ensures all patients are seen on that day no matter the number.

And guess what! this Wednesday and Thursday i happen to be the charge nurse. we were running the Goiters; which means all patients suffering of Goiters came on these days and we had to assess them, draw labs and make sure they are healthy enough for the next screening process.

Someone will ask, what a Goiter is? A Goiter is an enlarged  thyroid gland that causes the neck to swell. It is often painless but may cough the patient to have a chocking sensation while sleeping and also lead to breathing difficulties thus obstructing the patient’s airway especially when it become very enlarge as the image of the patient you see above.

Causes: goiters occur due to a deficiency in iodine which is found in seafood and some of our table salt. or can be as a result of excess production of the thyroid hormone thus leading to a condition known as hyperthyroidism

As i was saying………………………………………………….,

It was my first time being a charge nurse and so i asked myself several questions if i will be up to the task but you know what? I noticed i was able to run the day and everything went well by the grace of God and support from my wonderful team. I had to answer to many questions from other department in the hospital and made sure that all patients are seen by the nurses.

Thursday was also another day!! The day was very calm until there came this strong wind, it was so strong to the point that the patients where not safe outside and so we had to bring them into the tent, keep them safe and warm until the wind and rain was over.

At the end of the day, we were able to see all our patients, schedule them for their next screening appointment then send them home. We equally finished 30 minutes before dinner time!

This week i learned that you will never know that you’ve got the ability to do things until situations presents before you, making you come out of your comfort zone and making you discover more about yourself.

ONCE AGAIN,I CAME OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE!!

Thanks again for your lovely comments and words of encouragements.

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My ship journey is not only about work but also God’s own way of teaching me how to live in a community. From the day i decided to join the ship i made a lot of sacrifices.  One of which was the big decision of leaving my entire family and love ones to join this vessel which was the greatest of all decisions knowing that i will be away from family for long.

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I never understood what it meant to be surrounded by family until the day we left Cameroon. I remember how i cried while the ship was leaving and had to face this other world full of many people coming from different countries all over the world with different cultural Values and Noms.

I had to accept it and face the challenges and the responsibilities ahead several times in my closet i cried asking myself questions if i made the right decision but you know whenever GOD orders the steps of someone, HE ensures to give you peace even in times of Trials and Challenges and makes you overcome all.

Another decision was signing to serve as a volunteer nurse knowing that i wont get paid instead  i had to pay to live on the ship. I remember i shared this with family and some  friends but it was foolishness in their ears. Many even tried to discourage me but i am grateful that at the end i had the strong support of my family and some friends who understood that God is involved in this.

The truth is this was the first time i had to leave my family and country all by myself. Also, i had to say goodbye to many friends and and so many things i loved doing in my local church like leading the choir, and others.

In the ship, i also had to accept the fact that people will come and leave and i equally had to say goodbye to friends who are so dear to me.

 

So far i have met a lot  of people who have imparted my life in several ways. And we have had special moments like this; some have even become my sisters and brothers from other parents.

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A friend told me” Christel be patient and fix your eyes on God because whenever He is with you

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can never be Frustrated.

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Sometimes i ponder on the wonderful deeds of God and laugh not because its funny but simply because its Amazing! I have been talking about my team for a while now.

This is my team!Together we screen patients and make sure they are candidates for surgery. Its such a privilege for me working with these guys. We all left our Countries and families to work on the ship as Volunteer nurses and we are doing this with all our hearts because its a privilege to serve others.

Its also a privilege to be in good health! As we sail from one African country to another it gives me joy to see how lives are being transformed, hope is being restored, those who have been forgotten and rejected and now accepted. YES i am indeed Grateful!

Today, as i was assessing some patients all i could see is hope being restored and joy to know that they are few steps to receiving free surgery.

A patient who was under my care once told me” My Daughter thank you for taking good care of me i pray that God bless you and take you to places because you have a kind heart” I laughed because by then i was still in my country not knowing the good plans that God had towards me but today i see the results.

Nothing is more satisfying than seeing someone in pain getting out of it or a sick person getting well or someone looking at you with a sincere heart and say thank you!

People ask me why i like smiling or laughing, Its simply because i love what i do and i get fulfilled seeing people happy.

 

Valerie was one of the patients i saw in Cameroon with a large Salivary gland tumor that has been growing for years and at a point she accepted it as part of her but i was amazed at how God was so faithful in keeping her until the ship came. What a privilege for me being able to witness her life transformed. Seeing her smile can only make me smile more.

Grateful Heart!

As i promised last time about sharing some pictures with you reading my blog now

Here are some pictures of the pre-screening, just to show you how HUGE the need was. Also we screened 6000 patients on that day.

Thanks be to God who has been faithful to us and thanks to everyone who prayed for us all over the world.

when i looked at the line on that day i asked myself , when is this going to end?

It was such a privilege to see all these patients and all the patients we said YES to we are now evaluating them and getting to know them more.

What an awesome time trying to help the people of Guinea!

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.

 

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