I can't believe I did that!

This past weekend I went on an absolutely breathtaking adventure. I think the easiest way to convey it would be straight from my journal entry Sunday.

I just arrived back to the ship from Kindia. Definitely was the most amazing adventure ever!! 

We left Friday after our day shifts (total of 18 of us). The first objective was to catch the public bus to Medina, a nearby area of Conakry. After a short ride with at least fifty other people we arrived. Immediately you are surrounded by people calling out "Kindia, Kindia". It is up to you to find the best deal, because everything is negotiable. It took at least an hour of arguing with a guy before we were off on our adventure.

Along the way we came upon a girl, probably about eight years old holding a dead animal. Honestly I have no idea what it was. It looked like a beaver with a rat like tail. Anyway she saw us looking at her so she walked up to the car's window. When she got right in front of me she swung it at me and then ran away giggling. As you can imagine this elicited a small gasp from me haha. The end result was blood splattered on my window and a crazy African story for me! After four hours of police checkpoints and dodging humongous potholes we arrived at our hotel. Hot showers, clean sheets, full size beds ... Oh it was glorious! 

 



Look how huge the bed is, complete with an African princess net ;)



We awakened the next morning and planned our adventure over the breakfast of bread and tea. We decided we wanted to find the "banana village". Legend has it that Kindia is known for it's bananas and there is a certain village only accessible by foot that has great bananas. (Sidenote: Hiking is not a pastime here, crazy white people) We went out and bought some bread and laughing cow cheese for lunch sandwiches. We really had our hearts set on some avocados, but none to be found. After a short taxi ride we arrived at the base of the mountains.



The hike begins



As we were walking toward the mountain a guy approached us and asked if we wanted to go to the village. We said yes but we will find it. We knew he would want boku money. He pretty much laughed in our faces. White man find the village by himself, haha! With a "Merci boku" we set off walking but he stayed with us all along the way. We eventually arrived at a plateau between two mountains. It was a beautiful view of the town of Kindia.

View from the plateau

We had been told the the banana village was just a walk down the other side. Nope, we followed our new African friend as he continued up the mountain. Honestly I thought one of two things was going to happen, either my legs or lungs would stop working. Luckily my hiking buddies were gracious enough to allow many breaks.

 

The best break was had on a rock percariously perched on the side of the mountain.

After about a three hour total hike we came upon some children sitting beneath a tree. They offered us some fruit. I still have no idea what it was. It had a hard outer shell and fleshy moist seeds beneath that you just stick in your mouth and suck on. It was actually pretty tasty.

 

Mystery fruit

 A short distance on we found the banana village. It does exist! We walked into the village to a cheer of "Fotay, Fotay" (white man) from all the children. Our African guide led us to one of the little huts that we soon found out was his house. A few moments later we are introduced to his family.



Legit African huts



His mother goes back inside and comes out with an arm full of avocados as a gift! We decided to share our feast with our new friends.

Yum

It was one of those moments you just want to remember forever. There I was sitting in a remote village, eating with an African family while children play football down the hill. Priceless! It was one of those moments that I felt overwhelmingly blessed that God allowed me to come to Africa. After a small football game and a dance party we were off again.

Football game. Prithvi didn't stand a chance against them!



African dancing lesson from our tiny teachers



We walked a small distance and found them .... The bananas! No lie, best bananas of my life. I'm ruined, I've had fruit straight from the source. Kroger or Publix will never suffice!

This is my bunkmate Trudi. The best banana of your life causes uncontainable happiness!

 By now it was late afternoon, time to go home. We said our goodbyes and literally walked down the side of the mountain! Oh what an amazing blessed life I live! I can't believe I did that!

Plastics ... eek!

Plastics! Oh how that scares me. Taking scarred skin and rearranging and/or replacing it with new skin. Just the thought of it and the extensive dressings makes me a little nervous. Luckily this outreach we have a team of amazing nurses that have volunteered to do all the plastic dressings. Whew!

Danielle, June, Amy and Karin ... our amazing dressing team!

Ok, so yeah that was a little vague. Let me tell you a little about plastics. The majority of our plastic patients are having contracture releases secondary to burns. A contracture is when the normally stretchy (elastic) tissues are replaced by nonstretchy (inelastic) fiber-like tissue. This makes it hard to stretch the area and prevents normal movement.They acquire contractures after they are burned and the wound is not properly care for.  The body is an amazing healer, but when you place two fresh wounds up against each other. Say for example your chin and your neck/upper chest. The two will stick together making one scab. Eventually your chin will be attached to your neck. I know this sounds like an extreme case. But this is exactly what happened to Tia (name changed). When she was just a few days old, there was an accident. A oil lamp was accidentally knocked over, splashing hot oil all over her lower face, chest and one of her hands. This would have been a big emergency back in the states, we would have immediately sent her to a specialized burn unit. But there are no specialized places here. She was lucky to even been taken to a hospital. Age is kind of questionable here, I'd say she is late twenites/early thirties (at the most). She has lived with her chin attached to her neck/upper chest all of her life.
Then she came to Mercy Ships. I remember the first day she came on the ward. When you see it for the first time, there is a little shock factor. I mean I see things you would never, ever see in the Western world. But then you look into their eyes and you see the suffering and sadness. No matter what society has said about them all of their life, you have to love them. Tia had her surgery a couple of weeks ago and in the past week I have seen her bloom. Her mouth is closed for the first time in decades, the immediate transformation is amazing. She has photos of her family that she loves to show off and her face lights up everytime. The other day I was walking down the hall and I found her and two of the other female patients dancing in the stairwell. And she laughed and laughed when I caught them. So what do I do? Of course I join, I'm not going to miss a dance party!
Tia is continuing to heal. She has had some issues with infection. So please pray for her continued healing both physically and emotionally.


Tia continuously has a bulky neck dressing (I have no idea what it looks like beneath). Whenever it comes off it will be like a wonderful suprise ... Surprise a neck! Tia is here with one of our great dayworkers, a fellow charge nurse Bethany and some really adorable little boys :)



Snuggled close to my heart

I went to visit Kadi on Easter Sunday and she is doing quite well. I was sitting at the foot of her bed and after being held down by her nurse to clean her mouth she slowly inched her way to the end of the bed. Slowly she looked at me and held out her hands. I picked her up and placed her on my lap. She immediately snuggled her head against my chest and closed her eyes. I wish I could express the emotion I felt at that moment. I almost cried! Then her papa said "Oh Ali." Another nurse's name, he can call me whatever name he wants. As long as I get my Kadi snuggles haha! Though she has a long road before her, Kadi is doing well.



Kadi & her Papa