Less than a month!

With less than a month to go before I leave Sierra Leone I am having mixed feelings. While I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family in Georgia again, I think a piece of my heart will always stay here in Africa. It hit me as I was holding a sleeping child this past week ... I won't see her grow up. I won't know the rest of her story. I have to trust in God and know that the love and care we have shown these patients will have a life-changing impact. This has definitely been a life-changing journey. To see the faith and love of God in action ... I wish everyone could experience this at least once. There is a whole world out there filled with amazing people! I am forever thankful to everyone that made this possible for me to be here. Please keep me in your prayers as I prepare to transition into the next phase of my life and moving back to the hustle and bustle of America.

The smile says it all ...




Mustapha was able to go home this week! After a long stay at the Hope Center he traveled back to his home and family. Please pray for an easy transition back home and acceptance from his village!





Aminata is doing fabulous!! This is my beautiful room-mate Claire holding the adorable princess!

Meet Alberta! She was on the ship longer than most crew members (longer than me). She had a skin graft to repair the scarring secondary to burns to her left arm and torso. This was taken at her birthday party that we threw her! She flew home to Liberia the next day!

Someone knitted Aminata some booties and a hat. How cute is she!? Love you princess!

What do you get with three surgeons?

Lots of cleft lip babies! They look like kittens with their little whiskers (steri-strips).

Aminata

Aminata is two years old , but you would never know if you looked at her. She is small for her age and developmentally delayed. When she came to Mercy Ships she was malnourished to the point of having to be put in the Intensive Care Unit. Aminata had a large mass just beneath her jaw called a cystic hygroma. This mass was so large that is was pushing up on her tongue and if left untreated probably would have eventually suffocated her. After alot of TLC and lots of food she was becoming a chubbier and happier little girl. She was sent to the Hope Center to "fatten up" and grow stronger before her surgery to remove the mass. I first met Aminata at the Hope Center about a month ago. There she was sitting on the ground while her mother sat on a bench helping the other mothers make crafts to sell. Being so adorable and no one playing with her of course I picked her up for a cuddle.
Almost two weeks ago she came to the ward to have her surgery, oh what fun we had the evening before her surgery. I would hold her and lean her back, lightly tapping her head on the matress, she would giggle and smile. The next morning she had her surgery. Though they removed the mass it was not as easy as first expected. The mass was wrapped around her trachea, therefore when she came out of surgery there was alot of edema to her neck and lower jaw. The doctors made the decision to keep her intubated and on the ventilator until the swelling went down.
Aminata is a fiesty one ... it took alot of effort and time for us to keep her well sedated so she would not injure her surgical site or accidentally pull out the tube connected to the ventilator. Her mouth and neck were so swollen that her tongue stuck out all the time and was the size of the opening of her mouth. Then on September 26, it happened. The tube going from her mouth to her lungs that is helping her breathe came out. She had to be rushed emergently to the Operating Room so they could perform a tracheostomy. Her mouth and neck were just too swollen to put the tube from her mouth back in. Luckily everything went well with that but it was still a 24 hour job to keep this little girl asleep and still. Aminata"s mother was an amazing example of faith during this time. She was continually praying and trusting that Papa God was going to perform the miracle she had been waiting for. I have to say that my ICU co-workers did an amazing job and taught me alot during this time!
I am happy to report that she is out of the ICU now and no longer on the venilator. After many sleepless nights she is sleeping all night and playful and happy during the day. Yesterday she was able to close her mouth completely and even gave me a smile! She is by far the most popular patient on the ward and has been referred to as the princess because of all the TLC and attention she gets. Hopefully tomorrow they will be able to remove the trach withou any complications. She still has a long journey ahead of her, so please keep her in your prayers. I tell Papa God tenki for the amazing miracle he is working in this beautiful little girl's life!

This is at the Hope Center, the first time I met Aminata (the baby I'm holding)

Warm Autumn Day & Red Dirt Roads

So while it is Autumn back home in Georgia, it is still hot weather here. So what should you do if you have a day off of work? Go to the beach of course! That's exactly what I did yesterday. Three friends and myself left the comfort of the ship and took the two hour journey to River Number 2. Okay, let me start from the beginning. After we walked down the gangway, which is always a feat (I really don't want to fall down the stairs). We walked through the gate that separates the shipyard from Freetown. The moment you step through this gate you are automatically on guard, you have to jump out of the way of zooming okadas (motorbikes) and make sure that you are not hit by a poda poda (taxi). Lucky for us there was a group of men outside the gate that was more than happy to help us to the beach. We jumped in the small SUV and off we went. Leaving Freetown is not easy task, there is so much traffic of not only cars, but also poda podas, okadas, wheelbarrows and not to mention the thousands of people on the street. After about an hour we made it out of the city and were on our way! We traveled down a very, very long red dirt road. The main income in this particular area is granite. After the granite is mined from the side of the mountains, it is manually hammered into smaller pieces. So all along the way I saw huge piles of granite with men, women and even children sitting atop them hammering away at their designated pieces. Every now and then we would drive past a child who just couldn't help it and would have to jump up to smile and wave. Even though it was a long journey, I absolutely loved it. Windows down, long stretches of dirt road, listening to whatever random rap or R&B the driver had. It was absolutely beautiful. Eventually we finally arrived at the beach. Rows of colorful fabric bags, dresses and wooden crafts welcomed us as we pulled in. Apparently this is one of the best places to buy souvenirs. It was an absolutely marvelous day, whether I lounged on a sandbar in the warm murky waters of the Atlantic Ocean or waded through the cool crystal clear waters of River Number 2.  After a short little Sierra Leone rainy season shower, we were off on another adventure back to the ship. What a wonderful day!

Hmm ... whatever shall I do??

So I've pondered (more like stressed)  about what my future holds. Should I go back to Georgia and work in a similar capacity, at the Medical Center on a medical ward or shall I start some new grand adventure? The answer is still unclear to me, which as you can imagine is quite frustrating. I absolutely love Mercy Ships and the community that has been created here, not only with the other crew but also with the patients. But I also feel the draw to return back to Georgia and begin a new adventure there. Hmmmm ... whatever shall I do? Thank you for your continued prayers as I seek guidance and possibly prepare to find a job and a brand new place to live!

Beauty restored

Remember my post titled "Bravery"? Meet him! He just had his second surgery and now has a nose for the first time in years. Both his scalp and tongue flaps have been released and now it is time to heal. This picture taken by one of the hospital photographers captures him seeing his new face for the first time. He looks so amazing. Not only are we bringing hope and healing back to these patients but we are restoring the beauty that was robbed from them. I have to say that this man is absolutely beautiful inside and out!