All Aboard!

My new home - the Global Mercy

Like the tortoise and the hare, I’ve spent this first month finding my pace with life onboard the Global Mercy. How do I balance getting out and about and building relationships with maintaining my energy levels, quiet time, a new work schedule (and getting lost around the ship)? Where do I move quickly, and where do I take it easy?

The first 3 weeks were honestly exhausting and I’ve been very tortoise like, going slow and steady. Moving house, job and country all at once into a new culture with new people is (unsurprisingly) a bit of a challenge!

It’s a fine line to walk, because getting out and joining activities etc is the best way for getting to know people, but it takes a huge amount of energy for an introvert like me to get out there, especially while needing the energy for learning my new job on board.

Naturally, I prioritised work, and I’ve jumped into it feet first and was overwhelmed by the myriad of new things to learn. At first, navigating the different paperwork and systems seemed like just as much of a challenge as the actual nursing.

So what is the ‘actual nursing’, you ask?

Our pre-operative team is made up of nurses, a logistics and admin team, and our local Sierra Leonean day crew. We come after the primary patient selection team; nurses who went out into Sierra Leone in the months before the ships arrival to identify potential surgical candidates, and we’re the first people to meet them as they come on board the ship for further nursing assessment. After our nursing assessment and diagnostic tests (blood tests, general health screening, xrays or CT scans) they then get seen by the surgeons for consultation. If the surgeons are able to help with an operation we then schedule them a date for surgery.

I’ve been very thankful for a few constants in and amongst all the changes of working on an international surgical hospital ship; using the metric system, air conditioning, and my always reliable, comfortable shoes! The Shoe Clinic in Hamilton very kindly sponsored a pair of Brooks for me to (literally) support me in my work and they have been a saving grace! I’m on my feet five days a week and the floors are pretty solid with many, many sets of stairs to be going up and down! Pop in and say ‘hi’ to Andy and the team from me when you’re in getting your next work or running shoes.

We’ve just had a round of paediatric general surgery patients and so I’ve adapted to being a paediatric nurse! We had two big, noisy, chaotic days of almost twenty 6-month to 16 year old’s in for assessment. There’s laughing, crying, stickers EVERYWHERE, colouring in and many, many glove balloons!

I’ve learnt that playing a video on my computer screen in the background helps to keep the kids distracted enough to not get scared or overwhelmed by the whole situation (and probably the first white woman they’ve seen) while I’m assessing and getting a history from their caregiver. However, there’s not much that helps with the trauma of getting blood taken for these wee kids.

A very memorable 2 and a bit year old who was happily bouncing around the waiting room dealt with this by shutting his eyes tight and selectively sleeping when brought into my consult room by his Grandma, and determinably refusing to look at me the whole time. With his eyes still closed he took the antiviral medication he needed and only popped his eyes back open as they returned to the noise of the waiting room.

Some of the precious kiddos who have come through pre-op - don't their smiles just melt your heart?

I can really identify with this little guy though, because sometimes the ship life feels a bit foreign and overwhelming to me too. There are hundreds of people living on the ship, and hundreds more local Sierra Leoneans who come aboard to work with us during the day.

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      "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."               
Hebrews 10 : 24-25

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Those here for two weeks or two months tend to bring a great energy and are always off doing something, whether it’s going to a restaurant for dinner after work (this is generally a 3-4 hour affair in and of itself that I’ll tell you more about another time!), checking out the markets, a beach or exploring one of the little islands nearby for the weekend. Like the hare, they go hard and fast, and rest at the end.

A short hike through Mambo village to a waterfall; Lakka beach; Bureh beach

All the questions you really want answered..

• The food is great! There are hot options, salads and toasties available at every meal and a phenomenon called ‘mercy hips’ - because there is so much amazing food onboard!

• My cabin is nice and cozy with a comfy enough bed, desk, mirror and cupboard. My roommate is a lovely nurse from the UK, she has a window in her side of the cabin with a nice sea view. She’s served with Mercy Ships for six years and is finishing up her most recent two years of service. So by my next newsletter I’ll have a new cabinmate!

• My work team in Pre-op is so full of joy! We are half ship crew and half local day crew. We work Monday - Friday 8am-5pm, with a week of on-call duty every 4-6 weeks.

• We do our own washing in the crew laundry but you have to book a time slot for one of the 15 washers and dryers. This is definitely a case of ‘if you snooze you lose’ because you have a 10 minute window to get your washing in or out otherwise it’s up for grabs for the next person!

The Global Mercy in port; views from the deck 10 'walking track' to starboard (dock side) and port (seaside); my cosy corner of the two-birth cabin

I’ve been here for over a month and feel like I’m still brand new, yet I’ve already said goodbyes to crewmates who arrived with me. It feels so odd that their time is already over, yet I’m still at the very beginning of mine. There are new crew arriving every week and I spend a lot of time seeing new faces and wondering have I just not run into them and met them yet, or if they somehow newer than me?

Praise:

• Mystery weekend raffle! The raffle for flights, 2 nights accommodation and a rental car to a mystery location for two was drawn live on Facebook 13 Oct and the lucky winner was ticket number 12 belonging to Rose! We raised an incredible $1400! I am so thankful to all of you who entered and jumped on board with me for this!

• My parents managed to sell my car for me much quicker than expected.

• I’ve settled into a nice routine on board and am loving morning quiet time with beautiful views overlooking the city or the sea as the sun lights up the new day.

Whether you’re someone who prays or know someone who prays (a friend, co-worker, Grandma) would you ask them to add these to their prayers this month?

Prayers:

• The new windows for my house to fix the leak in the conservatory (that I’ve been waiting almost a year for) should be done in the next month or so! Prayers that it will all go smoothly and won’t be too disrupting for my tenants or my family managing it for me while I’m here.

• The other ship, the Africa Mercy, has finished being refitted and is scheduled to begin the Madagascar field service next year! It’s so exciting that there are now 2 ships available to provide free surgeries, however we don’t yet have enough staff to safely run them both, and may have to delay or decrease the number of surgeries we’re providing if we don’t reach staffing needs across all areas on the ship. Prayers for staffing needs to be met would be appreciated. Here on the Global Mercy we’re praying Psalm 121 at 1:21pm every day together for the next two weeks - would you pray that with us? A reminder that it’s God who provides..

                                               Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

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You might have seen a mini-documentary featuring some fellow Kiwi crew that premiered last week, it was filmed earlier in the year before I arrived and might give you a nice look into what things are like on board for us here!

She’s a pretty big boat! 12 decks in total, 2 gangways, a hospital, a school, crew accomodation, a pool, a playground and air conditioning!

There’s so much to tell you but only so much that I can fit in each months newsletter, the next one will be in December and coming up to Christmas already (can you believe it!!).

As always, I’d love to hear what’s been happening at home! How’s your garden going this spring? I’ve completely missed spring this year and flowers are few and far between here, so I’d love you to send your pictures! (Don’t forget you can reply directly to these emails).

Kia pai mai i roto ngā manaakitanga katoa
May all blessings be yours,

Charlotte

P.s. Feel like getting back into the old snail mail? Reply to this email for the postal address to send letters/ lightweight parcels via Crew Mail or heavier parcels via a shipping container.

Reply to the email or message me for the postal address!