The past couple days have been really fun! On Wednesday, several us went to Coco Beach (a local beach about 10mins away). I found several shells that were pretty cool, so I was excited about that! Then in the afternoon, I went over to the Hospitality Center. This is where patients who live far away from the ship, can stay before surgery &/or afterwards...if they are needing dressing changes, etc...whatever the situation is. So I got to play with kids all afternoon! Kids that are absolutely starving for attention and love! There were several kids with both legs casted. haha...you should see them try to run! And I'm not making fun of them, because they were actually quite good at it! Its just slightly scary to see them take off...in this hobble/run, but I never once saw a kid fall! So they've become quite good at getting around in them. And talk about recycling...someone had the genius idea to make 'shoes' for them out of tires. They took a small piece of rubber tire, tied some string over the top of the foot...and you've got a shoe. Pretty neat! Anyway, there were also several kids who've been burned. Our plastic surgeon just got here last week, so now we are done with ortho and onto Plastics. This includes all types of stuff...but not necessarily the cosmetic surgeries we so often think of, with plastic surgery. There was one little girl that just broke my heart...her face had been burned. I don't know her story, but she was missing part of her right ear, had no right eye, no nose and the whole right side of her face was pulled into a mess of scar tissue. The neat thing is though, she was SO full of joy! That little girl ran, played, laughed, smiled, etc...with the rest of the kids and with me! It's easy to get sucked into the despair and depression of the life/stories/patients/etc here...but there is soo so much joy here. Patients who get to look into a mirror after surgery and see that the football sized tumor covering the right side of their face, has been removed! Patients who had severe contractures from burns are now able to extend their arm! Patients who had club feet, are now able to walk normally! The stories go and on...and I promise to have pictures to prove these stories to you soon. I just pray that the joy never ceases here...its amazing.

Then yesterday, I went back to the pool down the road. We've found out that they have a water aerobics class in the mornings, 3x/wk! It was so much fun!! And nice to get a much needed workout in. It was pretty humerous to me, at the beginning though. The leader hopped in the pool, in a speedo, and proceeded to start hollering out in French (and of course, none of us that went could speak a word of French...let alone understand it being spoken). haha...it was great! We caught on pretty quick though...and we could just watch to see what everyone else was doing. It was just fun to do something different!!

Today's love: Getting to talk to some of my family last night :)

Here's a few of the things I'm loving so far:
-we chart...but not as much as at home; which means we can spend more time with the patients
-we do dressing changes...and we get to be creative with the supplies at hand
-we treat not only the patients...but also the siblings &/or parents (i've had several parents who say they "hurt all over"...so we give them tylenol - i've also had a couple siblings who needed help.....it's kind of an all-for-one practice, if that makes sense)
-the moms/dads who pop their heads out from under the child's bed, to see if they can help you
-getting to know some of the translators and their stories
-becoming friends with patients, who you've actually never had a real conversation with...its so amazing what a smile can do
-the friends and people i've met here so far...from all over the world

So I'm trying to learn some french! And to say its going incredibly awful would be a huge understatement. haha...seriously! It's such a neat language, but its so hard to say the words! Goodness! The other night a translator was trying to teach me a few things...so I kept repeating "my name is sarah....do you have pain", over and over. And can I tell it to you now? Not really. haha... It was quite entertaining though, we were sitting by one of my patients (12yr old boy) and he just kept laughing and laughing! So I kept telling the translator to tell the boy to stop laughing at me (as I was laughing now too)....which then the translator would also just start laughing. ?! You got me. Only in Africa. :)

This afternoon I sat up on Deck 8 (the top) and absolutely LOVED it. The sun, slight breeze, a book and my ipod were soo so much needed. I love water...some of you know that it's actually an obsession of mine. But its just so stinkin' amazing to me! Sitting there this afternoon, listening to my sister's lovely music...while staring out over the ocean.....it was just so peaceful. God has given me a beautiful view for the next couple months and I have truly loved sitting there taking it all in. So much so, that I plan to do it again tomorrow afternoon!! I think a few of us are going to a local beach, tomorrow morning. So I'm excited about that! And then we are planning another trip to the Market this weekend...so I'm sure you'll be hearing more on that later.

Until then...here is today's love: the sun and my ipod! (yes i know, slighly ridiculous things...but i haven't listened to music much here so far...and its been killing me! so listening to music + sitting in the sun = pure joy)

Tonight, one of my roommates brought me a bag of popcorn...during my night shift. Truly, does it get much better than that?!

Today's love: the blessing of friends :)

PS. This is a group shot from our orphange visit last weekend!

It's the little things we take for granted. Yes, we all know this...but do we do anything about it? What can we do about it? At home its the simple things. You're sick...you call the doctor. You're hungry...you eat. A friend of mine (she's from the UK) is an admission nurse here on the ship. She was telling me a story about a 19yr old boy who just traveled 5 days to get to the ship. Completely alone. He ran out of money and food along the way and when he arrived at the ship....he hadn't eaten for 2 days. He said he had to beg for water and thankfully found some hitchhiking rides for the last 2 days, since he had no money for a taxi. All for a simple surgery. Simple for us...but life-changing for him. It's hard. We can't change the world...we can't force the boy's family to accept him...but we can fix his jaw. He had a large tumor removed last year in Benin (where was ship was in 2009) and now its time for a bone graft. By placing the bone graft, we can ensure that the tumor won't return. You know even as I write this, I don't know if I completely allow myself to understand the way people live here. Lome isn't the only place in the world like this...there are situations like this all over the world. Even in the US. It's easy for us to hear the presentations, listen to the stories, see the pictures, go on mission trips, etc...but then we return back to our everday life. We forget about it all. I myself am more guilty of this than anyone...but I'm praying that maybe this trip will change that for me. Maybe I'll start praying more for people around the entire world. Maybe I won't completely forget about these people in 2 months. Maybe I'll start paying more attention to the people around me at home...and offering a little love...

I don't know. We can't change the world...but we can pray. And prayer works people...indeed it does. And we can love those around us. You don't have to come to Africa to love people, goodness gracious...there are plenty of people all around us that need a little love. I guess it just hit me today how thankful I need to be for all that God has given me. It could have been me hitchhiking 5 days for a simple surgery...

Today's love: working 4 night shifts in a row! YES...I'm saying this is a love because I need to stop complaining about it and get over it. Nights are fun, right? That's why I'm going to embrace this weekend...and LOVE working! :)

The Ship!

View from Deck 8 (the top) portside

Another view from Deck 8 (portside)

View from Deck 8 of the port...starboard side (yes...i'm learning my ship terminology!)

My room! I have the top bunk. There are 3 little rooms like this in our cabin, all separated by curtains. Ours is actually the largest, because its the far back one!

Street shot of Lome...not the greatest picture, but give me a little slack...it was taken during a taxi ride. :)

Church in the fishing village! The church was destroyed in a big storm...so they've been rebuilding it. On Sunday, they only had 3 walls started. But I heard its a pretty neat place to visit, because each time you go - more of the church has been built. The church was held under all the little colorful flags (in the back...if you can see them).

Cristal Plage! This is a beach area close to ship that we could go to. It was much nicer than I had expected...as you can tell from the picture!

Well, there's a few pictures. I'm going to try and add more later...or maybe just attach a photo album on the side somehow? We'll see! But things are still going well here. I've worked the past few days and have today off. But I get to work nights fri-mon, so that'll be a switch for me! This afternoon a few of us might go to a local hotel to go swimming. You can buy a cheap pass and use their pool, so I'm pretty excited about that! I heard its pretty Western...and not to African...but thats alright. The past couple days at work have been pretty neat. It's amazing how much you can actually communicate to someone without words. I know that sounds shallow...but I just haven't ever been in a situation like this before. A lot of the patients here speak Ewe (pronounced A-Way). I believe that its only spoken here in Togo, Benin and Ghana (the 2 bordering countries to Togo). There are so many different dialects and local languages used around here though...even the translators have a little trouble from time to time. It's just amazing what a simple smile can do. Both for me and for them. There's nothing greater, than when a little child who just had cateracts removed from her eyes...looks at you with her eye shields on..and smiles. Love, love, love it! Yesterday, there was a lady (a patient's Mom) who was trying to teach me french....hmm....for those of you that have heard me trying to speak with accents for the fun of it, you can only imagine how it went...you should have seen her laughing! She would say something...I would repeat it...and she would just laugh and repeat the word again. hahah...whoops! :) I semi-learned how to count to ten though...and can say a few of the body parts (arm, hand, fingers, knee, etc). YEAH!

Here's the thing about the nursing here....nursing is nursing wherever you are. But here, its all done in one room. The patients can reach out and touch another patient, while in bed...if they want. The medications are all within 15 feet of the patients. Oh! And thats another new thing for me here...I got a little spoiled at my last job! haha. But the nurses reconstitute all the medications here. So you get an IV antibiotic...well the nurse mixes it up. I know this is done at other hospitals around the US...I just haven't done it before. That's what we had the Pharmacy for! There is a treatment room down the hall, if you want to take a patient down there for a dressing change. And we pray. We all gather together at the beginning and ending of each shift and pray out loud. Definitely not something I'm used to! It's soo so neat though. Sometimes the translators will pray in their native language, which is really neat!

Alright, I fear I've rambled more than enough for right now. I might post again in a little bit with more pictures though...so get excited. :)

Today's love: figuring out how to upload pictures onto this blog...

So once again...no pictures. My apologies! I'm trying to figure out how to get them onto the computer...because I forgot an adapter to charge my computer with...and I can't seem to get my card to work on the card readers here. ?? Oh-well, I'll figure it out soon!

Things have been good here though! I had the weekend off, which was really nice! I joined a group going to a local orphanage on Saturday morning, which was lots of fun!! We read them a story (I acted as the elephant), sang songs and then just played outside. They had a parachute, soccer balls, balloons, jenga and memory card games. There were about 35 kids there and all were fighting for attention, so it was fun to just be able to play with them!! There is a family here on the ship that goes there every weekend, and they were able to take a few pictures...so hopefully I'll be able to snag a couple of those! The tricky part about photographs here, is that you aren't really supposed to take pictures anywhere. We couldn't take them to the orphange, we can't take pictures in the wards, etc. A camera is a sign of wealth and you have to be careful where you take it out in public! But there are a couple photographers here on the ship that take pictures of the patients, which we have full access to...so hopefully soon, once the patients start healing...I can post some before/after pictures of patients I've taken care of! It's a pretty crazy thing, to see their before picture (with a large tumor on their face/head/neck or a foot turned completely backward)...and then to see them in bed, with a simple gauze dressing or cast. The patients here are so very appreciative and grateful here. I've never heard anyone complain...not that I can understand them anyway, lol...but still - its pretty amazing. Another thing, is how tough they are. These patients have a very high pain-threshold...not that American's don't...its just interesting to see the difference in pain med requirements after surgery here, compared to at home. I've noticed a few other difference in the nursing too...like how much we waste at home. There's a small supply of stuff here, so its pretty amazing how resourceful they are! They re-use lots of stuff...for example, they wash/re-use med cups (you know...the little plastic cup that the nurses bring medications in with). At home I would go through tons of those in one shift...but here, they just wash/re-use. Crazy! It's also interesting the different terms that other countries use for things...for example, in the UK - vital signs are called obs. Anyway, this paragraph has enough rambling for now...but its been fun to hear about how nursing is done all over the world!

So to continue with the weekend...Saturday afternoon, a group of us went to a little African Artisan Village (an art market). It was sweet! There are two markets here in town (that I know of), this one...and the 'big one'. I guess the big one, is your typical crazy market, where people hassle you to buy their things, follow you around, etc. But this one a little more laid back...and the prices are pretty set. My problem was trying to decide what I want to bring back for people!! There were several things I fell in love with...so I'm going to have to decide on just a couple favorites. :)

Yesterday, I went to a local church in the fishing village thats pretty close to the ship (~10mins). It was really neat....really, really HOT and slightly long...but really neat! They do so much dancing with their worship! It looks like quite the workout! But it was really neat to see how see a different form of church/worship. The speaker was from Benin (a bordering country to Togo) and spoke a great message, so that was nice! However, it was kinda funny....because at the beginning the pastor made the Africans all give us their seats in front. He said "you guys have different skin...skin that changes...we don't....so you sit in the shade...we'll sit in the sun". haha...I just loved that he said you have skin that changes (i.e. sunburn central...). Anyway, then in the afternoon we went to the beach nearby! It was really fun! The water is so warm and you know me...I love to swim!! So I definitely will not be passing up any opportunity to go. Overall, it was a great weekend! It was so nice to be able to get off the ship and see some of Lome!!

The nursing and life on a ship has been going well. My roommates are all extremely nice! Well, actually...everyone on the ship has been super nice!! Which makes a huge difference. I don't remember if I've written about the ship life or not yet. But I'm in a 6-person cabin (sharing a small amt of space with lots of people is definitely not a problem for me)! haha! You can only take 2 min showers, d/t limited amt of water here - which has actually gone quite well! I was worried at first, but its not really that bad. The food has been really good, which is another blessing! And there are lots of random little meetings/devotions you can go to if you want. Oh! And there's a starbucks on the ship too (everything is super cheap)! I'm not a huge coffee fan...but I just found out that they have a popcorn maker too!!! Which absolutely made my day...beyond words actually. :)

Well, if you're still reading at this point...pat yourself on the back. This was a rather looong post. But there's so much more I feel I could write about!! I'll try and space it out...maybe write again tomorrow. Hope all is going well for you!

Today's love: having a little girl come wrap her arms around me at work today...

Lots of love

I promise I'll try and post pictures soon! But until then...you're stuck with words. Again. :)

The past couple days have gone really well! Today was my first day of work, on my own. I had forgotten about the feeling when you first start something new like that. I remember my first day alone at Mayo thinking, they seriously are going to let me take care of these patients on my own?! haha...but just as it went ok then, it went great today. The nursing is so different that at home, but I'll explain that in another post. Today was a little slower, which left time for awesomeness to occur. I spent my day coloring, painting little girl's nails, and listening to African praise music...all the same room. There are 4 wards, but only 3 are open right now. There are 20 beds in the ward I was in today...10 beds on each side of the room (i'll try and get a pic of an empty room). So everyone sees/hears everything of everyone else. Today I was with the orthopedic patients, all kids who've had their legs straightened out. I'll try and post some before/after pics, its pretty neat! So picture a room full of casted legged children sitting on their beds...caregivers/parents laying under the bed (on a mattress) or at the bedside...nurses...translators...all joined to together to sing and dance. In the middle of the day! It's pretty unbelievable!! One of the translators was playing the drums too! I, of course, can't understand a single word they are saying...except for the occasional hallelujah! But the joy and passion behind their worship is pretty moving, and you can't help but smile as you watch them praise our great and wonderful God!! And even though this may be shocking for some of you...I even had a few little kids laughing at my attempt to dance. Yes, even in Africa, my dancing is still laughed at. But its ok! They smile and they laugh...I smile and I laugh...and all is well!

In the afternoon, sometimes the nurses will take patients up to deck 7 of the ship (there are 8 decks), to get some sunshine and to play. Yesterday, we had quite a crew! There were about 30 Africans, complete with multi-colored outfits and 7 or so nurses. The kids were kinda playing around, when one of the translators started singing praise music. Again, it was amazing. I'm not a writer, by any means...so I'm finding it hard to describe what this is even like. But I can indeed tell you, that I'm loving it! Getting to know the kids and see their smiles is incredible...and even though we can't speak the same language....we can all show/share love. Something that you don't need a language to define.

More later...until then, I forgot to list a 'love' last time I wrote...so you get 2 today. :)

Tuesday's love: hearing ALL types of accents around me, all day long. Love, love, LOVE it!!!
Today's love: updating this blog...with a view of the ocean. Amazing.

High-Fives Rock

I had my first shift on the ward today! Today and tomorrow are orientation days...then thursday and friday, I'm on my own. Yikes.... It went alright though!! There's a lot I've forgotten about pediatric nursing (from nrsg school), so that part could be interesting. But all the translators and nurses are amazingly nice, so thats a blessing! Plus my day ended, with a little 4yr old girl giving me a high-five...does it get much better than that?

I'm going to run up to the top deck with a friend and hopefully get some pictures of the view, so I can post them on here! I'll update again later tonight or tomorrow...

Under African Skies

So I offically made it here! The trip was rather uneventful, which was a blessing. I have decided though, that the CDG Airport in Paris is completely crazy and insane! But at least my bag made it...so I'm not going to complain. :)

It was dark when we got here, so I didnt get to see much of the city. The ship is only 15mins from the airport...but the entire way back, the streets were lined with people selling things out of the back of trucks...lots of random little fires...it was kinda like a never-ending party along both sides of the street. My friend Lindsay said that a lot of the time, they take naps in the afternoon because its so hot...then they stay up later at night. Anyway, I'm in a 6 person cabin and theres another new nurse that arrived the same time as me, in my room too. So that'll be nice! I think the next few days are orientations for the ward and for the ship...so hopefully I can figure out where I'm supposed to be!

Today's love: Knowing I have people praying for me, this trip, and for Mercy Ships....AND seeing my bag in arrive in Lome.

Here we go

Well, I'll be honest...this is my first attempt at blogging. But I'm excited to give it a try! Only a couple more days before I take off for Lome, Togo. I'm beyond blessed for this opportunity!

*I'm going to try and list a 'love' for each blog entry.
Today's love: Olive Garden's breadsticks :)