C’est incroyable! I’m inhaling the
dust, relishing the warm glow of the sun on my shoulders and dodging people,
vehicles and trash in the streets; and yet I still can’t believe we’re here in
Ghana. Can’t believe we have really left beautiful, crazy Sierra Leone. I still
expect to wake up on the beach, visit familiar hangouts and hear Krio chatter
in the markets. But it’s true; the big white boat has sailed down for a brief
respite along the Gold Coast before proceeding to Togo and beginning outreach.
As we sailed away from the familiar
sights of Freetown, we left several dear friends behind. Now many more have
said goodbye since reaching Ghana. A sad fact of this mobile home is that too
often people have to return to their ‘real’ homes. After pouring their energy,
lives and hearts into the work here, their commitments are up and it’s time to
move on to the next adventure. First there’s the list of lasts; last coffee
break, last waffle in the café, last trip to a favorite hangout or beach, last
movie night, etc. Then there’s the paperwork, and stuffing the bulk of your
belongings into bags, packing up what made up your home for the last several
months or years. And finally… the goodbyes. It’s never easy, being separated
from people with whom you’ve shared a slice of your life and who hold a piece
of your heart. But onboard, it’s a regular occurrence. I’ve been so blessed to
meet, live and serve with some incredible people on this big white boat. They’ve
taught me about life, adventure, challenged me, encouraged me. Their service to
the ‘least of these’ has motivated and inspired me. We’ve shared life together
and been family in the absence of our own. I tell Papa God tenki for bringing
them to Africa and specifically this crazy bateau. You know who you are so again
thank you and I love you ‘boku boku’.
While the hospital is on holiday, the
hospital staff have been transferred to other departments on the ship. I’ve
been reassigned to one of the two Galley teams. The Galley dept is responsible
for preparing meals for the crew. Supporting teams for the galley include the
Dining room team who serves the food and cleans up after meals. And the
Supplies Dept, they are responsible for ordering, receiving and stocking the
food. Then they make sure we have what we need to make the meals. It takes
every member of these teams to tackle the work load of feeding almost 400
people three times a day! Being from a big family I’m used to making large
meals, scrubbing a lot of dishes but this is multiplied a couple hundred times.
It’s been a blessing to work with this dedicated team, who didn’t receive a
holiday break, “People still have to eat!” I’ve definitely developed a new
appreciation for food service teams and the amount of work it takes to pull off
feeding so many people on a boat... in West Africa. They do an amazing job
trying to create menus with limited resources and attempting to please the
palates of representatives from over 30 different countries! Thank God for
taste-buds but nothing soothes like the food you’re used to whether it’s spicy
African, cheesy/fried American, plenty of fruit and veggies, or special
restricted diets. It’s impossible to please everyone, but we try our hardest! Thankfully,
Ghana has provided us with fantastic produce! It’s been nice to add lettuce,
cukes and tomatoes back into our diet. We’ve even been spoiled over the holiday
to enjoy a few mangoes, bananas, oranges and pineapple alongside the never
ending supply of apples. It really is the little things that sometimes make the
biggest difference.
While it’s been fun getting to
explore this new country, (blog soon to follow about a Christmas safari!) we’re
all looking forward to being back in Togo and beginning outreach. Please keep
us in your prayers, we are still severely in need of medical staff. If you are
personally interested in serving please visit mercyships.org and check out the
available positions! Remember it’s not only medical professionals needed to
keep this hope afloat!
