Saying Goodbye.... Again

Team A Ward

It is that time of year again... the time to say goodbye to the people here in Congo and pack up our sailing hospital. It never ceases to surprise me how quickly the time passes. Wasn't it just yesterday that we sailed into Pointe-Noire and held our first screening day here? Where did the time go?

This week we had our last A Ward team dinner together at our favorite local Indian restaurant.

Our Last A Ward outing

Last week we said goodbye to our day crew. After spending the last ten months together working in the hospital, we took the time to say "Thank You" for all that they had done. We could never have accomplished our work on the ship without them. We hugged, cried, and waved goodbye as they left the ship for the last time.

Saying Goodbye to our Daycrew

The hospital is empty. The last patients have been discharged. Over the last two weeks we have been packing up the hospital and preparing for the ship to sail. I and one other nurse were placed in charge of the hospital pack up this year, and I am loving it. I have always had a knack for cleaning and organizing and puzzling. Packing things well, with as little wasted space as possible is something I am good at, and I love that I can use these skills to benefit the ship as well as I use my nursing skills.

Cleaning and sorting toys for packing

Soon I will be going home for a short vacation, before returning to the ship for the sail to our next destination, Benin. We say goodbye to the people of Congo, and look ahead, to what the Lord will do in Benin.

Happy Goodbyes

Life on the ship is full of goodbyes. But those goodbyes are not always sad and sorrowful events.

Plastic surgery finished a few weeks ago. The surgeon who had been operating on our patients with burn contractures, extra fingers or toes, gigantism of various limbs, etc., returned home. But many of his patients remained in the hospital, their surgeries were complete but their wounds still requiring daily dressing changes and special care.

The Plastics Team

For some, struggling with infection, or slow wound healing, it seems as if they would never go home. This week we celebrated with two patients who had been in the hospital for over two months. Finally their wounds were healed and they were ready to leave the ship. They will still return to us several times a week,for physical therapy so this is not yet a final goodbye, but we will no longer see their faces on the ward.

Saying Goodbye

One of the patients that left this week was young Benjamine. Benjamine came to us with severe burn contractures to her neck and both arms. She had been burned when her clothing caught fire. But she still had a beautiful smile.

Benjamine at screening

Benjamine was with us for so long that she knew almost everyone in the hospital and believe me when I say she was loved by all. On the day she was discharged, we had a surprise goodbye party for her on Deck 7. Many of the nurses who had cared for Benjamine came to wish her goodbye. It was a time of smiles, hugs, and laughter. And perhaps also a few tears.


Goodbye Hugs and Smiles

She still returns to the ship for physical therapy, and always stops by the wards to say "Hello" to the nurses, with bright smiles and hugs for all.

A Sailin' We Will Go

In My Lifejacket for Abandon Ship Drill

Guinea has been lost over the horizon. After ten months in port, we on the Africa Mercy sailed away from Conakry, amidst the cheers and whistles of the dock workers. The tugboats blew their horns long and loud in farewell, in a way that I have never heard them do with any other ship. The sound of those horns brought tears to my eyes, to think of the difference that Mercy Ships has made, not just in the lives of our patients, but in the lives of the many other people of Guinea that we have interacted with in the ten months that the ship was in port. And then we were to far away to hear them and the land slowly shrunk on the horizon, until we were surrounded by nothing but the vastness of the blue ocean.

Pulling up the Gangway

Tugboat Coming in to Guide Us Out to Sea

With an Africa Mercy Life Ring, Ready to Sail

Dockhands Waving Goodbye

Waving Goodbye as the Tugboats Blow Their Horns in Farewell

Sailing Away from Guinea

Posing with Esther

Goodbye Guinea

Testing the Lifeboats

I must confess myself grateful to learn that I do not get seasick. With my tendencies towards getting sick on amusement park rides, I had feared that I might be prone to seasickness. I still cannot walk in a straight line after three days at sea, but this seems to be the same for everyone else on board.
Our second day at sea was a Sunday, and I had the opportunity to experience worshiping on the bow with the entire crew as we watched the sun set.

Worshiping on the Bow

Captain Tim Joining in Worship from the

Sunset at Sea

I love the sea. Standing on the bow is one of my favorite activities, and I spend most of my free time there, watching the ship cutting through the waves, watching the flying fish, and hoping for a glimpse of dolphins.

Flying Fish

Dolphins off the Bow (photo credit Reuben Plomp)

Gran Canaria here we come!

Guinea Says Goodbye

The government of Guinea held a farewell event for us, to say "Thank you" for all of the work that Mercy Ships has done here in Guinea. Most of the crew attended and it was so wonderful to see the pride on the faces of the performers that they were the ones chosen to perform for us.

Goodbye Guinea, we love you too!