Back to Work...

I arrived safely to the ship at 5am on thursday morning, after a bit of a mammoth journey it was great to finally make it on board! With the mini adventure over it was time to get stuck in and start working... I had an orientation of the hospital on thursday afternoon, but soon found out that Friday was a ship holiday - so I went with some friends to a place nearby called Lakka Beach, where we stayed for the night. Our rooms were right on the beach, it was beautiful and a really great way to spend my first few days back. Spending time with old friends, swimming in the sea... a baby whale even washed up onto the beach on Saturday morning! We visited a local church on Sunday with one of the local doctors which was also a great experience!

So finally, a week after I set off from home, it was time to start working on Monday morning... I've now spent a few days in the sterilising room and I'm having a great time! People keep asking me if I'm bored yet... but genuinely I am having a lot of fun. There are 6 people working altogether but we work in shifts so there are about 3 or 4 of us at any one time. The other people in the department are lovely, and we have a lot of fun! Two of the guys are day volunteers who live locally in Sierra Leone - I think one of the girls is going to bring a Djembe (drum) into work today in the hope that one of them will teach us all how to play it!

Being right next to the OR means that I'm able to pop in and watch surgery if we have any quiet moments. At the moment we have two operating rooms running... one doing Max-Fac surgery, so lots of cleft lips/palates and large facial tumours. The other is general surgery.

It's really great being back on the ship again - seeing old friends and getting back into the routine of ship life and community living, it's a diverse community, there are currently 33 different nationalities on board!

Although I haven't seen a lot of the country yet, I'm enjoying Sierra Leone... as you would expect the poverty is extreme. Years of civil war left the country devastated but it's now recovering. We're in the middle of rainy season at the moment - this is the first time I've been in West Africa at this time of year and the surrounding area is lush green - making for a beautiful landscape. This is the 5th time the ship has visited Sierra Leone in the last two decades. Here are some stats of what has being going on on board. They are a little out of date and only cover from Feb-May but it gives you an idea...

505 specialized surgeries
• 8,758 dental procedures for 2,675 people and basic oral health education for 2,405
• 1,979 eye evaluations and treatments and 889 refraction/eye exams
• 2 clinicians have received surgical mentoring
• 18 trainees in Orthopaedic Ponseti casting while providing services for 40 patients and 791 Physical Therapy services
• 45 health care professionals, 16 mental health staff and 22 church leaders have received training in mental health evaluation, treatment or counseling
• 15 trainers of trainers from 4 national organizations are receiving training in agriculture production and nutrition
• 10 palliative patients and 13 caregivers are receiving care and support
• 30 health care workers received training in First Aid at a partner agency in Koidu
• 152 patients or caregivers have received community health education at the Mercy Ships H.O.P.E. Center
• Anesthesia conference hosted 79 participants to exchange ideas and learn current developments in anesthesia
• A midwife conference hosted 28 participants to exchange ideas and receive training
• 225 church and community leaders from the Bo area participated in a development conference that explores ideas for community development

I'll upload some photos soon!

Sierra Leone 2011 - almost there!

Having made it most of the way to Sierra Leone, we have unfortunately been held back from reaching our destination for the last 24 hours! We were just about to take off from the airport in Banjul - Gambia, when a bird flew into the engine and destroyed it. Initially the situation was quite frustrating, but having spent the last 24 hours in a beautiful hotel, I'm starting to feel grateful to the little bird who martyred himself for an unknown cause so that I could have an extra 24 hours rest before the hectic next 3 weeks begin.

So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with the world what I am doing for the next 3 weeks in this somewhat last minute trip!

This is my 3rd trip to volunteer with the charity Mercy Ships. This evening I will finish my journey and make it to Sierra Leone, where the ship has been for the last few months. If anyone isn't sure what Mercy Ships is. check it out.... www.mercyships.org. But basically it is a charity with a huge floating hospital called the Africa Mercy that is currently travelling round the coast of West Africa delivering free medical care to some of the poorest people in the world.

This trip I will be working as an OR Steriliser - basically cleaning all the surgical instruments! It may sound slightly unexciting, but I actually can't wait.

The picture is of the pool at the hotel where Brussels Airlines have kindly put us all up for the night. Having had a pretty busy few weeks before coming I've actually been so grateful to have the extra rest day!

So that is why I'm here and what I'm doing!