The Snapshake

One of the cultural joys of Togo are the daily pleasantries and greetings, "Bonjour, ca va?" "Ca va bien, et vous?" "And how did you sleep last night?" "How is your family?" But the greatest part of the greeting is with what I call, the "snapshake":

Grasp the hand of your counterpart

Slide into a thumb-to-thumb grip

Pull back to clutch the finger tips of your counterpart

Release with a loud snap of the middle fingers

Bobo, our beloved patient with the bow legs found it very funny when this Yovo greeted him first thing in the morning with a snapshake.

The Young Man and the Sea

My favorite time of the day is bringing the patients up to Deck 7 in the afternoon to catch some rays and gaze out to sea. The patient wards are located on Deck 3 and have no windows. I'm sure Florence Nightingale would have something to say about this. Without windows, patients can become disoriented and lose track of day and night, when to rise and when to sleep. One afternoon I kneeled down so my patient, 8-year-old Pere could slide off his bed and onto my back. In true West African style, I carried him and his full length leg casts piggy-back style up the flights of stairs to Deck 7.
Pere is from northern Togo and I soon learned that this would be the first time in his life he would see the ocean. What an honor! I placed him down in a plastic picnic chair. At first he was very timid and frightened about approaching the edge of the deck but gradually he allowed me to scoot him forward until he was gripping onto the bars of the deck, looking straight down to the ocean below. He was perfectly content sitting there for an hour, watching the swallows dip and dive, fishing canoes sail by on the open ocean and members of the Togolese Navy working on their boats docked next to the Africa Mercy Ship.

What a precious moment it was for me to share my love of the ocean with my new African friend. Once again I was reminded of why I love being a nurse in Africa.

"Now is the time to think of only one thing.

That which I was born for."

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

Togo Unrest

Protesting by the opposition party has followed the re-election of president Faure Gnassingbe. Please continue to keep the nation of Togo in your prayers.

Riot police have employed the use of tear gas several times

Crew members are safe as we continue to remain on the ship on a well guarded dock. We are concerned for the safety of patients, translators and African volunteers as they travel to and from the ship.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8553955.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8559049.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555210.stm

Togo Votes

Today is Presidential Election Day. Togo needs your prayers for a fair election and for peace following the result. Violence and hundreds of deaths marked the presidential election in 2005 in response to suspected rigging of votes. Today and through the weekend, Mercy Ships crew are to remain aboard the ship as a safety precaution. We are praying for justice and peace for this nation during and following the election process.

For further information on the history of Togo:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8548787.stm
Togo hopes for a peaceful election

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8543973.stm
The different political parties

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1064470.stm
An overview of the history of Togo

Surgery Begins!

The Nursing Crew of the Africa Mercy

Screening Days

Screening individuals to determine if they are candidates for surgery has begun. These are difficult, exhausting and trying days. While I have not yet participated in the screening process in Togo, I wanted to share some striking images that capture the raw joy, suffering, sorrow and hope these days present for both potential patients and screeners.

Dirty Jobs 2

Today the ship underwent a scheduled blackout. Electricity was turned off (including air conditioning) and volunteers were recruited to assist with the cleaning of the pipes which carry seawater onto the ship to cool fresh water which cools the engines.
Periodically these pipes need to be cleaned as they become clogged with shells and barnacles. Embracing another opportunity to work in the engine room, we headed down to Deck 2 and suited up. Conditions were hot and humid, and the aroma one of a clam bake. We painstakingly inserted long wire bristle brushes into each of 1500 metal intake pipes which carry sea water onto the ship to dislodge any marine life.

Jeff the Welder

with the cooler panel of 1500 pipes

to be cleaned

Ginger, Dennis the Welder and myself hard at work

The moment the entire ship has been waiting for: Ginger restarts the Harbour Generator and electricity returns