This morning for breakfast we served eggs, bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes. It was heavenly.
Then I went to the Hope center -the first time I went off the ship! I have been thankful for this last week on board and wasn't super anxious to leave and face "Africa" again - and it worked out well as I worked for five days this week, but next week I only work two - and I am SO excited to get out and about again and experience new things!! The Hope center is the transition housing not far from the ship where patients stay who need long term care, bandage care, physical therapy, etc. There are also patients who came in for a surgery but once they got here they had malaria or were too undernourished to have their surgery, so they keep them at the Hope center until they are able to be on board. I held a lovely little baby girl who is here for a cleft palate repair and when she got here she was much too malnourished - so they are keeping her on a high-calorie, healthy feeding plan until she can withstand the surgery. This is common among patients, as many families who have children with birth defects or tumors consider them evil and hide them in their homes, or worse, fail to care for them adequately and let them die.
Anyway, I played games with the kids and then when the nurses found out that I spoke French they asked me to come back and translate for a lady who had come all the way from the Congo with her grandson. Very sad story, unfortunately his tumor is cancerous and he is not able to have surgery to remove it, but they were thankful to have had the opportunity to come here and she was thrilled to talk with me in French for nearly an hour, and to be able to say thank you to the hope center director and some of the nurses as she leaves this afternoon to return to Congo. It was just an awesome blessing for me to be able to be there and help her!!
This week a whole bunch of patients came in from Guinea for surgeries so I plan on spending some time in the hospital interacting with them! There are just not very many people here who speak any French at all, especially African French! I'm just so so so excited to be able to help out in this way, such a blessing for me and for them!!
Well, I need to make my way back to the kitchen to serve dinner shortly. I have the next two days off and plan on taking more pictures! Love to all, Krissy
Then I went to the Hope center -the first time I went off the ship! I have been thankful for this last week on board and wasn't super anxious to leave and face "Africa" again - and it worked out well as I worked for five days this week, but next week I only work two - and I am SO excited to get out and about again and experience new things!! The Hope center is the transition housing not far from the ship where patients stay who need long term care, bandage care, physical therapy, etc. There are also patients who came in for a surgery but once they got here they had malaria or were too undernourished to have their surgery, so they keep them at the Hope center until they are able to be on board. I held a lovely little baby girl who is here for a cleft palate repair and when she got here she was much too malnourished - so they are keeping her on a high-calorie, healthy feeding plan until she can withstand the surgery. This is common among patients, as many families who have children with birth defects or tumors consider them evil and hide them in their homes, or worse, fail to care for them adequately and let them die.
Anyway, I played games with the kids and then when the nurses found out that I spoke French they asked me to come back and translate for a lady who had come all the way from the Congo with her grandson. Very sad story, unfortunately his tumor is cancerous and he is not able to have surgery to remove it, but they were thankful to have had the opportunity to come here and she was thrilled to talk with me in French for nearly an hour, and to be able to say thank you to the hope center director and some of the nurses as she leaves this afternoon to return to Congo. It was just an awesome blessing for me to be able to be there and help her!!
This week a whole bunch of patients came in from Guinea for surgeries so I plan on spending some time in the hospital interacting with them! There are just not very many people here who speak any French at all, especially African French! I'm just so so so excited to be able to help out in this way, such a blessing for me and for them!!
Well, I need to make my way back to the kitchen to serve dinner shortly. I have the next two days off and plan on taking more pictures! Love to all, Krissy
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