Today I went out to a market and to a restaurant on the beach - it was lovely! Tomorrow I'm going surfing with my roommates. So excited. So here are a few more photos of the beach paradise we went to two weeks ago, I just got the pictures!! My sandal-tanned feet are ridiculous. Happy weekend. Love, K

Friday mornings in the Cafe they serve belgian waffles with all the calorie-laden heart-stopping deliciousness of every possible topping. They are fabulous and there is always a very long line to get them. I'm sitting in the cafe waiting for mine... and I am willing to leave my computer and camera on the table when I go get coffee or go to the bathroom but you can count on the fact that I will NOT leave that little waffle card on the table!!!

One quirk of living on the ship (there are many!). I've been working in the Galley (Kitchen) the last few days, and when baking they use huge recipes in metric measurements - so the recipes call for 5.4 kilograms of flour, 3 kilos of sugar, 50 grams of baking powder, etc. We use a kitchen scale for measuring everything... but the ship rocks back and forth, so the scale never rests at one number! As the ship rocks, it will go from 50 to 60 and then back down to 45 and then back up again. You can tell how much the ship is rocking by how large the change is in the numbers... because once you are on board for awhile you don't really feel it unless you are looking out the window! Yesterday we weren't rocking much and our cookies turned out fabulously. When they are rocking a whole lot, or sailing, baking accurately can be very difficult!

I'm off for the next three days. Today I have to enjoy my waffle goodness, clean the bathrooms (Our 8-person cabin is on a rotating chore-chart schedule and it's my week for bathrooms!) and organize my living area. This afternoon there is a farewell party for one of my Dining Room crew members and then I think there's a game of Ultimate Frisbee on the dock this evening. Tomorrow I think I am headed to a market and out to lunch with some friends and then the beach on Sunday? Should be a good weekend! I will take pictures. :)

Love to all, Krissy

So I just realized it's been several days since I've posted, so my every-two-day rule has been broken... sorry! I worked all last weekend, then Monday and Tuesday I did really exciting things like laundry, cleaning, napping, reading, and playing cards. It was lovely. Very chill. I never even left the ship, hung out with friends and made some new friends, beauty.

So I'm changing things up for the next few work days - today and tomorrow, and then my next two work days, Monday and Tuesday, I am working in the Galley (kitchen) instead of the dining room! Today I cut up tons of tomatoes, washed lettuce, rolled pizza crust, washed pots and pans, and made a peach cake for dessert. It was a nice change of pace, and I like the galley crew so we had a good time. The schedule is a little different, they come in later in the morning but don't have long breaks like the dining room people - but when in the dining room, during my long breaks I usually sleep and that wasn't necessary when I didn't have to get up at 5:20! So it was basically a wash. It was a nice change of pace, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, but as the schedule stands I'll be back in the Dining room by the end of next week, which is fine, too!

We had some big fuss today here on the ship - Princess Anne of England (Daughter of Queen Elizabeth and sister of Prince Charles) came for a visit with of course her entourage, so the ship has been super cleaned, we had to move some furniture this morning, and the princess got a tour of the ship and hospital and then got to meet some of the crew. I was not one of the chosen few, but caught a few glimpses of her throughout the day so was probably closer to royalty than I have ever been before. Whoopie. I guess it might have been a bigger deal if I was british, but honestly, it seemed like the ship went through a lot of trouble for a short visit. Whatever. It caused some excitement and I'm happy for those who were able to meet her and excited about it. The Captain must have announced at least a dozen times that photos are not allowed, so of course I don't have any but if I come across some of the official photos, I'll post them here.

Okay, well, that's all I have for now. I'm gonna be late for a card game so I have to go :) Life is good! Love, Krissy

One thing I find totally cool here on board is the crew is literally the walking blood bank.

We do not have the facilities to house an on board blood bank, nor do we really have the need for that much blood. We don't deal with mass trauma cases like a regular hospital. But occasionally there are patients, especially those with large tumors with alot of blood vessel involvement, that need a blood transfusion.

So where do the doctors get it? From our crew! Crew members can fill out a form to sign up to be a blood donor. They test it to make sure it is okay and then we go on the list. They cross-match every patient with a potential blood donor that matches them. We donate whole blood, so it is always type-specific (Not just O-Negative!) Then, on the day you have been cross matched with a patient, they notify you and tell you to stay on the ship that day and drink lots of water. I have been matched twice but they haven't actually needed blood so I haven't yet given. I hope I can before we leave!!

If there is a surprise need for blood they will announce over the ship-wide intercom, something along the lines of "Type A+ blood donors needed in the lab immediately" and anyone who has been screened to be a donor and hasn't given in the last two months can go down to the lab to try to help fill the need.

I really hope I have the opportunity to donate while here. I donated blood almost as often as possible before moving to Africa, but now that I have lived here I am ineligible for most blood center donations for quite a long time. Years, if my memory serves me correctly, or maybe I'm not eligible at all ever again. I can't remember.

Anyway, I worked the last three days so don't have any fun stories to tell, thought that might be interesting to some of you! Now I'm starting my easy work week, so we'll see what kinds of adventures will find me this week!

Peace, Krissy

Update: because I was curious, I looked it up. Apparently, there used to be a rule that if you traveled to sub-saharan Africa at all you were forever ineligible to donate blood for the risk of AIDS and Malaria. Now, they've gotten smarter about both of those diseases and from what I can tell you are only deferred for a year after travel, or three years if you get malaria. Now you know!

(Note from Krissy: Roger was one of the Guinea patients I interacted with and translated for quite a bit while he was on board - he had such a great sense of humor and was SO happy once his tumor was removed! Here's his story... Love it!)

For at least ten years, Roger suffered with an ever-expanding growth on his chin. His remarkable sense of humor helped him to keep some friends, but most people didn’t want anything to do with him. He attended school until level three. By that time, the tumor got too big to ignore, and the verbal abuse from classmates was too hurtful.

He couldn’t get work because most people were afraid of him. His parents are both dead, and he lives with an uncle. He would like to be a carpenter – but, without any training, he continues to fish for a living with his brother and sells his catches in a nearby village.

He heard about missionaries Jonathan and Anja Erickson in N’Zao, Guinea, on the radio, and he made his way to their clinic. Jonathan has brought many patients to Mercy Ships in the past, and this year he drove thirteen patients, including Roger, the 1200 kilometers to Freetown, Sierra Leone, for surgery.

Mercy Ships volunteer surgeons removed the enormous tumor that was threatening to suffocate Roger. Because of the many years he suffered with it, his lower lip had been extremely stretched. Speech therapist Sally Peet worked with him extensively, demonstrating exercises that would reduce his lips to their original size. Several hours a day, he wore a compression cap to encourage the shrinkage.

It took many weeks to recover from the life-changing surgery. Roger spent those hours resting, watching television, and playing checkers. (He’s an extremely skilled checker player.) But he kept his sense of humor. “Even in recovery, he smiles at me,” said Jonathan.

After several weeks, Roger went back to Guinea with Jonathan, promising to return in September for a jaw replacement. When his brother, Nema, saw him, he exclaimed, “That’s NOT Roger!” Because of the huge tumor, he had never seen what his brother really looked like.

Roger did return to have his jaw (which was removed in the first surgery) replaced with a titanium one. Recovering in the ward, his playful personality and sense of humor returned, along with the twinkle in his eye. He is looking forward to returning home, where he plans to pursue training as a mechanic – “something new and different to do with my hands,” he said.

Roger is very grateful for Mercy Ships and Jonathan Erickson, whose combined efforts have given him a new life.

“I was well treated, and I’m thankful to God and to all workers on the ship,” he said.


Story by Elaine B. Winn
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Liz Cantu and Tom Bradley

Roger smiles after his surgery.
Roger before surgery.
Speech therapist Sally Peet works with Roger on exercises to reduce the swelling in his lips and mouth.

Roger covered his tumor in shame before his surgery.

I find myself saying "lovely" alot and it's from hanging out with alot of Brits. As in, "That's lovely!" instead of 'great' or 'cool'. Lovely.

Most days I never feel the rocking of the ship until I look outside and see the horizon moving up and down.

I learned how to play Hand and Foot and love it. I will have to teach my family when I get home. Get excited! (it's a card game)

We are dependent on containers being shipped to us for everything we need. Apparently the most recent refrigerated container (maybe from holland?) that has our meat in it has been delayed so we've had hot dogs for the last several meals. We do get out produce locally, when we can. It's expensive and often not great quality.

There are currently 31 nationalities serving on board. Lots of accents, that's for sure!

Because the next field service after Sierra Leone is Togo, followed by Guinea, which are both French speaking countries, the crew is being offered French lessons on Monday nights and I am one of the teachers! It's fun. However, there is definitely a difference between my French (African French) and the other "native speakers' French (Swiss, mostly!) Oh well. :)

Princess Anne from the UK is coming to visit us at the end of the month, so they are spiffy-ing up the ship. (I think she's the sister of the queen, maybe? not sure) The floors in the dining room got stripped and waxed and they look SO good but are treacherous when wet, so slippery! I nearly landed on my behind twice today!

That's all I can think of. I work all this weekend but have big breaks during the day. I think I am going to go take a nap.

Love to all. Krissy

Yesterday I got to go on an engine room tour here on the Africa Mercy. Before it was the Africa Mercy it was a Danish train ferry. Awesome. I've wanted to go through the engine room since I got here but they only take six people once a week and it's always been full, I actually signed up two weeks ago for this trip and got the last spot!


Anyway, it was cool... and while watching a surgery in the OR made me question whether to consider becoming a doctor or a nurse, my engine room tour just confirmed I will NEVER be an engineer nor do I have ANY desire to ever go back down there again! It was HOT and LOUD! I admire our engineers SO much for everything they do to keep us up and running, the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world and the best hospital in West Africa, by far!


Okay, without further ado, Photos!!! I can't seem to get blogger to upload photos in the order I want them to be posted... any other bloggers out there know how to do this? Sorry they're not in order!


This is where we ended, there is a stairway that goes nearly directly up from deck 1 to the top of the tower on deck 8, where we came out.

Reminds me of Finding Nemo - This says "Escape" (Prounounced Es-ca-pay) which is spelled the same way as escape! Wow I can read!



The stairway straight up from deck 1 to the tower.

Revelation: I am lactose intolerant. Or sensitive. Amazing how it took me four weeks of stomach cramps to figure it out.

But it never occured to me - My nana called us the Moo children when we were younger because we drank so much milk. I loved the stuff. Never had issue with it. Until...

Benin. I went two years without cheese, milk, or any other dairy products. (no refrigeration). I would put only about a teaspoon of powdered milk in my one cup of coffee a day. That's it. When I went to Cotonou I would sometimes drink milk, but that was only on occasion. AND, honestly, I had gotten totally used to stomach cramps and problems, so if I had them after my milk binges in Benin, it never would have occured to me to attribute it to the milk. I would just blame the various parasites and amoebas living in my intestinal tract.

Arrive in Sierra Leone and what do I do? Gorge myself on milk, lattes from the Starbucks cafe on board, ice cream whenever possible, cheese all over everything... it's no wonder my stomach freaked out. I've literally been dealing with painful stomach cramps since arriving, but again, just attributed it to parasites (even though my final screening from Peace Corps was clean) or the change in foods here on board. But the other day when my stomach was fine and then went crazy after eating ice cream, it finally dawned on me. I bet the 26 months of being basically dairy-free changed some things!

So for the last two days I have gone dairy free - and guess what? NO PAIN! It's amazing. I didn't even realize how much pain and discomfort I had been in until today when I'm not in any! It's lovely.

SO... I talked with a couple of medical-type people (benefits of living on a hospital ship, they're everywhere!) and it's likely that my body just got used to not having to digest dairy and then once I got on board and binged on dairy, it freaked out. They all suggested I cut out dairy completely for a little while and then gradually ease it back in to my diet and see what happens.

So for now, no more lattes or ice cream, which in reality is better for me anyway! And I've found that soy milk in my coffee is just fine. Cheers.

Veronica Weatherhead, volunteer nurse from the UK, worked in Admissions during her time on the Africa Mercy in Sierra Leone.

(Photo courtesy of Veronica Weatherhead)

Veronica Weatherhead and her sister Rebecca Bond (R) are surrounded by teddy bears that later sailed to Sierra Leone for the children who are admitted to the hospital wards.
Orthopedic patient Martha Jawaneh was happy to receive her teddy bear when
she was admitted to the hospital ward.

Hey!

Life onboard the Africa Mercy is good. I'm so incredibly thankful for this time I've had to be here, I think if I went right back to America a month ago and faced all the stressors there I would have had a nervous breakdown. But life here is so so good.

Saturday was the amazing beach day. Still need to get more photos. Working on it. Yesterday I turned down another beach trip in favor of letting my skin take a break... I wore alot of sunscreen but still got a bit toasted. I slept in, read, went to the Hope center for a bit (Love those kids!), played cards with friends, and went to the onboard church service in the evening. Lovely!

Today I was up bright and early to serve breakfast. Life in the dining room is good. I'm working on writing training materials and a welcome booklet for all new staff, as the training program here doesn't really exist. I'm also working with the dining room manager on clarifying old and writing some new policies on certain things we run in to, like saving food and eating while working, that kind of thing. Just trying to make it easier on new people as they come in and have everything in writing. It's great! I'm really glad I'm able to offer this skill to make improvements beyond just my fabulous dish washing ability.

So, not much more to write. I've been here a whole month now, and have two months left. Time is moving SO quickly here, much more quickly than it felt in Benin... I think because life is so much easier here. And air conditioned. Love it.

Peace. Krissy

Baby Barbara had a cleft lip and palate, and she weighed only 3.6kg at 8 months of age. She was put on the Infant Feeding Program to gain enough weight for surgery.

Baby Barbara getting ready for an xray.

I should explain what the name of my blog means. You might think it’s just “Not home yet” because I am indeed far from home… and you wouldn’t be wrong. Just not completely right, either.

I really enjoy the music of a band called Building 429 and they have a wonderful song on their latest album that just sticks with me constantly. Here’s the chorus:

All I know is I’m not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong

Building 429, Where I belong

As Christians we have a far more exciting home than Duluth or Seattle or America… We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). So all this time I have been given to serve, adventure, wander, seek God and love on His children is a gift to be cherished, and I won’t be home until I’m finished here on earth. That will be a glorious day. I want to arrive absolutely spent and exhausted, with no regrets, saying “wow, what a ride!” But until then, I’m going to give all that I am and have to give and serve, ‘cause I’m not home yet!

Osman, who lost his leg and will be going home soon.

Yesterday (Saturday) after finishing up serving breakfast I went to the fabric market with three friends. It was about a 40 minute walk to get to what they called the 'fabric market' but it was basically through markets and crazy busy streets the entire time. This was my first Sierra Leone market excursion, and I couldn't help but make many comparisons to shopping in a Beninese market/city.

The biggest difference is that the people here are MUCH less agressive. In Benin, as a white person walking through the market for the two or so hours we were out, I would have been grabbed at least a dozen or two dozen times, mostly by the arm/wrist but sometimes by the chest or bum, too. Sellers in Benin would shove product in your face and you had to physically push your way around them and then they would follow you like crazy and not leave you alone. You'd also get tons of yelling of 'yovo' and shrieking children following you around. Here, I felt like just another Sierra Leonean given how much attention we drew - very little! I was only grabbed once by the wrist by a money changer. The sellers weren't shoving anything in your face and if you didn't agree to their price, they didn't bargain like crazy, they just let you go.

SO while the markets were much less agressive, they were MUCH more crowded than any market in Benin. The streets here are so narrow and sellers right up on to them, it's amazing more people aren't hit by cars, but they somehow get out of the way. There is much more of a trash problem here, and than is saying something considering how bad the trash problem is in Cotonou - but it really is worse here. In Cotonou at least they have decent attempts at sewer lines but here it just runs through the streets.

Freetown does not have any 'nice' buildings like Cotonou does. Freetown is more like the rest of Benin, if you take the niceness of Cotonou and Porto Novo out of it! One big run down village. That's what ten years of civil war does to a country. One thing I noticed was that most of the buildings here have glass windows, or are intended to have glass windows, though most are broken. In Cotonou, unless you have air conditionin, houses and buildings just have metal shutter type windows with no glass.

Anyway, I didn't buy anything. The fabric here isn't as good of quality as in Benin and I knew going into the market unless I saw something I absolutely loved I wasn't going to buy anything, but it was really fun to experience. We were looking for fabric for Darren, a friend from England who needed to get some African clothing made. We went to the tailor after buying fabric for him. It was a really nice day and I'm glad I wore sunscreen!

So that's all from yesterday. Once I got home I fell asleep for about an hour before getting up to serve dinner. Today I served breakfast and promptly fell asleep afterward for three hours. It's been my heavy work week this week, with SO MANY DISHES, I've worked 5 13-ish hour days, with breaks in between meals. Next week I only work two days, wednesday and thursday. Wahoo! Thinking about going to the beach next weekend. Hope it works out. Will probably spend some time at the Hope center this week, I just love those kids. Roger, the last patient who is still here from Guinea, is going home on Monday or Tuesday, so I will need to spend some more time with him. I'll probably go back to Cheshire house on Tuesday, that's the place with the Polio kids. We'll see what other adventures find me this week! For now, to the shower. I have to serve dinner in a little bit! I'll take pictures as I know that reading blog posts like this one, with no visual entertainment, can get boring. :) we don't want that!

Hey, if you read my blog, send me a note, would you? Tell me what is going on in your life. I miss you all!! Hugs, Krissy

So today is a ship holiday. Approximately every 6 weeks the ship takes a Friday for a holiday, because we don't really get any other holidays off throughout the year. All the office-based positions are closed as well as the school, and the hospital doesn't schedule any surgeries these days. In the ever fabulous Dining room we serve on a Saturday schedule, where we start an hour later than on a weekday (wa-hoo!) and don't serve lunch. At breakfast we serve a variety of lunch-makings and people make their own bag lunches. It is fabulous.

So what did I do with my extra long break today? Went back to bed! I haven't been staying up too late, but for some reason, I was just exhausted this morning. So I went back to bed and slept an additional three hours. Wonderful. Then I took a shower and now I am blogging, I'm going to just chill until I have to be back in the Dining room at 4!

It's also quite cold in my room right now but my computer fan is going so loud that it sounds like it's about to take off. Wierd. Hope it stays with me a couple more months! I think Africa was just super hard on it, dust and crud is caked in every crevice and crack, and the DVD player doesn't like to play. BUT... I'm going to keep it limping along just as long as I can!

In other news, yesterday afternoon I went with a couple of my roommates and others to the Hope center where we painted fingernails and toenails and made balloon animals. Those kids just rip your heart out. They run and jump in your arms and just love being loved on... and I have lots of love to give. There was one really cute kid who basically had his nose eaten away by a Noma, a type of infection, and for some other reason didn't have much for ears left... but kept trying to put on my sunglasses. So cute. One of the roomies took a picture as I didn't have my camera and once I get that from her I will post it up. So fun. The kids had a great time, too, and I was able to help out the one remaining Guinea patient to communicate some stuff to the nurses there that he hadn't been able to. Awesome. Love speaking French.

In yet other news, I need to start thinking about the future. Blerg. Anyone want to offer me a job? :) I truly have no idea what I am going to do. Wait, that's not true. I have LOTS of ideas about what I could do but have no plans as to what I am going to do come January. There are a few different teams here trying to recruit me to come back full time here on the ship, which is not outside the realm of possibility but I'm also not willing to make that kind of a commitment after only being here three weeks so far. I need some more time to evaluate the ups and downs before I make a commitment like that. Also, it would mean raising all the support needed which is a big commitment. I need to write up a new resume and see what kind of jobs are out there and what I might even be qualified for. I'd love to return to Seattle but am also open to other possibilities should they present themselves elsewhere. I'm also looking at a couple of other options overseas. Or maybe Grad school? So yeah, I really don't know yet. BUT... I am absolutely at peace with the not knowing. It will work out perfectly, probably not how I expect or think it will turn out, but perfectly nonetheless. Trust and faith. Love it.

Happy Ships Holiday! Love, K

Life is so good.

I'll be honest and say I don't love working in the dining room. I mean, if we are all honest, who would truly say their dream is to wash dishes, clean up messes, and listen to people complain for a living? If I had the option to do something different I would probably take it. But I do love being able to serve in this way. I love my team and I love the mission of the ship and it's crew. And there is absolutely no question in my mind that I have been placed here to serve in this way for a reason, and I'm embracing that with joy.

I'm just beginning to allow myself to reflect on my last two years of Peace Corps service and actually feel it. It was so hard. Harder than I ever made it out to seem in my blog or even ever told people. And now in this season to be surrounded by amazingly supportive and loving people and to have a job as simple as washing dishes has been incredibly healing and desperately needed. I'm allowing myself to feel the hurt and anger and sadness I've kept mostly hidden over the last two years. I've started telling more difficult stories, not just the good things that happened (though there are many!) but also working through some of the bad things.

The biggest thing I'm working through right now is that over the last 26 months I was basically treated like absolute garbage by 90% of the African men I encountered. Women to them are property, without feelings or needs, treated without respect or any regard whatsoever. As a white woman I was often treated even worse. I've talked with many other Peace Corps volunteers who finished their service in Africa and the honest truth is that Peace Corps has made the great majority of us racists, despising African men.

God wasn't going to let me go back to America, life, the real world like that. Instead, I'm placed on a team where my team lead is a Cameroonian man and my team manager is a Ghanaian man. Awesome. Confronting the bitterness and anger that had built up in my heart in Benin was a painful process, and even admitting to these things in such a public space as this blog is kinda freaking me out. But it's important. Vital, even. Nothing is without purpose. I'm in process, bringing light to the dark places, to freedom.

I guess I'll end this very honest, introspective post now. And I choose JOY even thorough the garbage, through the difficulty, the mundane, and the tiring. Because happiness is a cheap imitation, and it's fleeting. I have joy, which is eternal, and worth it all.

This afternoon I got to observe surgeries! And really... I wonder if I should have become a surgeon. Or a surgical nurse. It was SO cool. Firsthand look at how awesome Mercy Ships really is, the amazing surgeons and surgical staff that pull it off, the wonderful westernized facilities found in Africa... All just incredible, and I'm so honored to be a part of it right now.

First I got all official looking and put on scrubs (Which are SO comfortable!) and then got to see the end of a hernia repair on a woman who had 5 (or was it 6?) children and her husband was killed by rebels during the war. Sad.

Then I saw a hand tumor where this woman's hand had a huge tumor in the palm and ring/pinkie fingers that they removed and then fused the two fingers together, as separate they were too weak and the bones too brittle after being deformed from the tumor.

Then in the next room I saw a boy of 18 months whose eye was nearly completely eaten away by a tumor have it removed, some muscle from behind his ear put in his eye socket and his eye sewn shut permanently. Terribly sad for the boy, but then again, he had already long since lost sight in the tumor-filled eye, and now, hopefully, they got the entire (non-cancerous) tumor removed and the boy can live a relatively normal life. Incredible surgeons.

Then there was a baby who had a cranial tumor removed last week who was leaking cerebrospinal fluid and they had to cut him back open to see where the problem was and figure out how to fix it. They thought they might have to take a piece of cartilage from his ear to plug the hole but tried just sutures first and it seemed to be working, so they closed him back up and will wait and see what happens.

Overall, it was an AMAZING experience. Several nurses commented on the fact that I wasn't at all woozy or sick. Nice! We have some brilliant doctors and nurses on board and I loved being able to see them in action. I would totally do it every day if I could, unfortunately, crew are allowed to observe surgeries only once per field service (country) so that's all I will get to see. But it was cool.

Just had to write while I'm still excited. :) Peace. Krissy

Mariama Feika: Dancing into a New Life

In West Africa, a child with bowed legs is feared, considered to be cursed by evil spirits. So, barely a month after Mariama’s entrance into the world, her parents fled in the night – leaving their tiny, fragile baby girl on a doorstep. Alone and helpless in the terror of the night.

But God had a different plan for this beautiful life. The next morning, the child’s grandmother found out what had happened and rushed to the rescue. Mariama was saved.

This courageous grandmother confronted each challenge with admirable strength, striving to give her granddaughter a bright future. There were daily frustrations – the exhaustion of hard work, the difficulty in finding good nutrition for a few pennies, and the escalating ridicule of Mariama’s deformity.

As she grew, Mariama drew hope and strength from her grandmother’s courage. The little girl’s feisty nature emerged, giving her the determination to survive. A strong bond developed between the little girl and her grandmother, as they faced the daily battles together.

This bond is evident when her grandmother fondly remembers the times she held little Mariama’s hand as they strolled to the mosque, with the little girl skipping along beside her. With a smile, she recalls her decision to send the child to a Christian school which offered the best education. This was a grave sacrifice, but she graciously opened the door for Mariama to enter into another religion “…in support of the best learning opportunities for her future.”

At four years old, Mariama embraced Christianity with all of her heart. Her life was brightened by joyous bursts of gospel songs and flamboyant African dance. Her determination was now supported by her new faith. She believed whole-heartedly that God would heal her legs. It was just a small matter of timing.

One day her grandmother heard a radio jingle announcing Mercy Ships had arrived in Sierra Leone. At the medical screening Mariama received an incredible offer for treatment. There had never been such a whirl of excitement in their simple home as they prepared for the trip to the hospital ship.

A few days later they boarded the ship. The strange surroundings suddenly caused a wave of uneasiness for her grandmother and a feeling of vulnerability for Mariama. But her grandmother bravely stated, “It’s just a matter of walking through the storm.” However, there was no storm awaiting them. Instead, they were greeted by a room of smiling nurses who immediately swept them into a reassuring, compassionate world.

Mariama made an immediate impression. With her burgundy hair twisted into a pineapple ponytail, she mischievously peeped out from behind the hospital beds. For the first time, her charismatic personality took precedence over her usual determined fiery attitude. The world on the hospital ship was a wonderful place, even before the surgery. No one tormented her. She revelled in this new happiness.

After the surgery, Mariama experienced pain. Her legs were encased in thick casts restricting every movement. Her grandmother feared the little girl would never walk again – casting a new shadow of sadness on their spirits. Confused and frightened, Mariama angrily lashed out at all those caring for her.

But the continuous kindness and compassion dissipated her anger, and the pain subsided. Underneath her feisty persona, there was an abundance of love ready to share. As this love stirred up inside her heart, she began to sing her favorite gospel songs. With great delight, the other people on the ward joyfully joined in. The comforting music flowed over her, and her body responded in rhythmic African moves. In these moments, her heavy casts were no longer a burden.

Mariama determinedly practiced walking. Soon the casts were removed, and she prepared to return home. Then an unexpected problem arose, marring the joy of going home. As Mariama’s health had been restored, her feet had grown. She had no shoes. Without shoes, she could not go to school. On the last night before she went home, she received a surprise gift. A crew member gave her new pink sandals for school. Mariama was elated! Her anger was long forgotten, and she was ready to tackle the world with love. And her happy grandmother just smiled and exclaimed, “Praise God!”

Mariama Feika was abandoned and relentlessly tormented about her bowed legs.

Walking through the jungle on the island. I was actually surprised at the lack of bugs, though. I did get bit by an ant. And there were monkeys in the trees.