It is a long weekend here on the Africa Mercy, which means that only the people who need to continue working to maintain the ship and the safety of the patients are still on board. The ships designates a 3-day weekend about once a month in order to give the crew members a rest and time to explore Madagascar. As for myself, I have the pleasure of spending the weekend working with our wonderful patients. So many people work on the ship in different functions to allow us to do the work we do as nurses and medical professionals (only about 50% of the crew actually works directly with the patients). Nursing here is truly a unique experience and it's a gift to work with these patients.... and live right down the hall from them! As we are not allowed to take photographs on the wards since patients have to sign a consent form, here are a couple pictures that our communications team has taken for us over the last several weeks since the hospital opened.
Vololona. Well, that's her nickname. Since this photo was taken she has had her maxillofacial surgery and is becoming a familiar face on the wards! I cared for her for the first time this week, and was so touched by her sweet spirit and genuine smile. I ended my shift on Thanksgiving walking side by side with her down the hallway, and I couldn't have asked for a sweeter friend on that day.
Playing cards on the ward. Mariette had a birthday while she was staying on the wards with us, and we had a surprise party for her up on deck 7 with cake, balloons, and singing!
Happy Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration here on the Africa Mercy this week! There were several options for dinner, but my American cabin mates and I chose to attend the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The pictures may be blurry since I am borrowing them from Facebook.... but here we go!
Our Thanksgiving table! Our chef did an amazing job feeding the 400 crew members for dinner! Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cheesy grean bean casserole, stuffing, and 4 different desserts! We shared our Thanksgiving tradition with our crew mates from around the world, and many of our friends had their first Thanksgiving ever here on the ship. Our table alone was made up of American, Swiss, and Dutch crew members. Everyone had a wonderful time and was stuffed by the end of dinner... as it should be! As a special gift, Carol (our director's wife), bought each attendee a hat from the local market and as we received it, we shared what we were thankful for with the rest of the crew.
Our new hats!
Although it's about 90 degrees outside with sunny skies and palm trees blowing in the breeze, we did our best to get in the Thanksgiving spirit by decorating our cabin door:
Each leaf on the fall mobile says one thing that we are thankful for. Each person in our cabin also drew and decorated a hand turkey.... which means that along with the classic American turkeys, we had an abstract Swiss turkey and a turkey with a giant British flag covering it's body. I loved that our international cabin mates were willing to celebrate with us! Cabin 3437 has quickly become my little family on this ship, and a comfort during this holiday season. It is not always easy to be away from home on a day that usually means celebration with family and friends, and all of you are in my heart no matter the distance. I am so thankful for all of your continued emotional and financial support, as it allows me to live and work in this truly incredible place!
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" -Colossians 3:17
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