June - Weekly Journal 6th - 12th

Update: Abu at Home

Abu affectionately known as BuBu by his Mama has been treated by surgery and Ponseti casting since the start of the mission. In fact, he was the second Ponseti patient to be treated.  His mama, Fatmata, was mentioned in previous journals. She had suffered daily flogging by her husband so took the step to move in with her mama when she returned home.  I had become concerned a few weeks ago when she became withdrawn revealing a deep sadness and struggle to survive without any family support.

This week I decided it was a priority to visit her at home. Unfortunately the mobile numbers she gave didn’t work with the exception of Abu’s papa number. Despite this we (photographer, Bassey and I) hopped into the Land Rover and made our way to her home.

Upon reaching the centre of town we drove through a wonderfully colourful market. All the fruits were presented in symmetrical mosaic structures on tables underneath the rainbow umbrellas. We stopped for a quick shop to buy some fresh nutritional food as a gift for Fatmata.  The enthusiastic stall owners ran over with the best of the best fruit so I could examine their goods. A bursting bag of delicious fruits and five minutes later we found ourselves on a steep terracotta dirt road. At the bottom of the road we parked up outside a cream bungalow. We had arrived at Number 29. 

Climbing out of the car I glanced round to see Fatmata squealing with delight, with Abu wrapped around her hip, and waving before dashing behind washing hung beside the house. When approaching the house we were directed to follow the side of the house to two concrete shanty houses behind. The last shanty house is Fatmata’s house. I think there were about five buildings of various constructions that had the same address.

Fatmata stood beaming beside her house. The corrugated roof covered the breeze block walls.  Inside the first room was little bigger than a porch with a wooden bench and stacks of multi-coloured plastic bowls. This was the living room. The hallway led to a small double bedroom consisting of a small double bed, bedside table and a rope to hang all the clothes on. The walls remain undecorated as paint is expensive and would no doubt peel away becoming mouldy in the high humidity. This is home for Fatmata, baby Abu and Abu’s grandma. They all sleep in the same bed.

 Outside we sat on a wooden bench. It was glorious. Baby Abu had grown and had bright clear skin except for a boil on his upper arm. Fatmata showed me photos of herself before becoming a mama. She was a cool chic urban lady with model looks. It’s funny when I compliment her; she blushes, giggles with embarrassment and hides behind the nearest fabric she can get her hands on.

At one point a neighbour popped over to introduce herself and her toddler daughter. The idea is sweet, the reality is disastrous. It becomes evidently clear that her daughter has never set her eyes upon a white person before. The tears begin before increasing to a heavy sobbing and then crescendos into wild hysterical screaming when I touch her hand. Her reactions were so extreme her mama almost dropped her. I have learnt to stay in the same spot continuing to talk quietly to the child and the mama. After the hysterical reaction to touching the hands I gently rub the child’s back and continue to talk quietly. It usually clams the reaction but as in this case I face the look of utter contempt and despair when the tears cease. Nevermind. The more visits the more positive the reaction. For anyone who may face this situation I would strongly advise not to take reactions personally or your heart will break with rejection. Be a friend to the world but never expect the world to be friends with you.

As we chat, the neighbours are bent over vigorously scrubbing clothes on a washing board on a bowl of impressively soapy water. Their energy and fitness is admirable. In contrast, washing machines seem cumbersome and ineffective. I have never seen clothes so dazzlingly bright, clean and ironed to perfection as there is in African. With all our modern appliances we think we have it easy and maybe this is so in terms of time but not necessarily in effectiveness. It’s a remarkable insight into living. One thing is for sure; the West is all too quick judge in its ignorance.

Eventually Fatmata’s best friend comes to greet us. She has a beautiful baby girl, Yeama, of similar age to Abu. Dressed to impress in an adorable little flower dress with hair in perfect round little knots she has certainly made an impression on little Abu. He was delighted to meet his playmates and affectionately introduced himself.  I hope one day they will marry…such a perfect match!

Soon it was time to go.  As we left the neighbourhood came out of hiding to offer an enthusiastic farewell. A rewarding and fulfilling time.

Transformation Story: First Visit to a New Patient’s Home

Finally the day arrived to visit a future patient at home prior to admission. The patient is a one year old deaf and blind baby girl who has been given an appointment card at a medical screening. She is due to be admitted to the ship next Monday.

It was a rocky ride on the dirt roads. After a number of random stops to ask directions, (very few houses have any visible street numbers and there is a rather higgledy piggledy construction of buildings somewhere vaguely near the apparent road), we parked up on the hillside. The path, or a route that I’m still not convinced was a path, snaked down steep rocks on the hillside to a small two room concrete building.

Typically the houses consist of a lounge and bedroom. The bathing and ‘only when you’ve desperately got to go’ facilities are communal areas hidden somewhere in the neighbourhood. The kitchen is simply a round clay stove outside on the terrace or the bush land.

On approaching the last few rocks I found myself clinging to a rickety wooden rail. ‘Steep’ was an enormous understatement as I held my breath with utter concentration to step down. Of course the gentlemen in the team excitedly leaped down the hill ahead of me (which would have been unheard of in Jane Austen times). I made a mental note to explain how to guide a lady down a cliffside treacherous path whilst calling to them “Wait for me!”

On the terrace we were silently greeted by a small inquisitive crowd of children from the neighbouring houses. We stepped into the house into the cool darkness. A wave of excited anticipation lingered in the air. Instinctively we became aware we were heading for a deeply moving experience.

The room was pleasantly presented with two small sofas either side of a coffee table and an armchair at the end. An elderly older lady bopped the baby girl on her lap whilst the mama stood smiling with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

During the interview the mama, Marianne, displayed a strong, beautiful loving bond with her baby daughter. It was deeply satisfying to observe their unity. So many African mothers are emotionally wrecked hence, their children are severely deprived in what little care they receive.

As I watched it was so overwhelming to observe the love and naïve expectations of Marianne in view of her daughter’s future. When asked how the treatment will impact their lives the mama could only assure us that she would be happy. It was alarmingly obvious that she had no idea the transformation that would take place. Next week her daughter will see her face for the first time. One of Christina’s senses will be restored to its full functioning capacity. She will be able to move around by herself and go outside. At the moment the breeze hurts her eyes so she stays inside all the time either in her walker or sat with her family. It is a lonely isolating world.

Before the trip to the patient home I thought the visit would be interesting to understand the home environment before the healing journey began. Instead it has introduced a new fundamental dimension to the story.  This brings the reality of transformation to life.

Abdul's Papa to Receive Mercy Ships Care

 My dear little spider boy, Abdul Vandi, is progressing incredibly well and now there is a double transformation story unfolding. His papa, Simeon, has had a whispering hoarse voice since he was only seven years old. He had constant major ear infections and therefore has spent the majority of his life whispering. It gravely affected his education as his communication was so limited.

During Abdul’s treatment with Mercy Ships Simeon courageously asked if the doctors were able to assess his voice problem. His journey is about to commence when a world class maxial facial doctor has agreed to diagnose him on July 18^th.  If there is some treatment to cure Simeon it will be the first double transformation patient story. This will be an incredible father/son story to tell the world.

Burkett's Lymphoma update

It’s time for the third chemotherapy treatment for Soriba. Upon arriving at the hospital ward Sorieba and his mama were sat on a bench waiting for the imminent arrival of the life-saving medicine.

It was a different experience on this visit. Sorieba was tired so he was quiet and distracted. However, the facial tumour had reduced approximately 50% since our previous visit. I sat with him complimenting his face and his courage. Although his smiles were reserved the fact remains that this is an incredibly courageous boy. It was not the time to have quality time so reluctantly I held his hand smiling my goodbyes before walking away with a lump in my throat. The next three weeks will be sink or swim, make or break, live or die.

Pastor Moses chat

This week Pastor Moses and I had a catch up over a starbucks coffee (always a real treat, especially with raspberry and dark chocolate syrups, which are allowed because the milk is so skinny it’s barely white water).

Pastor Moses(left) & I at the Church Leaders Conference

He is ridiculously busy being the right hand man for the Africa Mercy ship MD yet he always has a sparkling smile and a hug for me.  He simply radiates all things positive ,happy and loving.  Meeting him can only be described as bathing in a waterfall of love. This is a family love.  Now you’ll understand why this always lights up my day when I bump into him.

I’ve asked Pastor Moses to give some advice to my day worker friends Jonathan and Mariama who have a church in the early stages of development so we talked through the possibilities for them. They are planning to open an orphanage with support of the church however their church is struggling in its early stages.

So we discussed the possibilities of them joining a large established church but taking responsibility for the outreach into the community to enable their orphanage to come to fruition. There is so much need for provision for children. Many children find themselves abandoned and fending for themselves.  It is a horrendously dangerous survival for them. Needless to say orphanges run by those with loving hearts and business experience is rare and desperately needed to save these precious lives.

Dental appointment

Let’s face it; on Mercy Ships there are some of the world’s best doctors and surgeons. This is a true fact. There are the most talented doctors who are globally recognised in their respective fields of specialism. Imagine now why I now write to tell you that I had a dental appointment with Dag Tvselt. He x-rayed my teeth in less than one minute and after a further 30 seconds declared that my teeth were fine. Of course delivered with a reassuring smile. So my friend Sandra cleaned and polished my teeth and now I have a white smile and the knowledge that my teeth are in fine form as confirmed by the world’s best!

African Wedding

Traditional African wedding was a fascinating invitation. Imagine the array of vibrant fabrics and melodic singing. The experience was so far from the imagined celebration. The journey there was an adventure in itself.

Mamba had organised his friend to collect Sandra and I. At the dock gates Mamba stood waiting. His friend had cancelled the transport. So we set off to jump in a taxi. Unfortunately there were few taxis and Mamba had no intention of wasting such money so we were encouraged to jump into the poda-poda instead. The poda-poda is a Scooby doo camper van with small benches in the back. About twenty people squeeze inside at one time. It is the Sierra Leonean version of a bus.

Luckily for us the back seat was free so we scrambled in. It was at this point I realised wearing a white top may not have been the best choice. All we needed were some chickens and a goat on top and we would have been set to travel the country.

It seemed that we were randomly dropped off to embark on the next leg of the journey in a taxi and then we were dropped off again. This time we were in a large car-park full of motorbikes. Dread filled my veins. I was wearing a tight sarong. Sandra thought this was a wonderfully hilarious situation announcing that she would film me trying to get onto the back of a bike. Luckily, at this point, a car beeped and Mamba’s cousin arrived to take us along the dusty back streets to the wedding house.

The wedding is held in the bride’s parents house. The elders in both families gather in the sitting room for ceremonial discussions, prays and anointments whilst the bride hides in another room. In the meantime the wedding guests pop into the sitting room now and again to see what is happening. All the wedding guests were witting outside in an alleyway beside the house and in the street. After a lifetime of waiting there is a sudden explosive cheer. The bride has entered the sitting room. The elders all give an account of whether she will be a goof woman and wife to the Bridegroom who has only just arrived and waits in the street.

During this ceremony the bride holds a lace fabric for all the guests donate money. After numerous ceremonial debates led by an uncle the Bridegroom is invited to enter to greet the bride and put on rings. The marriage is over. In fact I discovered that the Bridegroom isn’t required to attend the marriage in a tradition wedding because the families decide whether the bride is accepted for the bridegroom.

At this point it seems evident to be an arranged marriage however I discovered it is far from what the ceremony leads you to believe. In this case, the Sierra Leonean bride lives in America and met her future husband on Facebook. After a year of online dating she returned to Sierra Leone three weeks ago to meet her online lover and upon meeting they decided to marry: A very brave decision considering the circumstances.

School presentation

It’s the end of the school year so I received a gracious invitation to the International Monserri School performance. The children were nursery to Grade One.  It was a delightful experience. There were children from many nations. Their theme this year was ‘everyone in the world smiles in the same language’.

The event was held on a covered outside terrace with a small wooden stage and handmade stage curtains. All the performances were delivered with confident, happy, children bouncing with excitement.  It was quite a moving experience and a testament to us all to see children from around the world in happy unthreatened friendships. If only the world could learn from this. I’m so proud of Jenny who brings the twinkling happiness to the children through a strong educational program. Great times!