HERE WE GO

Its an exciting time here on the Africa Mercy. We are pretty much unpacked and this week we do our first big screening. This was one of the highlights of my time in Guinea last year. I loved watching us come together as a whole ship. We were so unified and it was a fantastic thing to be a part of.

Our off ship sites have been completed and are ready to be used. All three of these sites were renovated in a span of 7 weeks. I was able to visit them soon after our arrival and it was such an encouragement for me to see. It reminded me of all the people we will serve and all that will be left behind when we leave. The Hope Centre will become a school for the deaf and blind, the dental clinic will be used as a medical clinic for that same school and the Eye site is attached to a local hospital and will possibly be used as a bio med site.

Hope Centre

 

 Dental Site

 

 

EYE SITE

 

 

We are excited to be here for many reasons. One of the reasons is the level of partnership this government has shown so far. We have asked them what they need from us and we are working to deliver that. They are interested in every aspect of what we have come up with in response to their requests and  asking lots of questions. They also assigned someone from the government whose responsibility is to make sure we have what is needed to do the work and education projects. Finally they will be helping to organize the different screenings as well as much of the patient transport required. We will be reaching far into the interior of the country with various screenings. This would not be possible without the government’s support.

Here is a copy of one of the flyers that are all over town as we get ready for the screening. These flyers were all prepared by a local Congolese company in cooperation with the government. Usually we do this after arrival, here the campaign started and we were welcomed to the port with one of these banners at our berth site.

The government is also providing all the fuel required for the ship and the vehicles, which shows how much they want to be a part of what Mercy Ships is doing. While we are excited about the free fuel and the funds that frees up to provide more assistance, my right hand is not as excited. That is because of these vouchers. We present these vouchers at the fuel station when filling up our vehicles.  See that part that says “Signature et Cachet”? I must sign my name there for each one of them and we have been given 6,000. Ahh, the joys of being the finance director. Sometimes, I wonder if my biggest contribution to what we do is my signature (I sign a lot of things).

Please be in prayer for us as we start this field service, especially the screening on Wednesday. Pray the people in line who need our help, that they would find their way to us. Pray for those, we will not be able to help. So hard for them when they come with such longing for healing. Pray for the coordination required for this event to go smoothly. And pray for the first surgeries that will start on Monday Sept 2.

Here we go!