Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Mother Never Stops Loving

The patients that I care for have fascinating stories, as does every person we meet, if we would only slow down to listen. I still remember the first day Sory entered the ward, his face was completely hidden by a cloth with only one eye peering out. Over time I witnessed an amazing transformation not only with the physical removal of the tumor but watching Sory enteract with others with his face now uncovered! I would like to share this story written by Joanne Thibault, a writer aboard the Africa Mercy.
 

Peering through the world while hiding away underneath,
this is exactly how I remember meeting Sory for the first time
when he walked onto the ward to be admitted for surgery.

 
"A Mother Never Stops Loving"

A distressing number of children in West Africa suffer from horribly large and life- threatening facial tumors. There are no maxillofacial surgeons in the region with the training or experience to remove these growths. That is why Mercy Ships is so important. This global humanitarian organization brings hope and healing through its hospital ship, specializing in a number of life-changing surgeries, including benign tumor removals.

This year, Mercy Ships is providing free medical care to the people of Guinea. The Africa Mercy hospital ship is docked in the Port of Conakry. Each weekday scores of Guineans with conditions that Mercy Ships medical volunteers can treat arrive to be admitted into the 78- bed, state-of-the-art hospital.

Sory, a frightened, cowering seventeen-year-old boy with a large benign facial tumor, waited for what no one had ever thought was possible . . . a surgery that would remove the growth. Sory shrouded himself completely, leaving only a small gap for one eye to continually survey his surroundings.

His mother, Saran, sat close to him, holding his left hand firmly to her knee. Her gesture – so quiet, yet so enormously significant in a superstitious culture – indicated clearly that she would never stop loving him. As Sory’s tumor had grown and ballooned its way out of his mouth, his mother had drawn closer to her son. If he was to live a nightmare, then she would live that nightmare too. That is what a mother does for her children.

Before Sory’s tumor started growing from his cheekbone, he and his farming family lived a happy, simple life. Sory’s father and older brother gave him the oxen to care for and work with when he was nine years old. Sory had a special gift with the oxen, naming them Keoulan and Lonni. He expertly guided them through their many farm chores. Sory’s mother also worked the farm field, keeping a proud eye on her younger son as he coaxed steady effort out of Keoulan and Lonni. Saran liked to watch Sory play football, thinking to herself what a fine young man he was becoming.

When Sory complained about the lump that was growing, Saran was immediately worried. “Sory was always such a happy and healthy boy. I knew that something must be very wrong for him to say something.” Over the next two years, Sory experienced regular dizzy spells, but no pain, as the tumor continued to push its way forward. He could no longer hide the now gaping distortion in his face. Saran’s eyes fill with deep sorrow as she recounts how her son’s once promising life crumbled. “I learned quickly how cruel people can be. No one in our small village ever had a condition like this before, so they believed that Sory was cursed. People were so frightened of Sory that they would yell and throw sticks at him. Saran and her husband Balla made a painful decision to keep Sory hidden at home or on the farm field. Saran recalls how her heart shattered as she saw the deep confusion and agony in her son’s eyes. “The more he was consumed by pain and fear, the more love I needed to pour into him,” she explained.

While Saran prayed continually for her son, she started to feel her own crushing despair. Sory’s struggles with eating and his difficulty breathing were all signs that more growth in his tumor would surely bring an end to his life. Saran never let Sory see her sorrow or fear. Instead, as Sory recalls, “My mother gave me hope. I cried so many times because I could not attend celebrations or play outside, and she would always comfort me. We would pray together, and she would tell me over and
over how there would be healing for me.”

Sory believes his mother’s steadfast love, support and encouragement bought him the precious time he needed until the healing they prayed for arrived. Saran recalls that day with great emotion. “The tumor had taken over Sory’s entire life. He could only swallow a little meat broth, and he was desperately weak. He lost all consciousness of the world around him. Then, when I felt he was close to his last breath, my husband’s brother, Moussa, called us. He said, ‘Balla, bring Sory to Conakry right away. There is a ship here that does operations.’ Within two weeks Sory was admitted into the Mercy Ships hospital.”

During the hours that Sory was in surgery, Saran found herself seized by a flood of memories. She explains, “I recalled every moment of pain Sory had suffered – especially the rejection, the insults and the whispers that it would be better if he died. And now, my boy was being healed. God heard our prayers, and He gave Sory his life back.”

According to Sory, God heard the infinite faithfulness of his mother. “God knows my mother never gave up on me. God knows that when no one else could love me, she loved me. God knows that when no one else would eat with me, she ate with me. God knows that my mother would have given her own life for me to be healed. God knows it, and I know it too.”

Following two months of recovery, there are only a few reminders of the voracious tumor that threatened to consume Sory’s young life. The smile he shares with his mother reveals some missing upper teeth. While his nose is a bit askew, every day his facial features take on more of their original contours. Sory’s most important thoughts these days center on returning to the farm and the future he wants to fill with friends, a wife and some grandchildren for his mother.

Before making their way home to Northern Guinea, a very special moment occurred between Sory and his mother. A few days earlier Sory confided to a Mercy Ships volunteer that if he could give his mother anything in the world it would be a dress as beautiful as she was. Jillian, the volunteer, found a lovely dress at the Guinean Women’s Co-operative for Sory to give to his mother. Sory’s eyes danced with delight as he gently put the dress in his mother’s lap. Saran gazed up at her son’s face – the face she had never stopped loving – and her heart was once again whole. She hugged Sory, murmuring softly, “Thank you, God, for the miracle of my son’s continuing life and love.”

Written by Joanne Thibault
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Debra Bell, Michelle Murrey
 

Sory’s mother, Saran, stays constantly at her son’s side.
 
 
Saran and Sory so happy after the removal of his large tumor.
His smile is so beautiful to me, especially after witnessing the transformation. 



I enjoyed visiting with Sory and Saran at the Hope Center!
They eagerly greet me with excited, appreciative smiles!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Africa Mercy on 60 Minutes

As a young girl I remember sitting on the couch beside my parents watching various interviews and stories on the news program 60 minutes. So it is exciting that 60 minutes aired a story tonight about Mercy Ships which is where I am currently volunteering.

I wanted to share the link to the news clip so that you can watch the story and see the patients who I care for aboard this floating hospital ship:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50141230n

I hope this gives you a better idea of what life is like here on the Africa Mercy. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve and care for these patients. Working primarily with Maxo-Facial patients, I get to witness these life changing miracles of tumors removed and patients' faces restored! It is truly incredible to see the difference we make in our patients' lives.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Life and Death

Every culture and every person share this in common: Life and Death. I was reminded of this reality as I visited the Hope Center last week. This is where many of our patients stay while they are still requiring frequent follow-up care with our outpatient team. Mercy Ships renovated one wing of the local hospital here in Conakry to create the Hope Center.

I love walking into the Hope Center and finding patients sitting around on the benches braiding each other’s hair, playing games, and talking. The patients are always excited with wide smiles, eager to greet whoever comes to visit. As I have now been here three months many of the patients at the Hope Center are people who I have cared for aboard the hospital ship.  

There are also several babies at the Hope Center who are currently participating in our infant feeding program. The goal is to help these cleft lip babies gain weight so that they can have surgery. Due to the difficulty feeding related to the cleft lip many of these babies are tiny. Last week I met a new baby who just arrived. She was precious and so tiny with being only three weeks old.
While I was admiring the newborn baby girl, I felt a tap on my shoulder by another mother who was motioning for me to stand. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening at first, but everyone around me had risen to their feet. Then I realized as I spotted the shroud covered stretcher passing along the nearby corridor from the other wings of the hospital: here as I hold this newborn baby death passes by.

I wonder in a way if death is more a part of life and accepted here in Africa. In the states we close all the doors and have people leave the hallways when a patient dies. Here everyone stands in respect to honor the grieving family as they walk past.
Death is always sad because there is a desire in each of our hearts for life. Although death remains a part of live, I’m so thankful for the hope of life, eternal life.


Cuddling with the little three week old baby!
 
Yaya is always ready to play and take photos if you give him a camera!

Group photo with some of the patients and caregivers
(photo taken by Yaya as seen in previous picture)
 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Amazing Race in Conakry!

What: The Amazing Race in Conakry, Guinea? Well, it might not exactly be the actual TV show, but in January Mercy Ships created our own version of the game. I signed up with Emily and Michelle while our friend Melina joined us for part of the adventures before she had to fly back home that day! Our team Fast and Furious turned out to not be so fast, but we furiously made our way through the streets and market!

Team Fast and Furious:
Emily F, Melina, Michelle, and Me

Fifteen teams set out to complete 10 different challenges scattered around the city of Conakry! We completed our first challenge quickly by starting a fire with matches and sticks we found along the street, but it went downhill from there. We followed the directions of a local and started running through the streets to our next destination. Turns out we were really lost for at least twenty to thirty minutes with none of the locals knowing the location when we would ask for directions!

After running around in circles, we finally found the location where we had to drink two large cupfuls of a nasty drink mixture filled with sardines, tuna, garlic, hot sauce, and many other terrible things!! By the time we got to our 4th challenge we had to wait in line behind several other teams.  During this challenge we had to shine three people's shoes and have them pay us 500 GNF! (7000 GNF = $1 US dollar.)

Melina shinning a military officer's boots.

We headed to the water for our next challenge of rowing out to a particular point in a very old fishing boat where any slight movement nearly tipped over the boat. Our team did well until we had to turn around and row back. With the wind and current working against us, we lost our balance and the boat dumped us out into the water! With the boat now filled with water, we started swimming back while pulling the boat! Thankfully we had on lifevests; so the swimming wouldn’t have been that bad, except this particular area of the beach is extremely dirty with medical waste dumped into the water from the local hospital. Also it is a public toilet for many people, YUCK!! By the time we could stand in the water, our legs started sinking in muck which went up past our knees! 

We fell out of a fishing boat similiar to these.
This is a beach closeby where we dumped out of the boat!
 
Our starting point at this local restuarant.
I've been told the toilets dump straight into the water!

Our taxi driver didn't want us getting back into the car, but as we started to walk away he decided to drive us to the market for our next mission of finding the man in a yellow hat! People pointed us in all different directions making it frustrating because you had no idea who to listen to! Turns out they were probably all right at one point because the man in the yellow hat continually walked around the market making it more difficult to find him. We were close to giving up at this point because we felt a bit uncomfortable running through the market soaking wet.

These socks used to be bright white.
Just an idea how dirty we were!

Thankfully we didn't give up because things started to go a lot quicker after this point. At our next destination we had to catch two chickens and put them in a box. We were one of the fastest teams with finishing in less than 2 minutes!! Our success during this challenge was a much needed team morale booster!!



One of the challenges required us to walk out to the lighthouse, and
draw a team self portrait for eight minutes!
The eighth challenge was to make a paste with plantains, potatoes and cassava in an authentic African cooking dish, and then eat it with our hands. After finishing we raced to the local supermarket where inside the store we created a two minute song/rap about our experiences during the race! We finished the last challenge by scoring three goals against some African children in a game of soccer.


Michelle making paste!


At the final destination we finished 13th out of 15 teams! Our team is now known as the boat sinkers, because no other team was able to complete the rowing challenge after us!! Although the race didn’t go quite as we had hoped, it was a unique way to see the city and to discover some new places! All in all it was a fun experience and time spent with friends! Now I have a new appreciation for the contestants on the real show!

We may not be clean or looking our best,
but WE FINISHED!!
 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Saying Goodbye

Usually “a coming and a going” describes the changes happening in my own life, but I have found this is also a part of the transient life on the Africa Mercy as people constantly arrive and depart. It is amazing how many volunteers come to serve in numerous ways for various amounts of time, whether just a couple of weeks, months, or 20+ years while raising a family. Within just the last year there has been over 1,500 different people working and serving on the ship. That is a lot of coming and going!

I didn’t realize how hard it would be to constantly say goodbye! The past three weekends I have stood out on the dock and waved as friends drove off in the Land Rovers headed for the airport. It is strange to think that out of the eight of us who arrived on the same day only three of us remain here on the ship. I have now said goodbye to five of the ladies who I bonded with during the initial arrival along with many other friends too!

As friends travel to the airport, the Land Rovers will soon return with new arrivals who will fill the empty rooms and bunks. What an amazing opportunity to be able to meet so many people from all around the world. In any given week there are 33-36 different nationalities aboard the ship. Looking around the ship I am blessed to see the unity of so many cultures, countries, and people who all come to volunteer and serve aboard the Africa Mercy.
 
November 17th Arrival Group:
Emily (#2), Robyn, Melina, Emily (#3), Bethany, Me, Karin, and Michelle
(I didn't pick to be Emily #1, but we received the number based
on the order that everyone met the Emilys)

With my Swedish friend Karin at the
Brussels Airport which is where we all met!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Monday Fun-day!

Yesterday, a fellow nurse deemed the day “Monday Fun-day.” So all of us D ward nurses and dayworkers wore colorful scrub tops to brighten the ward. Around 10 am the Hospital Chaplaincy team filled the ward with music and patients started clapping, singing and dancing around. I joined in the dancing with my six year old patient tied on my back (African style) while singing African worship songs.

Shift Change with patients and all the nurses and dayworkers wearing fun scrubs!

Although it was a typical day with getting patients ready for surgery and caring for others post-operatively, it was also a very special day. We celebrated as one of our patients walked off the ship after being in the hospital these last five months. He, like many of our patients, has not had an easy life and has suffered for many years. Many of our patients are ridiculed and shunned because others believe they are cursed or have an evil spirit for things related to birth-defects, infections, or tumors.  

The thing about this young guy that inspires me is his perseverance. He had many complications related to his spinal surgery which confined him to lying on his stomach for many weeks to months. He is now on a long road to recovery and rehabilitation with regaining his strength, mobility, and fine motor skills after being bed bound for so many months. Even in the midst of all the challenges he faces, he still has a genuine smile that has touched so many people. It reminds me of the verse about our Christian life: “Let us run with endurance the race set before us.” (Hebrews 12:2)
 
After celebrating his departure, we ended the shift with singing “God’s love never fails, it never gives, it never runs out on me.” How amazing to be on this ship where at handover (shift change) we always start with prayer and sometimes singing! It places the focus on what we are doing here on the Africa Mercy which is to display the love of Jesus to our patients.  
 
Out on the deck a couple of weeks before his depature!