Sunday, May 29, 2005

Beatrice's Burden

The following is from our Communication's department and comes at a time when I ask, "what am I doing here?" Thank you Lord for your answer.

The sun rose over Monrovia’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital chasing away the early-morning cool as a long line formed outside the hospital doors. People who usually hid their afflictions waited patiently, now seeking respite only from the hot sun. Tumours, cleft lips, bullet wounds and keloids marred the faces and bodies of those praying for a miracle.

A forty-year-old woman stepped out of the line and slumped onto the curb, head in hands. The weight of her face seemed to crush her already emaciated frame and she held it as though weary from carrying such a load for so long. She raised her head, exposing the huge tumour growing out of her mouth. It had forced its way through her teeth, into her left eye and bulged out from her cheek. She held a small green towel over it in a futile effort to hide her shame from the world. She dropped her head again and stared despondently at the cement.

Nurse Ann Giles, a veteran at picking out the ones who needed pushing up the line, could see this woman was too exhausted to wait much longer. It seemed as though she had almost given up.

Ann discovered that her name was Beatrice and her 20-year old son Alphonso had patiently and faithfully kept her place in line. She took them straight through to the waiting room. Even after jumping the line, it took four hours for Beatrice to make it from the waiting room to the scheduling desk. But finally, she held an orange card with a surgery date, marking the first triumph in her lengthy struggle to rid herself of deformity.

"She was in a room in darkness all the time," recalled Alphonso. The eldest of Beatrice’s four children, he struggled to remember his mother’s face without the tumour. "I was a petty trader, selling small things like cassava and pepper. I had been a seller since my youth. But when the tumour came, I was ashamed to go among people," Beatrice explained. As she sat up in her bed on the ship’s ward and retold the story of her suffering, her hands frequently moved to her face to touch the place her tumour used to be. She came to the Mercy Ship Anastasis at the beginning of April with very little hope but said her faith in God and a determination to see her affliction gone kept her going.

"Before I heard about the ship, I gave up and was looking to God for healing because I could not find my way through anywhere else. People were telling me to go this way and that and nothing worked. I was frustrated. It’s all I can remember. My only focus was to get healed." As she spoke her fingers absentmindedly touched her cheek and a small, shy smile spread across her lips.

When Beatrice came to the ship she was severely malnourished. With the tumour taking up much of her mouth, she was unable to push much food into her throat and it impeded her ability to chew. She weighed only 88lb and her haemoglobin levels were dangerously low, making her severely anaemic. Although the growth in Beatrice’s mouth was not malignant, it still threatened her life.

News that a tumour is benign spells relief for anxious patients in the developed world where such things are noticed small and taken care of in a timely fashion. For many West African people suffering with a benign growth like Beatrice’s, the tumour sentences the sufferer to a slow, painful death. In Liberia, a nation recently emerged from civil war, there is one doctor to every 50,000 people. For the vast majority of Liberians barely scraping past the poverty line, extras like basic healthcare are out of reach.

"Beatrice was very frail. She was on the cliff’s edge when she came to us. Maybe she had about three more months. It is difficult to say how she would have died. It could have been chronic malnutrition with final collapse, but she was also close to slow suffocation," explained Dr. Gary Parker, one of the surgeons who removed Beatrice’s 6lb tumour.

Beatrice before2

Beatrice underwent surgery onboard the Mercy Ship on April 1 Dr. Parker and Dr. Tony Giles took four hours to remove the tumour along with the upper jaw bone that had been destroyed by the tumour’s inexorable growth. He replaced the bone with muscle from the side of her skull in order to re-establish the functional barrier between the eye socket, nose,sinuses and mouth; otherwise a large hole would have remained between these features.

Beatrice aft2

Dr. Parker plans to do a further surgery for Beatrice when the ship returns to Liberia later in the year.

"We will take some of the hip bone and use it to shape the left cheek where the tumour was removed. At the moment, the skin that has been stretched tight by the tumour is loose. Much of it will shrink back into place but what remains, we will cut back."

Beatrice took a little longer than most to recover because of the severity of her condition. In spite of this, the change in her emotional condition was as dramatic as her physical transformation. The nurses on the ship’s ward noticed the development as Beatrice passed her two-week stay onboard.

"Beatrice is healing well and I am so blessed to see this lady with such a sweet spirit on the ward dance and praise God for His healing and restoration in her life," said Lisa Scharf, a nurse.

Beatrice lisa
The day Beatrice left the ship to return home, rain poured from the sky, soaking everything in minutes. Yet nothing could dampen her spirits as she waited inside for Alphonso to come and collect her. She fidgeted excitedly, taking pictures with her new Mercy Ships friends who had come to the ship’s gangway to see her off. Soaked to the skin and huddled under a coat borrowed from the ship’s security guard, Alphonso shook hands with the waiting crew members. "I see my mother now and I tell God ’thank you’. Now she will walk outside. Taxis will no longer pass her by." He gently took his mother’s arm, held an umbrella over her and led her down the gangway to a waiting car. The light from the headlights flashed against the rain as the car drove away from the ship, carrying Beatrice away to a new life.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Reading between the lines

The following is a recent article written about the adult literacy class I work with in Liberia:

As the rain pours down outside, Grace B. Solo carefully writes the letter ‘s’ between painted white lines on a blackboard. The students in her adult literacy class practice drawing the shape in the air, raising their voices above loud rumbles of thunder to speak out the letter’s sound.

Grace is a participant in the Mercy Ships Adult Basic Education (ABE) program that provides training for those teaching adults to read and write. UNESCO estimates that only 38.3% Liberians aged over 15 are literate, a fact Grace believes contributed significantly to the country’s recent conflict.

“It is because of illiteracy that people continue to plunge into war,” she explains. “When you are not educated, your way of thinking is very narrow. An uneducated person is very easily fooled into doing the wrong thing.”

The ABE program supports nine local literacy facilitators selected and sent by three church organizations in Monrovia. During eleven days of workshops, ABE staff provides training in participatory learning methods using a unique curriculum combining ActionAid’s REFLECT method with a phonetic literary approach. ABE staff then model the new teaching techniques in three classes and support the literacy facilitators as they begin to put their training into practice.

“The churches have a vision to train literacy facilitators and send them upcountry to rural areas in Liberia,” said Veronique Biville, ABE coordinator. “They plan to translate the church liturgy and song books into local languages and teach people to read and write at the same time. The program is open to the whole community and we have found that people in Liberia are very eager to learn.”

In advancing the skills of adult literacy teachers, ABE not only helps to improve opportunities for individuals, but also contributes to a growing stability in Liberia. The country is preparing for elections in October, which will bring a new president to power at a crucial time in the nation’s recovery from years of war.

“There are a lot of presidential candidates – everybody wants to be president,” says Grace. “But if I’m not educated, I won’t know whether this man is the right man to be a president. But if I am educated, I will be able to know whether he is educated and knows politics to be able to rule me. So what Mercy Ships is doing is very important.”

Class in Congo Town, Liberia
To view more photos on the training of literacy teachers and of the literacy class click
here.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Perspective

Living here in Liberia I have many opportunities to think about my perspective on situations and try to see them in the light of other people's. Yesterday I was frustrated because of different situations, all seem so minor now I am embarrassed to even put them in writing. Even though I live in a developing world with poverty and sickness all around it is easy for me to get wrapped up in "me" and my problems. Gaining perspective is one way to get out of the selfishness I choose to live in at times.

For the past couple of weeks I have been teaching an adult literacy class and am really enjoying it. There are 17 participants in the class and it has been a pleasure teaching them. It's a great joy to see adults of all ages get excited when they can begin to read words and learn how to write letters of the alphabet. This past week I've received a bag of mangoes, a bag of oranges and dried plantains from different students who struggle to live on a $1 a day. This is their equivalent of giving the teacher an apple. They have a great desire to learn and wouldn't think of missing one of the classes that meets 3 days a week.

And then there's Neta.

I noticed Neta the first day and realized immediately that there was something different about this young lady (my guess she is around 16 years old). Neta was unresponsive whenever anyone talked with her. She struggled to write the letter 'i' and still does after 2 weeks of classes. She doesn't seem to want to be in the class. I knew mentally that there was something wrong with her and tried to give her attention without holding back the rest of the class.

Yesterday I heard Neta's story from one of the other teachers. She was like any other 8 year old trying to do her best during a bloody civil war. Then the rebels captured her father and made her watch as they cut off his head. From that point on she has been like she is today. There is no opportunity for counseling or therapy, she is coping the way her mind knows how.

I gave Neta a ride home yesterday and she lives very simply with her Mom. There is no electricity or running water anywhere in the capital city of Monrovia. Like others, they struggle to find their next meal.

I went back to my home and walked onto the air-conditioned ship, took a shower with soap and clean water, went into the dining room and got a warm meal already prepared for me, took it back to my cabin and cried.

Perspective...

"I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do."
Psa 12:5

Friday, May 13, 2005

Transformation

God is in the business of transforming lives. Here on the Mercy Ship we are privileged to see this on a daily basis.

Scott is the photographer on board and has posted a physical picture of transformation here.

Be sure to go over each picture with your mouse to see the before and after.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Transformation Africa & Global Day of Prayer

transformation

Five years ago a successful businessman in South Africa, Graham Power, had a vision from God that Africa will become the "Hope of the world". It began with 45,00 Christians praying in a stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later in 2004 the Day of Prayer for Africa was held.

"More than 273 cities/towns in South Africa and all 56 countries in Africa (more than 1 200 towns/cities) committed themselves to the process of transforming Africa and participated in a Day of Prayer for Africa, raising a canopy of Prayer across the continent involving more than 22 million people.This was a day that changed the face of Africa forever."

You can read the full
history on the Transformation Africa website.

This year on May 15, 2005 Africa invites the world to join hands in a
Global Day of Prayer.


"The plan is to start praying as the sun comes up in the East (New Zealand) in different time slots until the Sun sets in the West (USA). This planning will involve leaders from all 6 continents and will include more than 240 countries."

Go here for more information on how you can get involved.

Friday, May 06, 2005

words from a wanderer in Sudan

One of the the many things I enjoy about living in this community on board the Anastasis is the people I meet. They are from all over the world and some have become very close friends.

One of those friends is Stephanie. I met Stephanie over 5 years ago and have appreciated this wonderful woman as a friend and co-worker. This past October Stephanie left Mercy Ships, after serving for 5 years, because she felt God was calling her to something else. She wasn't sure where God was leading her but she was obedient. Steph eventually returned to the States waiting to hear from God.

Well, He spoke clearly and she has just arrived in Sudan. She accepted a job for 6 months with
World Relief as a communications officer. Stephanie has also started a blog called words from a wanderer if you'd like to read more about what she is doing in Sudan. Knowing Stephanie this is sure to be a good read over the next 6 months.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

So, You Want to be a Missionary?

Often when I talk to people about Mercy Ships they are surprised to hear about all the jobs they can do and be considered a "missionary". Many people have in their minds that a missionary is only someone who preaches the gospel in the market or plants a church in a remote village or does medical work for the poor and the needy.

This ship has medical people doing surgeries, people teaching adult literacy, people building clinics and schools but what's unusual about Mercy Ships is the support staff we have on board. We are a floating community with over 350 people from more than 35 different nations. To support the people in the "Programs Department" we have missionaries on board who cook, some who clean public areas on the ship, others work in our bank, we have an IT department, a school for the children of the families on board, even a hairdresser for all of us that need haircuts.


A large need we have on this 52-year old ship is that of technical crew. We have a deck department, plumbers, welders, and carpenters who work on the upkeep of the ship. This is a constant job and every year the ship leaves W. Africa for a time and goes to shipyard to have work done. This year we are taking an extended time to get some much needed projects completed. These projects are imperative for us to continue to do the work we do.

Here's where we need your help. In mid-June we will leave Liberia and sail to South Africa. We need extra technical crew once we arrive to South Africa and so far we have had very few applications. We will be in shipyard from July 4th to September 2nd in East London, South Africa. We are looking for skilled welders, pipe fitters, plumbers, electricians, electronic technicians, carpenters, painters, refrigeration technicians, mechanics and skilled tradesman. Volunteer terms can range from 2 to 8 weeks. Volunteers are asked to raise their own airfare but room and board will be provided.

So, if you have one or more of the above skills and want to serve with us you may contact me through a comment or email me at:
vesselofmercy2005@yahoo.com and I will put you in touch with the right people. Maybe I'll see you this Summer!