Congratulations Mercy Ships! 40 years ago, on the 5th of October 1978, the
first Mercy Ship was purchased. As a 1
year old at the time, I was oblivious that this ship would one day become my
childhood home. However, just a year later, my family joined the M/V Anastasis
in Greece and I had the privilege of spending the next 14 and a half years
onboard. To date, the Anastasis is still the place I have lived the longest,
surpassing The Netherlands. However, Sierra Leone is catching up with 13 and a half years and counting.
I was the first child to go all the way from
nursery through 12th grade onboard and although it wasn’t always easy, especially
when I was the only child in my grade, I am so grateful that I grew up on the
ship. What an amazing experience. From playing sticks, foursquare and sardines
on the ship to swimming in the pool, playing basketball on the dock and roller-skating
on the Aft deck. From sleeping outside during sails, watching dolphins swim
alongside the ship, life boat drills and star gazing to having ‘fun nights’, ball room dancing, helping in the snack bar and watching movies in the lounge. I had the privilege of meeting so many
people but also the heartache of constantly saying goodbye. The opportunity to
visit over 40 countries was amazing, but also means some of my childhood
memories are a bit of a blur in terms of where (in which country) a particular memory
occurred. Being a part of community outreach including painting schools, building a playground, assisting in community clinics and
spending time on the ward with patients coming for surgery, were defining moments.
Sierra Leone was one of the countries I
visited as a child in 1992-1993. In our school yearbook that year I reflected on my time in Sierra Leone and ended with the following memory:
“I remember sitting down under the
little palm-branch covered hut among the sick children and their hopeful moms.
The sight of those children tugged at my heart. Holding a hopeless and
suffering, measles inflicted child in my arms, after watching two other kids
die from the same thing, made me realize how fortunate I really am. I also know
that with God's strength I have something great that I can give to the dying
children in the world today."
I know this was very idealistic, but that
experience along with the life changing surgeries I witnessed on the ship, inspired me to pursue medicine. I was exposed to people who genuinely
cared about others and one of my life heroes is still onboard, extending
compassion and humility to the patients that come his way. In just a few days Dr. Gary will meet 7 patients that I am sending from the clinic I work at in Freetown to the Africa Mercy in Conakry for cleft
lip/palate surgery. It is an honour to help these children on their
journey and to partner with Mercy Ships. Although the M/V Anastasis was retired in
2007, the Africa Mercy and the Mercy Ships community still feel very much like
home.
