Lady Sandra...

Many of the taxis and poda poda’s (minivans used for public transport) have slogans painted on them. Slogans like: God bless you, In God we trust, God bless Allah, He is our Provider. Etc. Many of the slogans have a religious background others don’t; like “Bless my mother”. Some are just very random. Well, what I least expected was to find my name as a slogan on a vehicle here! But sure enough for the past few weeks, every day to and from work we have passed a vehicle with the slogan “Lady Sandra” on it. Mind you, this vehicle has not moved an inch, and doesn’t look like it ever will. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but stop and take a few pictures. I was urged to get it for the photo shoot, which I did very cautiously as to avoid getting punctured by the metal rods sticking out of the seats or cut by the millions of pieces of glass on the floor. Anyway, here is me, and my name sake car!

Cultural experience...

A lot has happened in the past week…and slowly but surely I’ll put some of it on my blog! But first I’ll write about our cultural experience last night…

Last night we made a spur of the moment decision to go to a Krio musical put on by the Ballanta Music Academy. Seeing as I had been to some of their shows/concerts before I thought it would be a good way to spend a Friday evening. So, 6 of us hopped into a land cruiser and off we went. I was the navigator for the evening seeing as I was the only one who had been to the British Council before, which is where the performance was. Of course, Freetown looks different by night so time would tell if I could get us there. We were up for an adventure though.

The excitement started as we were turning left onto a narrow street. A lady standing at the corner look surprised and as we approached she took a few steps back. I thought she was afraid we were going to hit her. However, we quickly realized it was because she saw the ditch that we failed to see! Before we knew it our front right tire was in the ditch. We hesitated for a moment wondering if we should get out of the car, just try to reverse out, etc. But…No worries. Within seconds 8 young Sierra Leonean guys came to our rescue. They were already lifting the front tire out of the ditch before we had time to do anything. So with four wheels on the road again in record time, we quickly realized they would want payment. Since we were blocking traffic we quickly handed them some bills and said “share”. Well, easier said than done- three 5000 Leone bills to be shared among 8 people- I am sure we left a mini riot behind us as we drove off! Actually Le 15000 is a lot of money relatively speaking. It’s the equivalent of $5, which is a day’s wage here for one person. So for about 30 seconds of work for 8 guys, Le 15000 isn’t bad, however, I think it was the ‘sharing part’ that they didn’t appreciate!

The second adventure was just around the corner. This time we made a left turn and within seconds the locals responded- yelling that it was a one way street- the other way! One guy said in Krio “Apoto, you don poil traffic”. Meaning “White man, you’re messing up (spoiling) traffic”. He really did say it to humor us, so we laughed, reversed the car, (again blocking traffic) and headed off again. It just made us laugh. Fortunately the rest of the ride was fine and I recognised the streets downtown and got us to the British Council without major detours.

The musical was fun to watch. Some of the Krio was understandable, some wasn’t. I could actually pick up on quite a bit of it and it was fun recognizing certain phrases that my patients use in the clinic too. There actually wasn’t any music, however, there was amazing singing and African drums. The costumes were colourful, the people vibrant. You could tell the locals loved watching the play; there was a lot of laughing, a lot of clapping and some interaction now and then. It was quite the show. The musical was first written in 1978 by a Sierra Leonean named Raymond Desouza George- who was there last night- and has even featured in London and in Holland. Impressive work.

Needless to say, it was an enjoyable Friday evening!

Christmas in April...

So, it’s been a little while since my last post. It’s not that there’s no news, I just haven’t sat down to write an entry. It’s also been a long time since Christmas. Why am I even mentioning Christmas??? Well, believe it or not I received two Christmas cards today. Yes, Christmas cards. They were sent last December of course, to the Mercy Ships office in Texas. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean from East to West probably by Air and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean again from West to East by Sea (container ship). So, after a journey of about 4 months and many miles the cards finally made it to me here in Sierra Leone. Maybe the local PO Box is a more reliable way to receive mail! :) You never know. Anyway, it was fun to receive some REAL mail and this time I can really see why it is referred to as ‘SNAIL MAIL’. Although, if you ask me, I think a snail could have traveled from Holland to Sierra Leone faster than these letters did.

Thanks to those that sent mail!

Last week's highlight...

My highlight of the week was definitely on Tuesday. I’ll tell you why…

A 42 year old lady showed up at the centre wondering if we could help her. She was born with a cleft lip. It’s a little unusual for me to see an adult patient (other than our staff); this was an exception. Her defect was obvious so there was not much I needed to do in the sense of examination etc. I had to tell her we would not be able to help her at our centre but that we could schedule her for a surgery on the ship in 2008 when the ship comes to Freetown. I don’t think she really understood what I meant initially so I decided to take out some before and after pictures of a little boy who has had surgery on the ship in the past. When she saw the difference in the pictures a big smile appeared on her face. It was as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. She went on to explain that she has 5 children and some grandchildren and that all of them get teased because of her defect. Very sad to hear and it made the moment even more special to realize what an impact a surgery would have on her life; and to think that she has had to walk around in shame for 42 years. I went on to show her a picture of the Africa Mercy and her eyes got even bigger. She was delighted to show her daughter and grandchild the pictures. Explaining to them that she too would receive surgery and her lip would be healed. She didn’t speak English or Krio but a local language. I had someone translate what she was saying. She said ‘I am so happy I could dance for you.’ Next thing we see is her getting up and doing a little dance of joy for us. Oh to see her face a year or so from now after surgery. It’s a privilege to play a small role in someone’s life!

Stroll down memory lane...

You can’t quite consider the ship’s deck a lane…but you can definitely stroll along the ship's decks. Unfortunately there isn’t as much deck as there used to be on the ship, seeing as the parts of the deck that rotted had to be replaced- like on Aft Deck. However, promenade deck and the bow remain intact and it was great to walk on deck one last time. Well, they are mostly intact anyway. You know the little round pieces that fit in the deck, about an inch or two in diameter?? I found a couple of loose ones on the ship which I took home as souvenirs…a little piece of deck in my new home.

I don’t really want to get sentimental, but the Anastasis is quite a beautiful ship with a lot of character. Now, I haven’t seen the Africa Mercy yet, but a lot of people say she looks like a box. I’m sure she’ll be highly functional and provide excellent services for the poorest in Africa, but she probably won’t have the class and style the Anastasis has. Of course, I am biased having grown up on the Anastasis. Being able to walk around the ship again was a privilege, I realize that. And I know there are many people who would love to walk the decks one last time. Anyway, while walking around I noticed so many pieces of art that are probably not seen by the majority of people that walk around on the ship; pieces of art that I’ve grown up with. Hopefully these artifacts will be kept in a special place as the legacy of the Anastasis continues; maybe in a Mercy Ships museum?? The ship may be scrapped, but her legacy lives on.

I guess for me the hardest is that I will never again be able to show some one where I grew up. I know that most people don’t take others to houses they grew up in…but at least most people can drive through the town they lived in, point out a school or a favorite building etc, but that won’t be possible for me. My home will be gone, forever. Not just my ‘house’, but my community, the ship village I grew up in. It’ll be a tough place to have to describe to someone one day as it is such a unique place to live.

Here are a few reminders of the beauty of the Anastasis…

What a treat...

I know Easter is not about the food, although these pictures may make you think otherwise! Besides the food being excellent, it was such a treat to be on the Anastasis for Easter one more time. When we arrived it was obvious that many hours of planning had gone into the Easter week; with activities in the week leading up to Easter, a Passover on Good Friday (which we just missed), showing of ‘The Passion of the Christ’ on Saturday and then the events Easter Sunday.

On Sunday we woke up very early to meet on the bow (front of the ship) at 6am for a sunrise service. We had a great time of worship, focusing on the fact that Christ has risen. It started to drizzle, and unfortunately as our service ended it started raining harder, meaning that the service scheduled to take place on Aft Deck had to be moved to the International Lounge. It was a shame because the deck had been beautifully decorated with palm branches, streamers etc. At 8am the second service started- a time to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Very appropriate of course that Anastasis or Αναστασης means resurrection in Greek. After the service we enjoyed a magnificent brunch in the Pacific Dining Room. The galley (kitchen) and dining room crew did an excellent job! Croissants, cheese, ham, eggs, bacon, fruit…yum! And the dining looked very festive. A big thanks to all those who helped out! The rest of the day was spent with various friends. A day to be thankful for all Christ has done for us and to be thankful for each other. God has put some amazing people in my life!

“Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave, and rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save. His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.”

still onboard...

Hi everyone.
I hope you had a wonderful Easter. I had a very special time here on the Anastasis, which I will write more about later. It's been great to be onboard again. It really is a unique place. I've met great new people and caught up with old friends too. So it's been good. My time here is coming to an end unfortunately. I really love life onboard. Anyway, I am going to go...and enjoy my last evening here. I'll post more (including pictures) when I get back to Sierra Leone.

*San*

Final visit to the Anastasis...

So, last June when I joined the Anastasis for what I then thought was the 'final sail', I also thought it was my final goodbye. Well...not quite. I have been given/taken the opportunity to go to the Anastasis one more time. Seeing as the ship is in Liberia, my neighboring country, a couple of us are going to the ship for Easter. I will leave Freetown tomorrow and be onboard until Thursday. It'll be great to be on the ship again; believe it or not every time I go back it really does still feel like home. I guess that's not strange after living onboard for 14 years. Anyway, this really will be the last time, as the ship will be decommissioned very soon. Here’s a picture of some of the memorabilia I have already collected. Now I am off once more to make my last journey back in time…remembering the past and finally, closing this chapter in my life. Sentimental, I know.