It is my third time to travel to Sierra Leone, to this beautiful country in West Africa. It is so green and the landscape is very hilly. I have not seen any Lions on the mountains jet, but many chimpanzees in a big rescue park just outside Freetown.
I was here last time for five months 2011 and so much have changed sense, mostly to something much better. God is good. The needs is still huge and it was pretty easy for Mercy Ships to fill the surgery schedule, so we needed to put patients on a waiting list to not lose them incase we or someone else can help them later in the future. God have his way to help all His people that He have purpose for.
It is a pleasure to come back to Freetown and get onboard to this big hospital ship, Global Mercy again. I arrived Friday October 6th and have been here 4 weeks already. It has taken me a longer time to settle in this time, I guess of many reasons. Many hello’s and meetings with old and new friends and some lovely time to catch up.
My first weeks onboard was together with the eye team at the eye clinic onboard. They do all eye exam, medical assessments and clear the patients to make sure everyone are fit for surgery. It was a good time and the team did great. It was some very difficult no´s though, but God reminded me to lift up my eyes and focus on Him and the purpose why I´m are here. It is easy to be overwhelmed and we like to help everyone. We can help one and one, and rejoice with the one we can help. I got a smile every time we could put their names in the scheduling book for a date for surgery.
”We can’t change the hole world, but we can change the hole world for one patient”
We have prepare and set up the operating room, make sure everything is ordered, that all items are coming in the right time or are onboard. It takes a hole villige to run this place and we are so depending on everyone of us. All departments have it’s role to play and it was very obvious one morning when one of our driver over slept.
We started the eye surgeries Monday October 30th, it was a great day. It was also my father’s 85th birthday. I don’t think I could give him a better gift that day than to work here and to help patients to receive sight. He was happy to hear from me that day and we could chat on FaceTime. To be away from family and friends can be hard specific days, but we can still communicate. We are so thankful for the great technic we have onboard and around the world today, to communicate online. What a gift. It was not so long time ago we needed to buy a phone card in the ship shop (10 dollar), find a free phone in the midship and dial 32 numbers to reach the one on the other side of the line… The phone card we needed then, last for 4 hours to a home phone in Sweden, or 20 min to a mobile phone… things have changed a lot.
Something I have recognize is the moment my soul lifts up the most, it is when the blind patients return onboard, when they will be lead in to our day of surgery unite, in to the operating room for this specific eye surgery procedure. To do this day by day together with the team, is my happy place onboard. I love to lead the surgery team, mentor, care for the patient and guide through the day to complete our surgery schedule. To see the eye pads be removed the next day and to celebrate sight, is priceless. It can never be payed back with money, the value to receive sight is a great gift for all patients and they will receive it for free. The moment patient receive sight, is when I know why I’m here and why God have called me to be here all kinds of days.
I try to relax on the weekends and I went to a hotel with a pool on Saturday with a couple of friends. It was a lovely time to swim and rest. My friends and I traveled back on a K K (auto ritcha) and when it start to be little more traffic, the driver tried his best to be quick and the first one and he said to another driver.. ”they have patients to meet…” I had a smile on my face. It was not true and said that we can be in the line as the rest of the traffic… but maybe it was a good thing for him to say to go ahead of the line and be quicker… The traffic is not as crazy as I remember it was last time here. It is definitly less bad and broken yellow Taxi´s and more of this K K and motorcycle´s. It is not common to wear helmets but definitely many more who were it now. I remember a lady on a motorbike last time I was here, she had a helmet, but her dreadlocks was so big that her helmet was on her hair instead to covering here brain… so many scenarios here who easy give me a big smile.
We are some lovely Swedish people onboard right now and we gather often for swedish sweets or fika. We gathered last friday at Zimmermans cabin and we saw “På spåret”… ( to enter there cabin feels like to come home) we had a good evening together. We use to meet every second Sunday night as well… it is good to speak swedish.
Take care of yourself and help others! Bless you!
/ Anneli
Mercy Ships Anneli 