Adventures big and small

I wanted to send out a little blog update, just because a lot has been happening these last few days! I don't want to forget anything so I hope I remember to update you on all that has been going on here on the ship and beyond.

First up: celebration of sight. All I can say is-INCREDIBLE. There are many patients here in Cameroon (and all of Africa) who suffer from cataracts. If you know anything about cataracts, you know they can be treated by pretty simple surgery. However, Cameroonians do not have that luxury. They suffer from cataracts as a kid, or young teen and are not treated promptly-which results in blindness or very poor vision. As this is incredibly life-altering for those people suffering, Mercy Ships brings hope and healing-literally helping the blind to see. Now, of course we have modern technology, but I couldn't help but think back to times when Jesus healed the blind. I thought of those stories the whole time patients were sharing their stories. One young man shared that at around age 8 he remembered not being able to see the board in school. His vision worsened overtime and he fell blind. That all changed when Mercy Ships rolled into Douala. He received cataract surgery and now he sees vibrant colors again. He was undeniably thankful, but blessed all those who work on Mercy Ships-that we continue to do what we do to heal other people just like him. It was hard for me to hold the tears back! The celebration was a lot of dancing and praising God for the hope he restored in these peoples' lives. The pictures here give you an idea of what Celebration of Sight consists of here in Africa. I smiled the whole time trying to keep up with the awesome dance moves-I'm sure it wasn't a pretty site, but that didn't matter-these people saw those awful dance moves, and that is a beautiful thing.

Next up: the African fashion show! We have a lot of day crew on this ship. Their job is to help us translate-at least in the hospital. We absolutely could not do our jobs without them. They helped put on this African fashion show-that involved everyone. I just don't have an African dress just yet or I would have definitely walked the cat walk! It was a time for all of us to come together and celebrate their culture. They have beautiful fabric here and are known for very colorful dresses. Even the little kids that live on the ship participated. I know if I come back I will definitely have to join the show.

Teaching us about palm oil production

Then finally, today we got to visit the chimpanzee sanctuary! This may have been one of the coolest things I have ever done. We started our trip this morning and about an hour and a half into the trip, our car broke down. We waited another hour and a half until we were rescued and the journey continued. Being broken down wasn't so bad though, we sang some songs and got to know each other more. (There were 13 of us going). We also broke down right in front of a palm oil plantation. We took a tour of the plantation while waiting-which was interesting. They use the palm oil to cook here. It's cheap and used the way we use vegetable oil. Our tour guide was Caroline, who I renamed "Mama Caroline". After we were rescued she brought us about 3 hours out through villages, jungles and plantations until we finally reached our destination. We hopped on two boats that zoomed down the river and there we reached the chimp sanctuary. There they keep chimps that are babies and adolescents. They take really great care of them, and when they become teens they release them across the river to an island where they live to be about 60 years old. For all my chimp lovers-you can volunteer for two weeks! They need volunteers there. You would just feed and take care of the monkeys. I might have to come back here just to hang with them! After we finished at the sanctuary we hopped back on some boats and scooted across the river to look at the wild chimps that were released. They had me cracking up..we got there late because our car broke down and the animals were actually mad that we were late! They had a good way of showing it. We didn't get too close (and stayed in our boats). The oldest monkey was stomping around slapping water and grunting at us-pacing back and fourth. He was NOT happy. We then turned the boat around and had some lunch before we headed back to the ship. Mama Caroline made us an awesome meal with fried rice, plantains, and chicken. It was a very bumpy ride back-half of the trip being on dirt roads through villages, but was very cool to see.  We made it back to the ship just in time for pizza night-a BIG deal around here. 

The machines to make the oil

The outside of the plantation

The cutest nugget eating a papaya!

I am renewed and refreshed after church tonight too (we have church at night here on the ship). I am ready to start a new week and pour lots of love into the people here. I will leave you with a patient story from this week that had our whole ward in tears. There was a man on our unit who's jaw has been locked for 19 years. He had it released and after almost two decades he opened his mouth for the first time. He couldn't believe it. He asked for a mirror and couldn't stop staring at himself. He was shouting praises and giving everyone high fives. He couldn't believe it. He said "It's a miracle, it's a miracle!" I wasn't there but my fellow nurses told the story, then the video was shared during our community meeting on Thursday. Let's just say there wasn't a dry eye in the room. I had chills watching the man celebrate a new life, and a miracle here on earth. This ship is full of miracles everyday and am honored and blessed to serve the nation of Cameroon.

Leaving you a picture of one of my favorite little kiddos!