screening day in conakry.

what a day it was....

From Esther Blaum our Patient Flow Manager, Africa Mercy

"On Monday, more than 4,300 people waited in sprinkles and sunshine at the People’s Palace in Conakry, Guinea looking for help from the Africa Mercy.  A couple hundred potential patients arrived late Sunday evening and waited through the night, but the crowds really started to pour in around 5:00am.  The screening went extremely well thanks to lots of prayer worldwide, great teamwork from the crew and good support from the government and local authorities.  Over 200 patients were scheduled for surgeries that begin today, with nearly 1,000 others scheduled for further evaluation or treatment.  All specialties were represented in the crowd awaiting assistance: Orthopaedic, Maxillofacial, Plastics, General, VVF, Eye and Dental patients.  Thank you to all of you who lifted up this day in prayer.  Please continue to pray for each of these patients as they continue on their journey toward healing."

screening day was such a neat experience to be apart of. i got to practice the little french i do know. whilst beginning the paperwork & registration process, i got to meet the potential patients and conversate with them a little bit. i had a wonderful translator, Abraham, working alongside me & seriously could not have done it without him. while french is the official language in guinea, most guineans speak their different tribal languages; Susu, Malinke, etc. & abraham spoke every single one!   

 part of my day was quite heartbreaking. one of the potential patients i had to register, had such grotesque facial disfigurement's. at only 20 years old, he easily looked 20 years older than his age.  as abraham & i tried to obtain to contact info from him, we came to the realization that he was such an outcast's from his community, that he didn't have any way for us to reach him. not a family member, friend, or neighbor. no one. 

there were a few similar cases that made moments in the day quite difficult.

BUT, what a joy it is to know that there is hope for so many of these patients and they can go back to their villages and communities post surgery/ recovery without shame!

guinea.

so much has happened since we arrived here in conakry, guinea a week and a half ago. i feel like we have been here for months already. i am already loving this beautiful place & the super friendly people here.

( a little piece of home as we pulled into the port in conakry, guinea)

this is the first time the africa mercy ship has come to the french speaking nation of guinea. it's been almost 20 years since mercy ship's last field service here in guinea via the anastasis ship.

things have been quite hectic in the HR department, as we have prepared for the arrival of many new nurses, doctors, & support staff we need to help keep the ship running & make this 10 month field service possible.

( lots of dolphins sightings from our sail from tenerife, canary islands to conakry, guinea)

i got to help with the planning of the day worker orientation as well. it was so such a nice surprise to see some familiar faces & a few of my dayworker friends from sierra leone & togo return.

 i did get a tremendous opportunity on tuesday of this past week to help with the dental team to clean/set up their clinic. which was so much fun! twas so cool to walk in & not really see a vision of how everything was going to work out. everything came together so swiftly and we had 9 dental chairs and lights set up in just a few hours time. last field service in togo, the dental team rendered a whopping 9,688 dental procedures! that was just in 6 months time. i'm excited to see how many more procedures we can complete & the abundance guinean folks we can help in our 10 months here. ( since it's rainy season here, i didn't want to chance taking my camera out, hence the lack of photos.)

Conakry, Guinea made the top 10 wettest cities in the world list with average precipitation amount being 170.91 inches per year. Sure is quite a change from the measly 15 to 20 inches of rain, good old Los Angeles receives per year.

( weekend adventures off the peninsula. if you look closely, you can spot a few waterfalls.)

and if you all thought that the info above was exciting, just wait till you hear that screening day is TOMORROW! despite the fact that i'll be up a few hours before the sun, i am so beyond ectatic about this & that i get to be a part of it this time. i'll be working one of the registration tables. where the patients who have been screened and have gotten the okay for surgery come & see our smiling HR faces. we fill out contact info, all that fun patient stuff, etc.

please keep us ( the africa mercy crew) in your prayers tomorrow, the potential patients we will be able to bring "hope and healing" to & also for the people we will sadly have to turn away and won't be able to help.

Thank you lots, i will update you on screening day soonish!