Cast Off Your Mooring Lines & Set Sail

 The time has come, we are leaving Togo.  To be honest, when I first heard we were coming to Togo I was a bit skeptical.  Mercy Ships was just there in 2010, why are we going back so soon?  Do they really need us?  I don’t speak French, how am I supposed to connect with my patients?  I really didn’t want to go.  Funny how looking back over the last 5+ months, I realized there was no other place I would have wanted to go. 

Goodbye Togo!

Mercy Ships had done a short field service in Togo in 2010, only 5 months while most field services are 10 months.  We were just returning to finish what we started then.  We were able to provide over 1,500 surgeries to people who would probably never receive care.  We taught 7 local surgeons new surgical techniques, allowing them to provide care to the people.  We provided over 10,000 dental procedures & helped thousands more with our off-ship programs.  Random fact: Togo was the first country in Africa Mercy Ships ever visited back in the early 90’s.

Captain John gives the go ahead

Casting off our mooring lines

I’ve learned through my travels that speaking the local language is important, but not necessarily a deal breaker.  Nursing has its own language that is universal; a kind touch, a smile, a soothing voice is often all that is needed to convey to your patients that you are there to help them.  Plus, I always had our awesome dayworkers there to help with the more complicated things like asking questions & giving instructions.  Kids are also the best teachers when it comes to learning a new language.  They are patient & love to show you new things.  I often go straight to the kids when I meet a new group of people, they accept me & I’ve learned that people begin to develop trust in you when they see how you interact with their children.

Saying goodbye

Leaving Togo behind

Now our time has come to leave.  A small crowd of mainly dockworkers, crew members that were staying behind & the government officials gathered on the dock to see us off.  The last crew member was on board by 0930 & our mooring lines were let go around 1000.  Slowly, we slipped out of the harbor & into open waters, heading west towards Tenerife.

Goodbye Togo, I’ll miss you!

Blessings

Tying Up Loose Ends

The hospital is closed, the ship getting ready to leave Togo, & we have a list of things to do before we leave:

First: Day Worker Thank You

Our awesome dayworkers

The OR team

We held a special celebration in honor of all of our dayworkers (the local people who translated, cleaned, cooked, did maintenance work & taught us about the Togolese culture).  In the OR, PACU & sterilizing, we had 7 wonderful translators, Marie, Thomas, George, John, Gratias, Mark & Holali.  Over the months they provided a bridge between us & our patients, stepping in to hold a hand or explain a procedure.  Not only did they help us in the OR, but they invited us to their homes, helped us navigate the markets & the streets of Lomé.  Our day workers became more than just colleagues, they became friends.

Second: Find local music cds

With Gratias & her family

Ginger at the music store

Heading back to the ship

Jen on a "zimmyjohn"

On the wards, we learned some fun local worship songs.  We loved dancing to them & we wanted to find those songs so we could always remember Togo.  We asked on of our dayworkers, Gratias, if she’d help us.  She agreed & sent her brother to come pick us up.  Now, the main form of transportation in Togo is by motorcycle & motorcycle taxis called “zimmyjohns”.  Her brother helped us acquire a couple “zimmyjohns” & away we went!  He took us to a small music store that was more of a shack.  We spent a lot of the afternoon trying to remember all the songs we loved so much, & drew a small crowd as we sang or hummed what we could remember.  Most of the songs were either in Ewe or French & we didn’t know the names of the songs, or even the words for that matter. I’m pretty sure they thought we were crazy “Yovos” (Ewe for white person).  Once we found the songs we were looking for, we walked to Gratias’ house to meet her mother & family before we said our goodbyes & took “zimmyjohns” back to the ship.

Third: Look for contraband



Checking a ceiling access

In one of the crawl spaces

Checking one of the lifeboats

With the hospital closed, the nurses are reallocated to different departments to help fill the gaps as people leave.  I have been reassigned to security, meaning that I help keep the ship safe while in port & watch for pirates while at sea.  Part of the job required us to search the entire ship for things that don’t belong & stowaways.  We divided up into teams & divided up the ship to begin our search.  We had to look everywhere- behind walls, in the ceiling, we crawled into small spaces & up ladders, we even checked the lifeboats & the ship’s funnel.  It took the whole day & we learned there was more to the ship than just what we saw everyday! 

 

Finally: Relax

Out to eat with friends

Togo offers a lot of fun things to do & wide selection of restaurants.  We spent our last day in Togo relaxing poolside at the Seamen’s Mission- a Christian restaurant/hotel established to cater to the ships in the port by providing clean & affordable services to the men on the ships.  It’s within walking distance of the port & they even offer a free shuttle service to & from your ship in the evenings.  Behind the Seamen’s is the German Restaurant that serves very yummy food.  Eating good food & relaxing by the pool was a great way to spend our last day.

Tomorrow we leave Togo; it’s a 10 day sail to Tenerife in the Grand Canaries.  I guess it’s time to start a new adventure.

Blessings

C'est Fini

It seems like yesterday we were untying equipment, making beds, bleaching walls- turning a normal looking ship into a hospital.  The past 5 months have flown by.  As our last week of surgery came & went, it brought a sense of accomplishment of a job well done, as well as a feeling of sadness that we were done.

We are the Pirates of the OR- Arrgh!

Gratias sporting a very piratey eye patch

In the OR, we celebrate the last week of surgery & a job well done with a party & a little OR humor.  One day the OR was over runned by pirates, who happened to look like doctors & nurses.  No one walked the plank & there was no buried treasure, but I think there was a parrot, it was a great excuse to have a bit of fun & sword fights... :)

One last hug

Saying goodbye to Komla

Saying goodbye to Hougno

Hougno waves as he leaves

The hardest thing about the end of an outreach is saying goodbye to the people we’ve meet & cared for during our time here.  I had made some special bonds with a couple of boys who had been on the wards for months while they healed from their surgeries.  I often spent the evening with my buddies walking up & down the hall exercising, or just sitting & playing games or watching a movie.  We didn’t speak the same language, but that didn’t matter.  They had been with us so long it was hard to imagine the wards without their smiley faces.  When it came time for them to go home, it was heartbreaking.  I helped walk them out & plastered a big smile on my face as I helped them get into the landrovers, & waved as they drove away.  I hate goodbyes.

The ORs are packed

Packing is always an inevitable part of end of outreach preparations.  It requires a lot of time, creativity & elbow grease.  It took about 2 weeks to get the ORs ready for the high seas.  The rest of the ship was right behind us with their preparations.  Tents on the dock came down, containers packed, landrovers were lifted up onto the deck & secured.  Doctors, nurses, crew members who had been with us since we arrived have left in large groups.  The ship feels empty.

The halls are quiet, the beds are empty, the last patients have gone.  The hospital is officially closed.  All good things must come to an end & so must our time here in Togo.  The ship is ready to leave, but I wonder if I am.

Blessings

Impromptu Dance Party

One of my favorite things about being in Africa is the music.  I love to hear the African drums & the shakers & the songs.  They are so different from the music we listen to at home, so beautiful & down to earth.  I’ve learned that drums have an important place in African society, children learn at a young age how to play.  Its more than just slapping the drum with your hand, there’s an art to it.  When the drums start to play, whether its outside on the dock, in the International Lounge, the wards or in a village, it gathers people together, it lifts spirits & makes people feel happy & a part of the community.  Also, its impossible to just sit & listen; drums will have you on your feet, dancing along with the crowd.

One Saturday night not to long ago, we decided to celebrate birthdays out on the dock.  It had just stopped raining & we gathered under one of the tents for a BBQ.  Soon, someone brought the drums out & started playing.  We danced out on the dock, avoiding the giant rain puddles, just laughing, singing & dancing with our friends.  The patients from the wards joined us & a dance party had begun.  I love these impromptu dance parties.

Blessings