A Change of Scenery

Hey all! I've been hesitating with writing a new post because so much has happened that I am not even sure where to start. I made it safely to Dakar last Friday! The Lord blessed me with a new Mercy Ship friend in the Chicago airport. We were able to travel the remainder of the journey together and share in the joy of arriving to the ship. All of you who were praying for a safe journey, know that your prayers were answered in ways far greater that I could have imagined. 

My quarantine days at the hotel passed quickly. The room had a view of the Atlantic so I spent my daylight hours watching the local fishermen. The boats were traditional pirogue boats utilizing nets. It was incredible to see them cast the nets into the ocean, have a swimmer jump in to connect the nets, and then pull in a catch. The hotel stay helped to minimize the impacts of jetlag.

After testing COVID negative at the hotel, I finally got to make my way to the ship! I embarked Sunday morning with nine other crew members. 






Say hello to my new home for the next 12 weeks. I currently have a cabin to myself in the belly of the ship with three roommates on their way soon. The four of us will share a cabin roughly the size of a standard bedroom in the US. 



This week has been busy with moving in, ship orientation, hospital orientation, and hospital cleaning. We currently do not have patients receiving surgery but they are having pre-operation appointments with the hospital physicians. Surgeries are meant to begin early next week! In the mean time, the nursing crew is hard at work cleaning the hospital wards and putting them back together after they have been empty for 22 months. I've had the opportunity to have some great conversations and get to know the nursing crew as we have scrubbed walls, floors, and mattresses together. 

I look forward to sharing more of this adventure with you in coming days!

Prayer Requests:
  • Safe travels for all crew who are still on their way to the ship.
  • Continued open doors for Mercy Ships as the field service gets underway in Senegal.
  • Opportunities to learn and honor the local culture and language. 

Comments

Post a Comment

I would love to hear from you! If you have questions, please ask and I will do my best to address them in future posts or I will get in touch with you personally,

Popular posts from this blog

Home is Wherever My Duffel Bag Falls

Image
Hello from Senegal, once again!!! I'm so thankful for the ability to share the events of recent months. Last time I wrote I was preparing to embark on a new journey with Mercy Ships. The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind adventure that I would love to share with you. Here's a brief synopsis of events over the last three months: - At the end of August, I packed up my longtime home in Oregon. I said goodbye to my friends, church, and hospital. I am forever grateful for the community God built around me in Oregon. At this point, I relocated to my parent's home in Idaho. The first of many moves in a short span of time.  - Mid-September brought with it a temporary move to Lindale, Texas. I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks at the Mercy Ships International Service Center going through a training program called OnBoarding. We learned about Mercy Ships as an organization. We also dug into the Word of God, looking at who He says each of us is through His eyes and how...
Read more

Bravery and Hope

Image
Africa Mercy in Dakar Hey all! Glad you came to visit again. Today, I don't have any pictures of grand adventures. Instead, I have a story to tell you. While onboard the Africa Mercy, I am assigned to work on D Ward. This is the hospital ward caring for maxillofacial patients. What's that? Think cleft lip, cleft palate, facial tumors, etc. I have been blessed with the opportunity to care for these patients before and after they have surgical repairs. For background, I have cared for patients from 3-years old to nearly 50. All have facial deformities that limit opportunities in life and may have isolated each from their community. Think isolation at the beginning of COVID, but for an entire lifetime instead of a year or two. In Senegal, the medical system is a you-pay. If you cannot afford to pay for treatment or live too far from a hospital, then your ailment will continue to be present.  Enter Mercy Ships. Advertisement was circulated throughout Senegal that Mercy Ships was co...
Read more

Preparing for Senegal

Image
Hey all, Alissa here! I am so excited that you have chosen to join me on my journey to serve with Mercy Ships. This is an adventure that has been years in the making and will come to fruition in a few short days. Bright and early on February 10, I am boarding a flight headed for an unknown but very exciting three-month volunteer commitment in Senegal, Africa.  Before we get to the details, I want to share a little about myself. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of working in missions medicine delivering hope and healing to people groups with little access to medical resources. For the last six years, I have pursued this dream by working as Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) nurse at a Portland, Oregon, children's hospital and setting down deep roots at my home church. Now, it's time to begin living out the dream placed on my heart.                   Now for the fun stuff!  I am temporarily moving to Dakar, Senegal...
Read more