What have I been doing the last month? I don't know! I had to look through my pictures to remind myself! I know I joked about Guinea being my home in my last blog, but returning to the ship/Africa really has felt like coming home. I have felt so comfortable and at ease being here and time has really flown by...five weeks have passed and this is my first blog since my arrival! SO sorry! My weeks have been spent with the SWEETEST patients and the fun rehab team, and my weekends are full of adventure!
I went through orientation with a PT from New Zealand, and an RN from California. They have been my adventure buddies and we have SO much fun together.
Last Saturday we took a boat to Kassa Island. The process of getting on/off the boat is the worst part but once on the island we had a delightful time. We usually walk to the port with all the boats and someone offers to take us, we haggle until we get a desirable price, sign out in the port manifesto, pay our entry fee to the islands(60 cents), and get on the boat to go. This time we walked to our spot on the port then proceeded to take our seats in this tiny boat in the middle of the big pirogies. The boat was really tiny and the waves were a little higher than usual, so we were careful not to rock the boat and didn't move for most of the ride-other than to laugh and plan our "in case our boat capsizes" plan. The other passengers even dug around to find life jackets and put them on.
The island was beautiful! Tried-colored sand, huge Mango trees for shade and exactly three loungers that were unoccupied :) It was delightful.
On our way home the tide had gone out and we had to get out of our boat 200 meters from the pier. These men came rushing over to help us and were trying to pull us out of the boat and carry us. With a little struggle and several "NO's" we managed to get out and walk ourselves, only to be passed by the men carrying the other passengers. Gross water but hilarious story.
 |
| Jess and Bekah and we were so happy we survived! |
 |
| Boat selfie-Bob Marley(name of the boat) did not fail us! |
 |
| red, black, and white sand |
 |
| View from the loungers |
 |
| Much smoother ride back. |
 |
| Sorro Bay, where the boat drops you off and picks you up. |
 |
| Cab ride to Palm Camayenne for the day |
Sunday we had a lazy day at a hotel pool here in Conakry. Another tres bon day!
Monday I had the opportunity to go to a plastic surgery center in Conakry with the medical capacity building team. The wound care RN taught nutrition and wound debriding, I know the information was for the employees but I enjoyed learning about it as well. We discussed positioning for burn healing, to avoid scar tissue causing contractures. Next Monday I get to return to help teach them splinting with plaster.
 |
| MCB RN's with the local nurses |
 |
| Prime helmet position, friend. -Just a funny sight on the way home from the MCB training |
 |
| Passed by the US Embassy-good to know where it is! |
 |
| Team lunch with matching headbands |
 |
| Team photos |
 |
| Love these weirdos! This one is my fave! Captures the essence of the rehab team 😅 |
 |
| Kolié and Alice's birthday celebration |
 |
| Deck 7 sunset |
 |
| One of my sweet patients, Mohamed(Grande) and his mamma the best hugger ...in.the.world |
 |
| Kadiatou's Waka Waka |
A lot of the plastics patients are well enough to go home! It's a bit of mixed emotions, we are so happy for them but also so sad. After spending weeks with the patient's and their caregivers, it feels like you're losing a friend. We had a few discharges this week and we had some tears but luckily it was mostly a fun time of celebration! My favorite part of the discharge paper work is the quality of life survey. We ask "how has this surgery changed your life?" The answers become the reason why we're all here. "People won't walk on the other side of the street from me" "I don't have constant headaches" "Now hopefully I can go to school." "I can play with the other kids" "People won't think I'm cursed" The past therapists came up with a dance to go with the Shakira song "Waka Waka" and this is what we play for our discharge dances. So instead of saying "you get to go home tomorrow" we say Waka Waka tomorrow! Jess told Kadiatou that she was going to Waka Waka and I thought Kadiatou was going to jump out of her dress in excitement!
This weekend I got to go to the agricultural Food For Life program graduation in Kindia. Mercy Ships has an agricultural program that teaches locals how to grow sustainable crops without the use of chemicals, and encouraging use of natural homemade compost. The purpose of this program is to improve the nutrition of the country. Some of the pathologies we see on the ship could be decreased with better nutrition to start. This weekend the participants, from all over Guinea, have graduated and will now take their knowledge of farming back to their communities. The Food For Life program is in Kindia, and is only 130 km away but it took us about 4.5 hours to get there. The roads once you're outside of Conakry are two lanes and very run down, with massive potholes every 10-20'. The last 25 km were on a dirt road, it was so nice to see the country of Guinea, it is so beautiful. My favorite part of the drive was seeing how and where people live. My second favorite was watching: 1. how people drive on the bumpy roads 2. how many people were literally crammed into a car 3. How much stuff and/or people were on top of the cars. I tried to take pictures of my favorites.
 |
| cute little huts along the way |
 |
| The Guinean people really take pride in their space, always sweeping and cleaning! I've never been inside a home but the outside is always clean. |
 |
| It never ceases to amaze me how strong African women are- this mamma is carrying a baby on her back and has a gigantic bowl of all of her washing on her head. The oldest son also had a pretty big bowl, and the little girl had a job too :) |
 |
| FFL- pineapples |
 |
| Palm oil trees |
 |
| cabbage |
 |
| corn |
 |
| palm oil |
 |
| The main house of the program had every color of bougainvillea imaginable, it was so pretty. |
 |
| There were hundreds of Mango trees on the way all with varying degrees of ripeness depending on the altitude |
 |
| Hold on! |
 |
| This is actually very minimal compared to some we saw |
 |
| It was hard to get a photo but this car had two chickens and a goat on the roof... all alive. |
 |
| Such a tough cookie |
 |
| I really get a kick out of the scaffolding here. Terrifying. |
 |
| Pit stop! |
 |
| Pit stop-same place on the way back. |
There wasn't any accommodation in Kindia for Saturday night so we came most of the way back to Conakry and stayed at a little hotel in Coyah, We stayed in cute little huts with tie die bedspreads. They must've know I was coming! My friend gave me a silk cocoon sleeping bag liner last year when she left the ship and I was SO glad I had it last night!
 |
| breakfast |
 |
| Inside the hut, Thank you Eva!! |
 |
| Nap time |
 |
| Just a small creek beside the grounds, but we've heard its a river during wet season. |
 |
| Jess and I's hut! |
This week the women's health surgeries started and with the way the surgery schedule is this year we will have time to work with the women! I am SO happy we get to be part of their story. I wrote a
blog about the women's health dress ceremony and how incredible it was last year and I feel so blessed to get to hear their stories and help in any way with their healing.
I wish I could remember more but the weeks have blurred together! I just feel SO blessed and lucky to be here. I am so thankful for this experience and these precious patients.
Meanwhile, I'll just be here eating my weight in Mangoes :)
Much love friends!
