The long journey home

Well, I promised to finish the stories of my adventures in Ghana, so I'll pick up where I left off the last time...

After Jen and I said our goodbyes to our friends in Accra, we jumped into a bus at the bus station and then sat....for two hours! Here in Africa, the public transportation is slightly different than America (ok, maybe that's a bit of an understatement)! There are no set times that the buses leave. You just show up, find the bus that's going to the city where you're headed and then wait for the bus to fill up. These 'buses' are more like large vans...not the nice big buses with air conditioning in the states with lots of walking room in the aisle...the buses where they pack you in like sardines! So, after two and a half hours had passed, the last person finally climbed onboard and we started off on our journey to Ho Hoe.

Jen and I didn't really know much about our trip up north, except that we wanted to see the waterfall and have fun in the meantime. We didn't have any idea where we'd be staying when we got there, we just decided we'd see what happened and figure things out as we went along....and that's exactly what we did....we made a friend on the bus ride who was from Ho Hoe and was able to give us a list of recommendations for places to stay. We agreed on 'The Grand Hotel'...sounded pretty promising and turned out to be a decent place...aside from the spider in the bathroom...I took care of that problem quickly and Jen thanked me for killing the scary little critter.

Ho Hoe turned out to be a cute little town pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Jen and I ventured out to find some snacks for dinner (you have to be a little creative when you're traveling in Africa!) and met a few friendly people. The man who worked at the front desk at the hotel was a friendly guy. When we asked him his name, he said 'God's Will' and I looked at Jen and said 'Wow, I finally know God's will!'...we both had a laugh over my corny humor. I think it's really interesting how so many names and titles of stores are so religious in Ghana. It was noticeable even in the first few minutes we entered Ghana. Many of the cars and stores have references to God and the Bible. It kind of reminded me of Texas :)

So, Jen and I had a nice stay at the Grand Hotel and headed to Wli Falls the following day. We had to take a taxi up the road to the waterfall, which turned out to be a very bumpy ride down a dirt road. The waterfalls were located in another small town north of Ho Hoe. We got to the hiking office, met our 'mandatory guide' and started off on the hike. We opted to take the road less traveled and hike to the lower AND upper falls...which turned out to be a very dramatic incline...I don't know if it was the heat, the altitude, or just not enough fluid intake, but as we were hiking, I suddenly started to feel like I was spinning...apparently my color was changing too, because Jen took one look at me and encouraged me to sit down, which I willingly did and was grateful for. It was a strange feeling being so dizzy. I've never passed out before, but I really felt like I was going to. It was nice to have a nurse with me. Jen gave me some gatorade and a lollipop and I was back on my feet in no time. The rest of the hike was peaceful and uneventful. The waterfalls were beautiful and for awhile, we were the only ones in sight. It was a nice change in pace from the busy life of the ship!

 Our incredible view on the hike

 

The upper falls

Jen & I after our hike to the upper falls

Enjoying the showers of the lower falls

After awhile, some other tourists showed up and we met some nice people from Pennsylvania who were working with their church group in Ghana. Later, we were befriended by two people from Togo who had come across the border to enjoy the waterfall. When I told them (in my broken French) that we lived in Togo and were heading back that day, they offered to escort us across the border and show us the road to Kpalime since we hadn't crossed the border up north before. So, we started the long journey home...

The border crossing itself was quite amusing. The "official" border was a small, run-down blue building. We walked inside and saw one official with her feet propped up on the table and the other official with his radio stationed to the latest soccer match. The woman didn't like the letters we presented (our official letters from Mercy Ships stating that the government of Togo has granted us free visas) since she knew we wouldn't have to pay and kept saying "This is not good." The guy was a little less worried about it and asked about what he had to do to come visit the ship.

After getting through all the paperwork, we started back on the narrow dirt road. There was a stretch of road that seemed to go through 'no-man's land' between the borders of Ghana and Togo. After a few minutes of walking, we approached another blue building that said 'Police'...It was apparently immigration services for Togo. The only problem was that there were no officials to be found. 'Where are the police?' I asked our friend. "They must be sleeping," he answered nonchalantly. He continued walking and we followed along, slightly bewildered by the fact that we had just crossed back into the country without talking to any officials...I looked at Jen and we both just shrugged..."Well,  TIA" (This is Africa), we said and went on...some things just don't surprise you anymore after awhile.

One thing that I've learned being here is that you have to just go with the flow. Another thing I've learned is that you can never take people literally when they give you a time estimate. We passed through a small village at the border and then came upon a paved road with no taxis in sight. I asked how far the next village was "Thirty minutes," he answered. About two hours later, Jen and I realized we'd run out of water. I was starting to get a headache. My feet hurt from all the hiking and walking we had done in flip flops. No taxis in sight. It was one of those moments that I couldn't see the end in sight. Jen and I were both tired and ready to be off our feet....Not to mention, the long road we'd been walking on was uphill...we even hit some switchbacks at one point. I tried to stay distracted by working on my French with our Togolese friend. I could tell Jen was enjoying herself even less than I was. "Just think, we're gonna laugh about this later," I told her. That didn't make her feel any better. In fact, I think I may have even gotten a dirty look for that comment. Every time we asked how much farther the next village was, our 'guide' told us "Thirty minutes"...Of course it was thirty minutes...that response didn't give either one of us very much hope.

Finally, we were met by a little boy who told us he lived in the next village and it was only a few more minutes up ahead. We got to the village and found....no taxis, no water. So, we kept going. Not far from there, we came to another little village. There was a marker on the road that said we were 10 kilometers from the border (I think that's about 6 1/2 miles)...So by this point, we had cumulatively walked close to 9 or 10 miles. I was ready to drink some water, but the village only had water from the tap (and we all know that kind of water doesn't get along with our stomachs)....So, we just kept walking. Before we got out of that village, our friend saw a friend on a motorcycle. We only had a little bit of cepha (the Togolese currency) since there had been no place to change over our Ghanian money at the border. So, we had to pay partly in cedi (the Ghanian currency) and partly in cepha. We were just happy that we finally had a ride! We thanked our friend and rode away.

After passing a few more small villages, we arrived in a slightly larger village where our motorcycle driver decided to stop. We stopped right in the middle of a bunch of other motorcycles and drivers. Everyone was speaking French and pointing. The driver told Jen she needed to get off and get on one of the other motorcycles and I told him "No, she is my sister, she's going with me" (Yes, I can actually say that in French and yes I know she's not actually my sister, but she's my sister-in-Christ and multiple people have told me we're like twins, so it was close enough!)...But the driver wouldn't budge. He kept telling her to get off and I kept insisting that he stop trying to move her off and get back on the road. Pretty soon, we became the entertainment of the town. People were coming out to watch what was going on and  most of them were laughing. "I really do love Africa, but this is one of those moments that I'm really just trying not to hate it," Jen moaned. We were both on the verge of giving up. Si vous plait, I whined to the driver. Finally, he started up the motorcycle and began to move! Wow, it worked! I said proudly. But, we had only gone about five feet when he made a circle and turned around back to where all the other motorcycle drivers remained, laughing at us. "Ok, maybe not," I said defeatedly. Jen and I sat for another few minutes, as the drivers carried on back and forth. I wasn't even trying to understand what they were saying anymore.

But, finally, a woman stepped in. She was an older lady and had a gentle face, which automatically won our trust. "The law only lets you have two people on a motorcyle," she explained. "Oh, well, in that case, I'll get on the other motorcycle and we can be on our way," Jen agreed. So, both of us went from a state of being stubborn and frustrated to agreeable and obedient in one minute simply because the kind woman stepped in. I hope the men of the town learned a lesson from that one :)

As Jen and I rode away down the mountain, I breathed a big sigh of relief and regained hope that we might actually make it home that night. We had a short ride to Adeta, where we were finally able to buy drinking water. We sucked down a few bags of water and hopped on another two motor taxis to take us to Kpalime. This time, getting on the road was much less complicated. We were thankful for that because to be honest, neither one of us had the energy or patience for any more African antics.

The ride from Adeta to Kpalime was exactly what I needed. The sun was getting low, the breeze felt amazing, and the scenery was beautiful. I watched the sun set over the mountains as we rode through a small village. Every time we rode past a child, I would wave and their black little faces immediately turned white with a big smile that went from one ear to the other. Occasionally the little ones would giggle and point to the "yovo" riding on the motor taxi. I sat there taking in the sights of the children smiling and waving, men walking home from work with their machetes and tools in hand, the women taking a stroll with their friends, and the kids playing in their school uniforms, and I was reminded of why I love living in Africa. It may have it's share of frustrating moments, but it is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people.

Jen and I reached the bus station in Kpalime right as it was getting dark. We bought our bus tickets and were happy to see that we were the last couple people to pile into the van....which meant we didn't really have to wait at all! We loaded up and headed back to Lome. It was a tight squeeze with all the people they had managed to fit inside, but we were happy as long as we were moving! The little boy beside me fell asleep in his mamma's arms and occasionally his little hand would fall on my arm. It was precious. I was getting a little bit sleepy myself....it had been one long day!

We made it back to Lome at last and bartered one last taxi to get us to the port. As we walked into the port, we were greeted by a friend from our group in Ghana who was out jogging. "We were so worried about you girls," he said with a big hug. Apparently they expected us back sooner and had wondered what had become of us.

Finally, we reached the dock. As we rounded the corner, we took in the sight of our big white piece of steel floating on the water. The lights were shining bright, reflecting off the water, the dock was quiet, and the ship looked more inviting than ever before. We both breathed a sigh of relief. The never-ending journey had finally come to an end. "I never thought I'd be so excited to be back at the ship," Jen exclaimed. I couldn't have agreed more. It had been a very, very long journey, but we had finally made it home.

Our little Ghana Getaway

Well, this past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the next country over: Ghana (aka 'The Promise Land' as some of my friends like to call it). Our trip to Ghana was both ordinary and monumental at the same time for me. Ghana is not far from Togo, but it was only the third African country I've been to, so I was really excited to experience a new place!

It was an extra special trip because one of my friends from the ship is from Ghana, so he took us on the grand tour of Ghana. I think he knew that we'd prefer a little nicer ride than the cars that look like they'll fall over if the wind blows too hard (like that last van we had on our trip up to the waterfall), so he made connections with someone over in Ghana and we had the same guy drive us for the whole weekend! We were all in shock to find it even had air conditioning! We were especially thankful for the good ride down to Takradi, especially since it was almost 8 hours from Lome.

Our wonderful van & driver, Victor

There was a group of about 12 of us from the ship, so it was nice to get to know people better that I don't get to interact with as often (it was on of the first trips I've been on where there were only a few nurses). We all enjoyed getting to know Gray's family and seeing him in his element back in his hometown.

One of the most meaningful experiences I had on the trip was our tours of the castles where the slaves were kept before being shipped to America and a few places in Europe. It was a very eye-opening experience seeing the dungeons that they were packed into and the tiny little air spaces they had. Some were kept in these small, dark, dirty spaces for weeks to months at a time. It was a very humbling time walking through the dungeons and seeing the underground tunnel that the slaves had to walk through to get to the place where they loaded the ships.

The tunnel the slaves had to pass through

While it made me really sad to think about what happened in the past, it was encouraging to see the forgiveness of the people we spoke with at the different castles. They emphasized the importance of learning from our mistakes and the importance of forgiving as God has forgiven us.

As we were coming down from our tour of the castle, I noticed that there was a fishing boat out on the bay and had the brilliant idea that we should all take a boat ride! I didn't think anyone would actually go along with my idea, but everyone seemed to like my idea and our wonderful tour guide, Gray, said it would be no problem! So, we headed to the fishing village and took a ride across the water.

Our boat didn't turn out to be exactly what I had pictured. It was a tiny little fishing boat and started to fill up with water a few minutes after we had started off. It didn't fill up enough to make us sink, but it did make for a little bit of a wet ride...kind of like the water rides at Disneyland :)

In the afternoon, we visited Gray's aunt at her restaraunt and she made us fufu, one of the common foods in West Africa. Then, we headed over to the naval base for a tour.

That evening, we went to a place where Gray used to visit when he was a kid. There was a big lagoon with a few boards nailed and stacked together to make what they apparently call a bridge. It was a little scary going across, especially when some of the boards looked like they would tip over if you stepped on them at the wrong angle. But, it was so much fun going across...I must not have appeared to be intimidated by the bridge at all because, as we were crossing the last few boards, my friend Lindsay said 'Becca, I could see you being on a show like Survivor'....I don't know about that, but it was definitely a fun little obstacle course.

After our fun little adventure across the lagoon, we hung out on the beach and enjoyed the sunset

The next day was a very exciting day...we headed to Cape Coast to meet up with some more friends who had a much longer, scarier, and more interesting drive down to Ghana (they had lots of stories to tell which were very amusing). Once we were all together again, we headed out to Kakum National Park to go through the famous canopy walk. The canopy walk is a series of seven rope bridges that are strung together through the trees, suspended 100 feet above the forest floor.

 

Despite the fact that we were really high up, the trees are so thick that you can't actually see the ground most of the time. So, walking across these bridges was less nerve-racking for me than our adventure across the lagoon. In fact, when I started off on the first bridge, I waited til the people in front of me crossed and began my adventure by excitingly "bouncing" across the bridge (you know, the way you do on those bridges on the playground with little kids). But I was quickly reprimanded by the officials and decided I better supress the child inside me until we were on level ground again. What can I say? Sometimes it just comes out!

                              

 

       Checking out all the trees and greenery below

After the canopy walk, we headed to the Cape Coast Castle, a major site for slave trade across the Atlantic starting in the late 18th century. It was another humbling site to see after the castle we had visited the day before.

Cape Coast Castle

Enjoying the cannons...you don't see these

every day!

After our tour of the castle, we headed to Hans Cottage for dinner. The restaraunt is above a lagoon where crocodiles swim around. It's a little strange walking on a path right above the crocodiles, but I enjoyed the change in scenery. After all, it's not every day you get to eat dinner with crocodiles!

The next day, we ventured into the big city of Accra. There, we visited the national monument and did some shopping in the market. After that,, my friend Jen and I decided that since we had one more day off, we should make the most of it and take a little trip together up north to Wli Falls. So, the group dropped us off at the waterfall and we headed off for another little adventure. The trip to the waterfall was very interesting and deserves a blog of it's own, so I'm going to have to leave you hanging for now..stay tuned for more adventures in Ghana!

Little miracles

Little O'Brian had been struggling for several days. He had come to the ship for our feeding program so that he could gain enough weight to be able to handle surgery. I took care of him two nights in a row and watched his little body struggle to breathe. The next day, I came in to work to find out that he had been moved to the ICU because his breathing had deteriorated. He had developed something called aspiration pneumonia and needed more than just oxygen...he had been placed on a CPAP machine to help his little lungs.

Fast forward to the next day. I'm upstairs getting my coffee and I see Ali, one of our ward supervisors. 'Did you hear about our little miracle,' she shrieked, barely able to contain her excitement. She was like a little kid on Christmas morning, ready to open presents. I could see by the look on her face that she had some great news...She went on to tell me this story:

Around midnight, our dear little O'Brian started to go downhill with a racing heart rate and falling oxygen saturations. His little lungs just couldn't make it on their own anymore. His nurse, Natalie did everything she could think of to help him recover, but nothing seemed to work. She called anesthesia and Dr. Gary (our maxillo-facial surgeon...not to mention, one of my personal heros). They came down to see little O'Brian and quickly decided they would have to intubate him and put him on a ventilator. There seemed to be no other option. He wouldn't make it if they didn't intervene quickly. Natalie and another ICU nurse, Jenny, rushed to get all of their supplies and draw up medications, preparing to intubate. As they rushed around, they glanced over to see Dr. Gary, head bowed and hands on little O'Brian's body. He was seeking help from the Lord, our healer. It was 12:20.

At 12:25, O'Brian's oxygen saturations jumped from sixty to a hundred percent. His racing heart slowed to normal, and the bewildered nurses put down their supplies. The surgeon and anesthetist thanked the Lord for his work as the Great Physician and headed to bed. And there lay little O'Brian, no longer needing his CPAP machine, no ventilators, or mask. The nurses were stunned in amazement and his miraculous recovery and had the amazing gift of witnessing a little miracle on D Ward.

After hearing Ali's story, I could see why she was so excited that she was nearly jumping up and down. Miracles do still happen....and I know that little O'Brian's story has increased all of our faith and reminded us of the power of prayer!

Angels in the night

Well, the last two weeks I have been working the night shift. Working at night has helped me realize how much of a night person I am...I enjoy the slower pace on night shift and just the general atmosphere in the ward. But, I think my favorite part of the night shift is watching the kids sleep. They look so sweet and peaceful. Sometimes I just can't help but stroke their little heads...they are so precious...here are a few of our little angels:

I like to call these cutie pies 'my little angels'...But last night, there really was an angel on the ward...But I wasn't prepared for this one...It was the angel of death.

Vincent was only 39 years old...He had been a patient in Benin last year. But when he became severely ill, he turned to the only place he knew to go...he came to the Africa Mercy. For the last few weeks, Vincent has been going downhill. In fact, a couple weeks ago, we thought we were going to lose him after he had a large arterial bleed.

But, Vincent kept fighting. Yet in spite of all we did to help him, his body was getting weaker, his pain was growing stronger, and his spirit was starting to fade. We all knew that death was just around the corner for Vincent. I didn't ever get to be Vincent's primary nurse since I mostly just care for kids. But I would help the other nurses with him and attempt to talk to him in my broken French.

But, last night when I went in to say hi to Vincent, it was obvious that he was barely hanging on. His eyes were fixed, looking up. His breathing was shallow and his body was as weak as ever. I tried to talk to him and he just kept staring off with a glazed over look on his face. His nurse, Julia, told me that she didn't think he'd make it through the night. So, we went over and laid hands on his emaciated body and began to pray for Vincent.

'Lord, you know the number of our days, so you know the number of Vincent's days. Lord, please bring him home to you in your timing'...That was my prayer...and God answered. At about 5am, Julia called me over again 'I think Vincent has died,' she whispered. I went over to Vincent and was able to get a pulse...the sound of his heart was slow and faint, but it was still there. His breathing had slowed...It was obvious he was fading...So, I turned to Vicky, one of our African translators and asked her if she would sing with me. She chose the song 'Blessed Assurance' and we began to sing.

'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine..O what a foretaste of glory divine,' we sang...'This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long'...You could sense Vincent fading as we sang...Before we could get to the last line of the song, Vincent had slipped away. The angel of death had come and carried him to the arms of Jesus.

It wasn't the first time I had seen someone die. As a nurse, death is an unfortunate part of my job. But, this was the first time I had been there with someone when it was expected. Vincent was a DNR patient...Do not resuscitate...This wasn't a moment to start CPR or give him medications to bring him back...Part of me struggles with the concept of just letting someone die and doing nothing...It goes against my nature as nurse...But it's what was best for Vincent...and it was his time..God heard my prayer and answered...He took Vincent home...out of pain, out of suffering, and into a glorious plce where he really can 'praise his savior all day long.'

It seemed fitting that Jesus would take Vincent home the day after Easter...we had just spent the weekend being reminded of the Resurrection and the amazing hope that we have because the tomb was empty...the gift of eternal life in heaven because of our risen Savior...it couldn't have been a better day for Vincent to leave his life of suffering and enter the gates of heaven. Rest in peace, Vincent. Someday, I will see you on the other side where we can praise our Savior together.

Easter on the ship

Well, it is always interesting facing the holidays when you're not with family...I wasn't really expecting Easter to be anything special this year, but it actually turned out to be a really great time! It started with Good Friday...a bunch of us went down to the pool at a hotel down the street to swim and relax. It was really nice to go with lots of friends from the ship...one of the families from the ship even joined us, which made me happy because I got to swim with my little buddy Max. He is 3-years old, full of energy, and has a way of making people smile...probably just because he is so darn cute! Sometimes I really miss my little nephews back home, so it is nice having little kids in floaties to splash around with in the pool!

A few of my friends back in Phoenix decided a few years ago that we should start a tradition and watch the Passion of the Christ every year on Good Friday...so needless to say, I was really happy when they announced they would be showing it in the International Lounge on the big screen on Friday. It is always a really sobering movie to watch...but I feel like it is always a good reminder of how much Christ went through for our sin...I left feeling so overwhelmed by His love for us...after the movie, I headed to my first shift, so it was a good way to start the weekend...being reminded of God's love for me so that I can pour that love out to others.

I was scheduled to work the night shift all weekend, so I was expecting to be dragging on Easter morning...but I had the pleasant surprise of being called off on Saturday night (I would've been getting off work at 7am on Easter morning), so even though my sleep schedule was a little thrown off from working night shift on Friday night, I was able to enjoy all the festivities on the ship! We had a really nice service with the choir singing...and we even had a special speaker: Congressman Louie Gohmert from Texas...he is a really great Christian man and delivered a really great message on faith and drawing our strength from God.

After the service, we all enjoyed an amazing Easter brunch...the galley and dining room staff did a great job making french toast, eggs benedict, and lots of other yummy treats for us! They even decorated the dining room for us! It definitely made Easter extra special...and even though I couldn't spend the day with my family back in Phoenix, it was great to spend the day with all the people that I love here on the ship! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter...Christos Anesti...He is risen indeed!