Going home with Tani

It's not everyday that you get to go home with a patient...especially to a tiny little village out in Africa! But, this past week, that's exactly what I got to do! After my visit to my family in Basaar, I headed to Kara, another nearby town to meet the patients that were traveling home after surgery.

I got into the bus full of patients, barely able to believe that I was able to find them and now would be able to travel all the way to Dapaong (the city at the top of Togo, only about 30 kilometers from Burkina Faso). I looked at all the VVF women (the ladies who come for fistula repairs), admiring their beautiful new outfits that they received during their dress ceremonies, where they were finally able to dance again after years of being outcasts in their society due to a problem that developed during childbirth, causing them to leak urine and thus be shunned by those around them. The VVF ladies, ranging in age from mid-20's all the way to 60 years old were going home with new dresses and a new sparkle in their eyes, happy to be healed and excited for their new lives.

The few weeks that the VVF ladies had been on the ward had been a stretching time for me, as the nursing care was much different from what I'm used to as a pediatric nurse. It wasn't really my favorite thing in the world, but God stretched me through it, and seeing the joy that now shone through these ladies made it all worth it in the end. The women sat smiling and laughing. "We are so happy because we are healed," they told me. Those are the moments that I'm reminded that I really do get to be a part of something that is truly life-changing.

Dropping off one of our VVF ladies on the ride up

But, one patient that had significantly impacted my life was little 9-year old Tani. Tani was burned in a fire at a very young age. When she came to us on the ship, she had no nose at all, just a hole where her little nose had once been. She was missing her right eye as well. I remember the first time I saw Tani. Someone was taking pictures and she had the biggest smile of anyone on her face...but, it was clear that she was aware of her disfigured appearance, as she tried to put her hand over her right eye, so that the camera wouldn't capture the part of her that she didn't want anyone to see.

Tani with the other kids at the hospitality center

(before surgery)

Covering up that sweet little face

Tani quickly won all of our hearts. She was such a good little patient.  She underwent two different surgeries where the doctors made a new little nose for her, using a skin flap from her scalp and a graft from her leg. But, Tani's recovery was delayed by an infection she developed after surgery. As a result, she ended up being in the hospital for a little over a month, just long enough to become the star patient on the ward.

Tani would always help us with her nursing care. She loved to take the thermometer and take her own temperature, push her own meds out of the syringes into her mouth, and most of all....mouth care! Tani was supposed to use a special mouthwash to scrub her mouth with her little mouth swabs four times a day to prevent infection. Every time Tani needed to do mouth care, I would hand her the supplies and say "s'il vous plaît, laver la bouche" (Please clean your mouth). Tani got so accustomed to me saying this to her (she heard it a lot since she had to clean her mouth four times a day every day!) that every time she saw me, she would imitate me and say "S'il vous plait, laver la bouche" followed by little giggles.

Through all the coloring, disney movies, and the other fun activities on the ward, Tani and I developed a close relationship, so her eyes sparkled when I had told her I might come home with her to meet her family. Her primary caregiver during the majority of her time on the ship was 19-year old Amos, the son of Tani's pastor in Dapaong. He had never even met Tani before coming to the ship, but gave up a month of his summer vacation to take care of her...and basically became a big brother to her. So, it was fun to travel first to Amos' house, meet his parents and tell them how great of a job he had done.

The trip to Dapaong was beautiful, very green, wide-open spaces....not much around aside from some little mud huts every now and then. Every so often, we would stop for a bathroom break, find some bushes, and be on our way...that has become the norm for road trips for me now....TIA..

As we were driving along, Amos and I were talking about arrangements for Dapaong (it was all a little last minute, so there weren't a ton of plans made)...from what I had understood from our conversatons on the ship, I was going to stay at Amos' parents' house when we got there. But, on the drive, we were talking about it and Amos adamantly stated, "Oh, no, you can't stay at my house. It's too poor. White people can't stay there!" I couldn't help but laugh..."Well, I think I'll be just fine," I reassured him..."unless it's an inconvenience for your parents..if that's the case, I can stay at a hotel," I told him....He assured me that there was plenty of room and that his parents loved having guests, but kept shaking his head and saying that he didn't think it would be good enough...It made me kind of sad that he felt that I should be entitled to a nicer place just because I was white. I hate that mentality and I've seen it quite a bit here in Togo. If it's nice enough for you, then it's nice enough for me, I told him. And it turned out to work just fine.

Amos in front of the house

Me with Amos and his family

The first night in Dapaong, Tani and I shared a room. It was kind of special having a sleepover with one of my little patients. As I was getting ready for bed, I put on a bunch of mosquito repellent lotion (which didn't end up working at all!). As Tani watched me rub in on my arms, her eyes lit up and she pulled out a large bottle of baby lotion that she'd been given at the hospital. "Tata, regardez" (Auntie, look). She mimicked what I was doing and rubbed the lotion up and down her arms until the were shiny. It was so sweet. It was also the first time that Tani called me "Tata"...I was no longer just her nurse, now I was her Auntie and her friend. That really touched my heart.

My bed was on the concrete floor...but still ok for a white person :)

The next day, we headed out to Tani's village. Amos' father, me, and Tani were all piled onto one motorcycle and Amos rode behind us on a motor taxi. He had offered to give up his spot on the motorcycle so that I could go to Tani's village and meet her family. But, I knew he wanted to go and I wasn't about to take his place and keep him from going to Tani's big homecoming without a fight. He didn't want me to have to pay the massive amount of 3,000 cephas for his zemi ride (a whopping $6). I told him it didn't matter..my mind was made up and he was going...he deserved it..he had just spent a month of his time caring for this little girl and he had every right to see her off to her home and meet her family. So, he finally agreed, even though I think he still felt bad about me spending the money...such a sweet kid!

Tani and Amos

                                              

The ride out to the village was beautiful...very open and green..we were on a bumpy dirt road for most of the ride, passing by small villages every now and then. It was fun driving through in the morning, seeing all the people starting off their day. Lots of women were walking down the road with their buckets on their heads, venturing  out to the place where they could fill up their water. We saw lots of people already working away at the ground in the field, as well as a few oxen plowing the fields....it reminded me of the stories in the Bible. It's kind of crazy how primitive some parts of Africa still are...but I have to say, I do love the beauty and simplicity of it all.

We finally arrived at Tani's house after about an hour's drive. Her home consisted of several little mud huts with lots of animals roaming around and lots of little children with questioning looks on their faces, curious about this yovo (white person) that had come back with their sister.

          

                                          

Someone ran out to call Tani's mother and as we waited for her to come home, Tani pulled out her bag of goodies from the ship. It was full of toys and stuffed animals that she had accrued over the last month she had spent in the hospital. It was so sweet watching her pull out all her toys, handing each one to a brother or sister. At one point, she was hunched over her bag with her little brother on her back, hanging on for dear life as she played Santa Claus and distributed presents. It was rather amusing...I tried to remind her that she had a little guy on her back so she wouldn't drop him, but he knew better than to let go...he seemed pretty well trained...after all, this is Africa :)

                                   

Tani went on distributing toys and proudly showed her brothers and sisters how the different toys worked until she finally got down to the very bottom and there was nothing left to give. It was so beautiful to see Tani's generous, unselfish heart in the toy distribution. The big smile across her face was good evidence that she has learned that it is "more blessed to give than to receive." I was so proud of her as I watched her interact with her brothers and sisters.

                                                      

                  Me with Tani's family

                                         

I would have to say that going home with Tani was one of my favorite experiences so far in Africa. I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to meet her family and I look forward to taking care of her in Sierra Leone next year!

Meeting my family in Togo

Well, this last week was a really good one. I had the opportunity to head up north to Basaar to meet some relatives that I had never met before. It turns out that I have family in Togo...kind of funny, I know. My dad's cousin married a Togolese woman, so even though their family lives in the states, her brothers are still here in Togo. So, last friday, I headed up to a town called Basaar to meet her brother Seidou.

I asked my Togolese friend Raphael to come along since I had never been there before and didn't really want to travel alone. He also speaks French, which was an added bonus for traveling since my French is still lacking. We got to the bus station around 4:30 in the afternoon and then did something I've become accustomed to in Africa...we waited....and waited...and finally left around 8pm when the bus was full. But because we left so late, we didn't actually get there until about 2:30am.

Seidou, me, and Rafael

Raphael and I shuffled out of the bus with all the half-asleep passengers (including us) and called Seidou. He sent his nephew to come pick us up on the motor bike...he found us pretty easily...I guess I stand out among all the Africans...I never really have figured out why though :)

It's a little awkward meeting family for the first time...I mean, you know you're related, so that relieves a bit of awkwardness, but it's always a little odd meeting people who are somehow related to you, yet from a different culture....and even though they spoke some English, they were definitely more comfortable with French, so it was all an interesting combination. Seidou and his wife were so sweet and hospitable to us, though. Even at 3am, they came out and chatted with us for a bit and then showed us to our rooms. I was really excited to see that I had a queen size bed all to myself (our beds on the ship are tiny bunk beds)...that was a special treat! And they even had a flushing toilet and running water in the shower...not hot, but hey, it was much better than a bucket bath. I really hadn't been sure what to expect (especially since we're in Africa), so I was very pleasantly surprised by the nice accomodations.

Saturday, we had some fun get-to-know-you time with the help of my friend and translator, Raphael. It was fun eating the African food and the traditional meals and drinks. I even got to drink the traditional Choko-chok drink that apparently brought  Andy and Anna (my dad's cousins back home) together. I had never heard the story before, but Seidou told us tha Anna used to sell the drink and Andy would come to buy it quite frequently. After awhile, they got to know each other better as he would come to buy the drink, then became good friends, got married, and the rest is history. I think I may have expressed a little too much excitement about the drink the first day because the second day, we drank it 5 times (good thing it was the non-alcoholic version!)...they seem to have it everywhere all over town...it's really sweet and most of the time you drink it out of a wooden bowl.

Drinking some choko-chok

In the afternoon, we visited the market since it was the big market day. We definitely have a big market in Lome, which I have visited lots of times, but the one thing that really struck me that I had never seen before was the animal section of the market. There are people who have their goats and chickens on ropes out on display for someone to buy and cook for dinner...and then you see others walking home holding a live chicken in their hands or leading their new goat home...little do they know that they're being led to the slaughter...kind of sad, I know...but hey, it's Africa...it's normal to eat goats here.

After our visit to the market, we headed to a mountain with hopes of hiking up....but, only a little ways into the "hike," we were greeted by a man who told us we needed special permission to go on the mountain (I think it's because there is a place where people do Voodoo on the mountain) but that he'd be happy to go with us the next day. So, we arranged a time and headed back to the house.

View on our mini hike

That night, we watched the Ghana vs. USA game of the world cup...let me just tell you, it's hard to root for your own country when you're surrounded by Africans in Africa who want the African team to win...I was a little sad that the US lost, but hey, at least we made it as far as we did.

The next day, we had quite a little adventure climbing up the mountain. We were hoping to see monkeys since there are apparently quite a few there if you come at the right time (according to our guide who lived right next to the mountain), but we only saw one monkey at a house at the base of the mountain. The hike was pretty steep, very green, and quite interesting since there was no actual path. We were pretty much bush-wacking half the time and every now would find a faint trace of what may once have been a path. Every now and then, Napo, our guide would point to a plant and say "Don't touch that one, it's bad!' I knew better than to get anywhere near it! We made it to the top of the mountain and had a great view of the humble mountain town of Basaar.

We made it to the top!

(the view is overlooking Basaar)

Our tour guide was disappointed that we hadn't found monkeys (but not as disappointed as I was!), but he was adamant that if we tried again the next day and left a little earlier, we would find lots of monkeys on the mountain...so even though I was leaving to head north to Dapaong the next day, we worked it out so that I'd still have time to catch a zemidjan (the motor taxis) to the next town to meet up with the bus heading north from the hospital.

Unfortunately, though, we came back the next day, climbed the mountain again (it wasn't any easier the second time...still very steep!) and found...no monkeys! I wasn't too disappointed though, because we spotted one that had escaped from the trees that was roaming around at a house at the base of the mountain.

Afterwards, we visited Napo's friend, who had two monkeys he'd caught on the mountain. I had fun putting them on my shoulders and feeding them bananas. It may not have been the smartest idea ever to play with monkeys in Africa when I haven't had any rabies shots, but hey, you've gotta take risks sometimes right? :) Thankfully, I didn't get bit...I don't think there were even any attempted bites...the monkeys were a lot of fun and the family was very entertained watching me and my cousin attempt to get them in a good position for a picture...I think we succeeded though!

This little guy looked confused...guess

he'd never seen a white person before :)

Later that day, we heard singing and music (including lots of drums) from the house and I asked what was going on...turned out, there was a soccer game at the local stadium...just a high school match, but my cousin was happy to take me...I love that they don't even need tv to advertise what's going on in town...you can hear it from your own backyard! (although I do have to say that most of them have tvs...don't know what they'd do without them during the world cup!)

The soccer game was a lot of fun to watch....I mostly just liked being at the stadium and seeing all the people getting excited for their teams..kind of reminded me of high school football games back in the states...although I will say I've never seen a bunch of goats run across the field during a football game back home :) Gotta love Africa!

After the soccer game, we went back to the house to watch more soccer...another world cup game! Soccer has definitely become a new interest for me since I've been in Africa...partly because I started playing with some friends here on the ship..we usually play mondays and wednesdays..not to mention, my BSF (best ship friend) LOVES soccer...so her passion has rubbed off on me a little...I have to say, it was nice to be able to watch the game with Seidou and his family and not have to worry about finding all the right words to say in French since I no longer had Rafael there to translate for me.

     Practicing my African momma skills with my 

cousin's baby

      

Monday, I said my goodbyes and headed out for Dapaong....off to the next adventure!

Weekend in Benin

Well, last weekend, I finally made it to Cotonou, Benin! The trip got off to a bit of a rough start...We had a big group of people and things were a bit rushed as we left the ship...and in the chaos of everything, I lost my yellow fever card :( So, that wasn't too great since I sort of need it to get into South Africa in September..but thankfully, I was able to contact the health department to have another one sent.

We spent our first night in a place called Grand Popo. There was a full moon and we all just went out on the beach and sat next to the ocean...it was really peaceful and so beautiful! It was nice to just be able to have a quiet night and a time of fellowship with good friends!

Grand Popo during the day

Hanging out on the beach at night

        

The next day, we headed off to a place called Bab's Dock, which was a popular mercy shippers' getaway last year when the ship was in Benin. In order to get to the dock, you have to take a boat ride through the lagoon, which felt a little bit like Disneyland, especially when we were passing under the archway of trees. Once we reached the dock, we were greeted by the owners, a french couple who know Mercy Ships well because of all the visitors from the ship last year.

Getting into the boat to head to the dock

Do you see the resemblance to Disneyland?

   

The nice thing about the lagoon is that the water is only about knee-deep all around. So, after a nice lunch and some time relaxing under the umbrellas, we went out in the kayaks and then played volleyball in the water (the net is just above the lagoon). After taking in the sunshine for a few hours, I headed back out on the boat with a few of the girls from our group who were also heading to Cotonou.

 

    

I had made plans to meet up with an African friend who is from Benin and wanted to give me a good tour of Cotonou. While I was waiting, I went for a swim with the girls at the hotel and then watched the sunset over the port. It was really beautiful and for a minute, just being in the big city with lots of nice buildings around (there's not too many of those in Togo), I almost felt like I was back in America. Sometimes, you just need a little taste of home!

My friend showed up a little later and we had a nice motorcycle ride around the city. I was a little nervous about riding around Cotonou on a motorcycle at first, especially since there's a ton of traffic and there seem to be quite a few accidents there, but my friend made sure to be safe for me, so I was appreciative of that! My favorite part of the "tour" was driving into the dock where the ship was last year and seeing all the fisherman's boats and big ships around. I had seen pictures of the port from friends who were on the ship last year, so it was kind of surreal to finally be there myself. The port was beautiful with all the lights reflecting off the water. But, unfortunately, I didn't get any photos since I didn't have my camera with me. 

The next day, I met up with my African friend again and we got to visit the artisan market and then spent the rest of the day at "Obama Beach." I am always so amused by  the obsession Africans have with Obama. They sell  Obama bags and even boxers in the market and if you look at the right places, you can even find "Obama biscuits." I think it's quite amusing.

Obama beach was nice, but definitely not like the beaches in the states. The current is so much stronger here in West Africa. Thankfully, I was still able to swim at this beach, although I wasn't out too long since I was so worn out from swimming against the current. After hanging out and relaxing on the beach for awhile, we came across  some girls from France who were playing soccer on the beach. So, my friend and I went over to meet them and then joined in their game. They were all really sweet girls and after playing soccer, we all ended up hanging out for a couple more hours. I really enjoyed listening to everyone speak French and realizing how much I actually understood!

After our time at the beach, we headed over for some genuine African food (the kind you eat with your hands!) and called it a day! We headed back to Togo the following morning feeling energized again after three really amazing days in Benin!

Love in any language

There's an old song that talks about "love in any language" and how people can understand and communicate love no matter where we are in the world. Being in Togo has been a very different experience for me in comparison with the familiar culture and language of all the places I've traveled to in Latin America over the last few years. It's always been easy for me in places like Mexico and the Dominican Republic, where I was familiar with the culture and able to speak the language. But, I think that the language barrier in Togo has been good for me in a lot of ways. It has taught me to "listen" in other ways outside of just hearing a person's words...watching their facial expressions, tone of voice, and body langauge. And it has also taught me how to communicate in creative ways when I don't speak the language.

So far, I wouldn't say I have learned a ton of French, but I've learned enough to communicate the important things I need to know when I'm traveling or taking care of patients..the phrases I use on the ward probably wouldn't be very useful anywhere else...ie: swallow your medicine, did you poop today (I even know how to say that one in the local dialect!), are you having pain, etc :)

But, I am learning that whether I'm in the wards or out and about in town, the most important thing people listen to isn't our words, but our actions and what we communicate to them by the way we live.

Tonight, I went to a place where I didn't hear much French or Ewe (the local dialect). We went to a place where there wasn't a whole lot of speaking at all....I went with a group from the ship to visit a local deaf school. It was fun to sit with the kids, help them with their crafts, play soccer with the little boys (I was wearing a skirt too...which is always interesting!) and just practicing the language of love. It really doesn't take a lot...just a little hug, a high five (or even better, learning their secret handshake!), or even just a smile...showing the kids that we love them and care about them...

It's easy to go through our busy lives and forget the simple things...but those are the things that really say the most....I know I am one of those people that always has a lot to say...but I am reminded that the most important thing I really need to communicate is love...because after all God is love and that's the reason I'm here...to show others that there is a God who loves us so much that he gave up everything...even His own son to be with us...it didn't take Jesus a lot of words to communicate love...he stretched out his arms and died...and I can stretch out my arms and embrace those who are hurting and in need...no words are necessary...just a little love.

My home in Africa

So I realize that I told several of  you that I'd post pictures of my home in Africa...and that was several months ago! It's hard to believe that the Africa Mercy has already been my home for over four months! So, I just wanted to show a few pictures so you can see a little more of what the ship looks like inside...

Here's me next to the ship on our dock..as you can see, the ship is pretty big!

Deck 7 has a beautiful view of the beach!

And Deck 7 is also where we take the patients to get some sunshine

and fresh air every afternoon

One of my favorite places on the ship:

The Starbucks Cafe

The sitting area in the cafe (Deck 5)

Midships (the hangout area on Deck 6)

The Internet Cafe (also on deck 6)

"Town Square"

To give you an idea of how it fits together, the two people in the back are standing

in front of our "ship shop" (where we can buy toiletries, snacks, and baking supplies,etc.)

The stools to the right are directly in front of starbucks..

If you take the stairs up to the right, you end up at the internet cafe

If you take the stairs to the left, you end up at all the couches and chairs in midships

Up on Deck 8, there's a couple of lounge chairs for people

who want to get some sun

The dining room (this is the area we line up for our food)

And now...pictures of my new room...I just moved from a 6-berth to a 4-berth!

My roommates' bunk area is at the front of the room

(it's pretty empty now b/c they left for summer break)

This is the view when you first come in the room

(The picture above is behind the first curtain)

My little section of the room...gotta

love the bunk beds :)

Our lovely little bathroom...this is where we take our 2 minute "ship showers"

(well, most of the time anyway...there's not actually a timer)

                   

                     The living room

Our view isn't amazing but I'm glad to

finally have a window!

I love the way the ship looks at night!