Change of Pace Monday..................

The past few Mondays I have been taking a time-out on playing coordinator and stepping into the hygiene role. The hygienist on our team works on board treating crew on Mondays and I decided that Mondays would be a perfect time for me to do a little clinical work. So above is a picture of me working today. It feels good to be back were I started........ :)

Running in the streets......

Tonight Naomi and I were enjoying a nice run along the streets of Cotonou and
all of a sudden I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look over and to my surprise I see one of our patients. Mousaha was our first jaw fixation. He had a broken jaw and week 2 of the field service he received surgery at the dental clinic to fix it. He has been coming back week after week for check ups and I have been able to track his healing. Last week when he came in the dentist removed the wires that had been keeping his mouth shut for the past 5 weeks. He was so happy.

Anyway it made my day. He saw me running and ran across the street to great me. We both smiled and patted each other on the shoulder, I as always spoke to him in English which he does not understand. In the end he darted back across the street and I continued with my run supporting the biggest smile ever. As I ran back to boat I was thinking I wonder what he is telling his friend...... He might be saying that white lady fixed my jaw.... even though I did not do it the patients see me the most and think I am the one who did it.. haha or maybe he was saying that lady works for mercy ships, I have been to their clinic they are really nice. I hope he was saying a combination of both. :)

What a great way to end my day.

Remebering all of you.....

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:9-12


Thanks for all your prayers and support. I was reading in Colossians this morning and this passage of Scripture made me remember and think of you all.

THANK YOU!

Easter in Ghana

Last weekend a group of 14 of us traveled 9 hrs to Ghana to see Wli Waterfalls in the Volta Area. We had the most amazing time, and the mountain and waterfalls we played in all weekend turned out to be the perfect way to spend our Easter away from home. Saturday we spent 6 hrs hiking up to the lower part of the upper falls and then we hiked down to the lower part of the lower falls. I attended Easter service at the smallest little church with only 10 members. The entire service was in a tribal language, however one of the pastors decided to translate for us a little bit. It was perfect. Simple yet to the point. There was one point when I looked out the window and saw chickens and goats chasing after small African children and I thought to myself where am I. It was really a great trip and I hope you enjoy the photos.This is only a SMALL amount of the pictures I took of the trip.

Please click on Easter in Ghana to the right for photos to walk you through the entire trip.

the bottom of the lower fallsthe small village we stayed in

Hiking through the jungle.... :) dirty feet... this is our advertisement for Chacos. Best sandals ever. Our 2nd mountain we have hiked together in the last 4 months.

Close Call

This morning we had to make an emergency evacuation maneuver due to the threat of pirates seizing the boats docked at port. So we are currently at sea AGAIN................. 

Us pulling away from the dock.

Just Kidding!!!!!!! We had to move docks to re-fuel. We are stuck on the ship however and can not get off until tomorrow when we return to our original dock. So today is a relaxation day.

Docked on a different dock and receiving fuel.

Child User......

The Lady below is what I am calling a CHILD USER.......... Read on for details.

This morning when we arrived at the clinic this lady started bugging me about getting treated today. I was a bit perturbed given the fact that A. she was inside the compound some how and not out side waiting in line with the other couple hundred people who also wanted to be seen B. she thought she did not need to follow the rules and for some reason she is different and should be automatically seen C. It was 8:30 am. D. She was not in pain just being difficult.

Anyway the following events are rather funny.

I first off told the lady that no she needed to get in the line up and wait her turn. That people had been waiting in line for hours and hours and it was not fair for her to get cut in front of all of them. Surprisingly she took this news rather well and made her way outside the gate. Now mind you there were probably 200+ people waiting outside this morning to see the dentist. I started at the front of the line and made my way down and maybe 25 people in there she was. I said no cutting in line does not count. The end of the line is where you need to be. She must have knew she had done wrong because once again she did not argue but left the line and walked away. She left my mind until about 2 hours later I look out the window of the clinic and see her being brought in by the guards. I thought to myself what does she want now. It slipped my mind once again until about 2:30 this afternoon.

I went out to the waiting room to see how many people where left to register. I specifically remember the last 5 people I allowed in for the day were children. I remember this because I felt sorry for them and let them in even though we already had more than enough people to see for the day. The last two kids I let in were brother and sister and their dad brought them.

Anyway I was in the waiting room checking tickets and I reached these two kids still with dad. I come back 2 mins later and the same lady was now sitting between the little boy and his sister.

I thought you have got to be kidding me. I walked in and told Mimi the assistant coordinator what I thought was going to happen sure enough it did.

It came time for the little boy to come in and get registered and the lady brought him in. She answered all the questions gave a phone number acted like she was the best mother in the world, and then after he was done being registered she said ok now my turn I need to be seen as well. AAHA just what I thought was going to happen. I once again told the lady now out of principal that no the appointment was meant for the kid not her.

The lady talked the kids father into letting her use the boy for a chance at getting an appointment and the dad agreed. Funny thing is next up is the girl and they had the same last name and address but different phone numbers. I told the receptionist to change the number on the little boys chart in case we need to contact them for any reason so we wouldn't have that crazy ladies number and not the boys.

Next funny part is 10 mins later I walk out and tell the random people who are hanging around that we will not be able to see them but I can give them an appointment for the next available day. They all agreed including the lady. So after I gave the lady her appointment card she got up and left. I then said to the kids father. I thought that was the boys mother as I was laughing he laughed back and said no she just wanted an appointment. :)

CHILD USER............ hahaha

Above the lady and the kids she was attempting to use.

Oh well it gave all of us a good laugh.

Tomorrow 4am my time I am heading across Benin, into Togo, and then into Ghana. 14 of us are heading to the second tallest waterfall in Africa for the weekend. It should be an excellent way to spend Easter weekend. Keep us in your prayers.

Good Bye African Style

The Day Volunteers have come up with a unique good bye ceremony for those who are leaving the dental team. We have a high turn over rate, which means I am lucky enough to experience this about every Friday. Below is a small clip from last Fridays Good-Byes. Florent the one in the blue outfit and white hat is the what I like to call the dance team captain. This ceremony started out small and has now grown to include personalized songs, dances, outfits, drums, shaker, and cowbell. The security guards even join. :)

My New Necklace.

Back in February on the first day of setting up the dental clinic it all started. As we pulled into the clinic compound I was greeted right off with a 15 year old boy who was lying on the ground with his face covered by the hood on his jacket. Under the hood the boy had a bandage covering a huge swelling on the left side of his face. The boy’s brother had brought him to the clinic in hopes that we could help. We had no supplies, no equipment, and no medicine available to provide the boy with treatment. I apologized and asked the boy to come back in 4 days time and we would see what we could do. In 4 days time it now being Thursday and the first day of us seeing patients at our clinic, the first patient that I saw in the line-up was the boy now known as Jacques. His chart holds dental patient number# 2 out of# 1137 as of today. After several visits to the dental clinic and the ship, about a month ago I had the privilege of handing him a green appointment card that reserved him a surgery spot on April 2.

Yesterday he was admitted to the ward and today he had surgery. The surgeons removed part of his mandible and cleaned out all the infected bone. When I went down to see him last night after dinner…he spotted me across the room and greeted me with a huge smile. I told him tomorrow was the day and he responded I AM READY, then he went back to playing cards enjoying life like all 15 year old boys should be. I left the ward feeling so happy, thinking back to the first day I saw him lying on the ground in such pain and today he was playing in the ward with all the other kids who are waiting for their surgeries just like he was.

Fast forward to today…. the surgery went well and today after work I went down to check on him. Today his smile was still present but not as big as the one yesterday, which was understandable given the circumstances. I asked him how he was doing and he said dàccord-ok in French. Then he sat up reached under his bed and handed me a necklace he had made me last night on the ward. I said for me and he said oui- yes.

I love my life.



The necklace