Rough Seas

(October 17-November 8)

These past few weeks have been very difficult.

We left South Africa on October 17.  What followed was eight days of rough seas.  Literally.  Sure, we had some rough waves on the last sail, but these eight days were worse.  The large waves were constant.  At night, I slid back and forth from headboard to footboard.  Not so much Joe, as the bed is roughly the same length as he is tall.

According to those who have been with the Africa Mercy since it first set sail with Mercy Ships, this is the roughest voyage the ship has ever been through.  The ship tilted more than 30 degrees at times - a new record.  Items that have not ever moved suddenly tipped or slid.  People fell off chairs during meals and meetings.  The refrigerators regurgitated their contents onto the floor.  Heavy machinery fell off tables, including the cappuccino maker in the Starbucks cafe.  Pipes burst, sparks flew.  The crew was wonderful, though, reacting calmly to each crisis.  

It was rough.  I barely slept.  I had a low-grade headache for the last half of the sail.  With everything going on, I became grumpy.  Poor Joe.


I did manage to put a small party together for Joe's birthday.  I baked a chocolate chip cookie cake, brownies, and two different cakes.  The first was lost after a violent wave rocked the galley!  Everyone had fun, most especially Joe!

 

Once we docked in Madagascar on Saturday, November 25, we had some more rough seas.   Figuratively.  Toamasina was overwhelming for the first two weeks.  Most people speak Malagasy, though some understand some French and many understand just a little French.  The streets were overrun with pousse pousses and tuk-tuks.  There are some cars and "buses" but not nearly as many.  Curfew was set at 8pm the first few days and then changed to 9pm.

On that first day, when we arrived, President Rajaonarimampianina (try saying that ten times fast…or even once!), Prime Minister Kolo, and other various officials came to the port greet us and tour the ship.     The red carpet was rolled out, literally.  Local entertainers performed while the crowds waited.

The president was kicking off the "Year of the Volunteer," and he used Mercy Ships as an example of what volunteers can accomplish.  His hope is to encourage the Malagasy people to volunteer within their own communities to make Madagascar a better place.  Joe and I attended the festivities at the Town Hotel (Hotel de Ville).

Unfortunately, none of the speeches were translated into English so I did not understand one word of what was said.  I was also exhausted, so I did not enjoy the festivities.  It was discouraging.




The hospital would open Monday, November 10.  The nurses would spend the first two weeks in-country setting up the hospital.  My next blog covers the hospital in more detail.  The cleaning agent we used in the hospital gave me a low-grade headache which lasted almost a week.  I had three migraines in three weeks!

Joe was rushing around like crazy helping not only to get the vehicles off-loaded from the ship and arranging legal registration, but he was helping to set up the dockside warehouse that would be home to our Admissions Team, Rehabilitation Center, and Dockside Screening Site.  He helped put up tents, hook up A/C units and other necessities to generators, and more.  Here are some before and after photos.  The government did put in a new cement floor and painted the inside, but the rest was up to us, and Joe helped tremendously.

We expected to be quite busy once we reached the country.  As I have mentioned before, we did not have a lot of time to prepare for our arrival.  Normally the Advance Team constructs the needed buildings, travels around the country finding patients in rural areas (and African rural can be more of a bush-whacking experience than American rural), and so much more.  But due to the last minute change of location, many things were barely started by the time we arrived.  For instance, the Hope Center, which is sort-of like a long-term care center for those who simply live too far away to commute back to the port for their five-times-a-week rehabilitation.  The Hope Center will not open until December 1, and even then not all the rooms and beds will be ready.

We expected busy, but instead we were overwhelmed.

Making a radical change in one's life, such as we did in moving to a hospital ship for two years, is difficult.  Mercy Ships is a unique culture.  It is very different than my own culture.  Studies show that there are four stages of adjustment when entering a new culture: Honeymoon, Hostility, Humor, and Home.  The Honeymoon phase occurs when you first arrive.  Everything is new and exciting.  Then, usually between two and three months, you begin to intensely dislike the very same things you had previously found so wonderful.  I miss the familiar things.  I crave the friendships and connections I left behind, because the truth is - it is hard to maintain a strong intimate bond over 9,000 miles.  I began to resent the ship.  Okay, so maybe not everyday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  But I was feeling it too often.  While I have been told this is normal, it is not pleasant to experience.

I was at a low point.  I missed home.  I missed my family - I wanted my mom!  I missed my friends, the ones I had known for longer than five months.  I missed being able to jump in my car and going wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted.  I missed being a nurse (cleaning a hospital does not count as being a nurse - there were no patients!).  I missed skim milk.

I wanted to go home.  Joe wanted to go home.  We even looked at airfare back to Chicago.  But I did not buy the tickets.  I did not like it, but God wanted us here in Madagascar.  So we endured.  I woke up, and each day God gave me strength enough to just get through that day.  Sometimes that is all he gives us at once.  It was enough.  I am still here.

Today is a good day.  God has given me joy.  This country is not in my heart the same way South Africa is, but this place is filled with amazing people, and each day I am learning to love them.  We have made some great friends who were experiencing similar emotions.  We have formed an unofficial support group.  A strong foundation upon which to build our lives over the next few years.  I can truly say that I am looking forward to what God has in store for us!