Random Things

Sometimes I often think if only my friends or family back home could see what I am doing or seeing they would laugh or think I was crazy.  So to give you a picture I'm going to start occasionally posting the random to you/normal to us things of our life here whenever I come across them and think to take a photo of it to share it with you.

With an exchange rate of $1 = approx 7,000 Guinea Francs and the largest note available is a 10,000 note!  we are often walking round with bulging pockets just to pay for the smallest of things.  These last few weeks Tim has had to pay some bills for the ship.  Of course it has to be dealt with in cash and so he looks more like a banker rather than a Captain.

 Most of our food we get via a container each month, but for the fresh food we have to order locally.  This is how our fruit and veg got delivered the other day.

 Packed to the limit, even with a foot!

Then carried on board

Any builders out there considered using wooden scaffolding. 

 Everyday life on the ship 

 Normal fishing boats here

and always expect to bail your boat!

Anybody old enough to remember ring pulls and bottled coke?  Well they still have them here, except here you don't dare put the ring pull back in the drink and you don't get money back for returning your bottle!

 How to carry your load

 Ever wondered where all those used cars go?  They get shipped here.

Creative Arts Fair

Yesterday the academy school held their annual creative arts fair.  It gave us a little look at Nathanael's creative side.  There was music, drama and many pieces of art on display.  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Here is Nathanael in the school choir-click on the video below to hear them

This is one of Sharon's piano students playing the Entertainer. 

 The Grade 1 & Kindergartens did a rendition of the 3 little pigs.

Part of a slideshow of Nathanael's drama lessons

 Nathanael's art work below

A farm scene made out of plasticine

Family Visit

I often say to friends, if you haven't seen a blog post you know that life is busy and it sure has been recently.

It was great to recently have my Sister and Brother in law visiting for 2 weeks and showing them the world that we live in.  They said that even though we had told them all about it, being here was somehow different.

We wanted to break them in gentle to get them used to things and the heat, so we first headed off to the God is Love Church on the Sunday for them to experience "church" in Africa, followed by lunch, catch up and swimming at a nearby hotel.

We continued the week with a tour of the Mercy Ship's off-ships programs.  These are all the sites that we have on land that support the work of the ship.  We visited the eye clinic, the hope centre and dental site.  I'm glad we did this at the beginning because as the week progressed Sally and Dave started to see patients that they had already met, coming to the ship for surgery or follow up consultations and could see how everything came together.  They were able to sit in and watch some surgeries including a little boy having a cleft lip and hernia operation, which they found fascinating, plus they were able to "look in" on the eye surgeries.  I love it how God orchestrates things and made it so they "happened" to meet the same boy whilst out on the dock and then spend time with him at the hope centre.

(meeting and playing with the hernia/cleftlip patient)

(playing with kids at the hope centre)

We took trips into town to experience the randomness of life in the city of Conakry.  It was fun to see it through somebody else's eyes, things that have become normal to us made us realise that, yes, I guess it is funny to see a photocopier out on the street for people to use, or people walking around with trays of food on their head, road potholes filled up with old a/c units or tyres so you don't fall down them, fridges, tv's, sofa's, you name it for sale on the side of the street.

As the week went on it became clear that some of the demonstrations was starting again in town and so crew were advised not to venture out past the people's palace which meant that they weren't able to visit the orphanage, but we tried to keep them occupied with other things.  

Each weekend we have 2 local boats that provide trips to nearby Islands to give crew a chance for some down time.  So we all signed up to go.   We all donned our too small lifejackets and embarked on the 1 hour journey complete with bail out bucket for water that leaked in!?   Dave and Nathanael enjoyed swimming in the sea, Sally and Sharon enjoyed shopping with the local man who spread out his blanket in front of them and displayed all his necklaces.  It was a fun and hot day!

Our last drama was dropping them off at the airport because all the roads were closed to get to it due to the president arriving.  So we managed to get them in the exit with a rushed goodbye.

All in all we had a great time with them.  You can read a great day by day account of all they did at their blog, it really gives you a look into life here.

www.parr-boiledinguinea.blogspot.com

Thank you so much, Sally and Dave, for travelling all that way to spend time with us.  We look foward to the next time ?!?

Orphanage House Rent

I can't believe we're already in to March, time seems to fly by so quickly.  For others it's a big concern as they get closer to April.

The God is Love Orphanage that we have been working with since last September has been touching our hearts in so many ways.  Whether it's cuddles with the kids, having fun or just sharing and hearing about the lives of Michael and Mikeila and the things God has done for them in the orphanage.

In Guinea, when you rent a house you have to pay for the whole year. None of this pay each month business, you pay for the year.  For Michael and Mikeila the nearer it gets to April, the harder they pray to God and believe that he is going to provide for them in a way they could never explain.  April is the month they have to pay for their years rent of $3500 for the property that they live in.  When they rely on going door to door for food to feed the children, it's not easy to lay your hands on this type of money and so far we know they do not have the money.

Could you spare some money?
Would you be willing to maybe give up your lunch money for one day to go towards their rent payment?

We have set up a website (some of it is still in work) where you can donate through Money Gram or Western Union or alternatively we are happy to receive donations through our support processes and we can pass it directly onto them (please make sure you let us know so we can look out for it)

To donate through their website: www.godisloveorphanagedonate.blogspot.com

If you want a quick and easy way you can donate through our paypal link (paypal account not needed) - just let us know so we can look out for it and pass it on.

Whether you can or cannot donate, please continue to pray for the God is Love Orphanage.

Special Visitors

It's fun when we've got something special to look forward to and we are now in our countdown phase as we look forward to Sharon's sister and brother in law's visit who will be flying out to stay with us on the 23rd February for 2 weeks.  It's going to be great sharing what has been home for us for many years, let them connect with the beauty of Africa, but even better let us see Africa, and what has become normal to us, a-fresh through their eyes. 

If you want to follow Sally and Dave Parr's travels, adventures & experiences you can check out their blog that they have created especially for this trip:

www.parr-boiledinguinea.blogspot.com

A Story of Hope

What could possibly compel a poor woman in West Africa to travel over 1000 kilometers – a journey that would take six months and exhaust all of her resources and ingenuity – to get to a hospital ship? The answer is stark in its simplicity – the journey was born out of a desperate, fragile hope that she could find healing and restoration.

Binta lives in southeast Guinea. Six months ago, a man in her village told her about news he had heard on the radio – a hospital ship was coming to the nation’s capital, Conakry. “The ship has doctors that can help you,” the man said.

Binta is in her late thirties and has suffered from vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), a devastating childbirth injury, since she was a teenager. During several days of prolonged, obstructed labor, Binta’s baby was stillborn during a traumatizing delivery. The injury to her birth canal made Binta incontinent; she has been continuously leaking urine for years. Her condition made her an outcast within her own remote village. But now there was news that she could be “fixed” . . . and she dared to hope.

With the little money she had, Binta set out on her journey – a trip that was filled with new experiences.

She traveled from her village in the dense rainforest region to the city of Senko. Once there, she used what little money she had to pay for transportation to the next city – Beyla. It was her first time to ever ride in a car.

From Beyla to Nzerekore to Macenta to Gueckedou to Kissidougou to Conakry – a blur of new sights and sounds. She stopped when she had to, staying in one city for up to two months where she worked doing laundry to save enough money for the next leg of her journey. She paid people with cars or motorbikes to give her a lift. Binta traveled more than 661 miles (1063 km) in 6 months to seek help from Mercy Ships.

Finally, she arrived on the dock – with no money and only the clothes on her back. “It was something inside of me that told me, ‘Do it!’” Binta said. The Africa Mercy is the first ship she has ever seen.

Last week, Mercy Ships volunteer surgeon Dr. Steve Arrowsmith repaired Binta’s fistula. Today she is dry. She no longer leaks urine; she no longer smells. And now, Binta longs to return home to her sister’s children, triplets, whom she has cared for since her sister passed away in 2011. Because there are no phones there, Binta hasn’t spoken with her family since she left. Fortunately, she will get home to them soon – a much simpler journey this time, with assistance from Mercy Ships.

Dr. Arrowsmith with VVF Patients

And Binta will leave Mercy Ships with a dry skirt, a full heart and a new life. Her courage has been rewarded, her hope has been reborn, and her life has been restored!

Our Physical Therapy Team

Check out what goes on inside our physical therapy tent that is situated on the dock.

God is Love Orphanage

These last few months Nathanael and Sharon, along with a great team of people, have been visiting the God is Love Orphanage about 1 hours drive away from the ship.  It's actually not too far away but when you figure in the Conakry traffic the drive takes a little longer. 

(Nathanael with crew member friend)

The orphanage is run by Pastor Michael and his wife, (Michael from Sierra Leone and his wife from Liberia) who both came to Guinea as a result of the civil wars in both countries.  Naturally we have connected with them easily having visited both of their countries.  Another plus is that they speak English and so communicating has been easier.

(thank you to crew member Lianna for this photo)

Visiting these 22 delightful children is a highlight of the week.  We play games, sing songs, hear bible stories and get crafty with the paper and scissors and it has been a great introduction to teach Nathanael how to give back to others.

(thank you to crew member Lianna for this photo)

The ages range from 4 months old to 15 years and there have been times when they have found kids who are just skeletons and they have lovingly brought them back to health.  They totally rely on God to supply their needs.  With not much money coming in, Pastor Michael goes knocking on the supermarket doors asking for food to feed the children, so for this time we are glad that we can help get some things going that will help them for the future. 

Teaching Cat's Cradle which we continued playing for an hour!  She picked it up really well.

Higher Higher Lift Jesus Higher song

Story time.

One of Pastor Michaels dreams was to have a website, the more he asked about it, the more people wanted to charge him to create and maintain one.  Meanwhile whilst some of our team go buying food, others try to renovate things at the house, Sharon designs a webpage for them.  With the easy use of blogger it seemed a great solution which could potentially reach the far corners of the earth and spread the word of the God is Love Orphanage.  We will also be adding a donate button at a later date so people can give to the amazing cause.  So watch this space and we'll let you know when it's up and running.

It was fun to share Christmas with them too.  We created a big nativity scene with toilet roll people, camels, angels, sheep, you name it, it was in there.  We used leaves to cover the stable and it was great to share about the birth of Jesus.  Following a kind donation from a crew members friends in Holland we were able to put together Christmas presents for every child.  It was a joy to see the delight on their faces when they opened them all up.

We also got extra dough at the cookie bake on the ship and made a pack of cookies for each child, which were promptly devoured when the kids received them! 

Please join us in praying for these kids, they are truly special!