The Africa Mercy Arrives in Cameroon

What a moment!

Well this has to be up there as two of the craziest weeks I’ve ever had. The ship arrived in Douala last week, after months of hard work, and what an incredible sight it was. I could barely sleep the night before and had been up for hours, all ready to go, when we were sitting in the living room and Sandrine got a phone call that didn’t sound so good. The Ship wasn’t coming today? As KJ and Sandrine rushed to the port to figure out what was going on, we began to pray.The idea of having to unpack everything was demoralizing. Manda, Joan and I headed to the port gate to greet the Day Crew who were coming to sing for the arrival of the Ship, and we waited for word about the Ship. Finally, I got the most amazing phone call from KJ. She said something along the lines of, we’re good, you can come. When we arrived to our dock space, I could tell no one was going to believe the Ship was coming until we saw it. Some of our team hoped on the pilot boat and headed out towards the Ship. After several minutes we saw they were coming back, without the Ship in sight. What was happening? Apparently they came back to pick up some journalists – this was now going to be live streamed on Facebook. Off they went again.

This photo makes me laugh so much. Here I am answering
questions for journalists - clearly unimpressed (maybe because
they were interrupting my happy moment!)

And then, after much waiting, we saw the Ship come around the corner. I can’t explain to you that feeling. Until we saw it, we didn’t really believe it was going to come, at least not that day. We started jumping and shouting. What a good God we serve – He was in every moment of that morning, every moment of the last 5 months, doing it in His strength and not ours. As the Ship got closer, we could pick out friends and flags and we were waving and dancing and singing with the Day Crew, who put on an awesome dance party. And then something we hadn’t been expecting – journalists everywhere! I began to field questions in English and French, about the Ship and what it would do during it’s time here. I set up a mini-press conference for Sandrine to address them on camera. At one point while I was answering questions, I realized that a police boat had pulled up and two members of the Comms team had jumped off to capture video/images of the Ship coming in. I paused and ran over to hug them before we quickly focused on what we had to do.

Manda brought lots of laughter and joy this summer - I was
glad to have him on my team!

We were the first people to get to board the Ship once all the legal things had been finished and it was a crazy flurry of hugs. The hug that I had been dreaming about was from Abi, my Brazilian ‘little sister’, and there she was, waiting to give me a big hug. I finally got to meet the new Comms team and greet lots of old friends. We then had some time to settle into our rooms before getting back to work, so I headed to my room. I had managed to keep it together up until then, but when I saw my door covered with beautiful notes and arrival messages, that was it - I was home. That night, we had a Cameroon briefing with the crew and I was more nervous for that than anything else I had done all summer. God had put something on my heart and I really wanted to share it well. In the end, a crazy, marvelous day, which ended with falling asleep in my own bed!

A view of the Arrival Ceremony.

The next day, the full out sprint that is getting ready for surgeries, began. We first had to host the Arrival Ceremony, which was thankfully set up and organized by the government. We were not expecting the onslaught of media that we received. It’s like what you see in TV shows or movies. I had never experienced it in person before. After a lovely ceremony (who wouldn’t want drums pounding every time they walked?), some of the guests got to come on the Ship and see it for the first time. Our Management team did a great job, and once that was done, we began to unload containers and cars. The Hospital began to set up, the OR began to disinfect to be sterile, the Purser worked on getting everyone through immigration so that they were legal, etc. For me, the next few days were a blur of phone calls – between the Media and Day Crew, my phone never stopped ringing. 

Then came Day Crew Orientation. When we drove up to the meeting point and I saw all the Day Crew there, I was so thankful. So many people had been calling asking to confirm the time and place or saying they couldn’t make it, that my fear was that no one would show up. But when we showed up about 10 minutes before the meeting time, over half of them were already there. I was so proud. We transported everyone to the Ship and they went through a short orientation before being handed off to their team leaders. I spent most of the day dealing with late comers and hiring more Day Crew. I’m so thankful for all the people who came and told me they thought their Day Crew were wonderful – God was with us every moment, and for many of them, we just knew where they were meant to be working. One of my favourite moments was when our Chief Electrician came and told me that his Electrician’s Assistant was great. We had hired a woman for this position (she was hands down the best qualified on paper but we still weren’t sure how Engineering would feel), and apparently they tested all the Day Crew in various things and she was by far the best. That made me so happy to hear.

Setting up a hospital is a lot of work! Our crew has been
working hard to get everything ready for patients.

Some highlights from the last week: getting to take people out and show them Douala, including the gym, my favourite Indian restaurant, our off site locations, etc; working with Kate (the other Media Liaison) and seeing how quickly she picks things up, knowing this will be an awesome partnership; spending time with the new Comms team; going on another off road adventure and seeing the boys use our winch to help someone who was really stuck in the mud; realizing I have an amazing roommate situation this year; getting to spend time with the Silvas and playing with the kids; having the opportunity to help other departments, like getting all the paperwork for the cars taken care of and helping to build beds at the HOPE Center; playing Frisbee with the kids and other crew members; seeing patients on the dock for the first time ever in Cameroon (what an unreal moment); getting to know some of our patients at the HOPE Center and seeing how touched the Comms team was at meeting patients for the first time. So many amazing moments.

But with all those moments, there have absolutely been challenges. Walking into the Comms office and not seeing Windsor, Kat, Tiffany and Anna. The majority of people in the departments I needed to interact with are new in their roles and not exactly sure of what to do. Not having Tyler, Anna, Will and Michelle to confide in and be vulnerable with. As weird as it sounds, it’s been very lonely at times being on the Ship, surrounded by so many people but with no one understanding the things you’ve experienced or having a context for it. The dining room was overwhelming at first, with so many people all of a sudden. Having to build all new relationships when people are already very close and you’re working nonstop (they think I’m a workaholic haha). Many of these things just take time – and grace and patience, which God gives in abundance.

There are many things I want to work on this year: I want to train better, learning to let go of control and giving people opportunities to excel and succeed; I want to continue to work on being vulnerable and needing people, giving them room to be valued in a relationship; I want to be humble, feeling honoured when I am given more responsibility. I think this verse sums it up pretty well.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ~ Colossians 3:12

Trying to take pre-arrival selfies didn't work so well aha. But it was a great moment of laughter and calm before all the craziness started!