Off ship

So I almost met a king....It all began with a day off and a trip to Abomey, a town a couple hours drive north of Cotonou. Early this Saturday morning 7 nurses (one who is 79 I might add and still working in the OR here!!!) and one dental hygienist hopped into a Mercy Ship landrover with our driver Karl and set off on a bone rattling journey. About an hour into our trip we had a flat tire....the main roads here are paved but full of pot holes...Karl quickly changed that tire with the help of a local boy, and once more we set off, fingers crossed that we wouldn't get another flat because we were out of spares...About 3 hours later we arrived at our destination, Abomey, once the center of the Dahomey kingdom before the French got in the way. We had to ask for directions a few times, and the people here were very helpful: the first time we asked the guy hopped into his vehicle and escorted us to a historical site he thought we might be interested in seeing. We weren't, so we carried on, and had to ask for directions again. This time the guy offered to come with us and hopped into the back of the landrover. Along with proposing to me he also did some negotiating for us when we arrived at a palace we were hoping to visit, so we didn't end up paying the foreigner's rate (many places have rates for the locals, and then a much higher rate for anyone else). The first palace we stopped at was a private palace where a tribal king and his extended family lived...kind of a compound of sorts. I have no idea what sort of power this king holds...Have to look into that. Well, we all had to take our shoes off before we could enter and walk barefoot through the mud and gravel. First we were shown somes tiles set in the wall portraying the history of the Abomey kings and then our guide told us he could help us meet the king. Well, as we were being shown around there was also some sort of meeting going on in the grounds, and we could hear voices droning on and on, occassional shouts, and clapping and laughing, and well...we said we didn't want to interupt whatever meeting was going on to meet the king, and so, well that's my story of how I almost met a king:). And yes, I did say no to our helpful guides proposal...actually he first asked our driver if I was his sister and then offered to swap his sister for me...

After visiting this private palace we set off for the official palace of the Dahomey kings, which is the central tourist attraction in Abomey. Whenever there was a new king a new palace was built so the grounds are made up of 12 palaces and we were allowed to see 2 of them. One of these 12 kings had a harem of 4000 women, and when he died 41 of his wives volunteered to be buried alive with him to keep his spirit company! Taking loyalty a little too far, I'd say.

It was really nice to get off the ship and see a bit of Benin! There is so much contrast here: poverty and prosperity...mostly a lot of poverty with the occassional BMW; different religions, with many gorgeous Roman Catholic churches, mosques, and some voodoo sites; western and african dress...the odd thing is we could be driving through what looks like an extremely poor area with nothing but dirt and ramshackle huts, that pass as stores and people would be walking around very nicely dressed in button-up shirts and suits and talking on cellphones.

Along with a flat tire our day held a few more challenges. We tried to fill up with gas when we first got to Abomey but 3 of the gas stations we went to had no power so we weren't able to fill up until later in the day when the power came back on. On our way home we were stuck in a traffic jam and Karl did not want to wait so we were introduced to the back roads of Cotonou. At one point we took a narrow road across a swamp...I think we were driving on sandbags with some dirt on top. At the end of the road some guys had a rope strung across the road and were charging people 200CFA (about 40cents US), to go through. Karl refused to pay and a nice shouting match ensued with 4 guys and Karl...I was getting a little nervous here...would have just paid...in the end though they did let us through without paying. Because of the traffic jam we missed dinner on the ship, so we went out to a restaurant.. The power did go out briefly during dinner...but if you ever find yourself in Cotonou, I highly recommend the lasagna at Livingstones:). All in all quite a day!

Nursing Notes

I must confess...I took the flip flops off right before heading out the door to work. It just went against every nursing fibre in my body...
So if you're not a nurse this following bit may bore you. Just finished my 2 orientation shifts back to back (ie. evening shift ends at 10 pm, sleep for 6 hrs, then day shift starting at 7am). My patients on my first shift were all VVF ladies (women having surgery to repair a hole in their bladder caused from prolonged labour, that causes them to dribble urine constantly. Often these women are abandoned by their husbands because of this and become social outcasts). Many of these women are the ones I wrote about earlier who have come from the north of Benin and do not speak French or Fon. Many of them have never been in Cotonou, have never seen the ocean and have never been in the hold of a ship, awaiting surgery, surrounded by white people. All a little scary for them. And it's a little sad to see them walking in with a big wet patch on the back of their dress! But.....help is at hand:)
The wards will definitely take some getting used to. I know I will appreciate so many things when I get back to work in Canada...simple things like blood pressure machines on wheels, overhead bed tables, space...., beds with buttons, space...did I mention that already. Most of the wards have 2 rooms with 5 beds against each wall, with about 1.5 feet between the beds. The beds are very simple beds, with ancient railings I have not yet tried to move..pretty much cots with railings. Some of the beds have mattresses underneath where a family member sleeps. I believe many of our supplies are donated from around the world, so so far I have seen medication boxes in German, and some script I could not decipher (?Arabic). And there is a sad lack of pens...if anyone has worked with me you will know, I am always losing my pens. Please send me pens:)
Today was a far more challenging day though. I had my second day of orientation with a pediatric nurse and had a crash course in peds! We had a young patient who had major maxillofacial surgery the previous day, to remove a massive!! tumour! The poor little guy just had one swollen eye peeping through all his bandages (extra bits: nasal trumpet, NG tube, foley, penrose drain in his mouth, packing in his mouth, JP drain from his head, IV, SL,...bandages...q 1 urine output, q2 IV meds, q3 NG feeds, glucoscans, q4 vital signs...and 6 other patients!!! eeh...thankfully I was orientating. We also had one tiny little patient 2. 6 ish kg, with a cleft palate, who was part of the refeeding program on the ship. So cute:) and slowly gaining weight.
Well tomorrow will be the first day on my own. Say a little prayer for me!

Scrubs and flipflops

20 minutes till my first shift...wearing my first pair of Mercy ship scrubs, which I most conveniently don't have to wash meself, and my flip flops...yup, flip flops...no WBC here:)!

Ship Life

So, I'm gradually getting used to life on a ship...bow, stern, starboard, portside...the slight rolling back and forth of the ship. This morning the clouds rolled in and the rain came and the ship has been rocking back and forth a lot more than the previous 2 days. I had orientation today and was introduced to a job risk that comes with nursing on a ship: needlestick injury related to unexpected movement of the ship! Hopefully I don't poke any patients in the eye! I am getting used to picking up my feet through every door way so as to avoid flipping over the ledges which are everywhere. Almost flipped down some stairs from the top deck yesterday. Our bathroom has a few issues...occassionally the toilet won't flush or the shower won't drain...makes things a little messy! I'm attempting to perfect the 2 minute shower...must admit that I have some work to do on that one, but that is what they ask us to do....well those are just a few of the little things that have become part of day-to-day life. It certainly is convenient being so close to work. My cabin is about 20 steps or so from the hospital. Tomorrow I start my first shift! Til later...

This morning all the new crew members went for a ship tour at 9 am. As we where finishing the tour we ran into Bill, who works in the hospital department. He invited us to join him heading off the ship into Cotonou, so 8 of use piled into a vehicle and first he took us to the Hospitality center for Mercyships, where many people come before going for surgery, and then stay there afterwards for some time after their surgeries. They do not receive treatment there but they are fed and if they run into complications they are sent back to the Africa Mercy, at any time of the night. A lot of the women staying there come from the north of Benin, and do not speak French or Fon, but one of the other 52!! tribal languages, so they require up to 3-4 translators (from English to French to Fon to ?other tribal dialect they speak). There were also a few kids there who have had their surgeries and are still not ready to go home yet. A few of the kids had received surgeries to release contractures from burns. Another little guy with neurological problems had received surgeries on both legs and was walking around with a little walker and both his legs in casts. Just having this glimpse of some of the work that is done here makes me eager to get to work!

After visiting the hospitality center, Bill took us for a drive around Cotonou, through some of the markets, and past some of the government buildings, embassies and resorts. So much to take in! Interesting to see what people are trying to sell at the stoplights (radios, wineglasses, phonecards, irons,....pretty much a portable hardware store). Traffic remains insane, as I noticed on our drive from the airport. After our mini-tour Bill took us to a hotel for some pizza and coke. Apparently the beaches here are not safe to swim along, because the currents are so strong, so a lot of the crew go to different hotels and pay a few dollars to use their pool for the day. The ship also has an above ground pool on the top deck (nothing really fancy but it's wet and in this heat anything will do!). Did I mention it is hot here yet!

je suis en Afrique

I am here in Cotonou, Benin now. I arrived about 4 hrs ago. I spent one night in a hostel in Paris (St. Christopher's...definitely recommend it, thanks Dave for that one, I loved the location along the canal). French men are a little, um, to be watched, as I had been warned, regardless of age. Some of them just stop and start following you, asking if you are alone, and what are you going to do tonight etc. etc....but so far my brief impression of Paris is great, with its boulangeries (bakeries) and outdoor cafes and restaurants on every corner! And I was able to zip down to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Champ de lysses before I had to catch my plane. My french speaking skills are atrocious but it's kind of fun trying them out. Ok, the first french words I spoke were sticking my head out of the bathroom stall at the airport to ask the bathroom attendant 'est-ce que j'ai besoin de l'argent?' (do I need money), to use the toilet...well in some places you do! and I didn't have any money at the time, so it was an important question...!

But now for Benin. We arrived in the evening, and walking off the plane was like walking into a comfortable sauna! 10 crew members arrived tonight and 5 of us were Canadian! We were all picked up in three Mercyship vehicles and had a quick trip through Cotonou to the Port. Lots of motorbikes zipping around everywhere with no one wearing helmets! Didn't see much else since it was dark. I am in a six bed dorm, with 4 others at the moment, all nurses, from Canada, New Zealand, Holland and Sweden. And really, right now it feels like I am sitting on a BC ferry with the engines humming and the ship rocking just a little bit from side to side. Well that is all for now. It's really neat sitting here and looking out the window and seeing the water and the other ships in the Port! Really I can't believe I am here. We shall see what the next 2 months bring.

28 hrs and counting

Less than 28 hrs until I leave for Benin. Not sure how scared I should be at this time. Every once in awhile my stomach drops when I think about it but then regular life carries on and I forget about it. I'm working my last night shift here in Chilliwack...and still fiddling around with this blog...new template today. The organization I am volunteering with is Mercyships. You can check it out at www.mercyships.org .

So I've created a blogspot:) Why one may ask. Well the plan is for me to head out to Benin in 2 weeks time, where I will be working on board the Africa Mercy.