Sunday November 13

Remembrance Day in the UK today. A good opportunity to give thanks for those valiant men and women who have given their lives in service to their country especially during times of war to defend our freedom.

Sierra Leone also remembers and a service was help in the town centre where there is a cenotaph. Attended by the President and various dignitaries from the embassies it caused reasonable chaos to the city centre this morning.

I actually returned to the church I attended 2 weeks ago where we had given sweing machines and scissors and other tailoring goods. Since then they have also received a monetary gift from the crew members of the ship which has enabled them to buy new courrugated tin roofs and wood to begin extending the facilities they have for the children they are seeking to train. there are over 100 children/young people who will benefit from this project. the aim is for them to graduate in April next year.

I gave my lecture/training session on Airway Management and it went well. The use of 'Bob' at the end of the session was well received and it may be that I will undertake further training on other occasions.

In a week where the amount of surgery was lessning we seem to have picked up on the number of cleft lips/palates that we are repairing. In very small children the lip defect is closed and surgery done later to repair the palate if necessary. This week week we repaired the cleft lips of two young people aged 14 years and 17 years. Both of them had quite severe defects and their defects would have been seen as the work of the devil. For both of these youngsters the surgery will certainly change their lives as they will no longer be bullied or subject to abuse from others.

Those of you who know me well understand that I don't view what I do as anything particularly phenomenal or fantastic but rather as the work that God has equipped me for over many years and that I am simply following His plan. We have had a mercy team on the ship for the last 10 days from a church near Mercy ships International operation centre (IOC)in Texas. They have probably been one team that I have been able to interact with most as they stayed on the ship. Often a group like this stays of the ship and then completes off ship projects. But this team were very different and I had meals together with a few of them and really got to know them much better. One of the team was a personal friend that I got to know when I spent a month in texas last year at the IOC as she came on the same course as me and we discovered that we both ran. In fact she was responsible for me running in the Waco half marathon while she ran the full marathon. What has been particularly beneficial is being able to share with her on a particular project and to have her input. God's timing is quite remakable as I had only started on this a few days before she arrived. As the team left the ship today they are remarked how wonderful they thought we were, but I had to remind them them that I am simply following Fathers plan for me and that doing the job that I hav been equipped to do is a joy to me and I hope, a blessing to others.

Tuesday November 8

Well just in case you thought I never actually work here is the evidence. Down in the hold inside a hot, airless, container, counting endotracheal tubes of all shapes and sizes! Thankfully I had a delightful Dutch colleague helping me out. It took us about 9 working hours to complete the job! Sometimes it takes a job like that to really get to know someone and we learned much about each other and our families in that time.

So the weeks of work have continued at a slower pace but with different surgeons, some general surgery - mainly hernias, a little max-fax and being ninvolved with dressing changes on a young girl who needs to be sedated for her dressing changes. She had surgery to separate out her toes along with skin grafts. She is just terrified of the dressing changes but the areas are beginning to heal well and if she needs dressings after the ship leaves there will be 2 of the day workers from the ward to help. They are going to one of the local hospitals having been taught here and will be carrying out dressing changes for some of the other patients too.

Last Tuesday I had the privilege of showing a friends film to the whole crew on the ship. Called Dawn of a New Day it focuses on the work of a South African Plastics surgeon who comes to the ship twice a year for about 5 weeks each time. The film follows him as operates on 3 patients in Benin (where the film was shot). Not available in the UK until the end of November, I had a personal copy as I shared a cabin with Ryley while she was staying on the ship filming. I was exceedingly proud of her. The film is quite amazing. A quite unashamed plug...

Saturday being November 5, it was decided that the Brits would celebrate Guy Fawkes night and have a fun evening. Guy Fawkes was duly made out of a disposable boiler suit stuffed with waste paper and a balloon covered with fabric for his face. Quite a handsome fellow. Silly games in one of the area of the communal areas followed the dinner of BBQ sausages and Jacket Potatoes. Its amazing how much fun can be had if one is simply creative and also quite educational in terms of what people have with them to loan out. The chocolate game with dice hat scarf and gloves, custard in a large serving dish with Werthers buried within, pin the bonfire on the Houses of Parliament, except we used magnets (its a ship - it has lots of metal!!). One the UK anaesthetists who had been on the ship for 3 weeks was a great cake decorator so we even had Victoria sponge decorated using M&Ms complete with Guy Fawkes, a bonfire and fireworks. A joint effort between Louise and myself and jolly tasty! We didn't manage toffee apples but the caramel sauce made to go with the slices of apples made an excellent substitute. A quiz to test our 'Bonfire' knowledge was fun and yes, there were prizes. To cap the evening though, somehow sparklers had been found/bought/brought and we were able to go down on the dock in the dark to light our sparklers - complete with scarves, woolly hats and gloves - of course!

This week I am giving a lecture on Airway Management and no, that's not about managing airlines but patient airways! I'm involving one of the young anaesthetists here and we shall have some fun with 'Bob' our dummy!

As I write we have just 7 days left of surgery so next week will be much quieter again but there's still plenty to do as all the ship has to be packed for sailing.