Archive for June, 2008

Since April i have been going to Mama Victoria’s orphanage every Wednesday since March. I help lead a group of 16-23 year old women’s bible study. Mama Victoria is the lady that runs the orphanage in town and the one in Kingsville. Today, Jenn, Becky, Jeanne, Sarah and I along with some others were able to go out and see the country orphange in Kingsville. It was about a 1.5 hour drive and was so nice to get out of the city. Once we left the city, Liberia’s lushness becomes obvious and the noise fades away.

When we arrived we were very surprised to see Mama Victoria. She lives at the one in the city. Her son Pastor Willie and his wife Emily run the orphanage and the school.

We have really gotten to know Victoria. She is such a Godly woman. I love to talk to her and today we had some time to ask her some questions. We didn’t really know the story behind her orphanages. She told us that before the war broke out she was living in Matati with her husband, daughter, and four sons. When the war broke out her husband was killed in the war and then she left the country with her children. Her husband’s brother is a doctor in South Africa, they went to stay with them.

When Liberia became a little more stable Victoria and her now grown children came back to Liberia to find that the orphaned and abandoned children from her neighborhood were living in her house. Mama said ” I accepted them as my own and more and more kept coming as the war continued.” The Red Cross and the ministry of Health began bringing children to her house and the numbers began to climb. She said “The children would come after being shot or stabbed after they have been separated from their parents or have been orphaned.

Victoria went to the government to ask for some financial assistance. It was so hard to buy rice durring the war and the number of kids was almost 100 and she said they were in bad shape.

When the war was finally over, Mama Vic went out to Kingsville to ask the people for some land to build a place for some of the kids. She then moved about half of the kids out into the country. Mercy Ships built them a building that is now the main structure.

Today was a very eye opening day. I got to see the other orphanage and we got to her Mama Victoria’s story.

Some friends of mine used to be in a couples cabin, then they had a child (and cute one that we have babysat a few times for).  After the child was born they stayed for a while longer in the couples cabin till the time came they could move into another bigger family cabin.

Well that day has come!

The best way to move from one cabin to another is illustrated below.  You borrow the rolling rack/basket from laundry, ask permission to use the cargo elevator (if the cabin is on a different deck/floor), and then get a babysitter or take your child for a ride!

*  Just in case you didn’t quite figure out the other ‘methods’ of moving up, here it is:  If single you will need to get married (to someone who also fills a position on board preferably) to ‘move up’ to the next size cabin. if married a baby will allow you to be put on the waiting list to ‘move up’ to a family cabin.

Disclaimer:  Of course I don’t suggest using these last two methods just to get a bigger cabin.  And I don’t work for HR, so don’t quote me on these methods.

But aren’t the pictures cute?

Our elevators that run food and dishes between the dining room (one deck below) and the galley was having some major issues.  The main issue being the sliding doors behind the opening door to the dumbwaiters were getting stuck and malfunctioning.

During service (putting the food out for a meal) one of our carts got jammed between the floors in the dumbwaiter.  Below are pictures of the damage…AND a very good reason for people not to play with equipment.  You know those people who always thinks its fun to squeeze into an elevator that’s not supposed to carry people, then jump out at the other end and say BOO?

This cart was fairly new, and the elevators seem to go fairly slow (they only travel between two floors) and it seemed to crumple it up pretty bad.  Look especially at the handle.

Here’s the process in case you ever wondered…our two dumpster’s or bins are JUST for Galley & Dining Room use.

Both bins need to be craned out to the dock.  Then the bins are rolled down to a bigger container for trash, emptied by hand, washed out, rolled back down the dock, and then craned back into the galley cargo hole (above).  It takes about one days work to fill them to overflowing again. BOTH of them.

This whole process usually takes minimum of 30-45 minutes and needs to be done everyday.

Man On a Mission

Kelly’s Mission Is to Help People of Liberia
By Gary Fitzgerald
Redskins.com
June 23, 2008

Joining the Redskins as a second-round draft pick, Malcolm Kelly has already had one “life-changing experience” this year.

As the young wide receiver out of Oklahoma continues to mature, he seeks out more life-changing experiences.

From July 3-10, Kelly is traveling to the African nation of Liberia on behalf of the global charity Mercy Ships.

Mercy Ships operates hospital ships, staffed by crews of professional medical and non-medical volunteers, to serve the poor in developing nations.

Malcolm Kelly (Don Wright Photo)
They provide free medical and dental care, as well as surgery if needed. They also offer rehabilitation and educational services to break the cycle of disease.

During Kelly’s week-long trip, he will visit Mercy Ships’ flagship the Africa Mercy, which is the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship currently docked in Monrovia, Liberia…click the title link above for the rest of the article.

I hate night shifts. I think I would be more apt to staying on the ship next year if I could stop doing night shifts now and be guaranteed to never have to stay up all night again. But that won’t happen so I guess I will just have to settle on coming home in January and enjoying the great country we are from and all of our wonderful family and friends… for a while at least.

My nose is runny, my head is stuffy and is throbbing. Please pray that this would go away before tomorrow evening. I have ANOTHER night shift and can not call in sick, because someone as already beat me to it and our pool of nurses is quite low right now.

Please pray for more nurses. We are so short right now and it is only going to get worse as the summer fades into fall. All of the nurses that have been here a while are exhausted and keep getting sick. It seems like there are a couple of different bugs that just go around in circles here.