discovered

discovery canada has a program called mighty ships. the africa mercy is going to be featured on it sometime in june. you can check out the blurb about it here.

the other end of the hall

b/c i am a picu nurse, i spend most of my time in "d-ward" where our high-acuity patients stay. but there has been a little one here down the other way in "a-ward" who has a beautiful story that you should hear. however, since i am rarely down there, her story is best shared by one who loved on her daily, ali. the posts from ali's blog are below.

aissa's intro
aissa's progress
aissa and lub
aissa's beauty

hope you enjoy aissa's stories through ali's words

kenya

well, although it is quite out of order, i wanted to tell you about my trip to kenya over Easter weekend. i went to kenya to visit a mission hospital and stayed with a surgeon (who i met on the ship in liberia) and his family. i went over Easter weekend b/c i was able to travel to and from togo with the ship's academy teachers who were attending an international Christian educators conference in rift valley.

we arrived into nairobi early thursday morning and i caught a taxi into the city and met up with a family traveling out to the mission hospital (tenwek) about 3 hours west of nairobi. once we arrived in tenwek, i met up with jason (the surgeon) and his wife heather and daughters anna and abi who welcomed me graciously into their home for the next few days. during the next few days i got to experience no power for the first day (black and silent!), a Passover seder, touring the mission hospital and getting to see a bit of how things work in country (as opposed to on a ship in port in the country), cuddles from the kids, watching the kids have an Easter egg hunt, meeting a chameleon and just spending some time with jason and his family. it was very nice. kenya (at least where they live) is quite different from the west african countries i've been in so far. the elevation is much higher (made climbing stairs a bit difficult for someone used to living at sea level) and it is green and cooler. and somehow i managed to take no photos at all of my time visiting the faders in kenya so no pics to share here.

the last night i was in kenya, i traveled via a matato (african 12 passenger bus generally with more than 12 passengers) the three hours back to nairobi and then spent an hour trying to find the mission house i wanted to stay in. one thing about the african culture, they really do want to help you and don't want to offend you so if you ask a question, you will get an answer whether or not it is the right one. several "helpful" people later, i realized there was no way i was finding the correct matato to get to the street i needed and just asked the next taxi driver to take me to a safe, inexpensive hotel. i enjoyed some african food that night and then a short night before heading to the airport and back to the ship.

i enjoyed my time with the teachers in the travels and visiting with the faders. it was interesting to see a bit of how hospitals work in country. although i eventually would like to work in country at some point (which country? when? not yet answered), i realized after this visit, i am not quite to that point yet...

next...t.i.a. (coming soon)

slipping away

our little "miracle" baby obre slipped away from his broken body into the arms of Jesus on friday. part of me wants to question God at why the miracle a few weeks earlier if He was planning a Home-going even then. part of me was very selfishly glad i wasn't on shift when he slipped away. part of me could rejoice that obre's healing was eternal and not just temporal while part of me was heart-broken for mom...who watched and cheered marius' triumphal entry the other day even as obre was slipping away. days like these are rough...we have to trust in the Soveignty of the Father and yet our hearts cry out and break within us. please pray for Obre's family. and those of us who had to say another goodbye.