backlogged blogging...setup and startup

Okay, now for some backlogged blogging. Sorry for the long delay in blogging but things have just been absolutely mad here…we hit the ground running and well, it is just now starting to settle down.

Setup and start up looked so much different than in Benin and Togo. We had a shorter amount of time to setup this year due to our delays in shipyard. Because we had done more work in shipyard than we normally do, we thought it would be okay. As it was, as soon as the mooring lines were tight, the “old” nurses were down moving boxes even though it was Sunday. We unpacked for a few hours and then the race began the next morning. Normally the ward cupboards have supplies in them packed tightly and secured for sail and the hold is filled with supplies as well. This year, however, the hold was full but it was all stuff that normally lives in the ward. So we had to start from scratch…nothing in the cupboards, only a handful of people who had seen any of the stuff in its rightful place ever before and lots of dirty, rusted and molded stuff where water had seeped into one of the containers. So, with a few “old” nurses directing a lot of new nurses, we tried to finish the floors, unload containers, double and triple bleach everything, sort through the rusted and molded stuff to see what was salvageable, setup the beds and cupboards and carts, unpack the pharmacy, unpack newly arrived containers filled with supplies, fill the ward with supplies. We had 10 days to setup, screen patients (I’ve already blogged about that) for the outreach, hold a reception for the crew who aren’t hospital staff to see the hospital before it got into full swing, orient new nurses to working on the wards and figure out how things were going to work for the new team leader rolls. They were long, exhausting days pushing hard. And because setup was so crazy, it set the tone for startup as well. The first month we were here, I think I worked on average 55-58 hours a week. I didn’t have a full day off until the 5^th week (unless you count a couple of sick days from a nasty head cold).

Now while all that sounds like a complaint, (and it was exhausting), the truth is from day one we were seeing lives changed and broken bodies made whole again, spirits touched by the love of Jesus, strength provided for each of us. I cannot say I didn’t have days of tears or frustration. But I can say I saw God’s hand at work. Now, things are running a bit more smoothly the more nurses settle into their rolls. We’ve already seen the first wave of 8 week commitment nurses leave and new ones take their places. And I am acutely aware that all this work that the Father is doing, He doesn’t need me here to do, but He has graciously asked me to work in His work and given the strength to do so. I am humbled by that. I am broken by that. I am honored by that.