Nick also returned to Guinea in 2014 to teach the Ponseti method at the Hope Medical Center in Nzao (very far inland from coastal Conakry), but the program was cut short due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus. This was while we were engaged, and we are still in contact with Hope Medical and have plans to return in 2019. (I look forward to going there since I haven't been yet!)
Anyway, I arrived here in Conakry in June to join the Advance Team and prepare for the ship's arrival in August. I held the same role that I did for Cameroon advance in 2017, which was to make preparations for the Medical Capacity Building (MCB) department. Advance is a season of intense hard work so that everything is in place for the ship to arrive, and once the ship has arrived we take several weeks to handover contacts and information to each department. I have finished my handover to the MCB department and returned to the Operating Room department two weeks ago.
Here are some photos of arrival day - it's amazing to see the Africa Mercy sail in to port! Arrival day is a packed day- wonderful but exhausting as well. We greeted the ship from the dock in the morning, in the early afternoon there was an arrival ceremony which was hosted on the dock by the government and attended by local officials as well as the advance team and ship leadership. In the evening the advance team gave a briefing to the crew, each of us took a few minutes to explain our role and share important information about Guinea.
The first lady attended the arrival ceremony, she is the godmother of the ship's visit here in Guinea. During the arrival ceremony, I had the special honor of interpreting the first lady's speech into English, which is not as hard as it might sound because I had the words in front of me but it was still nerve wracking :) Some of the introductions were unscripted though, that was the hardest part. It went just fine, and I was thankful to be mostly out of view because of the number of press members gathered around the first lady while she was talking. It was a new experience for sure though!
On August 20, we held our main patient pre-selection, here in Conakry. Nearly 6,000 people stood in line that day, many people even arrived the evening before and waited all night long. At pre-screening, we say "I'm sorry we can't help with this problem" more often than "Yes". We are a specialty surgical hospital, and treat a very specific list of conditions, most people who seek care have a health concern which falls outside of what we treat. Pre-screenings like this are challenging and require patience and perseverance from both the Mercy Ships teams and the people waiting in line.
What are we up to now?
I have returned to my position in the Operating Room. I worked the first several weeks as the Ophthalmic Team Leader, setting up the OR for the outreach and getting started with the first couple weeks of eye surgery.
Here's a photo of the nurses at the end of week 1 of Eye surgery:
Nick has been busily setting put he Ponseti Clubfoot Clinic along with the team (Aisling [physical therapist from the UK], Mary [Registered Nurse from USA], and translators Faya and Koi). The team has successfully set up the clinic space, screened and selected patients, offered a course and began working with five Guinean healthcare professionals who will come to the clinic several days each week for mentoring.
That's it from us for now, thank you for your support and for keeping up with this journey!
Suzanne and Nick
Here are some photos of arrival day - it's amazing to see the Africa Mercy sail in to port! Arrival day is a packed day- wonderful but exhausting as well. We greeted the ship from the dock in the morning, in the early afternoon there was an arrival ceremony which was hosted on the dock by the government and attended by local officials as well as the advance team and ship leadership. In the evening the advance team gave a briefing to the crew, each of us took a few minutes to explain our role and share important information about Guinea.
The first lady attended the arrival ceremony, she is the godmother of the ship's visit here in Guinea. During the arrival ceremony, I had the special honor of interpreting the first lady's speech into English, which is not as hard as it might sound because I had the words in front of me but it was still nerve wracking :) Some of the introductions were unscripted though, that was the hardest part. It went just fine, and I was thankful to be mostly out of view because of the number of press members gathered around the first lady while she was talking. It was a new experience for sure though!
On August 20, we held our main patient pre-selection, here in Conakry. Nearly 6,000 people stood in line that day, many people even arrived the evening before and waited all night long. At pre-screening, we say "I'm sorry we can't help with this problem" more often than "Yes". We are a specialty surgical hospital, and treat a very specific list of conditions, most people who seek care have a health concern which falls outside of what we treat. Pre-screenings like this are challenging and require patience and perseverance from both the Mercy Ships teams and the people waiting in line.
I have returned to my position in the Operating Room. I worked the first several weeks as the Ophthalmic Team Leader, setting up the OR for the outreach and getting started with the first couple weeks of eye surgery.
Here's a photo of the nurses at the end of week 1 of Eye surgery:
Nick has been busily setting put he Ponseti Clubfoot Clinic along with the team (Aisling [physical therapist from the UK], Mary [Registered Nurse from USA], and translators Faya and Koi). The team has successfully set up the clinic space, screened and selected patients, offered a course and began working with five Guinean healthcare professionals who will come to the clinic several days each week for mentoring.
That's it from us for now, thank you for your support and for keeping up with this journey!
Suzanne and Nick
