banana island

I took a day trip to an island this weekend. it took three hours to get there...only because the boys wanted to take the off road way. which was kind of fun at times. My head hit the ceiling of the car at least twice, the boys had to push start it once and i think at least twice we couldn't get up the steep mountain so they had to roll the car back and try to get up again. I refused to get out and push...i think id rather die of something more exciting  here in Africa than a motor vehicle accident. ANYWAY it was fun trip all together.

Rhoda on the right, is showing the look of the day, which is "this is fun but i think im gonna die!"

This is the view from the back of the car of a hill we just went up. We started down there in that city (which is Freetown) and now we're way up high on that dirt/rock road.

These are the cars that brought us to the island. These car have been put though a lot of abuse. I cant believe they're still working

We stopped halfway to the island to take pictures of a waterfall, this is my friend Kelly and I.

I forgot to rotate this sorry. Anyway a pretty picture of the waterfall.

So after the two hour bumpy car ride we reach the ocean where we take one of these canoes to the island. you can kind of see the island in the back of the picture. it was about a 30 minute boat ride. thankfully there were 15 of us so we took a larger boat...some people said the last time they came with a smaller group and took a smaller canoe, it tipped over in the water. awesome.

In the canoe! Rhoda and Clinton, the crazy ass driver. I made the mistake of telling him i could drive a stick and he threw the keys at me and said i could drive home. HA!

So once we get the island we had to walk into the water for a little while to actually reach land. I felt like we were never going to reach a beach

A really really big tree!! and sorry i forgot to rotate it again

FINALLY! the freakin beach. sooo nice. soo warm. you can see some of us in the water. after that i layed out on these rocks until i was dry, didnt even need a towel!

Not the most flattering picture of Rhoda and Kelly but this pretty much sums up what we did. read and took a nap on the rocks.

So then this guy asked people if they wanted to take a walk into the jungle. This walk turned into a 4 hour hike. I was wearing a wet bathing suit, flip flops, its hot and muggy and i had just gotten done doing night shifts. As you can see on my face, i really enjoyed the hike.

I believe that if any guy asks me to follow  him into a jungle or even a crowed city, i have learned my lesson and will always say no.

I thought id end with a pretty picture. hope you all enjoyed!

the city

so this week i went out into the city a few times.

leaving the ship to go to town, it was raining the first time i went into the city of Freetown. It was about a 45-60 minute walk to the craft market which was our destination.

Outside the craft market. I am wet, sweaty, and have blisters from my soaked shoes! Not a happy camper. But i did get a pretty purse that i have been wearing everyday since. I put it in my black bag so i wouldn't get soaked.

just to say, that is what the roads look like all over Freetown.

This is LITERALLY what the streets look like here. just packed with people. And you see that bus on the top of the picture? thats really how cars get through, they honk and  honk until people get out of the way. I felt really bad about having an umbrella while walking around because i probably hit and poked dozens of people while trying to walk really fast to keep up with the boys i went with.

To carry things, the people here place it on their heads. Its an incredible talent. Also, the women tie their babies on their backs, which allows both their arms to be free...and they dont have to deal with stupid strollers, like theres any place for them here!

Half the people in Sierra Leone dress in western clothes. But the other half still dress traditionally. they buy fabric in the market and then have a tailor make them a dress or skirt. this week i bought two types of fabric and i am excited to visit the tailor to have custom fit skirts made!

So the last three pictures i stole from other peoples blogs :) im sure they wont mind!

For all my nursing friends, i wanted to share a picture of what the ward look like here. Like i said earlier, we are not allowed to take pictures ourselves, but every few weeks we can sign up to have a professional come in take pictures of us with our patients. There was a sign up this week but unfortunately i have to work a row of night shifts so ill miss it :(

So this is the exact ward i work in. 20 beds in one room. yes that is exactly how close the beds are. everyday there is a sing and dance time for the patients, mostly praise songs. Most of the population in Sierra Leone is Muslim, but we do not make everyone participate, its mostly if they want to. But i got to say, if i were in pain and on bed rest for days, i would love to have people come in and sing and dance with drums and guitars around my room.

None of the people here are depressed. I noticed in the US that the longer patients are in the hospital, the more crazy they get. But not here! They have other patients to talk to and listen to them. For the  burn grafting patients, they see all their friends go through the painful dressing changes which gives them courage "if my friend can suffer through it and live, then i can too"

Yes theres something to say about infection control. But a patients emotional and spiritual health is important too.

pictures...finally!

This is the ship. looking toward the back. kind of a crappy day but oh well. there are nine decks. my cabin is on deck three along with the hospital. My walking commute to work is three minutes!

On deck six, next to the logo

On deck six again. Take notice of the cargo in the background. I guess its cheaper to keep them next to the dock than to ship them out. Its a little weird but it gives the ship a nice surrounding "fence" so to speak.

My cabin. There are six people including me living in it. our "rooms" are split with a curtain, so there are three rooms.

The bathroom lol. a shower on the left, toilet and sink. its cramped but i shouldn't complain because the water is hot! even though we are only allowed 2 min showers.

This is one of my cabin mates Jess. Shes from England. I have the top bunk which i hate. getting up in the morning already sucks and then to do extra work to walk down the latter sucks even more. but oh well, at least i have nice roomies :) (this isnt the exact room i live in, its one like it but i couldnt get a good picture of it)

This is taken from the Hope Center, this is a view of the downtown part of Freetown and part of the port.

The Hope Center is a building that Mercy Ships created for their patients to go to after they have been discharged to fully heal before they go home. It has two rooms that are air conditioned which is important for post op patients to prevent infection and speed along the healing process. This center is just a 5 minute walk from the ship, it over looks the ship and the ocean.

These men have both been patients and have been here for 1-2 months. This is my first time meeting them, after i have been here for a month or so, the patients i take care of in the ward on the ship will come here and i will be able to visit them even after they are discharged. which is pretty awesome, considering all the patients i discharged in the US i usually never see again...most i dont want to see again but there are a few that i would have liked to.

So i asked these guys their names and they told me and then i forgot! Sorry!

This is one of my new friends, Lynette. Shes from Ireland and man is another patient. I cant remember his name or what type of surgery he had.

I have had two days of orientation on the medical ward . There is a max/fax ward for the cleft lip/palate repairs and facial tumor repairs and a plastic ward for skin grafting and so forth. So when i worked i mostly packed scrotum and and other surgical sites. however, at present, there is no medical surgeon on the ship so most of the medical ward nurses are being pulled to the plastic ward because there are two plastic surgeons currently on board.

random stuff on the beach. Do you see the pig!?!?!?!

Theres also a lot of garbage everywhere which i guess is common in underdeveloped cities.

Im really embarrassed but i cant remember this kids name either. I know a little bit of his story though. He had bowed legs and and came to the ship to get their fixed and for whatever reason something went wrong with his right leg and they had to amputate it. This is the happiest kid ive ever seen. He loves life. Walking around in crutches doesn't seem to bother his at all, he still plays soccer and any other game children are playing.

One of the things we deal with on the ward is infection. It is not because we have bad technique when we change dressings or in the OR's. Most of these patients are malnourished or have malaria that inhibits a strong healing process. Also, if they felt sick before and they had money, they bought antibiotics. The problem with that is they take the medication until they feel better, not until the full dose and days of the antibiotics are complete. Therefore, they are resistant to many many types of drugs. fabulous.

These boys are brothers, a very sweet family. One reason why i do not have many pictures is because the people here do not like their pictures taken. Their civil ward ended about a decade ago but during those times many white people came and took pictures of them without asking. The next day they saw their pictures in the newspaper, etc. Everyone i take a picture with i have to ask and usually when i say "can i take a picture with you?" they say yes. Instead of oh im gonna take a picture of that person because they're different or weird looking.

We are not allowed to take pictures in the hospital either. We can sign up for a date to have the professional photographer come in and take pictures of us with the patients. I will do that once i have a good relationship with people.

This is Mourad, from Egypt. Hes our pharmacist. I love pharmacists! They are my favorite people! coughcough rachel williams! cough. They bring me drugs and tell me allll about them!

im alive!

hey friends, i dont have much time to blog much but i just wanted to let everyone know i am alive and doing well! i havent had a chance to get off the ship and when i do i will post pictures as soon as possible.
the next two days i will be oreintating in the ward and then next week i start having patients on my own. for all the nursing folk reading this, yes that is two 8 hour shifts for my oreintation. AND i have patients of all ages. yes, that means babys. learning all the peds medication cacluations sucks. anyway, hope everyone is doing well and ill try to get some pictures on here over the weekend.
love, Jessie