The first to know . . .

We received word this afternoon that there will NOT be a summer program on the good ship Mercy this summer as most of the families will be staying with friends in Madagascar while the ship goes to dry dock in Durban, South Africa.  I'll be telling what's sure to be a disappointed family at supper so let's keep a secret until then . . .

IF . . .

Reblogged from the Cash Family Blog . . . 

If Madagascar were your home instead of The United States you would...

• die 14.36 years sooner
• be 7.3 times more likely to die in infancy
• make 98.11% less money
• spend 99.8% less money on health care
• use 99.61% less electricity
• consume 98.65 less oil
• experience 5.56% more of a class divide
• be 16.67% less likely to have HIV/AIDS
• have 2.5 times more babies

Size Comparison - Madagascar and the US

If The United States were your home instead of Madagascar you would...

• spend 488.7 times more money on health care
• use 253.9 times more electricity
• make 52.8 times more money
• live 14.36 years longer
• consume 73.9 times more oil
• be 86.25% less likely to die in infancy
• experience 5.26% less of a class divide
• be 20% more likely to have HIV/AIDS
• have 59.48% fewer babies

Our First Restaurant!

We began our 2015 "A-Z" Restaurant Plan last week by choosing our letters - we each got six letters of the alphabet, and then the boys took one letter and the girls took one for a total of 26.  Matt wrote all the letters down on a sheet of paper and then had us close our eyes and point to a letter.  I have not laughed so hard - we missed more letters than we hit, but eventually we got all 26 covered!

As the plan unfolded, we agreed that we could go with any letter in any order any time it was our turn - and Sam would start us off!  He chose the letter "B" because he had a gift card and a coupon for Buffalo Wild Wings.  We went there today after church and it was a minimum of a 45 minute wait, so . . . 

We went to Applebees!  He traded for Micah's "A" and we went alphabetically in order (which was my original thought!) and there was no wait.  Just so you know, with a gift card and a coupon you can do Applebee's in less than $50.00!

 

We're not just doctors!

I am reblogging this from Alexander Bairrington's blog, From Balclutha to the Africa Mercy, so you can see there's a myriad of jobs available on the good ship!

It was a hot day down in the engineering storeroom.  It's been that way for a while because the compressor for the ductless air conditioning system serving my office failed a couple weeks ago.  A replacement is being shipped from Europe.  In the mean time, work in the stores continues.  John (my supervisor) and I have been working on receiving the contents of the latest container shipped from Mercy Ships Holland.  Yesterday, we unloaded the pallet in the cargo hold on deck 3 and brought the packages down to deck 2, where we began entering them into the computer system, a process which we continued this morning.

Here's a picture of me with a pile of bearings on my desk.  As you can see, our shelves are pretty full.  John, who has a background in logistics, was telling me that it is desirable to keep a stock diverse enough such that about 80% of requests can be granted on the spot without having to order something.  Much more than that, and you will end up spending a lot on purchasing/shipping/storing materials that rarely get used.  Much less than that, and you will end up slowing down work around the ship.

We tend to lean to the heavier side of that equation here on the Africa Mercy.  That means when it was time to unload this month's container into the dozen or so storerooms throughout the ship, I had a hard time finding room for stuff.  Most of the supplies on this container were for specific jobs- genuine spare parts for the engines, the generators, the incinerator, even a PLC for monitoring the batteries in the lifeboats (I volunteered to take a crack at programming it).  It wasn't easy finding homes for all these parts, but we managed.  It's all really important stuff, either for maintenance here or for more extensive repairs when we go to dry dock in Durbin this summer.

But then there was one box that really threw me off.  Actually it was a couple of boxes.  Upon opening them, I found them to contain nothing but...zip ties.  Thousands of zip ties.  All sizes.  Soon they were all over the room as I was trying to sort them and figure out where to put them.  There were more zip ties than we could use in a month of Sundays.  Why did we have to order so many?  I tried to put them on their shelf, but they just became a pile, and then proceeded to spill themselves onto the deck.  I was frustrated.  We're already short on storage space, and now we're using it up on all these extra zip ties.

When John returned from his meeting, he explained that, normally, when we enter a country, we have to set up tents for our patients to rest in after surgery (after they are well enough to leave the wards on-board).  These tents require a lot of zip ties.  In Madagascar, though, we've been blessed with more permanent structures in the city of Toamasina/Tamatave.  That explained things, but I was still frustrated with our lack of storage space.

I decided to bring the situation to God.  I needed help to fix my attitude.  As I was praying about this, I was reminded of a couple sections of the Bible that tie in.  The first one was Psalm 23.  David, ancient Israel's second king, was praising God for filling his life with blessing, or making his cup "runneth over".  My shelves certainly runneth over.  Maybe this wasn't such a bad problem to have.  We have plenty of stock, thanks to many generous people who have been moved by God to donate their time, their money, and sometimes their product.  God has definitely supplied our ship abundantly.  The second section I though of was 1 Kings 17, where God miraculously provided flour and oil to sustain a widow and her son, even though they had barely enough for one meal at first.  I think in the same way, God is able to provide enough storage space, even though I feel like we have very little.  As I use what space I have faithfully, God is able to ensure I don't run out.

With these thoughts in mind, I resumed my duties.  Bring on the next container!

OBB

      
Micah and I went to see OBB last night at the Mall of America!  I must say, this was my favorite song!                                     

Meanwhile . . .

Sam corrected papers at Starbucks where he ordered a cup of coffee and an oatmeal cookie - or so he thought!  He got the coffee - and a bowl of oatmeal!  The barista must not have heard the word "cookie'!

All I ever wanted to know . . .

Posted just out side of my friend Jana's front door although my quoting might not be quite accurate . . . 

All I ever wanted to know I learned from a snowman:

1.  It's okay to be a bit bottom heavy;

2.  Stay away from yellow snow;

3.  Don't get too much sun;

4.  Accessorize!  
Accessorize!
Accessorize!

More than just a hospital ship . . .

Krissy is one of our own - she hails from Duluth, Minnesota, and while we've corresponded, we've yet to meet.  I've reblogged this from her blog, "Krissy on Mercy" so you can check out her job on the ship.  I found it fascinating!

A few weeks ago I wrote the first of several promised blog posts answering the question "What is it you DO, exactly?"  If you recall, my job is to bring transformation. 

The Basic Surgical Skills course is a two-day program designed to train surgeons and other physicians in the use of safe surgical techniques that are common to all forms of surgery and emergency care.  This course was developed by the Royal College of Surgeons in the UK and is required for all surgical students.   Much of the materials for the course are graciously provided by Johnson & Johnson and give the participants an opportunity to do something they rarely get to experience: they get to practice their skills.  

In all the courses we have run so far, we have used some kind of practice equipment; be it manikins for CPR or intubation, fake skin or foam for suturing, or infant simulators for newborn resuscitation; and the resounding request from all participants is can we do that again?? 

The Malagasy healthcare workers we are training don't have the luxury of skin simulator pads or extra suture for practicing; the only practice they get is on cadavers in medical school or live patients in their hospital.  That's where we get to be really generous!  We supply them with more than enough gloves, they don't have to wash them and reuse them again!  The course uses simulator kits and plenty of extra blades, sutures, and instruments so the participants are able to not only learn new skills but repeat them and practice them over, and over, and over, with expert supervision and guidance, until they get them right. 

But the practice opportunities don't stop at skin simulators; these doctors get the best training we can offer and for this course that means animal tissue. To be precise, pigs intestines (to practice bowel repair techniques), aorta (blood vessel repair), belly (for practicing different kinds of stitches, and removing of cysts and other lumps and bumps) and feet (tendon repair and wound cleaning).  These tissues most closely resemble their human counterparts and provide the most ideal training setup. 

I, as course manager, and my team, learned some valuable lessons this year during BSSC. Most notably, even if it is refrigerated, fresh pigs tissues degrade rather quickly and permeate the air with a most unsavory odor.  We used a LOT of air freshener.  

But nasty odors aside, the participants were all so pleased with the course and asked over and over, "when can we do this again" and "can we have this refresher training every six months?".  These surgeons and doctors learned valuable and critically needed skills for surgery, and one can only hope and pray that those new-found skills (or newly refined skills) will positively impact the lives of hundreds of future patients. 

Transformed people = Transformed medical practice = Transformed national health structure. 

Not a waste of materials, an abundance of blessings for the physicians and their future patients! 

Under that neoprene foam (which simulates the abdominal wall) there is a balloon!  The job of the surgeon is to open the cavity and then repair it without popping the balloon! 

Yep, those are pigs feet.