"Just wanted to let you know . . .

. . . That one of your students in First Aid is legally blind."  That was the text I received regarding my class Monday night.  And you know what?  It all worked out great!  Yes, Ian is legally blind and also has hearing loss, but thanks to the other students in the class, it made no difference and we had a wonderful night!

Today is no normal day

This post is reblogged from nurse Amy Jones' blog, "Through a Porthole".  Enjoy!

Sunday was international woman’s day. It seems fitting that on that day women with broken wombs, bladders and bowels lined up along the dock. Having traveled far they were finally here, ready to go through the last pre-assessment stages before they have surgery. There were a lot of shocked eyes when they saw how big the ship is. There was also a lot of chatter. Imagine 80 women in one place. Women that have been avoided, shunned and ignored, hated, abandoned and hurt. Women that have just been let in to a secret… that there are others. Others just like them. Others that smell like urine and have been treated like filth. Imagine the chatter then, the instant camaraderie, compassion and warmth that happens when women find others who understand.

Today is the first day of VVF surgeries. The day that these women start to hold their heads a little higher and laugh a little more.

If you pray, pray for wisdom for our teams who are on the dock currently, carrying out final tests, pray for the surgeons in the operating rooms and pray for the women who walk up the gangway.

On A Ship Filled WIth Mercy . . .

Lives are changed . . .

FOREVER!

Half the Sky

"Half the Sky" is a book that my friend nurse Deb Louden was reading aboard the Africa Mercy and I decided to read it, too.  It's by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and I found it at the local library.  It's eye opening regarding the oppression of women world wide.  I believe the book is sorely lacking in Jesus, but if I were to share with you two things from it, they would be this:

Never give up;

We can make a difference IF WE ARE WILLING.

It's not for the faint of heart or for those who like their heads stuck in the sand.  If that's not you, I encourage you to challenge yourself for as the Chinese proverb says . . .

Women hold up half the sky. 

Oh, the things you'll see . . .

We were driving to my dad's house Saturday morning and right by the Sioux Valley Cemetery, someone said, "Look!  There's a helicopter on the highwire!"  We actually had to stop and take a picture because there truly was a helicopter on the highwire and when we talked to the road construction crew a mile further down the road, it turns out that not only was there a helicopter on the highwire, but there was a man who got out of the helicopter who was up there fixing the highwire!  Funny . . . we didn't see him!