It's been over a week since I updated. I'm finding myself unsure of what to say. As I said in the last update the hospital is closed and all of the day workers are gone. A majority of the nurses have left the ship and those that stayed have been deployed to new departments for the mean time before they start the next Field Service in Togo. In this time of great transition I have really been looking over the last 5 months on the ship. Remembering all of the great people that I have met, the quality time that we got to spend together, and the effort we put into making this ship run. It's totally amazing even to this day to see this ship (the people) working together like a well oiled machine. With everything packed up for the sail the final reports have been released with the amount of surgeries performed, people ministered to and lives changed. It's astounding to see what a massive amount of people have touched during our ten month stay.
After the mass of people leaving the ship last week our crew count has dropped to a mere 280.Which might sound like a lot, but compared to the 500-600 we were feeding work has drastically changed from feeding the masses to maximising the usage of our product and preparing for the sail. I've been told to expect the unexpected when it comes to cooking during the sail. I imagine it will be like a constant earthquake, carts rolling back n forth, soup sloshing out of pots and people trying to keep food in their stomachs to ward off the effects of seasickness.
One major thing I already noticed about being on the Africa Mercy I have learned to enjoy the people that I'm with and not think about the people that aren't here any more. Over the last few years my group of friends has slipped apart as an effect of some people getting married and some even having children already. I often found myself wishing how things could be how they used to be when were together often. Part of enjoying the people that I'm with no matter the circumstances also lead me to understand to enjoy the moment. Things change so fast around here that you can't think "O, man this is a great group!" you have to take in the moment and think we're having a great time, because the group is never the same. The chances of the same exact people getting together and doing that same exact thing is almost non-existent.
With the end of the field service, the end of the year, and the sail to Ghana all happening at the same time it has allowed the Christmas Spirit to bring the crew together. It is slightly weird to think that it's December 5th , it's hot enough to go to the beach, and sunny enough to see half of the people at dinner Sunday to return with a sunburn, but you often hear people talk about how they celebrate the season at home and excitement of people getting to go home and spend Christmas with their families like myself. There are many activities this month to keep the feeling of Christmas going. Cookie decorating, movie showings, door decorating, Advent services, I've even been told there will be a special choir song too (that should be fun)
Please keep the ship and all of the crew in your prayers. We leave this weekend for a five day sail to Ghana and I will be flying home in just over two weeks.
