Wednesday 23 February

We started surgery yesterday. All six operating rooms had lists and although not working to full capacity on our first day we their was an excited air of expectancy as we met together. There is a large whiteboard in the operating department corridor where we hold our "board meetings" each day with all staff including the sterilising room, doctors translators and nurses. We have this meeting before any of us move into our respective rooms. Any problems and plans for the day can be discussed such as changes to lists/staff or on-call rotas. Then as a department we pray together - just one person leads the group in prayer and then it's off to work.

I shall be working in the eye rooms for most of my time here and shall be helping to teach staff the way we work on the ship and also having the privilege of training the translators how to scrub for our eye cases. We are always busy but we pace ourselves as the surgeons are also training some of the local doctors in the techniques they have developed which work well in Africa. So not only are giving fish, we are teaching people to fish.

The max fax rooms will always be busy as there are so many poor who have large tumours who wold never be able to afford the surgery and in eyes, being able to give the gift of sight will change a persons life as they are then more easily able to work and support themselves. With VVF surgery, orthopaedics and general surgery being carried out too we have a wide variety to challenge us. Where possible we will use staff with the specialist knowledge in those areas but learnig a new area is fun too - ask me about it, I only seem to be in eye ORs in the ship!

We have had one very sad incident with a previous patient had had a cleft lip and palate repaired some 17 years ago. She had returned to the ship because she was having problems with her heart. On Monday she collapsed as she was at the bus station buying her ticket to return to her home in the Cote D'Ivorie. Brought to the hospital we managed to stabilize her for a while but later on Father called her home. In the days she had spent with us she had been able to see old friends and had gone to church Sunday morning and joined in the community service onboard in the evening.

As medical staff with a heart of compassion there is always a question of whether we could have done more and we have to remind our selves that we do not make those ultimate decisions. We can only follow the advice of Micah the old testament prophet who said, " What does the Lord require of you, to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God".