Saturday March 21

It's the first day of spring at home in the UK. As I sit a look over the port of Cotonou with 8 large ships including the Africa Mercy in a temperature of 28 degrees already and a high humidity, it's hard to imagine being cool at the present time.

My on call last Sunday was very quiet and gave me chance to catch up on a few things that needed to be done. One of the dental team nurses from the UK team went home last Sunday night and kindly agreed to post a letter to a good friend for me so that was my priority. For someone who has no access to the internet, letters are a great way of keeping in contact. For the sender the computer of course allows photos to be included and this is indeed what I have done.

But I was also able to spend some time with another British couple sharing an "after service" cup of Yorkshire tea with them. The ward service is held at 10.30am in A ward in the hospital and is a time when all the normal protocols of a hospital ward are broken to some extent. Patients and crew mix together sharing beds so we know a bed will seat at least 4 people. The singing is for the most part "a capello" (unaccompanied) unless there is a drummer for the African drums but it is joyful. Patients who are able will often dance to the music as we all lift our hearts to God. One of the translators spoke last week. We have many translators on the ship and some are pastors in their own churches.

As far as work is concerned the week has been just has busy as the previous weeks. In the eye rooms we average 30 cases a day which often include general anaesthetics. These tend to slow down the list slightly simply because of the set up required for these cases. At least I am able to hone my skills with small children. Singing lullabies seems to work well, I just wonder what wold happen if I tried it in the UK - maybe a new practice!

The week has also seen the start of a new small group which I am leading. We are using a DVD by Andy Stanley called Breakaway and certainly the first part provoked discussion and gave us a chance to learn more about each other. Looking at how our beliefs affect the decisions we make and the outcomes of those decisions and how knowing Father affected our beliefs and subsequent decisions. We meet every Wednesday at 8.00pm.

Also on Wednesdays at 6.00pm we are often offered the opportunity to be given a lecture/presentation by one of the medical team. This last week Dr Steve Arrowsmith talked about VVF surgery covering some of the technical stuff but also with stories about some of the women who have endured often years of being an outcast before someone finally took them for surgery.

Bryan Burton has continued his series on Being and Doing the Mission of GOd and he concludes on Sunday evening. Today I am looking forward to going out for the day with friends having already finished the domestic chores for the day. So no real exercise today but I have continued for the the most part in my effort to keep fit while here.