So much to catch up with. Two weeks ago I was invited by Anne, one of our translators to her daughters 10th birthday party. Anne lives in Cotonou during the week but her home is Abomey, a 3 hour drive from the ship. Inviting several of us we st off at 10.30am collecting people along the way. A 14 seater taxi had been organised and there was plenty of room for the 10 of us who went. The group included 3 of our day volunteers, one bringing her 2 children aged 6 and 3. Apart from the usual stops for petrol, which was poured into the fuel tank through an old T-shirt to filter it, from a very large glass flagon and food we made the trip in a little over 4 hours. Roadworks cause as much mayhem in Benin as they do at home. Anne was a superb hostess and looked stunning in her outfit. Esther her daughter was also a very good hostess as we were given cold drinks and plied with some amazing tasting food. After we had eaten we all went to visit the old palace in Abomey. It was an interesting visit and we glad to have the translators with us as the guide spoke in French. In Abomey the local dialect is Fon but is a more pure form than that spoken in Cotonou (according to our Beninoir friends).
Several of the group had decided to stay in Abomey overnight and with the experience of others on the ship had booked into a pleasant guest house for the night. having opted to return the same day with one other crew member the remainder of us set off home. About half an hour from Abomey the driver pulled over with braking problems. So we had to find alternative ways home. Stopping a taxi to drive us all to Cotonou proved a challenge, not least of which because the taxi driver of our 14 seater felt he had been insufficiently paid by us. Agreeing a price for the complete return trip before leaving Cotonou the translator who had organised the taxi paid only what she though was right. the vehicle she had booked was supposed to be in much better condition and she had been annoyed when she saw the vehicle in the first place. we did manage to hail a taxi but there was space for only one person so we gave that to the lady with 2 young children. About ten minutes later another vehicle stopped that would take the remaining 4 of us. Nina agreed a price with the driver and we all got in the car. Our first taxi driver still feeling sore about the amount we had paid him and seeing us about to leave decides that he wants yet more money and leans inside the vehicle, removes the ignition key and tries to move away quickly. He's soon stopped as by now quite a crowd has gathered. After much discussion and a little more money he finally allows us to go but part of his decision was the fact that 2 of the passengers (Linda and I) were with Mercyships. We did make it back to the ship quite safely but it was certainly an interesting time!
So on with the weeks work. The ship has an unconventional blood bank. There are no facilities to store blood. For patients to receive blood the crew members are called upon to donate at the time it is required. This means the patients receive whole blood. All crew members who give blood are volunteers, there is no coercion although a small campaign was run recently to encourage more donors. Filling in a form, checking basic levels of health and having a blood sample taken are the only requirements before being placed on a list. When I was asked to give blood I was working but as donation is seen as a priority there is never any question about being able having the time off. A ship has limited space and so often an area becomes multi-functional. For blood donation the ICU is used.
The photo shows me relaxing, with my coffee cup in hand since I was halfway through my once daily Starbucks americano and I was not going to waste it! The process is not so different to home as the blood is weighed and 500 grams of my blood was soon in a bag. What was very different however was seeing it being checked and given to a patient who was lying in a bed in one of the isolation ICU beds within 3 minutes of being donated. No need for a blood warmer. The woman to whom it was transfused would later have a below knee amputation but was actually too ill to have surgery that day. She came to the OR the following day.
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