The Village of Ganvie

This place is called the Venice of Africa, and our adventure started on a boat. Fifteen of us loaded into a wooden canoe with an outboard motor and started slowly across the broad brackish lake, our guide John explaining the history of his village, Ganvie, in loud broken English. This is a place of fisherman, of daily life on water, of houses built on stilts and children barely eight years old paddling their own long canoes. It is a place where each child learns how to swim before his third birthday, where the market goods float in the bottoms of women's boats, where young men stretch yards of cloth between their arms to catch the wind and lessen the work of paddling.

But at it's heart, Ganvie is a place of refuge. It was built in the years when the slave trade was thriving and animistic voodoo ruled the minds of the kings. The kingdom of Abomey, located on the coast of Benin, had an especially corrupt king known to capture his people and sell them to the slave traders. Some of the people fled to the water, which according to the local religion, could not be crossed, and only here were they safe to live. Today, over five thousand people reside on thin wooden platforms with tin walls and roofs, each propped on spindly sticks that somehow support a life. There is a school, a hotel, a restaurant, two churches, barber shops, a market place, tourist gift shops, all the pieces of a community.

As we floated down the water streets, I wondered what it would be like to grow up in Ganvie. There were little kids everywhere. As soon as they saw our boat, they skillfully maneuvered their canoes loaded with nets and little brothers and sisters to nudge ours, hands outstretched, "Madame, madame!" coming from their mouths. They wanted gifts from us, whatever we had that was edible or Western. We gave them apples and cereal, then they kept asking for Bic and chewing gum, the only English words they knew. It was clear we were not the first rich "Yovos" to come here. I was overwhelmed by their constant requests and I had brought nothing to give but smiles.

It did take away from the experience some, this nagging in me illuminating my fortune. Is it even possible to image what my life seems like to them? I've been thinking, even before I came to Africa, about the reasons God has given me all the gifts of my life, and the best I can do is that He wants me to use them to the fullest for His glory. Funny how the most we can understand of God's plan is this simplicity, that we must run after Him always, and from this will come our lives. Pray for me, that I can continue to follow in His way, and specifically for my time reading the Bible: that I would be disciplined and passionate in it this week. Thank you for reading and supporting me in these first two weeks. Much, much love from Cotonou! Pictures coming soon.

Screening

My past two days have been spent at the Halle de Artes here in Cotonou helping with the patient screening to book surgeries for the next ten months. Everything about this experience was unforgettable. I arrived with my team at 6:00 am Thursday morning to a line of hundreds of people waiting to see the doctors. Many had arrived the previous morning and spent the night in line, and as the day progressed, more than 1,900 patients came our way! First, they were pre-screened by a group of doctors and nurses to decide whether they had a condition that our surgeons could help. Mercy Ships only does a specific set of surgeries including maxillo-facial tumor removal, vaginal fistula repair, orthopedic corrections for children, plastic surgery to increase mobility after trauma, hernia repair, and a few others. About half of these patients received cards allowing them to pass beyond the check point, and my job was to escort them inside the building and to the registration line where they were given several forms to serve as charts. After this, they went to have their histories taken and then to see a doctor who specializes in their specific problem. If these doctors determined that we could help the patient, he or she was sent to have a physical, then to schedule the surgery. We also had a pathology station set up as well as a lab and pharmacy to offer additional treatment and aide in diagnosis. The whole procedure probably took about five hours for one patient to pass through!

I can't even begin to describe the extent of the medical problems I saw--things I never believed existed. We saw facial tumors so large that they completely obstructed vision and distorted half the face. There were goiters the size of cantaloupes, bow legged children who could barely walk, men and women badly disfigured by burns, cleft lips in kids that were five years old, club feet, and bone deformations forcing some patients to be carried. The problems were so exaggerated. Many patients had lived with them for years and years, and only now, with the arrival of Mercy Ships, were able to seek treatment. It was wonderful to see their faces when we told them we could offer a surgery that would fix their problems, but so difficult when we had to turn them away. There were two people today with large facial outgrowths who completed the entire process only to discover (after needle pricks and pathology analysis) that they had Hodgkin's lymphoma, a disease we are unable to treat. It was like sending the patients off into nothing--there is only one hospital in Benin that can treat this form of cancer, though it is very curable in the the Western world. This treatment costs 20 times the annual income of the average Beninese person. As I escorted these patients to the prayer station, I didn't allow myself to comprehend the full meaning of the words, "There is nothing we can do." Fortunately, we serve a greater power, a loving God who will make treatment for these patients possible if it is in his plan and who will love them regardless of their physical appearances.

Today, I was blessed to follow one of the head and neck surgeons as he made diagnoses on all the facial tumors. It was incredible--I have never wanted to be a doctor more! Sitting next to him, feeling the masses and learning the pathology was so interesting. I learned the look and feel of lymphoma, vascular deformities, goiters, nuero-fibroloma, and nodules caused by TB. What a chance of a life time! I'll be able to watch some of the surgeries that I helped diagnose as we begin operations this coming Tuesday.

We were not allowed to take any pictures of the patients, but I wish you could see what I saw--it's the only way to really know my experience. If you are curious, go to the Mercy Ships website and look at the before and after photos. What seems like the worst cases were actually the typical. Imagine walking beside these patients, praying with them, helping them find their seats, listening and watching while they patiently waited to be seen. I am exhausted, but deeply moved. This is something I will always remember.

I'm here

And it is unreal. All last night I couldn't stop smiling, not when I landed in Cotonou or drove through the city or saw the ship for the first time. Thank you so much for your prayers for a safe journey--all my connections were on time and all my bags made it too. My total travel time was around 24 hours and maybe another four before I made it on the ship and into my bed. Not that time means much yet...it's nine hours ahead here, almost a night/day reversal!

I'm all moved in to my room. There are six bunks grouped in two's and I have two roommates so far, one from the Netherlands and one from the US. We are expecting a nurse from Germany tomorrow. This truly is an international ministry--I have already met people from 10 countries, at least. I'm confined to the ship for today, until my paperwork is complete, but it's been nice having a chance to unpack and get a sense of the ship before starting work. I went on a tour this morning and it is wonderful--so far beyond what I expected. Don't worry about my quality of life here. There are multiple lounges, a prayer room, a place to exercise, a nice dining area, decks where you can be outside, and even a place where they are going to set up a pool! Plus, I fit in the bed! Still, I can't wait for my first opportunity to be on shore.

There is so much to take in, and a lot to learn still. Pray for adjustment, friendships to begin to start forming, and my first day of work Monday.
Much love to you from Africa!!

Contact Me!

For those who asked for my address:

Kristen Marshall
Mercy Ships
M/V Africa Mercy-Medical
PO Box 2020
Lindale TX
75771-2020 USA

It would be amazing to get mail from you!
Comment to this post with your address and a post card will be coming your way!

Lord, prepare me

It's amazing and unbelievable to me that in a little over a week, I will be in Africa and starting work aboard the Africa Mercy! It still doesn't seem real to me, this direction I am going, this place I will soon call home, these faceless people I will meet. The excitement is vague and overwhelming. There is joy, anticipation, and uncertainty, the product of a year's preparation only a week away. There is also a sense of peace. But mostly I feel joy in this unknown and a huge comfort in doing God's work. I have so much faith that He is by my side, that He is close.

I have a packing list, my suitcase, a backpack, and nine roommates waiting. I have a laptop and a camera to connect me to home, but I know from time spent abroad that it is impossible to share everything. I have a bag full of Beanie Babies to give to the children I meet and twenty dollars for someone who needs it. I have expectations and cultural habits and life stories coming with me. I have a curiosity about humanity and a desire to be transformed. Greatest of all, I have five months of life ahead of me where my sole focus is to serve a loving God.

Pray for a safe trip as well as the final stages of emotional and physical preparation in these last few days. I am so much looking forward to sharing my story with you!