Hello from Senegal!
Hello from sunny West Africa!
How did I arrive in West Africa, you may ask? Well, a few years ago, I heard about an organization called Mercy Ships International. I couldn't wait until I had enough experience as an RN to serve with this amazing medical ministry on the coast of West Africa! I applied and was accepted as an outpatient nurse for seven weeks.
After over 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday evening, November 3. I arrived at the same time as approximately 11 other people, and we were transported by Mercy Ships personnel to the ship, which is docked in the port of Dakar.
After some basic ship safety instructions, I was shown to my cabin, which I share with only two other people. I'm living in luxury according to some stories I've been told, where cabins are shared with 5-9 other people, sometimes with one bathroom in the room, sometimes with only a bathroom in the hallway. My room is located on the starboard side of the ship with a view of the busy harbor and container ships coming and going.
I was up early Monday morning for breakfast and more orientation. Breakfast is from 0600-0730 on weekday mornings and work starts at 0800 and the work day is over when all our patients have been seen. I started learning the ropes in the outpatient tent which is on the dock right outside the ship. By Tuesday, I was seeing patients mostly on my own with a lot of questions for the other outpatient nurses in between. Even though I'm used to surgical patients, there is a learning curve, because I've never seen many of these surgeries before coming here!
This week I was able to explore a little bit, and get off the ship a few times. On Saturday, I walked down the road with a couple of other people to a nearby beach and just sat there for awhile. I also went out for gelato in the evening.
How did I arrive in West Africa, you may ask? Well, a few years ago, I heard about an organization called Mercy Ships International. I couldn't wait until I had enough experience as an RN to serve with this amazing medical ministry on the coast of West Africa! I applied and was accepted as an outpatient nurse for seven weeks.
After over 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday evening, November 3. I arrived at the same time as approximately 11 other people, and we were transported by Mercy Ships personnel to the ship, which is docked in the port of Dakar.
After some basic ship safety instructions, I was shown to my cabin, which I share with only two other people. I'm living in luxury according to some stories I've been told, where cabins are shared with 5-9 other people, sometimes with one bathroom in the room, sometimes with only a bathroom in the hallway. My room is located on the starboard side of the ship with a view of the busy harbor and container ships coming and going.
I was up early Monday morning for breakfast and more orientation. Breakfast is from 0600-0730 on weekday mornings and work starts at 0800 and the work day is over when all our patients have been seen. I started learning the ropes in the outpatient tent which is on the dock right outside the ship. By Tuesday, I was seeing patients mostly on my own with a lot of questions for the other outpatient nurses in between. Even though I'm used to surgical patients, there is a learning curve, because I've never seen many of these surgeries before coming here!
This week I was able to explore a little bit, and get off the ship a few times. On Saturday, I walked down the road with a couple of other people to a nearby beach and just sat there for awhile. I also went out for gelato in the evening.
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