Life on Mercy Ships: The Arrival

Well, almost two weeks have past since we arrived in Benin and at last I sit to write about it all. Time just seems to be flying by right now. I can hardly believe that February is almost over.

The sail here was amazing. Smooth seas and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Sometimes it was hard to tell that we were even sailing. We made great time and arrived offshore of Benin on Monday morning. We actually thought that morning that we would arrive early for the ceremony that the Advance Team had planned for our arrival. The captain came on the PA in the morning and said that we were just waiting for a few technical problems to be fixed in the engines and then we would head in. Well, we dismissed school at 13.45 thinking that arrival and ceremony would be soon (it was scheduled for 14.00) and lots of people were outside on Deck 7 and 8 when the captain came on the PA again. He announced that the problem was larger than they thought and it would take longer to fix. So we put down anchor and sat waiting (and praying). I think the ship moved and rolled more in those hours than it had on the entire sail. When it started to get dark around 18.30/19.00 I think everyone realized that we would not be making it in on Monday. So there we sat, engineers working like mad down below, people praying up above and everyone waiting and hoping.

the view while we waited - so close and yet so far away

That night was the most the ship had moved in awhile. The captain made an announcement around 22.30 that the problem had been figured out and he hoped to have the pilot come aboard around 7.30 the next morning. I woke up around 3.30 in the morning and had trouble getting back to sleep because of the movement. Talking to other people later, there must have been some big ships passing or a change in the tide or something because there were a bunch of people waking up between 3.00 and 4.00 who had trouble getting back to sleep -- some favorite non-secured coffee mugs were lost as well :)
Finally, Tuesday morning, as the whole crew sat in the International Lounge for morning devotions, we pulled up anchor and started to move. Needless to say, as soon as we could see that we were moving, it was a little hard to stay focused on the speaker. We finished a bit early and everyone headed up to Decks 7 and 8 again. I collected most of my class and then headed out as well. It was fun to be with them at that time. Preschool has not be in class the last few times we have arrived or departed, so I got to see all their reactions. We were watching the water, the fishing boats sailing by, the other ships in the area and then watching the dock and the people there to welcome us -- all in the humid African heat that we were really feeling for the first time. There was no large ceremony like they had planned for the day before, but the Advance Team (4 people who went ahead to organize things) and other Mercy Ships people (there are volunteers living in Benin during this outreach) were there singing and waving and that was enough to make us feel welcome.

So, it took some extra time to get docked, but we are here and enjoying ourselves. It is so different from Liberia, which had been my home for 2 years, it will take some time to get used to it all. But the 10-month outreach we have planned leaves plenty of time to discover all Benin has to offer :)