In Appelsbosch

Nun sind wir schon zwei Monate hier in Appelsbosch in Südafrika. Noch weitere zwei Monate , dann werden wir , wenn alles nach Plan verläuft , wieder zurück an Bord ziehen.
Nach dem Umzug im September haben wir uns soweit hier eingelebt. Jedoch freuen wir uns auch wieder sehr wenn es an Bord zurückgeht. Die alten Generatoren auf der Africa Mercy sind entfernt und die neuen sind an Bord. Jetzt geht es darum, sie anzuschliessen und mit dem Schiffsstromnetz zu verbinden. Aber auch andere Projekte und Arbeiten werden zur Zeit an Bord erledigt, so dass wir im Januar wieder in See stechen können.

Die Africa Mercy im Trockendock in der Werft in Durban

In der Zeit , wo wir hier in Appelsbosch sind , haben wir auch eine kleine lebendige Gemeinde gefunden, die wir nun regelmässig Sonntags zum Gottesdienst besuchen. Es ist die "Christian Revival Church" in Wartburg. Wartburg ist ein kleines Dorf etwa eine halbe Stunde von hier , was von deutschen Einwanderern gegründet worden ist. In dem Dorf gibt es auch eine "Lutherkirche" und einen Gasthof , Wartburger Hof, genannt.

Südafrika hat sehr viele Kontraste. Aber auch die Kluft zwischen Arm und Reich ist sehr gross. Auf der einen Seite findet man moderne Einkaufszentren und Autobahnen, auf der anderen Seite viele Menschen die in einfachen Häusern und Hütten hausen, insbesondere auf dem Land.

Landschaft rund um Appelsbosch

When in South Africa . . . Go On Safari

Several weeks ago, we had the opportunity to go on an overnight trip with some friends to a game reserve about three hours away. We were picked up early on Friday (4.30!!) and drove up to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park north of were we are living. We spent the whole day driving around the park in a 'safari truck' - and saw so many animals and so much beautiful scenery. I can now say that I have seen lions, elephants, zebra, rhinos, baboons, giraffe, impala, widlebeast, African buffalo, warthogs, monkeys and vultures - very fun. That night we had dinner at a little place in St. Lucia where our hotel was. It was nice to be away for the night and Marcel and I ended up with a room to ourselves which was a nice surprise as we were not sure what the accomandation would be like. On Saturday we went on a boat trip through the St. Lucia Wetlands which is home to over 400 hippos and 2000 crocodiles - of course with those numbers, it was easy to see both during the trip. Before heading back to Appelsbosch, we were able to stop at a wild cat rehab center which was interesting as we were able to see cheetahs. The cats at the center are either injuried or orphaned and the animals that cannot be returned to the wild are used for breeding and then the young are released when possible. By Saturday night we returned home tired but excited and full of pictures. One woman with us took 1300 photos over the two days - not that I am complaining, as she had a great camera and I was able to get some great shots from her!

Enjoy the photos!

South Africa and Appelsbosch

So after the very long and fairly uneventful sail, we finally arrived in Durban the morning of 1 September. It was interesting to come into the harbor as we had to sail up and around (it is shaped a bit like an upside down j) through place where I doubt many passenger ships go -- at least with people on them still.

Once we had docked and the ship had stopped moving back and forth, the moving work began. Each department had packed up all the supplies they would need for living four months off-ship along with the 'supplies' of families and individuals - the academy alone had over 200 items/boxes to be moved. On the 1st we moved business boxes into the cafe area and on the morning of the second, personal boxes. It was a rather large pile to say the least. The amazing part was that within about three hours on Thursday morning, we moved everything from Deck 5 in the cafe to the dock and the moving men had it loaded into two large trucks. There was a snake of people walking through the cafe, grabbing a box, down the gangway, across the dock, in through the aft gangway and up the aft stairs back to the cafe.


After all the boxes and bags had been moved down to the dock and packed away in the trucks, the moving of people began. Some people piled into Land Rovers and the rest of us into two buses for the 2 hour trip to our new home. We dad done what so many people thought was impossible (even I wondered how we would do it) - we had moved several hundred boxes and about 150 people off the ship in one day.

Appelsbosch is a small village between Durban and Pitermertzberg on the R614 in South Africa. There is a very small local hospital started by missionaries years ago which is also where the name comes from. In the 1990's the government built an teacher's college in the village that was only open for about 6 months before it was closed because of changes in government and the ways teachers were educated. It had stood empty for about 11 years with only occasional use until two men decided to lease it from the govenment and hope to turn it into and retreat center. Many things were left as they stood - boxes of papers, closets full of chalk, exam schedules on the walls. It was exactly what we were looking for and more to house Mercy Shippers over the time the Africa Mercy was in dry dock: four dorms for housing, a dining room, gym, snack shop, ampitheathre, administration building, and even a school area. The best part of the story is that no one knows exactly how phone numbers were exchanged to allow us to find out about this place. One of the men who had leased the college got the number for an advance team member somehow and it all went from there. God always has a plan, even if we do not know what it is.
On the first drive up, it was hard to see what we were driving through as it was foggy and rainy. As the clouds cleared over the next few days and we made more trips exploring the countryside, it took my breath away. We are in a slightly mountainous area - lots of rolling hills and valleys. The hills are mostly covered in suagr cane fields which make the hillsides all shades of greens and browns.

I have to say, there have been lots of ups and downs already in our month and a half here. Cleaning out the spiders from the cabins and classrooms was (and continues to be) an adventure. Water has also been a concern, although seems to be getting better, as there was a water shortage in the area and adding 150 people to the water system seems to overload it a bit. Everyone is here is used to living in community, but it is a different community - the hallways are open and echoing, so everyone can hear everything which is not so bad on the ship. The bathrooms are also dorm style with everyone on a floor sharing four toilets, six sinks and a tub. On our floor, there have not been too many problems, but in the cooler weather some days, getting out of the warm bed to go take a two minute shower in a cold cement bathroom makes you think twice about how smelly you really are. I think too, people have become so used to only sharing a bathroom with a few people they know and being able to go in and shut the door behind them, the bathrooms have been a challenge for some. On the up side, the country side is beautiful, we are an hour from the beach, there is a German immigrant town about 30 minutes away that will have a Christmas market nearer to Advent season, the kids have room to play, the Internet is figured out and we can Skype, there is good chocolate in South Africa and Marcel and I have great people living with us on our floor.

Each day is a new adventure, but we are having fun (most days) and God is showing us his blessings still.

(More pics to come once I get them off the camera.)
(If you have seen the movie Faith Like Potatoes, we are about 30 minutes from where that all happened - check it out if you have not seen the movie.)

Sailing, sailing over the big blue seas . . .

So I sat down the other day to write something on the blog and realized I needed to backtrack a couple months in order to actually write about the things that are happening now . . . so here it goes.

We got back this summer from a great break/vacation/family time in the States and Germany the day that teachers began working again. Stepping right back into work was hard but enjoyable as we were home again. We also arrived back to hear more about the plans that Mercy Ships had been making to move about 150 staff off ship while the ship was in dry dock. This would include all staff not directly related to the technical side of the ship and families. The advance team working in South Africa had found an abandoned education college that seemed perfect - dorms for living in, an admin building, a gym, dining room, and an area for the school.

School started on 2 August which gave us about 2 weeks before we were packing and securing for the sail to South Africa. The actual day of sailing seemed to sneak up on us as we were so busy with the start of school, securing and packing to move off the ship once we reached South Africa. The weekend before we sailed, I think most departments were running around trying to get all the last minute things tied down and packed up.

The sail itself was beautiful - about 17 days of mostly lovely weather and smooth-ish seas. There had been lots of fear and many prayer sent to the heavens about the weather as the sail around the Cape of Good Hope is famously bad and rocky, but outside of two rocky days before we even reached the Cape, we had great weather. The officer in charge of the course showed us later on a map how lucky we had been -- well, how God protected us. On a map, you could see the orange-red colors where the weather was worse around the Cape and coast towards Durban. As the little icon of our ship moved down the map, the red-orange seemed to move away from us and continued to do so all the way to Durban. As if a giant hand was pushing the weather away and protecting us. There was red-orange in behnd us and in front of us, but not where we were. In fact, we had to slow down so that we did not arrive in Durban too early. For about the last week of the sail, you could look off the port side and see South Africa in the distance - almost made you want to jump into our little zodiac rescue boat and pull into port somewhere.

Marcel says that we can now say we have sailed most of the Atlantic coast - north to south as we sailed down with the Africa Mercy from Blythe/Newcastle area. Not sure how a sailor would feel about that statement, but it is a pretty amazing thought. I can also claim to be a 'shellback' now as I have crossed the Equator at sea - did not have any of the crazy celebrations that can happen on ships as we crossed at about 2.00 in the morning, but fun to think about none the less. Not things I would have thought I could say five years ago.

Some pictures from the sail:

Ponseti Management Program

This year, orthopedics here on the Africa Mercy has had a new addition. We are trying out a 'new' program called Ponseti casting which allows young children with club feet to have the problem corrected with very little surgery - ideal for West Africa. The casting has been done on the dock the last few months, with the tent just under Deck 7 where we have outside play time. Many times we can see children or hear the angry cries of the little ones getting the casts off and on again. The following article was written by the Communications Department here onboard.


Little Kossi was born with clubfoot. This condition causes the foot to grow inward, retarding normal growth and leaving the side of the foot where the bottom should be - crippling the child.
In many African cultures, this abnormality is viewed as a curse and makes a child an outcast. But Kossi's mother, Akouwa, took action to prevent that. She brought the 10-month-old baby to a Mercy Ships screening in Togo. He became the first patient in West Africa to take part in the Ponseti Management Program, now being established onboard the Africa Mercy .
The Ponseti technique, developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti over fifty years ago, is a series of casts that manipulate the foot gently into a more normal position. It requires only minor surgery to lengthen the Achilles tendon as the child grows. The child may need to wear some type of foot brace. The entire process requires 20 visits over four years. Kossi had both legs cast and manipulated and will be recast in three weeks.
The Mercy Ships Ponseti team, under the direction of Dr. James McDaniel, includes Dr. Frank Haydon and Dr. Gary Douglas. Dr. McDaniel enthusiastically describes the program: " It 's the gold standard that has been used all over the world. But, unfortunately, all over the world does not include West Africa. So, we are starting this program in Togo - with the hope that one of the other groups will help to keep the program going. We will supply the cast materials and all the supplies for the six months we are here. We hope to manage at least 60 to 70 crippled children on this program. It will be taught, and those can teach it to others. So , we are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to the children of West Africa."



Ten month old Kossi, the first child to receive the Ponseti Management techniquefor the correction of Clubfoot introduced in West Africa by Mercy Ships, gets hisfirst casting aboard the Africa Mercy during the Togo field service.




Akouwa holds her 10 month old son Kossi, as Dr. Gary Douglas, Physical Therapist Joanna Gates and Physician's Assistant Laura Stonestreet apply the first casting in the Ponseti Management Program for the correction of Clubfoot.


Ten month old Kossi enjoys a soak in a pail ofwater to loosen the plaster castings on his legsbefore they are removed and the second castingis applied.


Physical Therapist Joanna Gates loosens plaster casting in a tub of water to remove them before the application of a second casting.


Physical Therapist Joanna Gates wraps Kossi's leg during his second casting, as Kossi's mother, Akouwa, looks on.

Written by Elaine Winn

Edited by Nancy Predaina

Photos by Liz Cantu

Easter in Kenya

Last spring, the teachers in the Academy first began to talk about an International Christian Teacher conference happening in Kenya. It would be a conference for teachers at international christian schools all over Africa - a time to meet together, hear what was happening in other places, hear speakers and attend workshops. The cost was the only thing that seemed to be in the way - over 10,000 USD for all the Academy staff to fly to Kenya and attend the conference. By the end of February, we were still looking at having to raise 8,500 USD and the dream of going seemed pretty far away. Well, it may have seemed far to us, but with God, all things are possible. In the span of about 3 weeks, the money came in - even more than we thought we needed, which helped to cover visa costs and food during traveling. What a gift from God!

Anyhow, on 31 March we packed up our things and started on our journey. We needed to cross the Togo boarder (about 20 minutes from the ship) and then drive 4 hours to the airport in Ghana. It was a typical crossing for Africa - dusty, hot and slow, but everyone was very helpful and there were no problems. We had to wait a few minutes for the driver we had hired, but the wait was worth it as the two vans we rode in were air conditioned and really comfortable.

After an uneventful drive and five hour flight, we arrived in Kenya around 5.30 in the morning. Again, getting through immigration was easy and quick and we soon found ourselves heading out of Nairobi and on our way to the Rift Vally Acadmey in Kijabe. RVA is a missionary boarding school that was established about 100 years ago - they have about 400 students of all ages.

The drive was slow at first as we hit rush-hour traffic coming out of Nairobi. The scenery was nice enough, but all at once we came up over a bend and there the Rift Vally lay before us - AMAZING! The sun also chose that moment to peek through the clouds which made it even better.


We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at different workshops and seminars - I don't know that there was anything totally new, but plenty of great reminders and confermation that we are heading in the right direction as a school. Also, for me it was the first conference I have been to that focused on christian education - really looking at how to have a balance between academics and spiritual life. One of the main speakers was Wes Stafford, the CEO of Compassion International -- if you ever get a chance to hear him speak, make sure you don't miss out. He is passionate, lively, truthful and fun. His passion for children makes him a great leader for Compassion. We were also treated on the last night to some Massi traditional dances which was nice - all the people were from the local area around Rift Vally Academy.

We left around 5.45 on Monday morning to make it back to Nairobi and start the long trip home. A five hour flight, 4 hour drive and two countries later found us back at the Ghana/Togo boarder. Two Mercy Ships Land Rovers were waiting to take us home, but between baggage and people, it was a little crowded (see picture). Luckily the ride home was only about 15 minutes, so Tommy's foot on Nikki's shoulder did not have to stay there too long :) A shower, dinner and the week of teaching began again the next morning - ahh, the life of a teacher.

Mercy Ships Zahnklinik in Lome, Togo

Jeden morgen um 8 Uhr fährt eine engagierte Gruppe von Zahnärzten, Zahnmedizinische Fachangestellte, eine Zahnhygienikerin und Übersetzer aus Lome, Togo zur Zahnklinik , die von Mercy Ships an Land betrieben wird. Die Klinik befindet sich 25 Minuten von der Africa Mercy entfernt.
Das dreistöckige Gebäude, das die Zahnklinik beherbergt, gehört dem Gesundheitsministerium. Es verfügt über eine Klimaanlage und bietet ausreichend Platz für eine komfortable Umgebung für Patienten und den Mercy Ships Mitarbeitern. Die Klinik hat alles , was man braucht: Voruntersuchungsraum, Rezeption, Wartezimmer und Behandlungsraum.

Die Voruntersuchungen finden Montags und Donnerstags statt, wo immer so um die 250 untersucht werden. Gini Porter, Dental Koordinator und ihre Assisitentin Sieh Moore, führen die Voruntersuchungen bei den Patienten durch um die zahnmedizinischen Probleme zu identifizieren., wie Karies, Deformationen und anderen Abzessen.

Die Koordinatoren vergeben dabei so 50-60 Termine täglich. Die Patienten die Montags untersucht worden sind erhalten dabei Termine von Montags-Mittwochs, und die Patienten die Donnerstags untersucht worden sind , erhalten Behandlungstermine von Donnerstags-Freitags. Dabei sind die meisten Patienten bereit den ganzen Tag zu warten , bis sie von den Mery Ships Zahnärzten behandelt werden.

Aufgrund des Mangels an zahnärztlichen Leistungen in Togo haben die meisten Menschen hier noch nie einen Zahnarzt gesehen. Die meisten von ihnen wissen nicht, wie man die Zähne richtig pflegt. Die Zahnklinik behandelt dieses Problem in mehrfacher Hinsicht. Im Warteraum werden die Patienten unterrichtet, wie man die Zahnbürste richig benutzt und es werden ihnen auch Zahnbürsten mitgegeben. Dann werden die Zähne durch die Dentalhygienikerin gereinigt , um das Risiko von Karies und Infektionen zu veringern.

Die Zahnklinik wird bis August bedient, während des gesamten Togo Einsatzes. Die zahnärztlichen Teams arbeiten dabei fleissig jeden Tag, Zähne ziehen, Löcher füllen und sogar neue Zähne verpflanzen. Dabei wird geschätzt, dass nun mehere tausend Menschen in diesem Einsatz zum ersten Mal in ihrem Leben Linderung ihrer Schmerzen erfahren.

Beatrice Stoeckli , eine der Patienten, drückte ihre Begeisterung, dass sie endlich Heilung bekommt , so aus: "Ich wusste nicht wie ich Zahnbehandlung bekommen sollte, also began ich zu beten. Als ich den Namen Mercy Ships hörte, sagte ich, die Gnade Gottes berührt mich, und wo auch immer er wirkt, er macht den Weg frei für seine Gnade."











Frei übersetzt von einem englischem Artikel:
Written by Joy Clary
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Debra Bell