Saturday, June 18, 2011

Goodbye, Africa.

A little over 48 hours ago, we said goodbye to our friends on the Africa Mercy and left our home for the past 3 years. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to those people we consider family, and it seemed to carry on for the next 24 hours as we said 5 separate sets of tearful goodbyes (leaving our friends on the dock, leaving our friends who drove us to the ferry, being left by friends on a earlier flight once we arrived on the airport side, being left by other friends once we got to Brussels, then leaving two others behind as we boarded our flight 4 hours later). However, they have all been said for the time being and we are grateful for each and every person that brought tears to our eyes over the last few days.

We are now in England for the next 5 weeks, spending time with Samuel's family and friends. It seems quite cold here even though it is summertime, but it is a refreshing change to not sweat instantly upon stepping outside. We've alredy eaten some delicious home-cooked meals and had some time to rest and relax.

To our friends in England and the USA - we are looking forward to seeing you (if we haven't already), catching up and having fun after a long time apart. Let us know when you're available!

To our friends on the AFM - we love you all and miss you already. Enjoy the peace and quiet without us while you can :) And please, please keep in touch!


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

We did it!

Last week was our accreditation visit with the team from ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International). I have spent the last two years working on documents specifically for the school's accreditation, and last week all those documents were reviewed and the team verified that we were doing what we said we were doing. And on Friday, they recommended us for FULL accreditation with ACSI! This is a huge blessing for the families on the ship, and it was an extremely proud moment for all of the teachers. THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for me and my team during the past two years (and especially the past few weeks), it was only with God's strength that we were able to do this in such a short time!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Mercy Ships Academy 2010-2011

Meet the Mercy Ships Academy 2010-2011! All students, from nursery to grade 10 (we have no grade 11 or 12 this year!), are pictured here with the staff.



Here is my wonderful group of grade 2's and 3's with Miss Angie, the grade 2 teacher.



And my beloved co-workers...I will miss these people an unbelieveable amount...

One Month.

One month from today we will be touching down in London, England, having said our final goodbyes to our friends and loved ones in Africa.

Please pray for us as we begin this period of transition.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Today I went with some friends to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, about an hour inland from Freetown. They rescue traumatized and sick chimps, nourish them, and re-acclimate them to other chimps as well as the wild. It was wonderful to spend the day in the fresh air rather than the industrialized port, and it's nice to know that even the local people are interested in advocating for the powerless.

Sorry for the scenery pictures - they were taken from the back of a moving, bumpy Land Rover!








Thursday, May 5, 2011

Samuel at work!

Samuel's main duties on board the Africa Mercy are to a) stock and run the Ship Shop, and b) stock and run the Cafe/Snack Bar. There is always excitement in the air when a container comes in, knowing that fresh items will arrive in both places, the Ship Shop especially. And it was no different last time a container arrived just two or three weeks ago. People lined up outside the Ship Shop, waiting for it to open so they could grab some macaroni and cheese or chips and salsa, coveted items for the past few months. Just look at all the things people bought! Doesn't take much to keep us happy :)



Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Birthday, Sierra Leone!



Today is the 50th anniversary of Sierra Leone's independence from the UK. Celebrations are being held all week throughout the country and especially here in Freetown.

Happy 50th Birthday, Sierra Leone! :)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

New Home!

Over the weekend, we moved to a new cabin a few doors down from our old one. I had been sick for 3 weeks in March with no end in sight, which almost instantaneously cleared up while we lived in a family cabin for 12 days. Within 12 hours of moving back into our cabin, I was again sick. As a result, we asked for a cabin transfer.

Our new cabin is laid out exactly like our old one, but it has a few unexpected perks. It is about 8 inches wider than our old one, and comes with a large fridge/freezer, a small table, 2 sturdy wooden chairs (previously we had been using our camp chairs), an Ikea chair, 2 fans, and a large duvet - none of which our previous cabin had! And best of all, I have been slowly but surely getting better :)

Here are some pics of our new cabin, because I realized that we hadn't posted any pictures of our old cabin at all either. Enjoy! Makes your 'small' home look pretty good, huh? :)


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Christos Anesti!

Luke 24:1-7
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”


Happy Easter from Freetown, Sierra Leone! We hope you are enjoying your Easter weekend with friends and family and remembering His sacrifice for our sins. We enjoyed a lovely service this morning onboard the Africa Mercy, followed by a fabulous Easter brunch and an even better Easter nap :) It has been a great day of relaxation with friends and we are enjoying our first Easter with our Mercy Ships family.

It is also bittersweet, as it is the last 'landmark' that we had to pass to mark the ending of our time here. We now have just less than 8 weeks left (though I'm trying not to think too much about it!) and will be spent spending as much time with friends as possible. Please remember to keep us in prayer as we transition out of this phase of life and into the next one.

With love,

Samuel & Amy Slennett






Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Revisiting Joseph Fofanah

Looking very sharp in his Boy Scout uniform, nine-year-old Joseph Fofanah stepped up to accept his country's flag. Then he marched crisply to place it in the stand, saluted, and retreated smartly. It was appropriate that this young man participated in the ceremony to welcome the arrival of the Africa Mercy in Sierra Leone.

Mercy Ships played a very important role in Joseph's life. He was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip. “He was having a problem,” said his mother, Isatu. “Any liquid we fed him would come back out his nose.”

This serious birth defect negatively impacts the lives of many African children. Fortunately, Isatu realized that her son needed a medical procedure to repair the cleft. However, the cost of the surgery was more than she and her husband could afford. “But the pastor and the doctor who delivered Joseph told me not to worry,” said Isatu. “A Mercy Ship is just on the way.”

Joseph had his first surgery in 2002, when he was almost four months old, and he received a second surgery the following year. He has no memory of his problem or of his Mercy Ships experiences, but the success of these procedures is evident in his brilliant smile.

Today, Joseph is a happy, active fourth-grader. His favorite subject is mathematics, which may have something to do with his ambition to be a banker one day. An avid football (soccer) enthusiast, he is the goalie on his school team, and enjoys playing with his younger brother, Joshua.

Scouting is very popular in Sierra Leone, and Joseph is a five-year member of Boy Scout Team 3. “I really love to march,” he says, and he's looking forward to camping with his troop.

When asked what he thought about being onboard the Africa Mercy , he grinned and exclaimed, “I'm excited, and I really want to stay here!”

Story by Elaine B. Winn
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photo by Debra Bell

Monday, April 18, 2011

Mercy Ships Dental Clinic Brings Brighter Smiles and Hope to Freetown

On Thursday, March 10, 2011, Mercy Ships opened the doors to their dental clinic in Freetown, Sierra Leone, offering free treatment to provide relief for those suffering from long-term dental problems. The clinic is held in The HOPE Center, Lower Savage Square, beside the dock. It is a spacious building and an ideal environment for the daily dental procedures. The pre-screening assessment station is located outside the front entrance. This conveniently leads into the waiting room, where there are wooden benches facing an educational wall of dental hygiene information.

The dental practice consists of one large room, with many windows providing a good source of daylight. It has functioning air-conditioning and electricity connections. There are five dental stations. Each station contains two dental chairs, a table for sterile dental equipment and medications, a portable suction machine and a trolley. Additional lighting is provided by head torches worn by the dentist and hygienist. An adjoining room is equipped with a sink and running water for use in the sterilization process.

Typically the dental clinic is staffed with four dentists, one hygienist and four dental nurses from the Africa Mercy. They are accompanied by local day-volunteers who perform various duties such as pre-screening patients, sterilizing equipment, translating, and escorting patients through the process. The dental team at each station consists of a dentist, dental nurse and several local dental assistants, who are day-volunteers serving as translators. Each station serves two patients at a time.

On the opening day, the clinic gave free treatment to the local day-volunteers. This achieved two goals: to ensure that they received essential dental care and to provide them with an understanding of the process and the patient's experience.

As the day-volunteers arrived, they were met at the pre-screening station to identify those requiring dental treatment. Then they waited in an orderly seated queue. Any apprehensions were successfully distracted by the oral health education trainers in the waiting room. Their energetic demonstrations with over-sized props were not only entertaining but also offered clear simple advice on dental hygiene. The volunteers were invited one-by-one to the dental practice, where they were greeted by friendly, relaxed dental teams.

The dental procedures are highly professional and enviably efficient. It is an impressive operation. The majority of procedures are routine extractions of multiple decayed and broken teeth which create much pain for the patient. In fact, many of the patients have been suffering for months, if not years. The dental screening also provides an opportunity to diagnose other types of oral lesions such as benign tumors, which can be referred to the hospital ship for further investigation and treatment – often a life-saving intervention.

Dental health care services are rarely found in Sierra Leone. There are currently five dental officers serving the four regions of Sierra Leone with a total population of approximately 6.5 million. Basic dental problems such as decaying teeth and gum disorders can escalate into oral infections that threaten the lives of the sufferers. So, the provision of dental treatment is vitally important to the Freetown communities.

It is easy to underestimate the value of the patient care provided by the dental teams. But for many of the patients, this is the first time they have experienced compassion. The result is evident in the radiance of their smiles. The Mercy Ships Dental Clinic is a paving the way for cleaner brighter smiles – and happier, hope-filled lives.

Story by Claire Ross
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Tom Bradley



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Water.



There are many challenges to living on a ship in West Africa...no clothing stores, no fast food restaurants, limited options for eating out in general, no movie theaters, no music downloading, no seeing popular TV shows (unless they're on the Discovery channel or BBC!), among other things. These things I can handle and willingly gave up when I joined Mercy Ships nearly 3 years ago.

One thing I did not think about when I moved to the Africa Mercy was the challenge of water. I took it for granted that water is treatable and it wouldn't be a problem. I knew it wouldn't be super easy to get and that we'd have to work hard to conserve. I knew we'd have to take 2-minute ship showers (turn the water on, get wet, turn the water off, soap up, turn the water on to rinse off), and by now am well practiced at it!

Back in the Liberia days, water was an issue. The laundry room was closed for a time and we spent a while eating off of disposable plates using plastic silverware (and lots of it because it breaks so easily!). However, I was only in Liberia for 4 months, and since then (being in Tenerife, Benin, and Togo), we've never had any sort of true water problems that I've been aware of.

Appelsbosch (where we lived in South Africa) had some unique lessons to teach me - one happened to be about my frustrations regarding my expectations over things like running water. It would randomly go in and out, usually when I was doing my laundry or in the middle of my shower.

And now we are back in a war-torn country. Sierra Leone and Liberia's histories are linked, as are their socioeconomic situations. And again, we are having problems with water. Water mains breaking in town; delays in receiving water deliveries; receiving low-quality water that takes days to treat; unusually high water consumption by the crew. All of this culminated last week and on Thursday the laundry was shut down and we switched to disposables in the dining room. The captain even asked us to avoid showering if possible! Saturday saw the water being shut off completely for a few hours, then slowly back on for cleaning purposes - but no showers allowed. We are even supposed to report improper water usage to the captain!

Today, finally, everything has been reinstated on a limited basis, much to everyone's relief. We must still be cautious and our water situation is still critical, and is likely to remain that way for most of the outreach. We also have no hot water in the cabins to encourage short showers :)

Thankfully none of this has really stressed me out. I was desperate for a shower on Saturday, especially since I hadn't had one for a few days and we came back all sandy and salt-watery from the beach on Saturday to discover there was no water. However, sometimes it is nice to have things in our lives that stretch us, something to break us out of our ordinary routine. And this water situation is one of them.

Please pray with us that the water situation is resolved soon, and that frustrations can be soothed.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Something i wont miss about Africa

Its an interesting title i know, because surely you would say to me, you will miss everything about Africa!

Well its not totally true, i will miss an awful lot about Africa once im not here, however today i was reminded that i wont miss having to ask the question ...

"So what kind of surface is it that we are playing on?"

Yes indeed, today was another Football match for the AFM football team, and well you never know what to expect in terms of pitch, players or referees.

Today was no different from any other match day! The car ride we found that it was sand, which was no surprise, then it turned out it was the training pitch at the national stadium! (yes we played a game with the national stadium 100 yards away)

It also turned out we were playing a Freetown premier league team or something along those lines, so turns out they play a fair bit!

The pitch was as un even as you can imagine, but it was still very playable compared to some places we have tried to have a football game!

So as you would expect we were under siege from the off, thankfully it took longer than expected for them to open the scoring, thanks to a couple of saves from myself and a couple of last ditch blocks from Ben!

So after 1 came 2 and after 2 came half time, after half time came 3 and after 3 came 4 after 4 i got bored, after i got bored i came out on pitch, after i came out on pitch i set us up a goal, after we scored our goal they scored one more, after that that was that.

So 5-1 loss for the AFM football team, not too bad and not too good with all things considered!

Least it was nice to have a run around! :)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Screening Day.

Mercy Ships press release, 7th March:

Mercy Ships is deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today during medical screening at the Freetown National Stadium when a crowd stormed the gate resulting in several injuries and one life lost.

Mercy Ships personnel working at the site attended the injured and accompanied them to local hospitals.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the individuals and families of those affected by today's events. The occurrence of this incident in the course of activities intended to restore lives is tragic. We move forward with tremendous sadness, but great determination, to assist as many people as possible in the next ten months," stated Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens.

Mercy Ships exists to serve the forgotten poor and has served Sierra Leone five times over the past two decades, also helping establish two land-based health care facilities. For the next ten months, Mercy Ships will be providing surgeries for qualified patients while working alongside the Sierra Leonean Government to support its five-year healthcare plan and strengthen the functions of the national health system.


Please pray for us and the whole crew during this time.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Freetown.

We arrived in Sierra Leone a week ago today. We were met by a huge crowd on the dock of our Advance and Gateway teams, as well as a marching band. It was a beautiful sight; old friends waving at us, the music in the air, the mountains in the distance...it is wonderful to be back in West Africa, the land of fresh mangoes and pineapple :)




We took a walk out in the town yesterday. It was hot and crowded; we were pressed against the side of the road, squeezing between people on one side and vendors on the other as cars and trucks rolled down the narrow streets. At one point, we even had to crouch down and cross the street walking underneath a truck blocking the road!

Despite the sweltering heat and the immense crowds, it was amazing how comfortable I felt. No one hounded us; if we decided not to buy from one vendor, they didn't chase after us trying to change our minds. No one asked us for money. Children didn't cry at the sight of us - instead, they all shouted "Hello!" and many wanted to give us high fives or hold our hands; one even gave me a big hug! Everyone was incredibly friendly and we both have a feeling we're going to love Sierra Leone :)

Of course, Samuel's already found his football shirts, so he's on an all-new high! Unfortunately it's not the official shirt that he desperately wanted (see it here - definitely worth looking at! http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/na/national-teams-hummel-2010-11-sierra-leone-home-hummel-football-shirt.jpg), but it didn't stop him from making sure his nephews supported their new home team :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Our God.

"Our God" by Chris Tomlin

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…

Into the darkness you shining
Out of the ashes we Rise
There’s no One like You
None like You.

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

Friday, February 25, 2011

Home-ish.

We are back in the northern hemisphere! A few days ago, we crossed the Prime Meridian, and yesterday morning about 8.30 we crossed the equator. It doesn't feel any different, there's still just water, water, everywhere...but there is something comforting about being in the same hemisphere as your family :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Mad Dash through Cape Town.



A week ago, February 10, the Africa Mercy set sail (finally!) from the port of Durban. It was a bittersweet farewell, but also filled with excitement as we were then approaching Cape Town. Seals greeted us on the way in, which was cool to see and yet frustrating as we could never catch them on camera! The crew was allowed 24 hours of shore leave (18, actually, if you take away the time we were required to be on board that night), and we were determined to make the most of every minute.

Sunday afternoon, when we were allowed off, Samuel, Ben, Miriam, Steph, and I immediately headed into town to pick up our rental car. From there, we drove to Boulder's Beach, a penguin colony. While we did not actually go onto the beach, we were entertained by several penguins hanging out in the parking lot and along the side of the board walk. This had been one of my main Cape Town goals, so I was very excited to see the penguins!




From there we headed to Cape Point and drove around the opposite side of the peninsula back to the waterfront. The views were spectacular and more than worth the trip!





The evening was spent having a relaxing dinner and ice cream with friends at the V & A Waterfront, where we were docked. The place very much reminds me of Navy Pier - restaurants, shopping, theaters, even a Ferris Wheel! We were berthed very close to the center of it all, which was great for us as our last taste of civilization before we sailed for Sierra Leone. There was plenty to do at the waterfront alone, and if we ever go back to Cape Town (I'm already planning it!), I think we will spend a significant amount more time just at the waterfront alone.



Monday morning was our final opportunity to explore (we even got a day off school for the occasion - except we have to teach on Saturday to make up for it!), and we took the time to go to the famous Table Mountain. Samuel hiked up with 7 of our friends, while Natalie and I rode the cable car and waited for them at the top. It sounded like a pretty tough by rewarding hike, and I know that I thoroughly enjoyed soaking in the view while we were waiting! Even if I did get burnt to a crisp :) It was a great morning and a fun way to end our time there. We were even able to easily pick out the ship docked at the waterfront!







We sailed from Cape Town on Monday evening, and are now well on our way to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The seas have been fairly calm though some storms are expected. Please pray for our safety and general well-being (specifically rest if the seas get tough - generally that means several sleepless nights in a row) over the next week.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Family Time.

The end of January already. The month flew by unbelievably quick, mostly due to the fact that time flies when you're having fun! And fun was certainly had.

On January 3, we headed up 3 hours north to the town of St. Lucia in the wetlands. We stayed in a quaint little house for 7 nights with Samuel's parents, his sister Amy, and the Farrell family (Samuel's sister Sarah and her family, who live with us on the ship). It was a time filled of laughter, games, and braais, and was extremely relaxing. While there, we celebrated Christmas as a family (just a week or so late...), complete with a delicious Christmas dinner of chicken, roast potatoes, and even yorkshire pudding and mince pies. It rained a lot, but that didn't stop us from taking walks along the beach or through the wetland park (yes, even amongst the signs that said "Beware of Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, etc" or just into the town.

While there, we took advantage of some of the more touristy activities that most people from Appelsbosch had already done. This included a safari through Hluhluwe National Park, where we saw 4 of the big 5!! The leopards, unfortunately, eluded us. The lion sighting was probably the most exciting for me. We had been to the lion park, but seeing them in the wild (and clearly watching something that they were intending to hunt) was incredible. Other animals included lots of zebra, wildebeest, various types of deer and antelope, buffalo, rhino (also very cool!), warthogs, and baboons. I was sad, however, that we only managed to see the top half of a giraffe in the distance and the backsides of 2 elephants as the walked away from us.


The most we managed to see of an elephant...


I promise those are lions!


Buffalo


Herd of wildebeest

Samuel, Amy, and I also spent an afternoon at a cat sanctuary in the area. We learned about several different types of cats (African wild cats, cervals, something else I can't remember, and cheetahs) and watched a feeding. Those cervals can jump extremely high!! As an added bonus, we were allowed into the cheetah cage during the feedings, and as long as we did not make any loud noises or run for any reason, we were permitted to touch them :)





In St. Lucia, a Hippo and Croc cruise is a must. Hippos are very prominent in the area; in fact, it was told to us that occasionally hippos have been seen walking through the town at night! We saw lots and lots of hippos in the water, and also managed to catch sight of a bunch of them walking down a bank straight into the river! That was extremely cool, seeing hippos lumbering around out of the water. We also learned some interesting facts - hippos can't swim very well, so when they get out too deep they just sink to the bottom and walk out! Who knew? :)



Our last day in St. Lucia was spent driving through the wetland park to the beach. We saw lots of animals, including rhino, zebra, kudu, springbok, and even a "penguin lizard" :) We vainly searched for an elephant, as that area is known as the Elephant Coast, but to no avail.




From St. Lucia we drove to Ballito, a town on the Dolphin Coast that we have frequented as it is only about an hour from Appelsbosch. We had a lovely big house to stay in and took advantage of our week there to spend some time at the beach! My dad arrived during this week - it was so great to see him! We took him to the World Cup Stadium in Durban to ride the Skycar for a view of Durban, as well as a stadium tour. I hadn't done the Skycar yet and was glad for the excuse to do so! We also went to the Sharks Board and saw a dissection of a great white shark, and did a game drive at Tala Game Reserve. The drive there was fabulous - the driver would literally just drive right up to the animals, regardless of where the road went! I finally saw a giraffe up close (so close, in fact, that we couldn't see his head from inside the safari car) and even got our picture with it. He drove closer to the rhinos than we had been before. And, of course, there were plenty of zebra, wildebeest, deer, and antelope :)






It was an absolutely lovely vacation, and like all good things, it went by entirely too fast. It was great to see family and spend time together, showing them what our life at Appelsbosch is like.

Now we are back to work - Samuel is going to the ship every day doing Sales work, and I have been teaching for over a week now. A bit challenging with all our supplies on the ship, but we teachers have been managing so far :) If all goes well, we will be living back onboard by Monday - pray that we are able to make a smooth transition!

Followers