Since I haven't blogged in over a month, I figured it was time for a recap of June. 4 people in the HR department have gone on vacation, so there are 2 of us trying to stay on top of all the work. To give you a little perspecitve, there are over 400 crew currently on the Africa Mercy, and there is a turnover of around 1,200 a year. We are staying busy busy!
I have managed to find some time to hang out with my beautiful and wonderful friends, and attend a couple of Africa Mercy events, including the annual film festival and the 2009 Sock Golf Open. Sock Golf is very much like Frisbee golf, but played with socks, on a ship. There are 18 holes carefully laid out around the ship, tee boxes, score cards, the works. This is a photo of my team with our socks, we didn't place, but we had a blast.
I have managed to find some time to hang out with my beautiful and wonderful friends, and attend a couple of Africa Mercy events, including the annual film festival and the 2009 Sock Golf Open. Sock Golf is very much like Frisbee golf, but played with socks, on a ship. There are 18 holes carefully laid out around the ship, tee boxes, score cards, the works. This is a photo of my team with our socks, we didn't place, but we had a blast.
The film festival has become an annual AFM event where crew members can submit short films to be judged. The crew takes the opportunity to change out of scrubs and the usual garb to dress a little smarter. Everyone looked so amazing, it's like a whole new crew.
These are my lovely friends, Davey, Angela and Melanie.
Me and Ang. There was a big hole in my heart when she left.
One of the most amazing ladies I know.
Ouidah
Angela, Melanie and I took a day trip out to Ouidah. Ouidah is famous for it's roots in Voodoo, but we when to the area called the gate of no return, where slaves were loaded onto ships and sent to America and the Caribbean. This is why voodoo is common in places like Haiti.
We started out the adventure as everyone should, with FanMilk! FanMilk is a local treat, a cross between ice cream and a slushie. The chocolate is like frozen chocolate milk, so delicious. It comes in plastic bags, you must bite off a corner and enjoy!
The Gate of No Return
Another monument to Benin.
Hospitality Center
About 1 mile away from the ship is the Hospitality Center. This is where patients from out of town stay before their surgery and afterwards, if they will need on going care. I love going out there to hang out with the kids, they love cameras and run around yelling 'photo, photo!'. These are two of our patients, Julian and Christian, and the son of the cook who works at the center. Julian is a Maxillo-facial patient and Christian is an ortho patient. They light up as soon as any crew member arrives, just like any little boys, they love to play!
Bingo
Someone put these photos up on the shared Transfer drive onboard, so I thought I would share them with you. Here is a taste of what roads are like here in Cotonou....YIKES.
