Dancing with the Commodore

Wednesday evening I was able to go to a Navy Band concert right in the heart of Ambon. It was organized as a ComServ – which are activities put together by out good chaplain and his staff - so all our transportation and security were taken care of. There were about 40 of us that went. Once we arrived at the pier we boarded buses to go into the mall in town. I was anxious to see the town as we drove so I headed straight for the front seat. The bus had no “nose” or engine in front so when you are sitting in front you can see everything as the whole front of the bus is a huge windshield. I sat right next to the driver. I was surprised how much bigger and more metropolitan Ambon is compared to Ternate. We drove on narrow, winding streets as we headed into the city center. Our bus driver was an aggressive driver who used his horn a lot. I seem to get these kinds of drivers here. The streets were littered with trishaws, young boys and men cycling passengers off to their destinations. I was sure our windshield would soon be splattered with trishaw drivers as our bus driver was not timid about moving forward. It was like honk the horn and step on the gas. We seemed to drive a long time – well over an hour and we were still not at our destination. As I was next to our driver I could tell that he was a bit nervous and kept using his phone. Finally we pulled to the side of the road and we thought we had arrived, but instead our driver jumped out and left us. He had gotten lost and had gone to ask directions. It did not matter to me about being lost as we had gotten to see a whole lot of the city. The drive was really quite fun. Our driver did return and we started off again. He turned down this road that was a one way street and traffic in all lanes was coming straight for us. The traffic here consists of motorcycles and taxi vans pretty much like Ternate. They were coming at us fast and by this time it was dark and all we got to see were headlights. This did not bother the bus driver one bit. He would not let something as small as a one way street deter him from his goal of getting us to the concert. Since I had a front row seat to the ongoing traffic and elderly pedestrians that we were so close to squishing on the side of the road, it was quite a scene. The horn on the bus and our imposing size pulled us through until we got to the end of the road. There is one thing about going the wrong direction on a one way street – there is no going back – you've just got to find the end as soon as possible and get off when you can. Uturns are out of the question for a huge bus on very skinny roads. There were all sorts of people out for evening strolls and they were walking on the side of the road with a small ditch separating them from where the houses were. I was sure the mirrors on the bus that stuck out super far were going to hit them and knock them into the ditch. I held my breath a couple times. After we turned from the on-way street we could see the spot-lights in the sky which marked the band concert.

The Navy band was surprisingly good. It was pretty different for me to see this “rock band” up singing with their Navy whites on. The outfits definitely did not match their music. Our seats were back from the band with that wide open space in front of us. The leader of the ComServ, RP1 Snow, got up and started dancing. I did not want to miss out so I got up right along with her and about 12 others and started dancing with the music. I kept motioning to my group to get up and come along and dance, but no one would get up. Oh well. We had a great time and I got to get some great pictures of the crowd as we were right next to them, of course separated by a fence with armed policemen near the fence. Finally my Georgia friend, Linda, got up and started dancing with me and then Michelle came out. We just laughed and laughed. The commodore was there with the Ministry of Tourism and Miss Ambon and they all came out to dance with us. The ministry of Ambon gave the Commodore & I sashes and then Commodore Franchetti and I danced together.
 

 
It was so much fun. In the end I was dancing with all the Indonesian women who were the dignitaries. It was hysterical. I was super sweaty, but had had a great time. This was quite an event, venders were selling glow in the dark toys for the kids and food was sold in carts along the side. There were probably about 1500-2000 people at this concert. At the end the police made a barricade so we could get through the crowd to our bus. I felt like a movie star with my newly acquired sash on as we walked through this break as the throng of people crowded around us to get back to our buses.

Donations by Latter-Day Saint Charities

I often like to go exploring the ship and am always finding new places that I have not been. This week Kaye and I were wandering the ship and we found pallets and pallets of boxes donated by Latter-day Saint Charities. They were labeled hygiene kits, school kits, surgical supplies, medical supplies. We found these pallets full of boxes on 2 different floors. They sported the same logo as we have on our shirts.

Donated Pallets of Supplies by Latter-Day Saint Charities

It was especially cool to see the boxes labeled hygiene kits and school kits as I have personally been involved in creating these kits. I felt a touch of home as we saw these. To be a part of a experience that we are able to share these items, that are lovingly put together by LDS members back in the states, is pretty cool. So keep serving and get involved. Know that these kits are being put to use and are appreciated by the Indonesian people. I worked the Scullery again tonight and I worked along side one of the supply officers. He told me that the Pacific Partnership had a finite budget and that it was running out of certain medical supplies and then the LDS church stood up and said “What do you need?” and they filled the gaps by sending more supplies to the Mercy. He said it was amazing the amount of supplies that they had donated by them. He was very impressed and complimentary of the LDS church.

I was able to visit the Optometry lab and got a great tour of how they were making glasses. They cut all their own lenses and have glasses of many strengths all done when the go ashore to do MedCaps. They have given out thousands of pairs of glasses on this excursion, 6,000 were given out in Ternate alone. From distance lenses to reading glasses. That 's a lot of lenses to cut! The sailor working there picked up a really thick lens and let us hold it up to look through and you could see a whole person's face in this small lens. It reminded me that life is all about perspective. It's our choice how we view life. I have found it interesting that some people may grumble or complaine about life, but in the end if we keep a proper perspective and keep in mind the big picture then our lives can be a lot better. I try to remember this each night as I crawl into my miniscule bunk to go to sleep. It's all about the experience and complaining about my bed won't make it any bigger or fluffier so I just do my best to roll over without hitting the wall or falling off and go to sleep!

The Engine Room

July 25, 2010

Today our group leaders arranged for us to have a private tour of the Engine Room. We spent the next hour exploring the bowels of the ship. The Mercy, and it's sister ship the Comfort, were commissioned by Congress in the 1976 when the hospital ship used in the Vietnam war was old and needed to be replaced. The Mercy was created from an old oil tanker. This was more cost effective than building a ship from the ground up. All the work was done in San Diego and was not finished til the early 1990's. The oil tanker, SS Worth, was gutted except for the engine parts and then the hospital modules and all the berthing areas were built on shore and then placed in the existing compartments. It is 894 feet long and 105 feet abreast. The tour was super cool, but very hot and loud. We all had our ear plugs. Some of the rooms were over 118 degrees. We even got to see the rod that the propeller is attached to. I really enjoyed this tour as I love to explore and experience new things. He gave us some stats that were interesting. The fuel for this trip cost $8,000,000 and the whole humanitarian project is costing $25,000,000. The Mercy's fuel tanks hold over 1 million gallons of diesel fuel and 789 barrels of Jet fuel. The ship actually runs on steam, and the diesel fuel runs the compression engine that creates steam with powers the ship. The ship distills it's own potable water through distilling sea water. They heat the sea water until steam is formed and then put it into a vacuum and the fresh water is taken from the steam and then the extra salty left over water not distilled is then put back into the ocean. The ship consumes 60,000 gallons of water each day and the boiler alone uses 7,000 gallons of water each day. The ship holds 356,000 gallons of fresh water. The ship has two separate piping systems for water. All the toilets use sea water and those pipes are 3 times as thick as the regular pipes and were designed for sea water. The other pipes have all the “gray” water from the showers, washing machines, dishwashers, sinks and this water can be put back into the sea as long as they are a certain distance from the shore. This ship fastest speed is 18 knots and it would take it 3 miles to stop if going at full speed. The Engineer said that we usually travel about 14 knots.

Meg Ferguson my LDSC Friend

This turbine turns the propeller.

 

Me with my "Dora the Explorer" Backpack

Sabbath Day on the Mercy

Today we are at sea so it is a free day and I am so grateful that it came on a Sunday. I get so much strength from the Sabbath and because we are not working I have been able to enjoy this quiet spirit filled day. Last night there were some of us that had been playing games in the chapel while some of the military folks were having choir practice. They sounded great and I asked where they were singing.  They told us that they would be singing on Sunday morning at the Protestant Service so we decided to go. We thought that we were going to listen to others sing, but instead the whole congregation sang together. Everyone stood up and swayed to the music. I had heard the songs the night before so I was familiar with them and enjoyed singing this spirited gospel music. The Pastor gave a nice message about “Worry”. The message on “worry” was really pretty good. The preacher said that worry is trying to control the uncontrollable. Very interesting to think about. He said that worry cannot change the past or control the future. It can only mess up today. Worry just weighs us down. That is very true. I'm going to remember that and worry less. Enjoy life to the fullest and don't worry about what we cannot control. This past week one of the CRNA's, Valerie Diaz, told me some advice her grandmother gave to her that I really liked- she said, “That's the thing about yesterday you'll never see it again so let it go.” Good advice that we should all take and learn to use the great power of forgiveness, for ourselves and for others.


After this service we went to our own LDS Service. The music was not as lively as the other service, but the peaceful spirit of the Lord was felt and filled my soul. I was asked to play the piano for the service and if anyone knows me they know that I do not play the piano in front of others, but life is about serving and not always being comfortable and I was asked and I could not decline. Sure someone else could have done better, but it is important not to miss out on opportunities just because someone else is better at it than ourselves. We need to get involved in life to improve and grow. Playing the piano for a church service definitely was a growing experience for me. Harold Davis, one of our Veterinarian's spoke in church today. He is an older gentleman who is amazing and carries the spirit with him when he speaks. He told a story of his Army Captain who is in charge of all the Vets. He described her as a regular rough and tough Army person. He said one day his group was talking about the dangers of being in this part of the world and possible terrorist dangers to the Mercy. He then shared this profound statement from this Army Captain, she said, “I don't have to worry as I have Mormon Angels watching over me. Mormons are too good and too kind for anything bad to happen to the Mercy.” This was a touching story and I feel blessed to be a part of a group that is perceived this way. There are some amazing people here and I feel privileged to be a part of this whole experience.

OR in Ternate

 Here are some stats from Ternate:  78 surgeries, saw 10,500 patients on shore, gave out 6,000 pairs of glasses, helped renovate a medical clinic and treated 200 animals. We spent 5 ½ days doing surgery in Ternate. Most days we ran 4 rooms all day and then a 5th room til lunchtime. Each room has one nurse and 2 techs assigned so we have plenty of help. There are usually 2 anesthesia people along with an anesthesia tech in the rooms, at least 2 surgeons, a translator and then there are always visitors. It never gets lonely in the OR. Here I have been able to see many surgeries that I would never see in the states. We did about 20 cleft lip and palate surgeries on children and even some adults in their 30's. It was amazing to watch the transformation from cleft to whole. We treated many children with clefts, hernias, and even one little 7 year old had 2 cataract surgeries and could not see before she came on board the Mercy and left with her sight. That is a life changing miracle for her. Sometimes it is hard to think of all those people who came to get help, but we had to turn them away because of time constraints. I feel bad that we cannot help everyone, but in the end I do believe it is about reaching out to the “one”. One person can make a difference and as we touch each one individually they in turn can go out and touch others lives. We just need to do the best we can serve others in life, keep a positive attitude in life and be grateful for all that the Lord has blessed us with.

This week I saw all sorts of lumps and bumps taken off. One older woman had a huge type of “skin tag” that was like a pendulum hanging down about 12 inches from under her armpit. The bump on the end was as big as my fist. She would just tuck this pendulous bump into her bra to stash it out of the way and she had lived with it her whole life. Two other women had lipomas on their backs that were as big as a breast that we took out. It would be a bit awkward trying to fit a normal shirt. It has been so nice to help these people. They are happy and a humble people who have shown great gratitude and love towards us. It has been a joy to work among them.



Once the day is done with surgery we have “folding parties”. All the linens, towels and scrubs from the previous day need to be folded and put away. Everyone pitches in to get it done , doctors, nurses, techs, anyone around helps fold clothes. It really is a fun time to all help out and pitch in.

This picture is for Rowan's Mom

When we leave a port we have to get all the surgery equipment, beds, IV poles, machines, tables and such and tie them to the wall so we are ready to go out to sea. I guess this is what is meant by “Batten down the Hatch”. Then on Monday we'll start over and untie everything once more so it will once again be ready. It's like totally closing up shop for the winter and stowing all the gear and then 2 days later getting it all out again. Everyone helps so it only took about an hour to get it all done. These Navy folks are very efficient. We will start surgery again on Tuesday when we get to Ambon, which will be my last stop before heading back to the States. We have 2 days at sea before we arrive.   We work with the Navy, partner nations, and other NGO's in the OR.  One day one of the Anesthesia Tech's, Rowan, who is with another NGO - UCSD Pre-Dental Society came up to me and said that his mother loved reading my blog.  I thought this was crazy that someone I did not know was reading my blog. HooRah for search engines and Rowan's mom your son is doing fine!

The Gama Lama Marketplace

Melinda the "Movie Star" American posing for a picture

July 22, 2010

Our last stop was the Gama Lama (I'm sure my spelling is wrong) market place. It was a very contrasting sight for me. They dropped us off at a very modern mall – just like you would see in the States and then right next to it was the old market place packed with vendors selling, food, toiletries, clothing, fish, spices, fresh vegetables and fruit – you name it they were selling it. I love old market places. They remind me so much of the markets that I explored in Israel so long ago. I wanted to explore every inch of them and my little group of 4 was pretty cooperative in following me as I wove in and out of the deep dark alleys. Many of the stores were dark unless they had their own generator. It was hard to see what they had as everything was so crammed into small spaces. At one time we got in the middle of a food market where they were selling fish that were just all lying on trays out in the open. The ceiling was covered with a huge tarp so the fish smells were trapped and had no where to go. I almost threw up as it smelled soooo bad with all those fish together. Very interesting, but we got out fast.

 Our little crew of 4 were quite a foreign site for all the locals and they would smile and point as I'm sure many of them had not seen Americans before. There were also stalls with platters overflowing with dried miniature fish. At first I had no idea what it was, but upon closer examination I saw they were small silver fish.

 I really wanted to buy something that was strictly Indonesian and not made in China. We came across a vender selling volcanic mortar and pestles that one would use to grind grain or crush spices. They were as big as a dinner plate and had small etching around the edges. They were crude, but ethnic so I bought one for myself. It was so heavy and it felt like I was carrying around a ton of bricks all night. We also found some other treasures in the marketplace, I got some Batik fabric, a Sarong, and 4 Batik dresses for the girls and I. They had tags that said, Made in Indonesia so I accomplished my goal of finding Indonesian items to take home. It just took some searching and digging. Paying and finding out prices was always a challenge due to the language barrier. We were all waving a lot of fingers and smiling. I paid $5 each for my dresses which I thought was a great deal.

The sun was setting and we were all tired from our day of adventure and as we walked we were stopped time and time again for Indonesians to take our picture. We were such an anomaly there that they all wanted our pictures. More sweaty, smoking men hugging me for a picture. I was beginning to feel sorry for those movie stars. This would not be a way to live. I would want to hide also, but we were good sports and smiled for each of the pictures. I enjoyed the children best who would stop and stare as we walked by.  In America we have so much and are exposed to so many different cultures that it is hard to imagine people who live so humble and so unaffected by the outside world.

The Beach

July 22, 2010
After visiting the Sultans palace and another fortress we were off to snorkel at the beach. The drive to the beach took about 30 minutes and we actually drove along the same area that I had flown over on Sunday when I did the SurgCap. I was taught a lesson here somewhat. When we flew over the area I only saw rusted roofs and dirt, but as we drove I was able to see well kept colorful humble homes with children and goats running in the yards. I learned that there is always a different perspective to everything and that we must not let first impressions govern our opinions in life. We need to be open to learning more about people and places. Oft times there is more than meets the eye. I am so glad that I was able to broaden my perspective by seeing these homes close up.

The beach we went to was so beautiful. It was pretty small and tucked into a cove. They had hand carved canoes with bamboo outriggers fashioned to them with fishing line. The canoes were as quaint as the beach and only about $2 to rent. I was glad we had the canoe as I could hang onto it and snorkel at the same time.

This picture is for Kerry Parsons!!!

We went pretty far out and I think I would have gotten very tired that far from shore. We rented snorkel gear from the shop. This snorkel gear I'm sure had never been disinfected as I could see black guck all over it, but I just had to think – “When in Rome” so I closed my eyes and put that snorkel in my mouth and dove down to see the beautiful tropical fish. The coral was amazing and the fish were blue, orange, green and yellow. After awhile I got brave and let go of the canoe and would dive down deep to swim among the schools of fish. It was amazing to do this. I really enjoyed snorkeling and glad that I did it. I had not brough a swimsuit and one of the other women graciously lent her hers. In my hurry to change in the teeny tiny questionable dressing room I had put the swim top on back wards and so I swam all afternoon with the tankini top on inside out with a tag showing. I figured it just did not matter and our time was limited so I left it. In the middle of the bay the water was deep so all the canoes congregated and we were all climbing aboard (which I found very hard to get back in the boat from the ocean, but I did it) and then we were diving off into the ocean. This was fun. After awhile I was exhausted from paddling, swimming and diving and felt like a limp noodle. My little arm muscles were very tired. It was definitely a great memorable experience.

Too soon it was time to go. I went back to shore to get dressed and noticed a huge bucket of water with a scoop in the dressing room and found out that this was for rinsing off the salt water. This was kinda like a fresh shower after being at the beach. Very ingenious I think. I dipped in and rinsed off. I found out that the bucket in the other dressing room housed a large spider. I was glad that I was spared this sight as I do not like spiders at all. Before leaving I ordered some “fried bananas and hot sauce”. Green bananas are taken and sliced length wise and then fried. When the woman cut the bananas they resembled turnips in texture. The spicy red hot sauce was delicious and super hot. It gave a great kick to the bananas.

Kalamata Fortress

July 22, 2010
Our first stop we were scheduled to go to was a Portegese fortress named, Kalamata Fortress, that was built in 1609. It was made of volcanic rock that is plentiful all along this island as Ternate is at the base of an active volcano. Kalamata was built right next to the sea with a beautiful view – or I guess their thoughts were different – maybe a strategic view would be more precise. We took a bunch of pictures and climbed the walls for daring shots, where I'm sure in the States it would have said “Stay off walls”, but here it was just part of the adventure. Our day was overcast so before we left so I stashed a large clear garbage sack that I found in the OR into my bag and I cut a small hole for my head. When we were at the fort it started to rain down pretty persistently so I donned my garbage sack. I'm sure my children would have disowned me and walked away, but it kept me pretty dry and I'm not proud.

As we were leaving we were able to view a traditional ceremony or dance called “Crazy Bamboo” One of the local women, who spoke English, told me that years ago bamboo was their way of moving materials from one place to another. Men would hold onto the bamboo that was laden down with goods or attached to heavy objects and they would pull the bamboo and the objects along with it. In order to encourage these men a foreman would hold a hot fiery stick close to them and tell them to move faster. This dance had similar tactics. Men, dressed in bright green shiny outfits all held onto this long bamboo pole and other “foremen of sorts” chased them with a hot fiery stick yelling some bamboo chant as they went. The stick was waved in all crazy directions so the bamboo men were spinning in circles and weaving all over the muddy, rain soaked field. They asked for volunteers to participate in the “Crazy Bamboo” ritual and I'm not one to miss out of volunteering so out I ran, clad in my garbage sack to be a crazy bamboo person. I just laughed as I sloshed around in the mud with these crazy Indonesian men. I found out that the fire stick was really on fire and yes I was running in circles trying to stay away from getting burned. My tennis shoes now have mud from Singapore and Ternate forever etched in them.

Ternate City Tour

July 22nd, 2010

Today I got my first Liberty Pass. You cannot go ashore with out being approved for liberty. Even if you have the day off you cannot leave the ship unless on this list. The process to obtain liberty is not unlike asking both mom, dad, grandpa and grandma and the neighbor for permission to get off. There are rules and curfews and other hurdles that I managed to surpass and was free for a day on the town. We had to travel in groups of at least 3 buddies for our safety and I am all about keeping those rules. I got to ride in my first open aired Band-aid boat across the sea to the shore and love feeling the sea air on my face and seeing all the sights. There were a mixtures of modern boats and old boats I was sure would sink by the looks of the, but still were going strong. From there we got on buses for a tour that I had signed up for. I loved driving through the city and seeing all the sights and people - I was fascinated by the scene. Houses – colorful fancy ones next to small humble ones. One thing that they had in common were the colors. Painted in bright hues of greens, oranges, yellows, blues and purples which gave life to the city around them. It reminded me of Miami. The homes would have laundry hanging and sheets laid out in the yards with cloves drying. Ternate is one of the “Spice Islands” and harvesting and selling cloves is one of their main industries along with farming, being a public servant or a businessman. The families would put out plastic or sheets weighed down with rocks and then scatter cloves all over them. I would see children stirring and turning the cloves over so they would dry evenly. The weather is pretty steady here all year long – hot around 85-90 all year – perfect drying weather for cloves. We passed schools with children all playing and laughing all dressed alike in floral tops and tan pants. I love to see the children. I believe children are universally innocent and pure – they would eagerly wave to us as we traveled by.
 

Also dotted along the streets were many small merchants selling mostly food and then I noticed a lot of venders with bottles of an amber liquid in small stands almost every block someone was selling this liquid. I asked Rusli, our Indonesian tour guide, what drink this was and he laughed. It turned out that the “amber liquid” was gasoline. All of those motorcyles and mo-peds that were everywhere had a “gas station” on every block. They would stop at theses little stands – imagine something like a lemonade stand – and buy a bottle of gasoline to put in their tanks. Rusli said that people would just go to the main gasoline station in town and fill up their empty water bottles with gasoline so they would have it to sell on the streets. Very interesting!

SurgCap to Ternate

Ternate is a pretty big town and sits at the base of an active volcano that last erupted in 1986. After our helicopter ride we got in taxis to get to the hospital in town. Our driver was like kamikaze driver. They drive on the left hand side of the road here in Indonesia and there are not a lot of rules to driving, passing or speed – or if there are - our driver did not care about keeping them. The main mode of transportation here is by scooter or taxi. That is pretty much all we saw on the streets. Our taxi driver just wove in and out of the scooters constantly honking his horn. I was sure we were going to squish one flat, but they seemed to take it all in stride and did not mind darting in and out of traffic themselves. It was interesting as he would swerve into the right lane at any time and seemed to think that if he was honking his horn it did not matter what side of the road he traveled on. It was great fun and we arrived at least 10 minutes before anyone else due to our crazy taxi man.

The hospital was actually pretty nice. I liked all the different ambulances that were scattered over the courtyard. I'm thinking they were poised and ready to go for when our taxi driver took out one of the scooters. I saw some scooters that were laden down with 2-3 people, huge boxes and pans, coconuts. I think I would have lost my balance and toppled over.

My job at the SurgCap was to help with OR scheduling. They had prepared us for a hot steamy day and I had plenty of water so I was ready. Instead our group was placed in an air conditioned room. It was a nice surprise. We got to see all the people who were due to have surgery and I so enjoyed meeting everyone, especially the children. I think we booked about 10 cleft lip repairs and 2 of those were grown men. I can't imagine living my whole life with such a terrible deformity.

I loved seeing the children most they are so beautiful – even with those deformed faces they smiled and their eyes lit up. I can't wait to see them after surgery. What a blessing to have such a life changing surgery and to be able to look like other children. For lunch the Navy gave us MRE's – but one the Indonesian nurses that is with us wanted me to try Indonesian food for lunch. So he ran down to a small cafe and bought me a yellow rice dish with chicken and fish. The rice was topped with some sort of clear noodle and some super spicy peppers. It was delicious. I loved the kick it had to it. The chicken was very good, and the fish was interesting. The texture was more like pork, but it definitely tasted like fish. I had opened my MRE and the first thing I had found was a pack of Reeses Pieces and had opened them and quickly little children began to congregate around me so I decided I did not need this candy and began to pour candies into their hands. They were so cute and excited to receive the candy. That was lots of fun.

At the end of the day I was scheduled on the 4th stick (helicopter ride) out and we were almost done with scheduling so I wandered outside in the hallway which was outside. There were a bunch of Indonesians taking pictures and this man ran up to me and threw his arm around my shoulder (he had a very sweaty, hot armpit) and wanted to take his picture with me. I just laughed as a whole crowd of Indonesians who had never seen Americans came over to take their picture with me. Women, men and children. I felt like Snow White in Disney World.

All in all my day in Ternate was a great time and I loved every minute of it. I got to helicopter back to the ship and what a great way to end a day of adventure and new experiences for me.

Other Blogs

Here are some blogs from others in our LDSC group if anyone is interested in seeing what other LDSC people are doing here they are. All of our experiences are very unique depending on where we are working on the ship.

www.pacificpartnership.wordpress.com (Official USNS Mercy blog)
www.l7lesueur.blogspot.com
www.waterloggedemt.wordpress.com
www.shaneandzandy.blogspot.com
www.adventuresofnursesuzy.blogspot.com
www.crawfysadventures.blogspot.com
www.pacificpartnership2010.blogspot.com

Helicopter Ride

Today I had one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I got to ride in a helicopter over the extremely blue ocean over to the island of Ternate in Indonesia. I suspect I may never have this opportunity again and I cherish every minute of it.

The Navy helicopters fit 12 passengers in the back with 3 rows of 4 each. One of the helo pilots was there to hand out our gear and to prepare us for any crash landings on in the ocean. He was talking about bailing out quick as the helo would sink fast. I'm thinking this is would not be good. Of course he ended the speech with, “don't worry this is not going to happen” That was a good way to end the sinking helo speech. I donned a helmet, goggles, a life jacket (in case of a sinking helo accident) and head phones to protect against the loud noise of the rotating blades. I felt very official. We walked out onto the fight deck and the helicopter was there with the blades running. They told us to keep our heads down as we approached the chopper. - Yes just like the movies. We had to strap in with a 4 point harness. Luckily my harness was not very tight so I was able to lean forward and look out the window and take lots of pictures. I was lucky to have a window seat so I had a great view as we flew.  It was the coolest to take off as I am used to the picking up speed as a plane races down the runway, but instead we gently lifted upward and I felt that floating sensation and we were off. Seeing the Mercy from the air was incredible. It looked so imposing and big and the white contrast against the blue sea was so beautiful. The helo circled the ship twice so we could take pictures and see it – that was extremely nice for those of us who had never been on helos before. It was a bit freaky and exciting to see the ocean racing below us.  We then flew along the coast. I could see the houses along the coast. All the roofs were tin and rusting and the homes were humble and crowded together. There were also some impressive structures also located along the shoreline that were fun to see. Ternate is located on the base of and active volcano which last erupted in 1986. All the city is located along the seashore and then the rest you can see is a green island volcano all the way up. We flew to the airport where the helicopter landed and we disembarked. The whole experience was incredible. I remember flying with my dad as a small child and I would always give his landing a score as far as how smooth it was, he always scored high. It was interesting to feel a helicopter land as I was expecting that little bounce that you feel in an airplane and instead we hovered for a minute and then gently landed with no bounce. My dad would have been proud of that landing. These helicopters have wheels so we did taxi to the spot where the taxi's were waiting for us. The helicopter experience only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was wonderful and I am so grateful that I got that experience. Originally our SurgCap was scheduled to go by Band-aid boat so it was a pleasant and thrilling surprise to be able to go by helicopter instead. The world seems so pure and pristine from the birds eye view of a helicopter – the blemishes are gone. I like to think that perhaps we should look at people this same way – take a step back and don't focus on those small imperfections that we all have, but instead look at the beauty as a whole and appreciate each other for what we can contribute to this great big world – an amazing melting pot of humanity.

Indonesia

Indonesia is compiled of 17,500 islands, 6,000 of them are populated with people. There are 240 million people in this country. A quarter of the population lives on the island of Java. They are the 4th largest democracy in the world. 86% of the population is Muslim, but they are not an Islamic state, meaning that they have freedom of religion. Some of the challenges they face are extreme poverty, poor health, low education, porous borders, corruption and weak rule of law. 2/3 of Indonesia is rain forest and there are 100 active volcanos, one in which was on the island of Moratai where we just were. I watched the sunset over this volcano last night. There are 300 dialects spoken in Indonesia and English is taught in the schools particularly on the large island of Java where it is more modern. The government has a campaign “Two children is Enough” trying to help decrease the population growth, but traditionally Indonesian's have large families. 22,000 people in Indonesia died when the tsunami hit their country. The temperature for Ternate will be 88-90 highs 77-78 lows with a heat index of 98-100. We are in an area where there is active malaria. The female mosquito carries this and she feeds mostly dusk til dawn. I should not be on any land during these times. I have been on doxycycline for about 3 weeks now to help prevent malaria. We do have many of our MedCaps that will be onsite at Ternate for 8 days living in tents so they will be at risk for malaria and for intestinal worms from the local food. There is much to think about here that would never even cross our minds in the states.

Moratai/Tobelo Stats
53 surgeries done
5676 patients seen ashore
155 animals seen

1056 people are serving on the Mercy right now including Navy, host nations, & NGO's  There are 156 NGO's.  The patient population fluxuates daily.

Days in the Operaing Room at Moratai

Just a note:  Our internet hook-up is down more than it is up.  Think of old dial-up internet then it is about 50% slower than that.  Please do not forward me any cute internet stories or jokes, I cannot open them and please take me off of any mass lists for emails right now.  What I would love is news from home. I feel so far away and removed from any normalacy that it would be great to hear about what  you are doing at home.  Email me me_jennings@hotmail.com  THANKS!!!!  Melinda :)
_____________________________________________________________________________

July 13th, 2010  Today we finally got patients. This morning all the different teams started to go out to Moratai – medical teams, dental teams, engineering teams, vet teams, and the surgical teams. They either traveled by helicopter or Bandaid boat. There was excitement in the air after being at sea for the past 8 days. Those of us who did not go out with the Surgery Team (SurgCap) got the OR's all ready to go. Everything is either tied to the floors or the walls (bulkheads) so it is safe during the time we are at sea. We had to undo all the ties, wipe down all our rooms, mop them and get them stocked and ready to go.

The patients started to come aboard the ship around 2pm. Each patient comes with an escort so they do not have be ever be alone. They are required to wear masks until after they have been cleared of tuberculosis. All patients and their escorts get a chest x-ray first thing. First they come to CASRAC (causality receiving area) and are screened. If they are free from TB they can go to the next screening area.

I finally got a case around 4pm a 5-6cm facial nevus. (A large black, bumpy birth mark about 3 inches in diameter. This gentleman was in his 20's and just got married 2 weeks ago. He and his wife were very sweet. I worked with Dr. Lim a plastic surgeon from Virginia. He is very efficient and good to work with.

We have to do with what we have on the ship as often we do not have exactly what we need. Notice the make-shift toilet

 If we don't have what doc's want they just have to make do with something else. There are no reps to run over supplies and no overnight FedEx for us. I made a bunch of head donuts for positioning out of blue towels and kerlix sponge rolls today. If we don't have it we create it. Often the surgeon asks for something that we don't have. We did not have gasket we needed and so I suggested we try stretching a glove over the port and it worked. Here we are definitely living the motto: Reuse, Make do, Do without. I think surgeons in the states need to do this more often as so much can go to waste.

On the 14th I worked plastic surgery all day and was able to see my first cleft palate and cleft lip repairs. They went well and these 2 young boys actually looked like normal children after wards. What a blessing! One of my cases took 5 ½ hours. That is a long time to be in surgery!  I worked with an Indonesian Nurse named Heru who is in the picture below.  We did a lot of cataract surgeries, hernias, hysterectomies, masses, thyroidectomy and a couple ganglion cysts. We ran 5 rooms and I think did around 15 surgeries. We can only do surgeries that have a short recovery time as we are only here another 2 days. I am bone tired. 5 am is super early for me. I'm thinking I'll be in bed by 8pm tonight.

15th: Today was a wild surgery day. I had a patient that had a uterine fibroid that was as large as my head. She looked about 36 week pregnant. I think no one in the states would let a fibroid grow so big without seeing a doctor and this poor woman has not even had the opportunity to ever see a doctor. It was the most exciting room as far as unusual cases go so I had a ton of visitors all taking pictures. I even got quite a few myself. The case took us 6 hours and had all sorts of complications. I finally kicked everyone out so we could just do our case and not be a tourist attraction. It is much different here than the states.

16th: Today was our last OR day in Moratai. Days are busy and I had not been outside in 3 days. The Navy and the NGO surgeons have been fabulous. All my days have been pleasant – just very long at times. Luckily we finished by 3pm so a couple of us sat out on the deck for about an hour just enjoying the sun. When I am in the OR I seem to forget that I am on a ship in the middle of the Pacific ocean on the other side of the world.

17th: I found out this morning that I will be part of a SurgCap tomorrow in Ternate. We will all be helicoptered in to our site. I am so excited to go by helicopter! We will be finding patients for our next 5 days of surgery. We did around 49 surgeries in Moratai in the last 3 ½ days.

The Food

We are fed pretty good here on the Mercy. They run a tight meal line. We are served cafeteria style with 2 lines one for the officers - always the quicker line, and one for the enlisted. Breakfast is from 5:30-7:15, lunch 11-12:30 and dinner 4:30-6:15pm. We usually have choices of 3 mail courses, soup, salad, and lots of fruit. I love the fruit the best. I am surprised that I am not gaining weight as they feed us so well. I think the millions of flights of stairs and the daily exercise are really important for both physical and mental reasons. When we take our trays in we have to separate the bones, the paper, and the food so the dish line is sometimes longer than the food line. It is important to finish eating early if we have to be somewhere. We were even served king crab and steaks for lunch once. It was quite a feast!


At mealtimes we have been introduced to a lot of different types of fruit. The small fruit is called longan fruit which you have to peel and then there is a grape like meat inside with a bright maroon seed in the middle that you spit out. It is pretty good, but a lot of work to eat. I so want a longon tree in my yard. The mangoes are my favorite. They are unlike any mango that I have ever eaten. One looks like a potato on the outside. I also had a guava today – the green wrinkled fruit. It had the consistency of an apple, but had a kind of sour taste. It was yummy. Persimmons were another new fruit for me. Not my favorite though.

The Sunset

Monday July 12th
Tomorrow we will finally arrive at our first mission site - a small Indonesian Island called Morotai.  We are in a region that is filled with volcanos so the ocean is too deep to anchor so we will be slowing doing figure 8's in the harbor for the 4 days we will be at this site.  Everyone is so excited to get going after sailing for the past 8 days.  Here is a picture of the Indonesian Naval ship that is escorting us.

We plan to have OR cases tomorrow afternoon.  I am ready to work.  Today was an amazingly beautiful day. The seas this morning looked like glass and the sunset tonight was the best of the trip.  This part of the world is amazing. Weather here is 87 high with 75 low with a heat index of 95.