A Remarkable Week

This has truly been a most remarkable week. I have had the privilege to work beside some extremely talented surgeons as a part of a most unlikely collection of health care personnel providing exceptional care to patients in Benin.

This program really shouldn't work. Nurses, physicians, lab techs, dentists, pharmacists, etc. come from all over the world (many for whom English is not their first language) to work on a surgical facility aboard a ship for periods as short as 2 weeks. They do complex facial reconstructive cases; recover these patients (each with one or two family members) on 20 bed wards; communicate with patients through translators; work together seamlessly as staff is in a constant state of change.

The impact on these patients and their families is dramatic. Benin is the birthplace of voodoo, and these people are often seen as "cursed" and their families shunned because of the deformity. As you can see from the before and after pictures of one of the children from this project, this is truly life-changing for them.

They are the only help for these facial deformity patients between Nigeria and the Sahara. Their ophthalmologist often does 40 cataract extraction with lens implantation each day between 8:30 am and 3 pm. They not only run programs to repair women with VVF but will also train and mentor local surgeons to develop these surgical skills and continue the work in Benin when they leave.

I had the opportunity to help with the strabismus repairs for this brother and sister (right and left in the picture).

There are primary health initiatives, agriculture projects, community dental clinics with both dental care and education, and evangelistic outreaches using the Jesus film as a tool.

I am on call this weekend so will need to stay near the ship. Lori and the crew will be off to the market tomorrow to try to find some treasures among the vendors.

I will try to post a little more frequently . Thanks for following along with us.

Gary