Josh's Mercy Ship Trip-Africa: May 2011

Monday, May 23, 2011

This week has been one of the most brutal, exhausting, and humbling week of my life. We packed up for a 5 day stay in the middle of the country, a place call Makeni. We brought all of our supplies and equipment, and drove over 4 hours into the rural area of Sierra Leone. We thought we were mentally and physically ready to take on the challenge of staying for 5 days w/ practically no water and electricity. The heat and humidity was excruciating, a big difference from working next to the ocean. The climate wasn’t something you could just get use to. However, we stayed focus on the reason why we were here and to provide dental care to as many patients as possible.

We stayed in bare houses w/ no fans and minimal running water. At night, lying in the bed, sweat would continuously roll of your skin and soak the bed sheets. Everyone had water bottles to replenish the lost fluids throughout the night. Trying to sleep, sweat would continue to fall in my ear canals, making it almost impossible to fall asleep. It felt as if I was sleeping in a sauna. The whole week, everyone had to fight off sleep deprivation, since sleeping was almost impossible.

On my fourth day in the morning, I started to vomit. Trying to fight it off, I would continue to work on the patients, however, as the morning progress, I started to get light headed and dizzy. I could not continue to provide care, and had to be sent back with the photography team, that came for the day, to the ship to recuperate. The only thing I could think of that caused me to get sick, was brushing my teeth from the running water of the sink. Probably shouldn’t have done that. I am still recuperating at this moment, and almost had to be sent to the ICU unit to get an IV to replenish my fluids, since I had a hard time keeping any fluid down.

I just can’t imagine living in the conditions we were in. It amazes me how the locals are able to adapt to the climate, even though the translators from the water coasts of Sierra Leone even thought it was too hot for them. It’s definitely an experience I would never forget, and hopefully something I don’t have to experience again, unless I bring a portable fan next time.

We ended up seeing over 700 patients, more than the goal of 300. We primarily did extractions, many on young children.

(Just uploaded more pictures, so make sure you take a look!)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Going to Jail

During Wednesday and Thursday of last week, we went to a local prison in Sierra Leone to provide dental care. We could not bring all of our equipment, so we could only do the minimal-simple extractions. Trying to describe the prison, the images of the holocaust prison-camps kept coming to my mind, not a place you want to be in. The prison was built for 300 inmates; however, there were currently more than 1200 inmates, beyond the capacity of what the prison was built for. The prisons in America look like luxury mansions compare to the prison we were attending. I would screen the inmates and proved local anesthetics. When the local anesthetic fully numbed the area of the decay tooth, the dentist would come by and extract the teeth. Some of the teeth were so badly infected, that the infection has traveled to the surrounding jaw, and “ate” away the bone. As of result, portion of the jaw is missing. The inmates were very thankful and grateful for us coming, despite of them being prisoners. It sent a very powerful message to them, we will treat anyone despite who you are and what past you had. By our actions, the inmates were able to see the loving message of Christ.

The following day we had a little girl come to our dental clinic, and she had a hole in front of her neck (trachea). Sometimes when she drinks, fluid would leak through the hole. We can’t provide the care she needs since the equipment available is use to provide dental care. The hospital clinic on the Mercy Ship is booked to capacity in with seeing patients. Some people have already been waiting for months to see a physician on the ship. I encourage the parents of the girl with the hole in the neck to keep listening to the radio and listen for any openings for patient screenings and admittance into the hospital ship’s clinic.

On that same day, we had another patient that came to our clinic w/ a large infection on his left shoulder, about the size of a grapefruit. One of the dentist decide to do something about it, even though it is not dental related. If we don’t do anything about it, the patient is most likely going to die, since the hospital clinic on the ship can’t see any more patients. The dentist went ahead and made an incision into the massive infected cyst, drained the area, and placed a draining tube to allow the infection to reside. During some of the procedure, I had to hold down the patient while the dentist remove cyst. We then gave the patient antibiotic and pain medication. Sometimes we go beyond what we are called to do. It is so inspiring to be with a dental team that will do anything in trying to help the natives.

Since I been here, it has been a struggle in wanting to help so many people in Sierra Leone, and sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough. I want to give money to the people on the streets, however, we are told not to give money away since it will affect the economy and encourage them to beg even more instead of working. However, when I have the chance, I will chat with some of the people on the streets and get to know them. Then if I felt led, I will buy them food or supplies, but not give them money. Helping one hand at a time, it is encouraging knowing that at least I am able to make an impact on some people, despite the overwhelming poverty. Even though I might not be able to help everyone, at least I did my best in providing care to some.