So i just wanna say, that part of the reason ive been putting off this post is i really wanted to be able to add some of the photos from the day, but that isn't possible yet so i will have to add them at a later date. Basically we were not allowed to take our cameras, so the only photos are those of the 3 official photographers. They then take those photos and submit them and they go through a whole process and we have to wait. Which is slightly sad cause i cant add them in yet, but they will be worth the wait i know that! Ive seen one set of photos, by my good friend John, (http://5rollands.blogspot.com/) and well he has an amazing talent for taking photos there is no doubting that they will be worth the wait.

So as you know i had an early start! we left the ship just after 3:30 am, it was only a short drive to the stadium where the screening was happening. I really had no idea what to expect, we had a report from someone that had been there the day before saying there were people there already. They weren't wrong, so we arrived in the pitch black on a plan as you go idea i think! When we rocked up just before 4:00am here were prob 300 people waiting there already.

There were about 15 of us in the early crew and i have to say, i sensed God peace at that time in an amazing way. There were fears that the people would push, and people would try and jump the que and stuff, but from those very first moments God presence was almost tangible to me. As we hurried about trying to set up lines and move everyone from the screening area which had ot be clear it all seemed to go without any problems.

The basic process was that everyone was pre screened in a tent outside, then if what was wrong with them was something that we could help with they would be escorted into the stadium where they would be seen by the relevant doctors and then would be given a date to come to the ship to have their surgery of whatever it was that they required.

This is a view from inside the stadium before it was set up for screening

So the location worked really well, there were 2 entrances into the stadium, so we decided that one was an entry only and the other exit only. So i think Mike (the security officer) decided that it be best to send the 2 biggest guys there to guard the exit gate! ... Yup i be one of those guys! So from about 4:30-8:30am i was posted on the gate shown below: Now we managed to work that barrier you can see on the right as you look which made it alot easier to control. The first few mins were interesting to say the least, and thankfully there weren't that many people around, and with neither me nor Dallas (the other "big guy") speaking any french it was interesting, we learnt what next entrance was, and well used that an awful lot!

Thankfully within not much time we managed to get ourselves a translator who told who what the people were saying!

So from 8:30am-1:30pm i was situated right at the front of the que. Which i have to say cause a whole mix of emotions throughout the day. What this meant is i was the last person before they patients were seen in pre screening. When one of the medical staff was free i then directed the patient in their direction. This was a great place to be from being able to see everything from a very close place. It was great to be able to see patients being refereed inside where it meant that there was a good chance they might be able to get the life changing sugary. On the other side it was so hard to see people being told that we couldn't help them. God really spoke to me that even though we couldn't help them that he was in control of all and this really comforted me in this hard time. Even just being treated well would be something totally new for some of the potential patients.

I was talking to one of the translators and he told me how you wouldn't normally see people with tumors or things that look un "normal" to most of us. This is because of the amount of abuse they would get, so they would be forced to live their lives in shame and in the shadows. So just being able to be Jesus hands and feet to them was a great privilege for me and the others who were serving at the screening day. We were able to set up a prayer zone where we offered prayer to anyone we couldn't help, for we know that for something are not possible for us, but all things are possible for God.

So by the time 1:30pm came, i was exhausted to be honest, 10 hours in outside, most of it in the heat took its toll on my, and i only had about 20mins total break in that time, so i headed back to the ship.

So on thu alone (there were more people on fri on the overflow day) we saw 1987 potential patients, if you include the family members that were there with them its estimated there were over 4000 people that attended screening day on thu alone. The total rose to 2773 after the overflow day.

There is a video that will show you more about the screening day and what happened, you should be able to access it from the following link ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prJxp346a6U

Days Off

So i think i thought when i first arrived here about a month ago that i would have loads of free time on my days off and wouldnt know what to do with myself ... how wrong i was!

Now this morning was my fault i didnt have time to do anythin i guess, i mean i was asleep till 11:30am! Yes a lie in, this to me seemed very strange, i cant remmeber the last one i had! this weekend esp has been mad busy! So i think my bosy really needed some rest! ... i know i havent blogged about screening day, but i will, i just want to do it when i have some time, which now i dont really have :(

I had set this afternoon aside to blog, email etc, but after my sucessful records night i think people have caught on that i can get things like that "a happening" so i somehow have got involved in organzing a British Pancakes night for all the 70 british people on the ship! So for the past 3 hours ive been getting lists together of who acutally is british, then trying to work out where they all live and posting notes on their doors! Madness i say! But hopefully a few good pancakes 2morrow will make up for all the running around 2day :)

So it seems like days off are just as busy as days working! So 2morrow i have one more day off before i have to work, and yes i will try again to set some time aside ... lets see if that time remains free!!!

Screening Day

So just wanna say that it was one long long day! But it went really well, and there is lots to say and tell, but im just on a break from work right now and i wanna share about it when i have some more time, so i will expand on screening day very soon!

hope your well whereever you are :)

Samuel

Screening Day Update

So i was having lunch yesterday and talking to Paul (another english guy on the ship) and he was saying about how some people are sent out at like 4am, and Klaus (my German room mate) was saying how he signed up for that slot cause in his dept it had the times, where as i signed up on a general list

So the lists came out 2day ... Klaus is leaving at 7am ... Oh this poor Englishman isnt :( ... yup you guessed it, my car leaves at 3:30am thu morning!!!

Yup then i have to work fri, sat, sun!

So your prayers for energy and just being able to find my strength in God would we wonderful!

Thanks all! Hope your not all as busy as me :)

Just putting it out there

Ok so imagine the smell ... 4 rubbish (big industrial size bins) worth of rubbish that has been sitting there for days, 2 bins worth not in the bins cause we only have 2 at any one time. There is all sorts of stuff in here, food waste and meat oh meat that was off or something so just there and man did that smell bad, and i got it all down my clothes and had to change that is how bad i smelt.

Ok so you think this is bad right ...

OH MY GOODNESS NO ITS NOT!!!

So there is this meat, i know not of its name (i shall find out), but in the form before its bean treated and taken out of its package its the horrid'ist smell i have ever smelt. Sol, one of my co cooks smelt it and pulled a face, so stupidly i thought it prob didnt smell that bad, so i took a deep breath, and well i was almost sick that is how bad it is ...

Now i went to a hospital open house the other night and got to dress up as a doctor etc, here is a pic


Ok, so back to the meat, so i had this good idea, so i blagged leaving work for 1 min (yup everything really is that close to where i leave!) i ran to my sisters cabin cause i had taken that face mask thing im wearing in that pic away with me and left it there, so i ask her for it. So she breaks it to me that its not smell proof ... i tell you what is though ... that mask with a peg over your nose! Goodness knows what i looked like (there was a pic taken, i will try and find it) but the other cooks found it pretty funny, but i was happy cause i couldn't smell that darn meat no more

Samuel

Benin, First thoughts

So due to the ship having some problems we arrived a day later than planned here in Benin on Tuesday 10th Feb. Which was kinda unfortant because we didnt get cleared to leave the ship till the next day, and well i was working wed and thu so i decided that it best to wait to leave the ship till the weekend. We have had a lot of briefings about Benin, and well it sounds like it gets a lot more un safe after dark, so that chances of me going exploring after dark in a place ive never gone before werent very high (infact zero!)

For those you you that wanting to know exactly where i am, we are in Cotonou which is in the south of Benin

So thankfully with this whole weekend off ive managed to leave the ship 4 times now!

So my first experience was Friday with my sister and her family (http://thefarrells.org.uk/), so we made it prob 50 yards down the dock and well some guy called Michael comes off a boat, and well he came with us the whole way!!! I had been warned this might happen, so it was Sarah, Tommy, Tom (4 1/2), Joshua (2), Michael the Beninese man and myself! We didnt make it too far, just to the end of the dock and down a couple of roads, pretty much it was very hot and the boys got tired very quickly! It did give Michael time for a few questions, which he seemed rather concerned about. He really thought it strange that Tommy didnt have a daughter and he very much wants Tommy now to have one!!! ... and for me ... well a wife of course! My reply that im still young wasnt good enough for him i feel.

So friday night a group of about 15 or so of us ventured out for some dinner! And oh what a good choice that was ... so the chips ... they were just like good old English chips!!!

My 3rd and 4th ventures have been alot less eventful, just a couple of walks around the main road, i will try and get some pics of these places for you all to see!

So this week ahead is gonna be very hard working i feel, i have to work in the kitchen mon,tue,fri,sat,sun and this thu is screening day.

What that means is there are going to be about 2000-3000 people coming to the football stadium to be looked at my the medical team and will be booked for operations on the ship, or whatever they need. So even though im non medical i will be there, most prob i will just be security of some type making sure that everyone is ok etc! I will give more details of this when i know more!

Ok so this is the map of where we are docked, we are docked pretty much right down the end of the thing you can see sticking out of the land in the picture.


View Larger Map

Keep in there for the pinapple!

So dont get me wrong here, im not the worlds biggest fan of the cucumber, but i would say i like a little bit of cucumber action here and there.

So when after a couple of weeks of the ship i see something rather strange looking in one of the salad pans i decide its prob best to take a closer look ... and well with further inspection it turns out to cucumber! not in the shape nor form that im use to back in England, but it was 100% cucumber! skin less, but cucumber all the same ...

So it would be rude not to grab yourself some action after so long without right? Well i did, and well it started off not too bad, different taste but then there was a strange taste on one of the bits, and i asked around the table and the other people were experiencing the same thing, some of the cucumber tasted pretty strange and it wasn't very pleasant! So of course being me, next time i saw it i felt like i should give it a 2nd try ... yup same thing, strange yucky taste!

So a couple of days later im working in the galley (thats what they call the kitchen here) (i will try and get some pics of where i work for you all). So we have a separate salad team, they sort out the salad and fruit and veg pretty much, and well i see they have some bananas, and well one of the perks of my job is i get to try stuff, so banana was tried, and well it was nice enough.

But then was the jackpot item ... Pineapple, different looking from England yet again, but it was pineapple, and well i wanted to try some!

And i did ... And no disappointment was found there whatsoever ... That be the best piece of pineapple ive ever had there is no doubt there! and yes indeed i be a big fan of pineapple back home! So this was a pretty good moment to be honest!

So here are my words for 2day ... I dont know where you are, what your doing or how your feeling today, this week, this month or longer. I dont know if you are in a stage of masses of pineapple, or somewhere that all that seems to be thrown at you is cucumber

But i do know this, when you put your faith in God weather you are in that hard place and it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, or if you feel like you are at the top of the mountain and you can see the beauty of everything for miles and miles, God is more than enough for you. He will provide you with the strength.

So if you find yourself on that mountain my prayer for you is that you enjoy the view, but that you keep your eyes fixed on the one who made the view.

Or if you find your self in a tunnel and you feel like the way in blocked and there is no way out, my prayer for you is you will find strength in the one who is more than enough, He will rise you up on eagles wings and will be your strength when you are weak.

And if you are up the mountain or in the tunnel but feel alone and dont really get who this God is, or arent even sure if there is a God. In Matthew 7:7 it says "Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you." It is my prayer for you that you will seek him, for if you ask it of him then he will reveal himself to you.

So to all of you, i hope that today might be a day where you find a pineapple in your life.

Africa Mercy Record Night

So i guess i should give the background and how this all begun ... Well i was talking to Sally Peet (see http://www.peetfamily.org.uk/) and she was telling me about her nice new cabin and how lovely and big it was, and we somehow got talking about how she thought that she could fit every person on board the ship in it ... well that isnt very practical however later that night when i was sharing this with my friend Jo, we started talking about where else you could put people etc, and well we came up with a bathroom ...

Ok so in most of the cabins and in various hallways there are these standard size bathrooms with a toilet and shower in ... So then i made it to the dinning room where there we 6 people hanging out and i told them of my plan to make a record for the most amount of people to fit in one of these bathroom and that there would be other records to follow ... So Davey promptly said "your all words no action" and the rest they say is history ... So the 7 of us marched down the stairs and comfortably all fit in and set the first ever Africa Mercy Record!!!

So its amazing how people can take up ideas! So there were notes put on peoples doors and even a slide that was shown on the TVs we have on the ship and out of it the first ever Africa Mercy Record Night Was Born ...

This is the slide that was shown on the TV's

So of course the bathroom one was left till last ... and to be honest im not sure where some of these came from ... but through out the evening there were such record breaking events as ...

• Balancing a kiwi on a spoon, while blindfolded, wearing a life jacket, on one foot while on a ship that was sailing!
• Holding Two Nalgene Bottles full of water (1 liter each) with your arms stretched out for as long as you can
• Doing as many press ups in 1 minute as possible
• Stacking 10 chairs on tables then un stacking them in the fastest time
• Building the highest tower with cutlery which could stand by its self
• Table tennis challenge
  
• Drinking a 1 liter cartoon of Pear juice in the fastest time
• Fitting as many people in a bathroom as possible
  

Meg - The current Kiwi Challenge record holder

Now a note on the pear juice ... there were 7 people that did this event, and well ... You would think it would take a while ... the slowest was 35 seconds! The current record is now held by Marcs (Grey shirt below) who drank the 1 litre in an incredible 11 seconds!

Some of the Pear Juice Competitors

Ok So as i said we had already made 7 in the bathroom before, and well we actually did 14 thu night, so 14 was the current record ... Ok so at the peak of the night there were well over 100 people in attendance so we decided to split people that wanted to be involved and make it a competition well as a record attempt ... i have to say the commitment was amazing ... we managed a very respectable 22 in ours but was just out done by the other team manging to fit in 24 ... I feel this picture shows you just how committed some people were to this event ...

Every inch was taken up!

Weekend and a half!

So i guess you would maybe imagine that sailing from Tenerife To Benin would be a relaxing thing, some may go as far as saying it would be pretty boring not seeing land or being able to go anywhere for 11 days ... well if you ever have to sail from Tenerife to Benin here is one sure way of not getting bored or having a relaxing time ...

Become an Assistant Cook with an active social life ... that's it ... there will be time for no boredom i can promise you that!

So i have to work alternative weekends, and well this was my first chance to see what working hard really is about on this little ship im living on!

So having already been up at the latest of 7:30am for Monday through Thursday you would really hope that you would get at least one lie in over the weekend ... oh no, Friday and Saturday were both 8am starts meaning if you wanted breakfast you had to be up at the latest of about 7:15am to make it before they put it away ... Now Sunday is the day of rest right ... Not when you have to be at work at 6am it isnt!!! Yup had to make bacon and eggs for all the ship mates!

So its no early finish either, i mean i get time off for lunch and dinner, but am there till gone 7pm most days i work cleaning up all the pots and pans that we have used.

I can honestly and comfortably say that ive done more washing up in the 2 weeks ive been here than in the previous 24 years ive been alive!!!

So then add in to this that in the evenings there is always something to do its just a little busy, now im not complaining at all, im happy to work those long hours i just didn't want any of you thinking i was having an easy time out here!

So Sat night was Africa Mercy Record Night ... Such a good night, in fact it deserves its own post ...

Days Off

So after the long days of Monday and Tuesdays with meeting in the morning and working all day long i was rather looking forward to having the next two days off since i have to work fri, sat and sun!

Its very strange however how full those days off can become! Ive still had 8am meetings which kinda sucks :( then today i spent most of the rest of the morning with my sister Sarah and my adorable nephew Joshua. Lunch came and went and i had finally got around to putting my washing away (yes i did my washing all by myself last nite!) and well ...

It was apparently time for a fire drill! i mean just when i was cleaning my room! (i say room, think cupboard! i shall try and provide some photos more regularly of what im talking about! will add them soon! So yeah the fire drill takes a while! have to go and put my life jacket on etc and then just stand around for a while! I shall also try and get a shot of my wearing one of those bad boys!

So yeah now im back with Sarah and this time my other nephew Tom, while Joshua is sleeping! So have just grabbed a couple of mins to say how im still doing well! Still busy even on my day off, but alot more relaxing, like yesterday afternoon i managed to play cards with yet new people for about 2 hours which was nice and out side on one of the decks so good times were had by all i hope!

So i hope this post finds you all well where ever you are and whatever your doing! Im in the process of trying to set up a news and prayer letters so if you would like to receive either or both just drop me a mail at sjslennett@aol.com and i shall add you to my list!

Samuel