Hi, my dear friends, family and followers!

I am so glad to finally officially announce to you that I have extended my stay on the ship for three more weeks!
The opportunity popped up, because someone filling the anesthesia position in January isn’t going to be able to come. HR confirmed my extension and so I cancelled my vacation on Mauritius after deciding to stay on the ship longer.

Also I decided to move into a community of faith with 25 other people in Riehen, CH as soon as I return from Madagascar to Switzerland after my visit to Israel in February. I am very excited about this step, since it has been on my heart a while now to be able to live in community and share life with other people on a daily basis. My stay here on the ship has actually shown me how less you need and still be very happy and content with what you have. Sharing a 6-berth cabin and living out of a suitcase for a couple of months is really not as bad!
So the underlining is that there is a lot for me to organize take care of when I get back home and I only have ten days for the whole packing and moving, so please keep me in  your prayers (that I find buyers for my stuff, helpers and have the strength and resources I need for this project). Thank you!

At the moment I am busy researching on my next blog topic for you (I am actually meeting people over coffee and asking them questions to get first-hand information 🙂 ), so stay tuned for that – news are coming soon!
We are currently at the end of our orthopedic surgery program and today the general surgery screening has begun – lots of patients out there are waiting for their surgeries to be performed during the next couple of weeks along with the ongoing Maxillofacial and VVF (Obstetric fistula/women’s health) surgeries, so we will stay busy!

I hope you all are well and excited about the upcoming christmas holiday – wishing you all a very wonderful season!

Love from Madagascar!

Silke