… and what a time it has been!
As I mentioned in my last blog, Celebrations, Reunions and Quarantines, we just spent five weeks docked in the port of Dakar, in Senegal, next to our sister ship, the Africa Mercy. It was an amazing time, paired with lots of emotions, filled with joy and many impressions, it was a very intense time and, as most intense periods most often do, was over in the blink of an eye.
As I am writing to you, we are docked once again in Granadilla, after a five – day sail and arrival on Tuesday, 05 July. We will still need to continue to work on the outfitting of the Global Mercy here in the shipyard, before she can serve our patients in Africa. There are quite a few big projects ahead to get us there, but before we head there, let me tell you a bit about our time in Senegal.
MCB - Medical Capacity Building Program
The Mercy Ships Medical Capacity Building Team works to strengthen surgical systems in our host nations, such as Senegal, by partnering with local healthcare professionals to offer training. We also hosted a MedX event on board (which is similar to a TedX, just specifically focused on medical topics) with several international attendees and speakers.
During our time in Dakar with the GLM, more than 300 Senegalese healthcare providers participated in these trainings – surpassing the projected attendance of 260 persons. Together they participated in over 4,500 hours of training in eight different courses, all hosted inside the GLM hospital and MCB training rooms.
This local healthcare professional training is key in working toward accelerated access to surgical, obstetric, and anesthetic care in Africa by 2030.
Nurse Training courses involved five days of classes for 30 students, covering modules on Peri-Operative Nursing Care Practice, Care of the Critically-Ill Patient, Customer Care, and Training of Trainers.
In a three-day Pediatric Anesthesia class, Senegalese nurses and doctors received a refresher on delivering anesthesia to infants and children. Safer Anesthesia From Education (SAFE) courses like this one equip medical professionals with the knowledge and skills to deliver safe care to patients, even in low-resource settings. These local leaders learned and practiced through simulations on board, guided by Mercy Ships volunteers and partners. Now they’ll be able to apply these techniques locally – and share them with others.
Meanwhile, Biomedical Equipment Maintenance Servicing became the Global Mercy’s first multi-week course, offered in partnership with a company named Optimum Biomedical. “We are already applying what we have learned here,” said Badiene, one of the 19 course participants. Badiene works for Senegal’s Ministry of Health. She said this is the most valuable training she has ever received, “because it is practical.”
“It has brought a lot to us,” she said. “We are realizing what we are doing, and we have learned a lot, so a big thank you to the organization, and I hope many more biomedical technicians will receive the same training.”
Seeing our MCB Team in action and hearing about how participants have been directly impacted is always such an encouragement to me personally.
One of the facilitators told me how one of her participants of a “helping babies breathe” course which is part of the SAFE course where participants also receive breathing bags to use in their obstetric facilities, returned a week later and was beaming with joy when asked if they had been able to put any new gained knowledge and tools to use. “I have saved the lives of 3 babies so far!”. It’s astonishing how little of an effort and simple tools can have such a huge impact!
You can get a small glimpse of the MCB trainings offered in Dakar in this video:
Dive team action
We also conducated a dive under the Global Mercy in the port of Dakar to inspect the hull and the underwater sea chests, and for orientation and future dive planning purposes. Since the Global Mercy hasn’t received her dive equipment yet, we borrowed equipment and also some manpower from the Africa Mercy and did a collaborative dive. I was privileged to support the team from the dock and the Global Mercy work boat, and thus including my first ride in it. So exciting and fun!
Senegal impressions
I also had the opportunity to drive into the country with one of our Land Cruisers for a bit, a dear friend of mine from the AFM had asked if I wanted to join her for a “rescue operation” on a Sunday afternoon to retrieve a crew member who had gotten deserted by her driver at an Air b’n’b about an hour and a half drive from the ship. It was a lovely outing and I was very happy to spend some special 1:1 time with my friend and also to enjoy the rugged Senegalese countryside.
It is always fascinating and amazing what you can see – and sometimes you need to take a closer look to discover some interesting transportation solutions 🙂
Thank you so much for journeying with us, please continue to pray for our patients and the surgical program on the Africa Mercy, the MCB program happening in several countries, our Mercy Ships leadership teams, technical teams and also for the health and stamina of our crew.
THANK YOU!
Love from Granadilla, Ruben and Silke
