Year end summary video and numbers...

2011 is almost over. The ship has left Sweet Salone, the Field Service is over. I am currently in Hungary enjoying fast Internet, good food and snow - well, I don't enjoy the cold so much, but never mind. :)

To give you all an update of what's been happening in the Mercy Ships realm I'd like to share a personal video with you that I created for my Norwegian church upon celebrating their 40th anniversary in October.

And here are some numbers for those who love details. During the 10 month visit we did:

• Ophthalmic Surgeries & Training 
• 1,242 Cataract Surgeries
• 179 Pterygium Surgeries
• 8,502 Eye Evaluations
• Trained 22 Sierra Leoneans   

• Maxillofacial Surgeries & Training
• 111 Cleft Lip & Palate Surgeries 
• 516 Maxillofacial Surgeries - Head & Neck Tumors
• Training for Chief Dental Officer

•  Plastic Reconstructive Surgeries
• 159 Released Burn Contractures, Combined Fingers (Syndactyly) & Other Procedures 
• 1,211 Occupational Therapy Services

• General Surgeries
• 728 Surgeries including:  
• Hernia & Hydrocele Repairs
• Tumor/Lesion/Lipoma Excisions 

• Orthopaedic Surgeries & Training  
• 185 Surgeries including:
• Club Foot Corrections
• Tendon Lengthening
• Osteotomy

• 1,742 Physical Therapy Services
• Trained 3 in the Operating Room
• Trained 40 Sierra Leonean Health Care Workers in Ponseti
• Ponseti Casting – 103 Corrections for 66 Patients
• 84 Braces Fabricated   

• Patient Life 
• One-on-One Counseling for Patients & Family Members
• Organized Group Activities 

• HOPE Center 
• Hospital Out Patient Extension
• 10,495 Patient Bed Nights over 35 weeks
• 67 Community Health Education Sessions 

• Dental Clinic & Training 
• 34,251 Procedures 
• 10,489 Patient Encounters
• 933 Dental Hygiene Patients
• 531 Dentures 
• Oral Health Education 8,984 Patients & 1,025 Students Dental Practicum – 4 weeks

• Mental Health 
• Trained 16 Staff from City of Rest
• Trained 163 Primary Health Care Workers
• Trained 68 Church Leaders
• Conducted Children’s Camp for 30
• More Training Scheduled for February & March 2012  

• Palliative Care 
•  Provided Homecare for 26 Terminally Ill
•  Trained 26 & Assisted Families in Wound Care
•  5 Income Generation Projects

• Burkitt’s Lymphoma
• 13 Patients in Partnership with Ola During Children’s Hospital

•  Church Leaders’ Conferences
•  Facilitated training for 580 church leaders in Freetown, Bo & Makeni
•  In partnership with Samaritan’s Strategy & Community Health Evangelism (CHE)

•  Anesthesiology Conference & Midwifery Conference
•  79 Anesthesiology Conference Participants
•  28 Midwifery Conference Participants

•  Agriculture Training
•  Holistic Agriculture Concepts
•  4 Organizations
•  Trained 16 to be Trainers
•  Trainers Continue to Train Others

•  Donations
•  Modular Buildings for local hospitals
• Medical Supplies/Equipment
•  Pharmaceutical Supplies
•  Computers
•  Well Drilling Equipment
•  School Supplies

As you can see we accomplished quite a lot, praise God! I just want to thank every single one of you who helped in any way to make this dream for Sierra Leoneans come true!