tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17950633712839269252024-03-13T00:48:41.197+01:00ROAM - Réka On Africa MercyAfrican Adventures Through the Eyes of a Hungarian...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-51029315485732642812013-01-28T21:24:00.000+01:002013-05-14T19:12:00.672+02:00New blog addressHello All,<br />
First of all, I wanted to thank you ALL for visiting my blog over the years. I think you'll agree with me that this has been an amazing ride!<br />
<br />
My husband and I left the ship before Christmas to start a new chapter in life. We are planning to document this new chapter as well, but it wouldn't be accurate to continue it on this blog (Reka On Africa Mercy) and RiNC just didn't sound right. :)<br />
<br />
Darren and I thought about it a lot how to make it work, considering that now we have to be more careful as to what and how much information we post online, so here is the solution we came up with:<br />
<br />
We have a new blog called "<b><i>Goodsonlines</i></b>" and hopefully it will NOT show up in any search engine. The way to find it is to type in the name, followed by: <b><i>.blogspot.co.uk.</i></b><br />
<br />
You are more than welcome to check it out.<br />
Cheers,<br />
<br />
Reka and Darren<br />
<br />
PS. God blessed us with a huge house with enough rooms to have overnight guests so if you wanna come, visit Newcastle, do give us a call. We might even pick you up at the airport ;)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n3_b0OWm9m4/UQAy-x6iAEI/AAAAAAAAGjo/prZUHqo1ANc/s1600/DSC_2609+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n3_b0OWm9m4/UQAy-x6iAEI/AAAAAAAAGjo/prZUHqo1ANc/s640/DSC_2609+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-86395733753472922012-12-30T20:15:00.000+01:002012-12-30T20:15:44.232+01:00D-5-4-3-2-1 days... in retrospectSorry for not updating this blog for a while, I have 2 good reasons:<br />
<br />
The last 5 days have been incredibly full of emotions, of packing, of last minute things to arrange / give away / sell / tell / take back / give back / fill out / sign / finish... etc...<br />
<br />
The other reason is more poetic - none of us wanted to face reality that in a very short time we have to depart from our home and ship friends for good this time. Actually as I am typing this email from my living room (with fast internet! - thought I mention this for you all :) ) we are still in denial. Ok, maybe not denial, but we still avoid talking about the ship and keep snooping around in our ship friends' facebook and blog updates, we still check the temperature in Conakry every day and reject this cold winter reality.<br />
<br />
For the last 5 days we tried to spend as much time with our ship's family as possible. We went out for countless dinners and had breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning coffee break, afternoon coffee break and after dinner dates with many friends - I think we spent more money during the last 2 weeks than what we did in a normal month, but who cares? :)<br />
<br />
We also tried to soak up as much sunshine as possible - went to the island (together as husband and wife for the first time), had lazy hours by the pool and enjoyed those unforgettable sunsets on deck 8 every evening.<br />
<br />
Visiting places and people for the last time was another item on our busy agenda - went to the market for some last minute gift shopping, said good bye to our local friends and had one last drink and meal in our fav. food places.<br />
<br />
And of course there was this white elephant in our living room - empty suitcases who were mocking me every day with "you will never be able to squeeze everything in me!" Well, they were right! I couldn't!<br />
<br />
Truth be told it was my amazing husband who did all the packing and guess what: he DID PACK everything we wanted to take home in those bags! We also blessed people by putting stuff outside our cabin door with a 'free' sign over it and we could also sell many items to fellow crew members.<br />
<br />
But no matter what you do or don't do, the dreadful day sneaks up on you quietly. On the day of our actual departure (19th Dec) we just switched to autopilot and flew through the day in fast-forward. I must have had meals with our friends and ship's family, must have said good bye to everybody,must have distributed those thank you/love you/miss you already cards, must have cried a bit - I cannot really recall any of it.<br />
<br />
All I know that my only comfort was the fact that I didn't have to do this alone; my wonderful husband was standing next to me, holding my hand, helping me cope and actually leave the ship.<br />
<br />
The rest was a big blur; it still is. We got to the airport, had some last coffee with Gerrit and Herma, travelled well to Europe, said good bye to the Palmers in Brussles, slept at the airport, FROZE at the airport, boarded the plant to Hungary, saw lots of snow on the Alps then finally landed in Budapest. Parents came, picked us up, we went home, had lunch and we went to sleep. The next day we went Christmas shopping, ate, saw the Christmas markets, ate, drank lots of mulled wine, ate, FROZE to death, ate, were welcomed back at church, ate, ate and ate some more, met friends and more family, ate, somewhere in between we celebrated Christmas, ate some more, met more people, exchanged more gifts, ate... and now is the first time when I have a couple of seconds (before eating again!) to update my blog.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2roRzpGuL0_jb5AWjJtk9A4SV6nWZF2Q_6z1FSzJmWn1s8wH7FsAeCJMQ2ODLLIVGqawiOz17-HcsXtVNR9gGI8L69TRBd8kFxUiXdeQIX2VbV5bgi509iYqi2Qd4y-zf1ShDR9C7FQ/s1600/IMG_0193b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2roRzpGuL0_jb5AWjJtk9A4SV6nWZF2Q_6z1FSzJmWn1s8wH7FsAeCJMQ2ODLLIVGqawiOz17-HcsXtVNR9gGI8L69TRBd8kFxUiXdeQIX2VbV5bgi509iYqi2Qd4y-zf1ShDR9C7FQ/s640/IMG_0193b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Last Supper in the Davies Cabin :(</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_x6DHuUx7TchgFc4qDUOgu3a-QAwTF8L2TQpk-S7-jXdmtEdkfvnbUMDCO0VyWejwBuyTFEOzEEVxhjXoExzMuWUaa6RDlWjMUFfmlMXFJc9M8LRNH07lUF8H0P38_At2WjOtq8ZuIQ/s1600/IMG_0281b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_x6DHuUx7TchgFc4qDUOgu3a-QAwTF8L2TQpk-S7-jXdmtEdkfvnbUMDCO0VyWejwBuyTFEOzEEVxhjXoExzMuWUaa6RDlWjMUFfmlMXFJc9M8LRNH07lUF8H0P38_At2WjOtq8ZuIQ/s400/IMG_0281b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Food on the plane - let the massive eating season start!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjTMV3w3IXvTxWyTDUTPUw6l1UEx0MovT8nXCqxRsLcl_atrHNYCYnjmuWPWTOZHBpt5q6C1toirfkLt4tXGeO6o5LZmlggpYNt1Zp7V-J7_4XqlviIoEWk61iRm_85ZNdCfElVuiEAU/s1600/IMG_0305b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjTMV3w3IXvTxWyTDUTPUw6l1UEx0MovT8nXCqxRsLcl_atrHNYCYnjmuWPWTOZHBpt5q6C1toirfkLt4tXGeO6o5LZmlggpYNt1Zp7V-J7_4XqlviIoEWk61iRm_85ZNdCfElVuiEAU/s640/IMG_0305b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Christmas Market at night with some mulled wine to save us from freezing!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGtIL9pTd4YVbATcwq25Y8KpcOhTnOygsbnc1zfEudeleWmX4fUVN7dB4C8T2xqiO9MUJYTowr7spzpEPBNsWHal__dFF1_O4B8Doecr4AquQGD_ZAHDVlOakDlGnvEKrx6oU9lFasDGQ/s1600/IMG_0326b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGtIL9pTd4YVbATcwq25Y8KpcOhTnOygsbnc1zfEudeleWmX4fUVN7dB4C8T2xqiO9MUJYTowr7spzpEPBNsWHal__dFF1_O4B8Doecr4AquQGD_ZAHDVlOakDlGnvEKrx6oU9lFasDGQ/s400/IMG_0326b-small.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Darren found some more wine while I ate chocolate fondue..</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMelOE2MyHHDiLgfRrsjKOlNiym4VGry4e5iLK7Dpc_VZ2eK3KOjPDB-EYsto7miwmm0Bf0BPFcJzjFSP4KpBhw-KyT3X8V_FBJzAT546-PZKZJyzy5nYqXuKf5MtR2NWO5yqAx78fKY/s1600/IMG_0331b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMelOE2MyHHDiLgfRrsjKOlNiym4VGry4e5iLK7Dpc_VZ2eK3KOjPDB-EYsto7miwmm0Bf0BPFcJzjFSP4KpBhw-KyT3X8V_FBJzAT546-PZKZJyzy5nYqXuKf5MtR2NWO5yqAx78fKY/s400/IMG_0331b-small.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Yes, we are in Hungary. No point in denying it. It's cold, it's dark, it's weird, it's TINA (This Is NOT Africa) and it doesn't feel real... :(</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-77857409188941416532012-12-14T00:25:00.001+01:002012-12-14T00:25:20.564+01:00D-6 days... It has started...Long term crew gets to go up front during our Thursday night meetings to be publicly thanked and acknowledged at the end of their term. Until tonight I was happy swimming in The Nile (denial), but tonight made it very real. We are leaving in less than a week. :(<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwGxQ09dvByUvFTHZgj5txv1jSXTAuIxKSGLN0lAdl-N8h8XNpC6TXJGYeF9YFVm3_Ae5665m_hyphenhyphenEQnT_AXmhgUI-iBDjHJRiq088qtuq2mlMwpE4VbCj9SvzIhbnp-zbg4lApIyaT2o/s1600/IMG_0131b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwGxQ09dvByUvFTHZgj5txv1jSXTAuIxKSGLN0lAdl-N8h8XNpC6TXJGYeF9YFVm3_Ae5665m_hyphenhyphenEQnT_AXmhgUI-iBDjHJRiq088qtuq2mlMwpE4VbCj9SvzIhbnp-zbg4lApIyaT2o/s400/IMG_0131b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathrine, one of the Chaplains on board reading the notes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's a tradition for team members or leaders to write up something about you. Well... this is what was said about my amazing husband:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>"Darren has been an invaluable member of the IS department
and will be missed - not only for his technical ability but also for his unique style.
Over the course of the past year and a half he has tackled many problems and shown
initiative beyond the scope of his role, learning completely new skills and technologies in
the process. With the ever-changing nature of not only technology, but also within
Mercy Ships, he has proven adaptable and is a member of the team whose absence
will be felt."</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Awwww, isn't it very nice? I am so glad Mercy Ships recongised what a valuable member he was!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7kS503HpM5tpYSeUEAz3akIFPY_d9S4nAX3Em79OmQ-2A3h7-Bc_Bi0KdbkciOMZPXlBZ1c5T3rlKRqSpfx42jlEQSMC7P728rOqG4xpFN5g9YGtNIjDSRSYcRnBynfzVC7htLqV53w/s1600/IMG_0133b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7kS503HpM5tpYSeUEAz3akIFPY_d9S4nAX3Em79OmQ-2A3h7-Bc_Bi0KdbkciOMZPXlBZ1c5T3rlKRqSpfx42jlEQSMC7P728rOqG4xpFN5g9YGtNIjDSRSYcRnBynfzVC7htLqV53w/s400/IMG_0133b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this is wha<span style="font-family: inherit;">t was sai</span>d about me: (can you guess it was written by Brits? :) )</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"<span style="line-height: 115%;">What
can we say about this wonderful Hungarian girl…</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>We
are delighted that Queen Elizabeth ll has given permission for her to live in
England…for the sake of her husband Daren who is a good British citizen. This
permission came in spite of our advice to the Queen not to let her in. But
Newcastle is considered far from London.. so is used to send people into exile.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>But
Reka joined the Off Ship Programme Team as our administration officer in June
last year when we were in Sierra Leone. She immediately ruled us with a rod of
iron. No more excuses about lost receipts….advances left open too long….petty
cash not being in date order…Day worker pay sheets not correctly filled out…The
Off Ships Programmes team did not know what had hit them. Even Ryan Hare was
forced to get into line…!!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>But
seriously..Reka has a lovely warm personality full of fun & sense of humour
(thanks again for Daren for teaching her about the British sense of humour). But her commitment to her work & her
expertise has been gratefully appreciated by all her team. She has worked over
& above what has been required. She has supported the team & encouraged
them daily. </i></span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">In
our team meetings Reka is the first to pray… the first to give a scripture…
& the first to offer to take devotions….</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Thank
you Reka from all the Off Ships Programmes team & from all who have had the
privilege of working with you… or just knowing your friendship. You have
touched & influenced many lives in Sierra Leone, Togo & Guinea. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>May God bless you & His favour rest upon you
& Darren in the next chapter of your lives."</i></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<u5:p></u5:p><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Aaaaaaaawwwwww - thank you so much guys for your kind, British words! :)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfZluQ_LZr0MA9XzQTBe-dCJhxuXB2rU7Zf5NBDaNQEb6VN6ejR9u02KapdhpcWFr2RBHuK40N7zYl2i5A97MnWm0k1OZsaTEFUUsfAIOtOnazKwHQMjwvHFOTTqrCsWF1xE4W-p3mcY/s1600/IMG_0135b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfZluQ_LZr0MA9XzQTBe-dCJhxuXB2rU7Zf5NBDaNQEb6VN6ejR9u02KapdhpcWFr2RBHuK40N7zYl2i5A97MnWm0k1OZsaTEFUUsfAIOtOnazKwHQMjwvHFOTTqrCsWF1xE4W-p3mcY/s320/IMG_0135b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She lead the whole ship in prayer for us! Very touched!!!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And finally a LAUGHING picture (not just frozen American smiles) with the Boss Man and His Boss <br />(aka Donovan Palmer, VP and Managing Director and his lovely wife, Mae)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5vzGfbeH1nhjcrGqdSayH1FkBBkKaoryVd7OB1gAUdT1BgIwsko-MQYv_siqdAiOwP-YcHPp0z0r1DBSwYvkPyboawFu5Bk61e80iiqzJ-pQXT_GIVEt99MyszXHcJKqpbGAFF8VoSc/s1600/IMG_0164b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5vzGfbeH1nhjcrGqdSayH1FkBBkKaoryVd7OB1gAUdT1BgIwsko-MQYv_siqdAiOwP-YcHPp0z0r1DBSwYvkPyboawFu5Bk61e80iiqzJ-pQXT_GIVEt99MyszXHcJKqpbGAFF8VoSc/s640/IMG_0164b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Can't you tell we love them sooooo much? :)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-558240637625085842012-12-13T00:11:00.003+01:002012-12-13T00:11:35.661+01:00D-7 days...Darren and I got invited to the Team House one last time to have dinner with Barry and Cheryl before they fly away for holiday tomorrow. It was great to enjoy a good African meal off the ship - of course it had fruits, veggies, plantain and fish in it. I am slowly getting used to it... :)<br />
<br />
They were great friends and team members, I will truly miss them and their British sense of humour! :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlk0lsWrZ7SB8A_-1vh1ydkG5t5qt1T6hN9NHiD69x6kAQJomi5vuE_g9QYCvjsWHlrsczC80a0-CZZWCeZnLyY7GWjG9vpEfYWUk6JURfT4g1OtHHqTJ-BJVTZviJiwIgYEJYaW72ZrU/s1600/IMG_0124+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlk0lsWrZ7SB8A_-1vh1ydkG5t5qt1T6hN9NHiD69x6kAQJomi5vuE_g9QYCvjsWHlrsczC80a0-CZZWCeZnLyY7GWjG9vpEfYWUk6JURfT4g1OtHHqTJ-BJVTZviJiwIgYEJYaW72ZrU/s320/IMG_0124+(Large).JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbG3Ar2UvNWPKuJYNyfOKgCXRLBcbGiJADyFiHhQV_VM3hkApR3_aO0ockVh30aLqPvkc6Pg-wOAJlLt8ep1mm1lfVeusxfJ1TtDeOtT7Ke4uDiVl2rJUTkebwZbLKtw5vETHc0mbs1f0/s1600/IMG_0127+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbG3Ar2UvNWPKuJYNyfOKgCXRLBcbGiJADyFiHhQV_VM3hkApR3_aO0ockVh30aLqPvkc6Pg-wOAJlLt8ep1mm1lfVeusxfJ1TtDeOtT7Ke4uDiVl2rJUTkebwZbLKtw5vETHc0mbs1f0/s640/IMG_0127+(Large).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-47466791891835604262012-12-12T23:46:00.000+01:002012-12-12T23:46:46.410+01:00D-8 days... NEPALESE FRIENDS 'N' FOODOur lovely and fearless Ghurka guards not only protect us and the ship, but also cook a-m-a-z-i-n-g Nepalese food - sadly we can only taste it when we are sailing and they are free. Since Darrena dn I are good friends with us it was our wish to eat with them one last time and today was the big day!!!! Sooooo excited! They cooked in the afternoon and Chitra called us around 4 to come up, food is ready. And what food it was!!!! My-my, the chapati and curry-eggs totally stole the show for me (again).<br />
<br />
Here are some pictures as they were making the food:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH0Qr75ls0bCHuDGPFTZ0bgpnsSQdjl7RGwgP2ThsexE7OonfY5oIkQtqKubjwtyVerwRE8vl9LCVjTAKXiylLn0vCE8-deM4udSkGxKNA967AIFfb-YZfLsbjJawSO3I0x5wAxN3-fM/s1600/IMG_0916+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH0Qr75ls0bCHuDGPFTZ0bgpnsSQdjl7RGwgP2ThsexE7OonfY5oIkQtqKubjwtyVerwRE8vl9LCVjTAKXiylLn0vCE8-deM4udSkGxKNA967AIFfb-YZfLsbjJawSO3I0x5wAxN3-fM/s320/IMG_0916+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hit is flattening chapati dough</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpCFQxChw15DZIPlxYR1eNFQ2-Bdd3I0eehEN7-WHkz7BGJXCwvr_ORKBUwQYTvR9WFWs4sUo6GC_N9Wl7Ypp53BYi2uPmNfqsOmzt_Zm3rvvWCtvOgEAVWva2gZCSD71pmYUuyHme00/s1600/IMG_0918+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpCFQxChw15DZIPlxYR1eNFQ2-Bdd3I0eehEN7-WHkz7BGJXCwvr_ORKBUwQYTvR9WFWs4sUo6GC_N9Wl7Ypp53BYi2uPmNfqsOmzt_Zm3rvvWCtvOgEAVWva2gZCSD71pmYUuyHme00/s320/IMG_0918+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dil making Chapati </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVObd99IraeZZJ8hyphenhyphenfp1DQTaY50usKdmy5eCvs5K4WbKiSZtrX1AnQ9JEXp6xf34nOq3JglVZsA1vGswZqANV3wB2-u_twj4Iaxlf5ja2RdkdagRB8rf5sJR15cW8zGzIYJg2FvJ1RmZk/s1600/IMG_0920+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVObd99IraeZZJ8hyphenhyphenfp1DQTaY50usKdmy5eCvs5K4WbKiSZtrX1AnQ9JEXp6xf34nOq3JglVZsA1vGswZqANV3wB2-u_twj4Iaxlf5ja2RdkdagRB8rf5sJR15cW8zGzIYJg2FvJ1RmZk/s320/IMG_0920+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Chitra dishing out some rice for us</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHZClGFbp6tlIZk7ZB3w6F9upAhyphenhyphen2z8ynTNY3-ETP9VkB41O1GMXWcQjFOA2TKU-pbsYnD-FGlKy7h1V6BE1JS2bRUYnO0JyPDNNAikeCP_AABKWaUr4EiEvqRjpo4mP4sQaKd4MLhgU/s1600/IMG_0921+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHZClGFbp6tlIZk7ZB3w6F9upAhyphenhyphen2z8ynTNY3-ETP9VkB41O1GMXWcQjFOA2TKU-pbsYnD-FGlKy7h1V6BE1JS2bRUYnO0JyPDNNAikeCP_AABKWaUr4EiEvqRjpo4mP4sQaKd4MLhgU/s320/IMG_0921+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Tek gave us the plates and bowls</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8byj7AuQ3WQARds5bERHAjnXRfWq_HE3VYDy5JMKl4s3areQZf8qYOTurRMkHiPaD9fJ_NARtwaK-IlBoNR7z2MdFzBkRXyMLtBpI3x10h6jZ97Jkr8zFe5XwdCQyFd2Z7FXJeziKFRs/s1600/IMG_0925+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8byj7AuQ3WQARds5bERHAjnXRfWq_HE3VYDy5JMKl4s3areQZf8qYOTurRMkHiPaD9fJ_NARtwaK-IlBoNR7z2MdFzBkRXyMLtBpI3x10h6jZ97Jkr8zFe5XwdCQyFd2Z7FXJeziKFRs/s320/IMG_0925+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Min gave us the finished Chapati</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmf2gwbaQe0Mf5f8P7Jcp3zAd5avjE6KCgEt9T3ls1xA7UToOHFda3x9pPyFi9IC1rNLlIswYq2OOVAtj4qJVph4HTQsbVSI9NboR7qsc4AuQ6ruhS4S_9xvPJyoj_sxhE4ZJJ3lV8vBY/s1600/IMG_0923+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmf2gwbaQe0Mf5f8P7Jcp3zAd5avjE6KCgEt9T3ls1xA7UToOHFda3x9pPyFi9IC1rNLlIswYq2OOVAtj4qJVph4HTQsbVSI9NboR7qsc4AuQ6ruhS4S_9xvPJyoj_sxhE4ZJJ3lV8vBY/s320/IMG_0923+(Large).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTxS6rg9GVS9uVAi6m47x84XHaK9DKiH3wj3WcwMeE4HAmlRaehrxsIXxlgqBwuX0jrT8qTvXTeZ22GwrEC-pWC3eFghJIX_dJGyriqHmbvQAumZBu0oMlWUOmRo8x6Ma78DvTpCmKRE/s1600/IMG_0931+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTxS6rg9GVS9uVAi6m47x84XHaK9DKiH3wj3WcwMeE4HAmlRaehrxsIXxlgqBwuX0jrT8qTvXTeZ22GwrEC-pWC3eFghJIX_dJGyriqHmbvQAumZBu0oMlWUOmRo8x6Ma78DvTpCmKRE/s640/IMG_0931+(Large).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_Z_nSMY6DGjBFsxyqvgjyV5UWRrayBvdxykgRur27D0EnJwbiucmMmFiEZJhFQ757AgcNuvxlYXD5zHn7eii-xLf30Rse6h6n2OlMWCdC-mTkf9jXR_EYVlMVloJXHR0lbnk6nj3mYc/s1600/IMG_0936+(Large).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_Z_nSMY6DGjBFsxyqvgjyV5UWRrayBvdxykgRur27D0EnJwbiucmMmFiEZJhFQ757AgcNuvxlYXD5zHn7eii-xLf30Rse6h6n2OlMWCdC-mTkf9jXR_EYVlMVloJXHR0lbnk6nj3mYc/s400/IMG_0936+(Large).JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(rice, chapati, curry eggs, vegetable soup and fish-curry) </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The very best from Nepal!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-24772028837350086292012-12-12T18:50:00.000+01:002012-12-12T18:50:00.677+01:00D-9 days... Birthday CakeSo Monday night was my actual birthday day. I am not for big public displays, but my dear husband again did his own thing. He posted posters all around the ship that said today is "Hug a Reka day!' So all these random people were coming to me to hug me and I appreciate the fact that they were just trying to be nice and all, but I am just not that type of a person...<br />
<br />
In the evening we gathered at our usual place, the Davies' Cabin. Shelly again outdid herself with this cake:<br />
CHOCOLATE-MINT ICE CREAM CAKE! How can you NOT just eat it all in one go without sharing it with others??? :)))<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ45N6aTbGebp0v7Bgg6HtvlO0Msj_NCIQzX3jFPoOcglzqTVFUuJ5Oqbf9TFEpU-V7UC-qwtX-7xFtxAzO71geVQrJ1Jlk2TMys0Dix_-dVVLElohOHBgrG0tuxB6-9AWEgqV7G1cLs/s1600/DSC_2349b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ45N6aTbGebp0v7Bgg6HtvlO0Msj_NCIQzX3jFPoOcglzqTVFUuJ5Oqbf9TFEpU-V7UC-qwtX-7xFtxAzO71geVQrJ1Jlk2TMys0Dix_-dVVLElohOHBgrG0tuxB6-9AWEgqV7G1cLs/s320/DSC_2349b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dear husband's signs all over the ship, this one is from the gangway.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGeaUIJzPDmA3M1e1pK2ixHAy93ksu9TlS80x9TvCoPsYajHU6mjAurV8DMIKbnFG1QcpB3smg7qiVegjv3uIje2TUjnATHD9Xew93ye2i_KdSJqPW5pve56BjC-E2tzvsTKQ9EvvG-4/s1600/DSC_2412b-small-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGeaUIJzPDmA3M1e1pK2ixHAy93ksu9TlS80x9TvCoPsYajHU6mjAurV8DMIKbnFG1QcpB3smg7qiVegjv3uIje2TUjnATHD9Xew93ye2i_KdSJqPW5pve56BjC-E2tzvsTKQ9EvvG-4/s320/DSC_2412b-small-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QSPWbF1FhMzF6CZO0oqA8EPsAO0p3sFPnJ2RZQux-j2dw6yyvaG2BpiBGTspKorOqMnwmKNrx2VlnBh43eyMSuH2ZkkKJ3hSL0Suuruc-Ukw0sMyE8-bLU-x3yapWOdq6IzuFWQK9Us/s1600/DSC_2414b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QSPWbF1FhMzF6CZO0oqA8EPsAO0p3sFPnJ2RZQux-j2dw6yyvaG2BpiBGTspKorOqMnwmKNrx2VlnBh43eyMSuH2ZkkKJ3hSL0Suuruc-Ukw0sMyE8-bLU-x3yapWOdq6IzuFWQK9Us/s640/DSC_2414b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here is my new fav cake with a cute, fake candle!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOgw2H6tsF3p9gzs_-MIT2gzbZ1JJtgPdwzAVlXORHAHxx61XNSDjuJSMnFpnMi8WGzPc0t6KqC4xF_tWoozywHpGcD4WzpbK6zDCIyM6p0XBshMAYjtHa3oxPy1atnDgMt8djPP7oRo/s1600/DSC_2415b-small-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOgw2H6tsF3p9gzs_-MIT2gzbZ1JJtgPdwzAVlXORHAHxx61XNSDjuJSMnFpnMi8WGzPc0t6KqC4xF_tWoozywHpGcD4WzpbK6zDCIyM6p0XBshMAYjtHa3oxPy1atnDgMt8djPP7oRo/s400/DSC_2415b-small-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With Penny and her gluten-free version of my cake!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBWSpyJ4ORR7pS_JRxT5NDWIRg3pGJwDHG77zCEZ6qcbbT6bAS36bmfffliAY0EQkHe1M8YwcV-fzHo0Gihf3U0xrGg-NgSk5qQ7G8viRM94S-xIaKH-heBHesYxwFRlbUJOFFDpRNNE/s1600/DSC_2416b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBWSpyJ4ORR7pS_JRxT5NDWIRg3pGJwDHG77zCEZ6qcbbT6bAS36bmfffliAY0EQkHe1M8YwcV-fzHo0Gihf3U0xrGg-NgSk5qQ7G8viRM94S-xIaKH-heBHesYxwFRlbUJOFFDpRNNE/s320/DSC_2416b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71VhXZhgyPlbBeVluQVbuc9EeWFXBdlvoqxRtRTcRHUfVnDP_lHJXmawFfuLmuFpKPqRa_rKqWSimY8p9Z-HLmheCPcm6n8q09MwCsMrla4PAjqqSM39B1CCaLv_u11JOeSm5PI9sxQk/s1600/DSC_2424b-small-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71VhXZhgyPlbBeVluQVbuc9EeWFXBdlvoqxRtRTcRHUfVnDP_lHJXmawFfuLmuFpKPqRa_rKqWSimY8p9Z-HLmheCPcm6n8q09MwCsMrla4PAjqqSM39B1CCaLv_u11JOeSm5PI9sxQk/s400/DSC_2424b-small-4.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Don't you dare touch my cake!!!!!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIES7hN2vTVe0h4WoOewyonE503oHyFGoVf1tMQtAK8gmAzmVRHeUh1gNDmX6shZGTjFdsgPaM_DM_NnHB5lfdBwC68WDJNmsdxXhCrOLjV2e1qehq98EiNIDyNIf570-aa1WTnFJjsp8/s1600/DSC_2431b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIES7hN2vTVe0h4WoOewyonE503oHyFGoVf1tMQtAK8gmAzmVRHeUh1gNDmX6shZGTjFdsgPaM_DM_NnHB5lfdBwC68WDJNmsdxXhCrOLjV2e1qehq98EiNIDyNIf570-aa1WTnFJjsp8/s640/DSC_2431b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Got some money from my boss. It's actually REAL money, doesn't worth much, but it's really cool. A large stash of 100 GNFs (0.1 euro cent!) The 2 stash altogether worth less than 3 dollars.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And Penny's sneaky picture:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMJYRzDgVxG7hpF0F35TbcgjNLEe6mdG-6q8S00H7BEbwE_L-bbQiQO3oZBHQyDU_8o5WnYJiLKPdi9JH55-kN16azkBQN_vDHFY-m32tgxStwvxTqpJchItWXKcCI3QVBYTp6oT5_j0/s1600/cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMJYRzDgVxG7hpF0F35TbcgjNLEe6mdG-6q8S00H7BEbwE_L-bbQiQO3oZBHQyDU_8o5WnYJiLKPdi9JH55-kN16azkBQN_vDHFY-m32tgxStwvxTqpJchItWXKcCI3QVBYTp6oT5_j0/s320/cake.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yes, I loved my cake. Any problems with that???</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-15493999418051566992012-12-12T16:13:00.000+01:002012-12-12T16:13:37.815+01:0012-12-12 12:12What were you doing in this historic moment? If you missed it, you need to wait a very-very-very long time for this again, but good luck anyways... :)<br />
<br />
Darren and I did what we always do - except this time we have a time stamp on it! Haha<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxCtu5eHmeawJJL8pNM6roBeTg9rU52DzCc0h8gUct6UhJHBYvpwMJB7CqZhuuz13At154Quvb0EhJWkHqA3YdEfExfZ0VbHcnusmcggHb6C_QHKon9PJO8xkflXieKPhw6EtdSQHw5k/s1600/DSC_2437kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxCtu5eHmeawJJL8pNM6roBeTg9rU52DzCc0h8gUct6UhJHBYvpwMJB7CqZhuuz13At154Quvb0EhJWkHqA3YdEfExfZ0VbHcnusmcggHb6C_QHKon9PJO8xkflXieKPhw6EtdSQHw5k/s640/DSC_2437kiss.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-46934345474469021842012-12-12T09:45:00.001+01:002012-12-12T09:48:21.286+01:00D-10 days... kidnapped...I was still away upcountry when dear Husband called and asked if I liked African adventures. Well, DUH!<br />
<br />
So, he prepared a nice surprise for his wife's 33rd Eve. On Sunday I had breakfast in bed and then was told to stay inside the cabin till we go. All I knew was that we go out for a Sunday Brunch with some friends. But before that I had to have a surprise.<br />
<br />
Well, this is what happened:<br />
<br />
Darren thought it would be fun to give me the "Full African Experience" and sadly that often includes kidnappings. He even got the Security people involved and apparently half the ship was involved, too. He posted Wanted notes all around the ship so peeps were happy to detain me. Even the next day some crew members came to him saying they saw me somewhere and they want their 5 bucks reward :)<br />
<br />
So I walked to the Cafe as Darren told me to, he was of course nowhere to be found, but some of our friends were sitting there. They 'ínvited' me to sit with them and talk about the conference. Suddenly my dear husband showed up from behind. I didn't see him, but honestly, nobody else on the ship would have the guts to pull a pillow case over my head! So I knew it was him. The next thing I knew was that the metal hand cuffs snapped onto my wrists. While people were laughing I heard the Security officer tell Darren he was very sorry, but he couldn't find the keys. Actually he was indeed telling the truth, good thing is that Darren had some keys from one of our Ghurka guards.<br />
<br />
They made me walk down the gangway like that and Darren was guiding me towards the cars. They said they were kinda disappointed that I didn't put up a fight. I said 'I didn't know I was supposed to...'. So to give them something fun I started shouting on the dock 'help, somebody please help, I am being kidnapped' Then Darren told me to hush as I was freaking out the patients waiting outside... I WAS FREAKING THEM OUT??? Hah! It was them who put a pillow case over my head! Truth be told I would have put up a fight for sure, but I had a long dress on, which was hindering me from running or fighting back. The second reason is more profound; for once I wanted to be an obedient wife... See? It doesn't lead to anything good so hello my good old self! ;)<br />
<br />
Apparently the plan was to drive out with me like that to the surprise restaurant, but they were told by the port authorities that it's REALLY NOT such a good idea... Chickens! If it was me doing the kidnapping I would have shoved the person to the back of the Landie with a blanket over her so nobody would have seen what's under it. Oh well...<br />
<br />
WE went to a nice sea-side restaurant and had a nice meal. Because it was Sunday noon the lady took our orders and then called her servant to go to the market and start buying the ingredients. :) HAHAHA, only here!!! So, we had a nice fresh meal afterwards!!!<br />
<br />
Thanks all for coming! It was hmmm... what's the word I am looking for? Memorable I guess.<br />
<br />
Here are some photos from Jen:<br />
<br />
PS: Darren DID spend the night on the couch with a black eye...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jF0gLPMIuic/UMhAw6LgOcI/AAAAAAAAGXo/2ctZUJ88WSk/s1600/IMG_4244+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jF0gLPMIuic/UMhAw6LgOcI/AAAAAAAAGXo/2ctZUJ88WSk/s320/IMG_4244+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0ozKDZjGm4/UMhAxmGpXYI/AAAAAAAAGXw/f4crxm7dH4M/s1600/IMG_4246+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0ozKDZjGm4/UMhAxmGpXYI/AAAAAAAAGXw/f4crxm7dH4M/s320/IMG_4246+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6gNg-o9-ZxA/UMhAyDIemaI/AAAAAAAAGX4/vZcSeY1NhFo/s1600/IMG_4248+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6gNg-o9-ZxA/UMhAyDIemaI/AAAAAAAAGX4/vZcSeY1NhFo/s320/IMG_4248+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rJp0RE_3Bwk/UMhA0iNzXuI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/hHN96rynrvQ/s1600/IMG_4251+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rJp0RE_3Bwk/UMhA0iNzXuI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/hHN96rynrvQ/s320/IMG_4251+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5elveee5LXA/UMhA4dykEGI/AAAAAAAAGYo/zo45mN0p0K4/s1600/IMG_4252+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5elveee5LXA/UMhA4dykEGI/AAAAAAAAGYo/zo45mN0p0K4/s320/IMG_4252+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fZGmpp4bnnY/UMhA7UgCC5I/AAAAAAAAGY8/oRlzbwG8mNQ/s1600/IMG_4255+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fZGmpp4bnnY/UMhA7UgCC5I/AAAAAAAAGY8/oRlzbwG8mNQ/s320/IMG_4255+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NM8C9PhJBXY/UMhA991VTjI/AAAAAAAAGZQ/hfj57jSj-L0/s1600/IMG_4258+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NM8C9PhJBXY/UMhA991VTjI/AAAAAAAAGZQ/hfj57jSj-L0/s320/IMG_4258+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mQlZGwLJiVw/UMhA-AUEqoI/AAAAAAAAGZU/Ow8K6B-stc4/s1600/IMG_4259+%2528Large%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mQlZGwLJiVw/UMhA-AUEqoI/AAAAAAAAGZU/Ow8K6B-stc4/s320/IMG_4259+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-11370064035680218382012-12-09T23:29:00.001+01:002012-12-09T23:33:34.396+01:00D-11 days... Night skyWe always knew there are millions of stars in the sky, but I rarely have an opportunity to observe them without any artificial light destroying my view. But here in Africa...!!!<br />
In our hotel after midnight all power went out so I could go outside and enjoy this special view:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLCjTXcSmb5B3dJvlDqAdjvzAgJUfDgwLtSbR3Ba2OBe8RAQ-VwrOrrYcIh6dJM5hSnkxRVBw8Fh6ju4LwoeNQxgIZdoVDnsm6QJL-n4rJns7EdpYFBZjT8eWFx7wsQBI6oiaI-VBEU8/s1600/DSC_1979b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLCjTXcSmb5B3dJvlDqAdjvzAgJUfDgwLtSbR3Ba2OBe8RAQ-VwrOrrYcIh6dJM5hSnkxRVBw8Fh6ju4LwoeNQxgIZdoVDnsm6QJL-n4rJns7EdpYFBZjT8eWFx7wsQBI6oiaI-VBEU8/s640/DSC_1979b-small.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRqseSLd0IgjqaZTtnMZmQlc8NUNRyWzwmcj0YLpoVm3R6W1mKas3NH6C53LUOtOZwGyvk-e2c0dq_uAOkJ5tFfEdXd8WSJNqLJ-xTem5zXYexsuTYI_yyM9Vy8kuzD1oq0Q_OBjhgZc/s1600/DSC_2007b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRqseSLd0IgjqaZTtnMZmQlc8NUNRyWzwmcj0YLpoVm3R6W1mKas3NH6C53LUOtOZwGyvk-e2c0dq_uAOkJ5tFfEdXd8WSJNqLJ-xTem5zXYexsuTYI_yyM9Vy8kuzD1oq0Q_OBjhgZc/s400/DSC_2007b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The very bright one is the Northern Star and the 3 dots in a row is supposed to be the Orion's Belt. :)))Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-85834744734718783472012-12-09T23:14:00.002+01:002012-12-09T23:14:45.774+01:00D-12 days... Carrying babies is something you do see here every day. Just because you have a small child you cannot ignore your daily duties and I don't think they have any proper kindergartens here so mums just end up taking their babies everywhere.<br />
<br />
Here are 2 pictures I took today in Mamou:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsZh7rfNuTrKHW42YV7o4IDqlM-9_jUdmabRjGzl3u6ckHT76rA3qWWVmaG5AOJEDD3C8UpINt17S9eqAn3Q6Szz-JI7vvUx87DGLNwETjTPgK_X4MAtKaVwxMG8evmX8xAc6CeZUNuA/s1600/DSC_1586b-small-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsZh7rfNuTrKHW42YV7o4IDqlM-9_jUdmabRjGzl3u6ckHT76rA3qWWVmaG5AOJEDD3C8UpINt17S9eqAn3Q6Szz-JI7vvUx87DGLNwETjTPgK_X4MAtKaVwxMG8evmX8xAc6CeZUNuA/s320/DSC_1586b-small-3.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh852zeMTpmtPdaBaTbNT4mVQdQ45JxR3jWrrqZccyJeh7Re70NbzvwcZnWgL-QkdEWMeBdFs-uYUvQUO7r2Bx9kp8npA1k6ZQHieK3CKQrBiIhHavDyHRomDxSfC5kguWZ81gpg_SoEJQ/s1600/DSC_1622b-small-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh852zeMTpmtPdaBaTbNT4mVQdQ45JxR3jWrrqZccyJeh7Re70NbzvwcZnWgL-QkdEWMeBdFs-uYUvQUO7r2Bx9kp8npA1k6ZQHieK3CKQrBiIhHavDyHRomDxSfC5kguWZ81gpg_SoEJQ/s320/DSC_1622b-small-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-54983543718526127902012-12-06T17:46:00.000+01:002012-12-06T17:46:03.472+01:00D-13 days... ATM (African Toilette Manual)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After a very embarrassing experience today
I decided it was time to revise the ATM (African Toilette Manual and add one
more step before the first one. Here is the updated list.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">(Yes, just in case you
were wondering, these are ALL based on painful first hand experiences!) </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is one
door that doesn't lock, it won’t even close properly. As you can see in the picture, inside the room there are 3 stalls, none of them have any doors. Keep in mind as you read the manual!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">0. Check if there are others in
already. Don’t assume it’s empty just because it’s quiet or be ready to shake
hands with a military man who has just finished his business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1. Roll up your trousers as high
as you can while you are outside waiting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">2. Take a deep breath before you
enter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">3. If you must take another breath,
never breathe through your nose! Use your mouth unless you want to throw up!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4. Don’t put your cell phone,
iPod, camera or even TP in your pocket as I guarantee it will fall out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5. Be as fast as you can otherwise
you can meet new friends WHILE you’re doing your business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6. NEVER touch the walls! The
brown decoration is not a 5 legged octopus imprint!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">7. Watch where you step. Really!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">8. Once you positioned your feet
on the rocks, squat and keep your eyes closed!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">9.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Aim slowly or you will get
splash backs. Trust me, you don’t want that!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">10. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Put your clothes back on first
BEFORE you start looking for the little bucket to wash off the remnants of your
poor aiming skills.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">11.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Run to your hand sanitizer and
use it generously BEFORE you touch your nose because you forgot to keep step 3!
It’s just plain disgusting!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">12.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Pray to God you will sweat out
the next batch and don’t have to return again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And the lucky number 13: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Because it’s hot
and you keep drinking to avoid the dehydration-headache you need to go soon
again, but by this time the bucket is empty, the hole in the ground disappeared
thanks to people with no aiming skills and yes, you involuntarily smelled what's inside
and now you have a throwing-up-headache. Congratulations! <goto 1="1" step="step">
<repeat cycle="cycle"> </repeat></goto></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0dJIFJripYdKzPIWzAnZMdx7G3NH4zkO0HxnvzQGcqGWVu0LfpEOQ4Xl4cG-LiLcspC05DIYT8ZjIc5k54sKaMAi5wAlszd7ms2YJF0iAI_1nGB3tsMfm5G7sQfG1S0xXbBJknZU3mU/s1600/DSC_1471b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0dJIFJripYdKzPIWzAnZMdx7G3NH4zkO0HxnvzQGcqGWVu0LfpEOQ4Xl4cG-LiLcspC05DIYT8ZjIc5k54sKaMAi5wAlszd7ms2YJF0iAI_1nGB3tsMfm5G7sQfG1S0xXbBJknZU3mU/s320/DSC_1471b-small.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlV230DEXx8G8gwuePPRmm3manOy7bbWxuVGVDTr5edlGr-vbOozaO-yW-J6qfkg2en_uBUbFa0xkOnfrwXPYuCMoZSzkeq80h35IwX8c_XZJW8ve_NEwp3VLuYE7FOnoJBqi18Y3BXE/s1600/DSC_1472b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlV230DEXx8G8gwuePPRmm3manOy7bbWxuVGVDTr5edlGr-vbOozaO-yW-J6qfkg2en_uBUbFa0xkOnfrwXPYuCMoZSzkeq80h35IwX8c_XZJW8ve_NEwp3VLuYE7FOnoJBqi18Y3BXE/s320/DSC_1472b-small.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-14162248212294294592012-12-06T17:30:00.001+01:002012-12-06T17:30:18.179+01:00D-14 days... Telecenters<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I
first heard this world I pictured big buildings will agents taking calls
like in a call center back home. Often when we asked for people’s cell phone numbers they
gave it to us without missing the beat, but they also added that they might not
be available when we called. I </span>didn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> quite understand it until I stopped by
one Telecenter and asked all my questions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Here (I am
careful and try not to generalize too much, but as a matter of fact I observed
the same phenomenal in Guinea, Salone, Togo, Benin and Ghana) many people don’t
know how to read or write, have no steady income, yet EVERYBODY has a cell
phone! Correction, everybody has a cell phone number or two! :)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As it turns
out Telecenters are tiny shacks with a private generator. People either take
their phones there to charge (costs about 20 cents for a 30 min charge, $1 for
a full charge) OR they can use the various cell phones available there when
they need to make a call. They can buy top up cards (anything between 20 cents
and $15) and for a small fee use one of the cell phones in the 'store'.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The Telecenter guy has charger for the main cell
phone makers. No, no smart phones and definitely no iPhone charger. Try to
think back 10-15 years, which models and companies were popular back then? If
you bring a phone he has no charger for, no problem. Following good African
traditions he will make one. It might destroy your phone on the long run, but
hey, he </span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">isn't</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> working under warranty! :)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzNux1VOrnTWIuPf4Ajw3_70NdH6gEHfriZKdun_8Ta6_VSHnflXtrHrAHUJb4boFc8xGJo81vaSNmC-GUAiSkvUlNBZSd9HX_KTWGIGnej2lfDOWh3AGMBTRc5c6RMSVY0Qgfmb1BO0/s1600/DSC_1632b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzNux1VOrnTWIuPf4Ajw3_70NdH6gEHfriZKdun_8Ta6_VSHnflXtrHrAHUJb4boFc8xGJo81vaSNmC-GUAiSkvUlNBZSd9HX_KTWGIGnej2lfDOWh3AGMBTRc5c6RMSVY0Qgfmb1BO0/s320/DSC_1632b-small.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoi9tC84nH-luAVQ2spuvLtMf2X-leuw-4DRwEU8izVQ8YyRFMwhx6kP5pn11GuwMad9yVmBSLh7mAi6JaJzCx_nqsU9uhfIu_FTvSa7fhmgQEejFMBiK9su5xbaUFq0FxkpWYwq5CAM/s1600/DSC_1633b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoi9tC84nH-luAVQ2spuvLtMf2X-leuw-4DRwEU8izVQ8YyRFMwhx6kP5pn11GuwMad9yVmBSLh7mAi6JaJzCx_nqsU9uhfIu_FTvSa7fhmgQEejFMBiK9su5xbaUFq0FxkpWYwq5CAM/s320/DSC_1633b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-7455737929828996032012-12-06T00:14:00.000+01:002012-12-06T17:54:04.664+01:00SinterklaasWritten By Darren:<br />
<br />
Today on the Africa Mercy we had the Dutch <span style="text-align: center;">Sinterklaas </span>come up the gangway to visit the children on board.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT_Y-ez_mFIrGczDw0yH78zH9UQCaX8lhsoA3cCFHz9DZaozx_GURV5sRvoZBaSW0RflYwBuT2WjDWUv9ixI0oMkXQiuNI6MZQbn1PIT0LHDknDD-oVkG5fgkQA_HVQSjjzMWE852aV0/s1600/Sinter+Claus1-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT_Y-ez_mFIrGczDw0yH78zH9UQCaX8lhsoA3cCFHz9DZaozx_GURV5sRvoZBaSW0RflYwBuT2WjDWUv9ixI0oMkXQiuNI6MZQbn1PIT0LHDknDD-oVkG5fgkQA_HVQSjjzMWE852aV0/s320/Sinter+Claus1-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The Arrival of the Sinterklaas</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFpBQWHcmo1bUATtu_iMykUObxMOouvY_ELWlf2KyvNgxOf_flbL-jEC4rl43SjD8KQapVofgWF9OcQZHP-DWIdMpJ1JEGfJkXwBxJQk2jW8sFL2WASaxV_yR3VVOht9CsmD9V7Si0k/s1600/Sinter+Claus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsFpBQWHcmo1bUATtu_iMykUObxMOouvY_ELWlf2KyvNgxOf_flbL-jEC4rl43SjD8KQapVofgWF9OcQZHP-DWIdMpJ1JEGfJkXwBxJQk2jW8sFL2WASaxV_yR3VVOht9CsmD9V7Si0k/s320/Sinter+Claus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sinterklaas talking with children</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSRfufgVT6NgCXujo0Eyyr6YUjkZQQltrhGoyilpNepqcxNYpeuPsxEWIFMP2OVAyKlFV3urrtBFKxW0UK9HZ9XeeyGuLqCmHTSq8J6pHgQjc7JmwVIRA2p1bK9jxsdEDAbG6iofgdYA/s1600/IMG_0818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSRfufgVT6NgCXujo0Eyyr6YUjkZQQltrhGoyilpNepqcxNYpeuPsxEWIFMP2OVAyKlFV3urrtBFKxW0UK9HZ9XeeyGuLqCmHTSq8J6pHgQjc7JmwVIRA2p1bK9jxsdEDAbG6iofgdYA/s320/IMG_0818.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The Christmas Tree</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7btwpMGJfUtXpPwjxXmMzvV10BY_RPHedbi4BLs9VUAuyMcG8pXtUVgdBvvUfi0V4FQLoXIP1oFZ-3TCvn21we06Atsm9olr3cQjDxwhZcaxwgPjaX-N0WRbvvsqW_dxy2x5x_3hUJf4/s1600/IMG_0820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7btwpMGJfUtXpPwjxXmMzvV10BY_RPHedbi4BLs9VUAuyMcG8pXtUVgdBvvUfi0V4FQLoXIP1oFZ-3TCvn21we06Atsm9olr3cQjDxwhZcaxwgPjaX-N0WRbvvsqW_dxy2x5x_3hUJf4/s320/IMG_0820.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Some of the Gifts for the Children</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlCwf1DV8A8luZ9l_pD9P5cJ8J_id40jjkt3-vbKS70ZlfVpe6gUHP2YYSBE6mpkJHnMOmont-X__K76_T2W6rC4XcWyZD7B6nCodgC2bQZfUKZai7KfbrHvWt1IEkDZnbeHgHaWu1j8/s1600/IMG_0823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlCwf1DV8A8luZ9l_pD9P5cJ8J_id40jjkt3-vbKS70ZlfVpe6gUHP2YYSBE6mpkJHnMOmont-X__K76_T2W6rC4XcWyZD7B6nCodgC2bQZfUKZai7KfbrHvWt1IEkDZnbeHgHaWu1j8/s320/IMG_0823.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The Cards the Children on board made for the day </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-NcBToxJs3JyTACF5b09bTOlonSqMu_KUTLPANusm0na4wAAJY22Gm95glbpxZM9enouhsP_HnLKuk6kmJdlH2w7AutppxTtwLPgTD03DuZvkqwdXVzHWVgmnHvskeskypDCCwAvxsvM/s1600/IMG_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-NcBToxJs3JyTACF5b09bTOlonSqMu_KUTLPANusm0na4wAAJY22Gm95glbpxZM9enouhsP_HnLKuk6kmJdlH2w7AutppxTtwLPgTD03DuZvkqwdXVzHWVgmnHvskeskypDCCwAvxsvM/s320/IMG_0824.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Zuc2W-EbK7Z31wYlEwSAvCNm8-1V_i6zdxXwCMpYomvO2hLJ1BRgZ1lFn_kQfcy_R6nZqQRUIlV2YNJvUmNnnkBxG0Gc_DEUC-c0DArzgogzi0ILJCO4rWRyoGYNrvL79eQpGFQYNW4/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Zuc2W-EbK7Z31wYlEwSAvCNm8-1V_i6zdxXwCMpYomvO2hLJ1BRgZ1lFn_kQfcy_R6nZqQRUIlV2YNJvUmNnnkBxG0Gc_DEUC-c0DArzgogzi0ILJCO4rWRyoGYNrvL79eQpGFQYNW4/s320/IMG_0830.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Papernota - some sort of cinnamon Liquorice</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Photos by Crew and Darren </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-6109602734105010142012-12-04T19:31:00.002+01:002012-12-04T19:31:59.496+01:00D-15 days... hatsI guess hats are a huge part of the British culture so I will see many once we get there, but these African female hats are a whole different matter.<br />
<br />
Since we have very bad internet connection here in Mamou, but I had some time today, instead of uploading more pictures I created one - postcard style. It's what it says: I just love all those coulourful hats, there are million and one ways to wrap it around your head. Here are a few:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcAqQ6Hc2-UTFOHKbvvP-8s4F7Be2MMVe2U3UmLiNgRKp9YdCrkAsEghAbrLTlZ7SlY4DolkbZPOh6BY0-m2b7ggzvNkozUrsKr8lRI5PPPlmN92U3CreS-JH-EsLELWGHdXz1bykrCE/s1600/hat+mania+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcAqQ6Hc2-UTFOHKbvvP-8s4F7Be2MMVe2U3UmLiNgRKp9YdCrkAsEghAbrLTlZ7SlY4DolkbZPOh6BY0-m2b7ggzvNkozUrsKr8lRI5PPPlmN92U3CreS-JH-EsLELWGHdXz1bykrCE/s640/hat+mania+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhDOr6M3ONHOcNL2uYXNEEGAuV_uNJGUz1egGWWrblQ0Cy4jVnLTt3qaG2uKk6H8lrX1eEqMU8I7BCqZdu7G-0CEMkLNcaVmfn6pmLeBLZt_V3pIbLC-egJZeoAZbdpVgtinehQjaQCw/s1600/DSC_1530b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhDOr6M3ONHOcNL2uYXNEEGAuV_uNJGUz1egGWWrblQ0Cy4jVnLTt3qaG2uKk6H8lrX1eEqMU8I7BCqZdu7G-0CEMkLNcaVmfn6pmLeBLZt_V3pIbLC-egJZeoAZbdpVgtinehQjaQCw/s640/DSC_1530b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I guess he got the memo that says REAL MEN WEAR PINK. :)</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-88862034173803415492012-12-03T17:58:00.004+01:002012-12-03T17:58:59.704+01:00D-16 days... travelSo, after 5+ hours on terrible roads we finally made it to Mamou where we start a 4 days long conference tomorrow for small community leaders.<br />
<br />
As expected, there is no internet or wifi, I could borrow a USB stick to check my emails, but even that's super slow so I gave up on that. I took quite a few pictures today and was taking notes so when I come back expect a long report with lots of pictures.<br />
<br />
For now, if I had to select one pic for today, this would be it:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDQOOaZoSt5SOeX0zhDV2jcLkDvSsJlRcuv8SgRo_KWSdLj8lGYJxQT_zDsEHwc9ohJbnULkl2jf76dCTE3q-G37Me78VtNysgX5p6UooXypzvAGVTGUdLyKtEhuKquvDdW3AK-m6-RM/s1600/DSC_1366b-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDQOOaZoSt5SOeX0zhDV2jcLkDvSsJlRcuv8SgRo_KWSdLj8lGYJxQT_zDsEHwc9ohJbnULkl2jf76dCTE3q-G37Me78VtNysgX5p6UooXypzvAGVTGUdLyKtEhuKquvDdW3AK-m6-RM/s640/DSC_1366b-blog.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Turns out all those years I traveled the wrong way...This is how it should be done!!! :)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-59335685802840661052012-12-03T01:07:00.001+01:002012-12-03T01:07:20.247+01:00Reka going upcountryHello All!<br />
This is just to let you know that tomorrow at 6 am I leave for a conference upcountry till Saturday. I have no idea if we gonna have internet connection or not, so you might not see any update while I am gone. Or I might ask my dear husband to post on my behalf - should be interesting :)<br />
<br />
Either way, please pray for us; for safety, security, health and a successful conference.<br />
<br />
Cheers,<br />
meUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-39794324786601044572012-12-03T01:04:00.001+01:002012-12-03T01:04:32.618+01:00D-17 days... Penny :)She is my bestie :) and she had her birthday today! I wrote so much about her and her colourful hat already that today I am just gonna post these pictures we took today at a local restaurant. Yes, the ceiling was low - welcome to Hobbit Land! :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvDDlrHNhLmV4ZznuOyLwe-htUGdMhpb752SZxiavjLeiddRgQdXIlIGZ5wXESAsuyV-Ea-ykN-i3ukHvPDUHX7klPYqZoCCVzqt5MKGlPkJPcQj8lL2bi8lq-f-3_Byn87C2szLyl58/s1600/IMG_0112b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvDDlrHNhLmV4ZznuOyLwe-htUGdMhpb752SZxiavjLeiddRgQdXIlIGZ5wXESAsuyV-Ea-ykN-i3ukHvPDUHX7klPYqZoCCVzqt5MKGlPkJPcQj8lL2bi8lq-f-3_Byn87C2szLyl58/s400/IMG_0112b-small.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWTo2kRYMJVDD8PZ0dacLd9mdC_XjwmW_mxRYrm4y1ioUwe40gByjRAHegLX33iDw6_aHFGI_asQ0Fnnot-4QqexYfJg_n728RFXMNpIcMdPhUrjMCcOoTLLDW6Q8GvVU9mQQMAm559g/s1600/IMG_0115b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWTo2kRYMJVDD8PZ0dacLd9mdC_XjwmW_mxRYrm4y1ioUwe40gByjRAHegLX33iDw6_aHFGI_asQ0Fnnot-4QqexYfJg_n728RFXMNpIcMdPhUrjMCcOoTLLDW6Q8GvVU9mQQMAm559g/s400/IMG_0115b-small.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4ImcAQ707MEoNXFr7uW2pZY3UqGe-6WUY-n1BzJ-YqH3WbWAMUvkXW23IYalIPVGFXaakzzRAsNNXHtYFtHQ6AiVq1cAsq2aTYwtoBd3Jvp6_W0v4P1ptuwgK64v6cI9Z7aPspTfE5A/s1600/IMG_0119b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4ImcAQ707MEoNXFr7uW2pZY3UqGe-6WUY-n1BzJ-YqH3WbWAMUvkXW23IYalIPVGFXaakzzRAsNNXHtYFtHQ6AiVq1cAsq2aTYwtoBd3Jvp6_W0v4P1ptuwgK64v6cI9Z7aPspTfE5A/s640/IMG_0119b-small.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Love ya Bright-Bright!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-57003444902650924102012-12-02T12:03:00.000+01:002012-12-02T12:03:26.996+01:00D-18 days... Deck the HallsIt's the 1st of December, the bestest month of the year has finally arrived!!! Yeah, I am a sucker for Christmas, snow, fire places, hot beverages, gifts, music, friends and all that stuff. Sadly in Africa a 'white Christmas' is hmmm... would be very weird I guess (but from the article I read it's getting less and less in the northern part as well).<br />
<br />
There aren't too many American things I like, but this one is a nice exception: they start to decorate the house on the first of December and set up the Christmas tree. It's nice!<br />
<br />
On Saturday most of the men on board went to the nearby island for a guys' retreat. We girls stayed behind and decorated the entire ship! I ended up putting up and decorating the Christmas tree in the International Lounge. Even though I am not a big fan of fake trees I had to agree that this is the best solution here. To my utmost surprise this tree looked sooo real, even smelled like a proper pine. I was quite excited to dress it up!<br />
<br />
The first challenge is always untangling the lights. The second is finding the one that's dead thus making the whole string look dead. After these two were tacked in a manner that would make my dad proud, I started to put up the red and gold ornaments. For the top I couldn't find a star and was told to 'just create a bow'. I told the chaplain she was making a lot of assumptions here when it comes to my decorating skills. Finally somebody gave us this nice star.<br />
<br />
The next problem: since it's a fake tree it doesn't have a top branch that grows upwards so I had to twist and turn one of the top side branches to attach the star. So the star was on top all right, but the whole thing was leaning. Then I remembered my dad used to tie the tree up with fish strings so that's what we did.<br />
<br />
Hope you'll like the end results!<br />
<br />
In the meantime people were decorating the ship all around. Here are some pictures of this great operation!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">WE ARE HOME IN 3 WEEKS! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Please start praying for snow and a real white Christmas!!!!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9A405Y5wnuc/ULsw0BI7tvI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/L9dlmPhFre8/s1600/IMG_0110b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9A405Y5wnuc/ULsw0BI7tvI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/L9dlmPhFre8/s320/IMG_0110b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey3KSQPw9gQ/ULsw0Tm5-TI/AAAAAAAAGNU/adkLNXqn5Mw/s1600/IMG_0111b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey3KSQPw9gQ/ULsw0Tm5-TI/AAAAAAAAGNU/adkLNXqn5Mw/s320/IMG_0111b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdyW0T-b-_E/ULswx7jsLyI/AAAAAAAAGM8/BP3NS9ambHc/s1600/IMG_0108b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdyW0T-b-_E/ULswx7jsLyI/AAAAAAAAGM8/BP3NS9ambHc/s320/IMG_0108b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hi-5L1VdGFc/ULswxfOeRxI/AAAAAAAAGM0/Ba1ba8gffds/s1600/IMG_0107b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hi-5L1VdGFc/ULswxfOeRxI/AAAAAAAAGM0/Ba1ba8gffds/s320/IMG_0107b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0x4rv13VHc/ULswxADnxLI/AAAAAAAAGMw/ba915W9Jjug/s1600/IMG_0106b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0x4rv13VHc/ULswxADnxLI/AAAAAAAAGMw/ba915W9Jjug/s320/IMG_0106b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tIKPy1hsuDI/ULswsdxRTyI/AAAAAAAAGL0/KU7q-rU4OH0/s1600/IMG_0097b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tIKPy1hsuDI/ULswsdxRTyI/AAAAAAAAGL0/KU7q-rU4OH0/s320/IMG_0097b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P0syWi0-FY4/ULswrxe-ZeI/AAAAAAAAGLs/1hOlyJUVhL0/s1600/IMG_0096b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P0syWi0-FY4/ULswrxe-ZeI/AAAAAAAAGLs/1hOlyJUVhL0/s320/IMG_0096b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E0BF8IjajO0/ULswtZAT2wI/AAAAAAAAGMA/OUojn-i1Cjo/s1600/IMG_0099b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E0BF8IjajO0/ULswtZAT2wI/AAAAAAAAGMA/OUojn-i1Cjo/s320/IMG_0099b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgP8kJEqBrQ/ULswt82XnwI/AAAAAAAAGMI/56JcmC_GLvo/s1600/IMG_0100b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgP8kJEqBrQ/ULswt82XnwI/AAAAAAAAGMI/56JcmC_GLvo/s320/IMG_0100b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jWeFiEOdtPk/ULswvSDekOI/AAAAAAAAGMY/3M5hIJCFHoc/s1600/IMG_0102b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jWeFiEOdtPk/ULswvSDekOI/AAAAAAAAGMY/3M5hIJCFHoc/s320/IMG_0102b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FKJryOD5ao/ULswuskIJLI/AAAAAAAAGMM/GX2ZyFHlE4E/s1600/IMG_0103b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FKJryOD5ao/ULswuskIJLI/AAAAAAAAGMM/GX2ZyFHlE4E/s320/IMG_0103b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLXGAiVvsPQ/ULswvtUo7HI/AAAAAAAAGMc/rYFtlS3qLWw/s1600/IMG_0104b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLXGAiVvsPQ/ULswvtUo7HI/AAAAAAAAGMc/rYFtlS3qLWw/s320/IMG_0104b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMEnHAiY730/ULswqTzGDZI/AAAAAAAAGLY/dSprg_7S3Bc/s1600/IMG_0094b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMEnHAiY730/ULswqTzGDZI/AAAAAAAAGLY/dSprg_7S3Bc/s320/IMG_0094b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YWB0-lzoVZE/ULswrWI9WhI/AAAAAAAAGLo/qKGTXAkKnHo/s1600/IMG_0095b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YWB0-lzoVZE/ULswrWI9WhI/AAAAAAAAGLo/qKGTXAkKnHo/s320/IMG_0095b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QLBfQJHaSYo/ULswoqoZj4I/AAAAAAAAGLA/QP7vLkQ2oZM/s1600/IMG_0091b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QLBfQJHaSYo/ULswoqoZj4I/AAAAAAAAGLA/QP7vLkQ2oZM/s320/IMG_0091b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-taeEfpRnSqU/ULswptSON9I/AAAAAAAAGLM/E5G6HtWQxZI/s1600/IMG_0092b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-taeEfpRnSqU/ULswptSON9I/AAAAAAAAGLM/E5G6HtWQxZI/s320/IMG_0092b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QU_6mRrIlY/ULswoZiiPYI/AAAAAAAAGLE/ISmkbO31mY0/s1600/IMG_0090b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QU_6mRrIlY/ULswoZiiPYI/AAAAAAAAGLE/ISmkbO31mY0/s320/IMG_0090b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmSz7dUoI0g/ULswnwcnpnI/AAAAAAAAGK4/dx5QvIkoFrg/s1600/IMG_0089b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmSz7dUoI0g/ULswnwcnpnI/AAAAAAAAGK4/dx5QvIkoFrg/s320/IMG_0089b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vp9t24cIrGA/ULswmcXqAaI/AAAAAAAAGKo/iAyo3j9XTz4/s1600/IMG_0088b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vp9t24cIrGA/ULswmcXqAaI/AAAAAAAAGKo/iAyo3j9XTz4/s320/IMG_0088b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8r-S7aBvzgA/ULswl6_XiNI/AAAAAAAAGKg/xYokLSJgZxs/s1600/IMG_0087b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8r-S7aBvzgA/ULswl6_XiNI/AAAAAAAAGKg/xYokLSJgZxs/s320/IMG_0087b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5jiOaHWkM04/ULswgu9MmWI/AAAAAAAAGJ0/eTFohLLk2DE/s1600/IMG_0075b-small-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5jiOaHWkM04/ULswgu9MmWI/AAAAAAAAGJ0/eTFohLLk2DE/s320/IMG_0075b-small-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KfvbRZwaC4k/ULswghNYWkI/AAAAAAAAGJ4/WyufmoCZRBI/s1600/IMG_0074b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KfvbRZwaC4k/ULswghNYWkI/AAAAAAAAGJ4/WyufmoCZRBI/s320/IMG_0074b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jfug1PWEgyM/ULswgnlSpEI/AAAAAAAAGJw/Rsz9Expeby0/s1600/IMG_0076b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jfug1PWEgyM/ULswgnlSpEI/AAAAAAAAGJw/Rsz9Expeby0/s320/IMG_0076b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yaWLuwSYftw/ULswjGyzMDI/AAAAAAAAGKM/kUJ36sNwzWI/s1600/IMG_0078b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yaWLuwSYftw/ULswjGyzMDI/AAAAAAAAGKM/kUJ36sNwzWI/s320/IMG_0078b-small.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KTkHre6v1KY/ULswjFQ6QwI/AAAAAAAAGKI/scHSwcsdT0o/s1600/IMG_0079b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KTkHre6v1KY/ULswjFQ6QwI/AAAAAAAAGKI/scHSwcsdT0o/s320/IMG_0079b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lwmKpLZ1ZWE/ULswj-fVk5I/AAAAAAAAGKU/nrEM2b4r6Gk/s1600/IMG_0084b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lwmKpLZ1ZWE/ULswj-fVk5I/AAAAAAAAGKU/nrEM2b4r6Gk/s320/IMG_0084b-small.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NrURa9THFvA/ULswl1188MI/AAAAAAAAGKk/44wNI9Ov-FM/s1600/IMG_0086b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NrURa9THFvA/ULswl1188MI/AAAAAAAAGKk/44wNI9Ov-FM/s640/IMG_0086b-small.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-32588835999373695812012-11-30T23:02:00.000+01:002012-11-30T23:05:08.287+01:00D- 19 days... Fire DrillsLast year I made a short video of the fire drill on board. You can watch it <a href="http://rekaonafricamercy.blogspot.com/2011/09/fire-drill-with-reka-trapped-inside.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Basically every second Thursday afternoon something goes wrong (as planned) and it often results in us exiting the ship and mustering on land. That's when you realise that 450 people is really not that much!<br />
<br />
Brian and I lead the Cabin Checker's Muster Station. Our job is to collect those who collect those who actually do the running and knocking on each door to ensure nobody is inside. As soon as the General Alarm goes off people start coming down the gangway - by this time we have to be down on the dock with other Muster Station Leaders. On a good day it takes about 15-20 minutes to finish the exercise; on a not-so-good day it can be much longer - it's often due to people not reporting to where they should be and we need to page for them.<br />
<br />
I made some really cool time lapse videos, but due to terribly slow internet they need to wait. Until then, here are some pictures of yesterday's "<i>fun</i>". :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhwtyR8LRxI/ULkonEwKmGI/AAAAAAAAGII/BAb7XNBeLDQ/s1600/DSC_1123b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhwtyR8LRxI/ULkonEwKmGI/AAAAAAAAGII/BAb7XNBeLDQ/s400/DSC_1123b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting with other Muster Station Leaders on the dock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3H7fNAUUNSs/ULkoxAzkbJI/AAAAAAAAGIQ/chaHoObyyBA/s1600/IMG_0060b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3H7fNAUUNSs/ULkoxAzkbJI/AAAAAAAAGIQ/chaHoObyyBA/s640/IMG_0060b-small.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Brian, my Muster Station Leader-partner.<br />
He couldn't be bothered to hold the sign up properly :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F02eXhHqesM/ULkoxbVV-wI/AAAAAAAAGIU/--ninM9bY3U/s1600/IMG_0061b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F02eXhHqesM/ULkoxbVV-wI/AAAAAAAAGIU/--ninM9bY3U/s320/IMG_0061b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... more waiting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eM229u8KVHY/ULko4-Ll4rI/AAAAAAAAGIo/AfBMGzw6jno/s1600/IMG_0064b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eM229u8KVHY/ULko4-Ll4rI/AAAAAAAAGIo/AfBMGzw6jno/s320/IMG_0064b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IApYFCO_aRg/ULkpCuNb7iI/AAAAAAAAGJA/72MBWLLc-sk/s1600/IMG_0069b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IApYFCO_aRg/ULkpCuNb7iI/AAAAAAAAGJA/72MBWLLc-sk/s320/IMG_0069b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cvASCBo4g-0/ULko5RlDEyI/AAAAAAAAGIw/WV6oyi3mC0c/s1600/IMG_0066b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cvASCBo4g-0/ULko5RlDEyI/AAAAAAAAGIw/WV6oyi3mC0c/s320/IMG_0066b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HpzVvlyS9tU/ULkpEc6_LYI/AAAAAAAAGJI/aR8XOtpnoHw/s1600/IMG_0067b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HpzVvlyS9tU/ULkpEc6_LYI/AAAAAAAAGJI/aR8XOtpnoHw/s320/IMG_0067b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly people come prepared for the drill with chairs, umbrellas, games and books :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C2FcYKJWwGY/ULkoxc957OI/AAAAAAAAGIY/YGnD2_UowOI/s1600/IMG_0062b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C2FcYKJWwGY/ULkoxc957OI/AAAAAAAAGIY/YGnD2_UowOI/s320/IMG_0062b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When all our people are accounted for we need to go in and report to reception. <br />
If somebody is missing, they need to use the overhead pagers to find them. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xINCgYqux50/ULko5BTwarI/AAAAAAAAGIs/_6dFpSYOoVM/s1600/IMG_0065b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xINCgYqux50/ULko5BTwarI/AAAAAAAAGIs/_6dFpSYOoVM/s400/IMG_0065b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile the good people wait and wait and wait some more outside. Usually we don't see what's happening inside, how the brave fire fighters rescue the trapped and save the day... <br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For that you need to see the link and the video. :)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-21587664713577047482012-11-30T15:09:00.002+01:002012-11-30T15:09:40.776+01:00D-20 days... Community gatheringsWe do get together as a community every Monday morning for general info-exchange, every Sunday night for a Service and also every Thursday night for worship. Every now and then we move these Thursday night happenings from the International Lounge to the dock. Though last year we had much more space on the dock to eat, sit, dance, socialize and pray together, we still managed to have a great time.<br />
<br />
They serve dinner (grilled hot dogs and salads) on the dock at 5 pm so you can imagine the length of the food line. Around 4 pm they placed random items at reception and each time somebody went down the gangway they were encouraged to pick up something and carry it down. :) Waaaaay to go, chaplains! :)<br />
<br />
Sitting outside to have a meal is always special - even more so when you can share it with 400 crew members, 200 local day workers and some of our patients! Many crew has their own chairs, but they also provided benches and some plastic chairs from the ship so we can all sit - well, some chose to climb up to the landies or just open the pick-up truck and do tailgating; :)<br />
<br />
As night falls the music starts to get louder. Sadly Darren cannot sit with me as he is responsible for the sound tonight. The worship group starts with some slow songs in French, but we soon end up all dancing to the rhythm of the <em>"Tam-Tams".</em> Crew mixed with day workers dance in circles; while the white kids look hmmm... funny doing the African moves, the locals do it naturally.<br />
<br />
Jabulani is OUR SONG - originated from South Africa the ship kind of adopted this song titled "Rejoice, Africa!" . You cannot sit and sing this song at the same time. You must not only stand, but dance as Ryan demonstrated (yellow t-shirt, legs straight up in the air).<br />
<br />
A local pastor came up not to preach, but to say thank you and encourage us to keep shining for Jesus in this land. Profound, yet powerful words.<br />
<br />
We ended up staying till 8 pm. The worship band started to sing less religious and more upbeat songs and soon the enetire dock was one big dance floor. Pretty amazing! Despite the humid air we all jumped and moved to those crazy African beats! Awesome night!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xa2Udnb6zqY/ULftMyfpLFI/AAAAAAAAGGQ/Ychu2vavG2I/s1600/DSC_1265b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xa2Udnb6zqY/ULftMyfpLFI/AAAAAAAAGGQ/Ychu2vavG2I/s320/DSC_1265b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgimvAlUV9A/ULftNkAD01I/AAAAAAAAGGc/JcSCL9jVvJE/s1600/DSC_1266b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgimvAlUV9A/ULftNkAD01I/AAAAAAAAGGc/JcSCL9jVvJE/s320/DSC_1266b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LyYwI2PdnfA/ULftImfXO1I/AAAAAAAAGGE/RmDfgmyqmZU/s1600/DSC_1263b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LyYwI2PdnfA/ULftImfXO1I/AAAAAAAAGGE/RmDfgmyqmZU/s320/DSC_1263b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kjX6MM1Yvk0/ULftSE2EQ6I/AAAAAAAAGG8/Vnl-xtQ71yU/s1600/DSC_1287b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kjX6MM1Yvk0/ULftSE2EQ6I/AAAAAAAAGG8/Vnl-xtQ71yU/s320/DSC_1287b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pSW33S34tSE/ULftRnKwksI/AAAAAAAAGGw/4S9-s-2NlUM/s1600/DSC_1276b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pSW33S34tSE/ULftRnKwksI/AAAAAAAAGGw/4S9-s-2NlUM/s320/DSC_1276b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yFx4HhUJ3SI/ULfsYMhNYvI/AAAAAAAAGEA/7kNgefn-Xlc/s1600/DSC_0571b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yFx4HhUJ3SI/ULfsYMhNYvI/AAAAAAAAGEA/7kNgefn-Xlc/s320/DSC_0571b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGOiEwMQb8I/ULfsY3TNo5I/AAAAAAAAGEM/Y7aMU2ep5eU/s1600/DSC_0574b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGOiEwMQb8I/ULfsY3TNo5I/AAAAAAAAGEM/Y7aMU2ep5eU/s320/DSC_0574b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dyvY4XtGdrU/ULfsdFB3FCI/AAAAAAAAGEY/Hs09kFU_bZQ/s1600/DSC_0613b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dyvY4XtGdrU/ULfsdFB3FCI/AAAAAAAAGEY/Hs09kFU_bZQ/s320/DSC_0613b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Np3zAmDNMZ4/ULfsxFvEIJI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/ydli553S-xM/s1600/DSC_0672b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Np3zAmDNMZ4/ULfsxFvEIJI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/ydli553S-xM/s320/DSC_0672b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mK1w5TxZYRo/ULfuTQO0c-I/AAAAAAAAGHQ/YhsReOsK5vI/s1600/DSC_0665b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mK1w5TxZYRo/ULfuTQO0c-I/AAAAAAAAGHQ/YhsReOsK5vI/s320/DSC_0665b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I4XoZRXG_Uo/ULftPl9ZwJI/AAAAAAAAGGo/z8hzC6zoOGs/s1600/DSC_1273b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I4XoZRXG_Uo/ULftPl9ZwJI/AAAAAAAAGGo/z8hzC6zoOGs/s320/DSC_1273b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COSZZNYuxng/ULfuUHxu0jI/AAAAAAAAGHY/c4FC1hhfF1w/s1600/DSC_0633b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COSZZNYuxng/ULfuUHxu0jI/AAAAAAAAGHY/c4FC1hhfF1w/s320/DSC_0633b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTxbG9j50x4/ULfuUMjy-rI/AAAAAAAAGHc/KyE-Od10QqE/s1600/DSC_0625b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTxbG9j50x4/ULfuUMjy-rI/AAAAAAAAGHc/KyE-Od10QqE/s320/DSC_0625b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tsP9KAXpKA4/ULfsn6rxnOI/AAAAAAAAGEw/sPhV95Io0Qw/s1600/DSC_0640b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tsP9KAXpKA4/ULfsn6rxnOI/AAAAAAAAGEw/sPhV95Io0Qw/s320/DSC_0640b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xYh3DAh97Y/ULfs1dmaMGI/AAAAAAAAGFY/SXFn2abXaV4/s1600/DSC_0678b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xYh3DAh97Y/ULfs1dmaMGI/AAAAAAAAGFY/SXFn2abXaV4/s320/DSC_0678b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ew2t1mKeays/ULftD2i27eI/AAAAAAAAGFk/BYkcKjHv5DE/s1600/DSC_0712b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ew2t1mKeays/ULftD2i27eI/AAAAAAAAGFk/BYkcKjHv5DE/s320/DSC_0712b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B2zuEJNo3Fg/ULftDlpC03I/AAAAAAAAGFg/Jniic0NXXmk/s1600/DSC_0719b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B2zuEJNo3Fg/ULftDlpC03I/AAAAAAAAGFg/Jniic0NXXmk/s320/DSC_0719b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8P6VtVvSYI/ULfuX9pGH3I/AAAAAAAAGHo/wTWoQS8Kl8s/s1600/DSC_0717b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8P6VtVvSYI/ULfuX9pGH3I/AAAAAAAAGHo/wTWoQS8Kl8s/s320/DSC_0717b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kqZgS12B9OI/ULfuYfcFDBI/AAAAAAAAGHw/oj3V2YYtofw/s1600/DSC_0718b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kqZgS12B9OI/ULfuYfcFDBI/AAAAAAAAGHw/oj3V2YYtofw/s320/DSC_0718b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dLUNUXZ4k90/ULftH1mHNSI/AAAAAAAAGF8/KBTiZJsY784/s1600/DSC_0755b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dLUNUXZ4k90/ULftH1mHNSI/AAAAAAAAGF8/KBTiZJsY784/s320/DSC_0755b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KaSoimB-HBw/ULftHH1fZmI/AAAAAAAAGF4/kYLH4sNe1aE/s1600/DSC_0743b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KaSoimB-HBw/ULftHH1fZmI/AAAAAAAAGF4/kYLH4sNe1aE/s320/DSC_0743b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ES02tarBCRM/ULftD3zQzmI/AAAAAAAAGFo/U5Vp-1PDsms/s1600/DSC_0737b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ES02tarBCRM/ULftD3zQzmI/AAAAAAAAGFo/U5Vp-1PDsms/s400/DSC_0737b-small.jpg" tea="true" width="400" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-63353244172862444932012-11-29T16:06:00.001+01:002012-11-29T16:06:36.435+01:00D-21 days... my teamWe always said that our team couldn't be more eclectic and it's still true :)<br />
<br />
Finally we got around to take a group photo with (almost) everybody present:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEXvrpIB3EeqgV3-MEoBVEyrwrI2YuVH2ez4zQticS1il_Ho3lkS8GsS6ej7CLbCoXI5kZyAilbI6mGo0Go70YZwQMfVXoQ5ipUpyh5LXal7G2Au9yTe2q_c6_gGD-9jMDTQzfKkERI0/s1600/IMG_0007b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEXvrpIB3EeqgV3-MEoBVEyrwrI2YuVH2ez4zQticS1il_Ho3lkS8GsS6ej7CLbCoXI5kZyAilbI6mGo0Go70YZwQMfVXoQ5ipUpyh5LXal7G2Au9yTe2q_c6_gGD-9jMDTQzfKkERI0/s640/IMG_0007b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Front row from left: Franck and his daughter, Mirabelle and wife Armelle from Benin, Cheryl from UK, Tori from US, Ryan from South Africa and Barry from UK. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Second row from left: Reka from Hungary, Manon from Holland and Christoph from Austria. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(sadly Eliphaz from Benin didn't make it as he is training people upcountry.)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">GREAT PEOPLE AND GOOD TEAM - I will miss them for sure!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-64593105221804001872012-11-28T00:22:00.000+01:002012-11-28T00:22:59.562+01:00D-22 days... Hungarian foodThe first time I cooked Hungarian food in West Africa for my friends on board a weird guy with green hair came along. He admittedly liked my Gulyás (which was pörkölt to be honest, but non-Hungarians wouldn't understand that). 3 months later he asked me to marry him. I guess it was my cooking... The saying "the way to the man's heart is through his stomach' might be true after all...<br />
<br />
Recently we started a new tradition; each Tuesday we get together in the Davies cabin and somebody cooks for the whole gang. After last week's meal I volunteered to cook the same meal again today. But unlike in Sierra Leone here it's much harder to come by the proper ingredients.<br />
<br />
Since it's beef and it's Hungarian style the meat has to be cooked at low heat for as long as possible; I had a few hours this afternoon. It could have been cooked a bit longer if it was up to me, but the gang was hungry.<br />
<br />
I also made my fav. cucumber salad with sour cream and garlic (THANK YOU KEN FOR YOUR HELP!!!). The gang has never heard of salad and sour cream in one sentence, but to my delight even the skeptical ones went for seconds - yes, for the salad as well. :)<br />
<br />
The meal:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEv7KkE6Atl7eZRcO45FTLVa7sa8bIla7-ZJTGA774NmNEAPIDvciAeKRLcyItGOj9yoTeG0DxE6XIrpkscNt9mVp59-z1C6X_L598GYzIE0Iy3Gx7rnqK4VgkhQvLCcqajdItpzh5oSI/s1600/DSC_1252b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEv7KkE6Atl7eZRcO45FTLVa7sa8bIla7-ZJTGA774NmNEAPIDvciAeKRLcyItGOj9yoTeG0DxE6XIrpkscNt9mVp59-z1C6X_L598GYzIE0Iy3Gx7rnqK4VgkhQvLCcqajdItpzh5oSI/s320/DSC_1252b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaz2kHEUzZz3qfRcV6QRTV0fxyI4vk4IlvLKi6qbynm5VyPFv7tZClPGg2d0GPjDhXKCa1BsdrymXqa5TQKbf5n-ulw5L-uU7SL_0HL8E_WADVP1BbfesaboeA-H8cD1rb4j3gTwRiVZ0/s1600/DSC_1254b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaz2kHEUzZz3qfRcV6QRTV0fxyI4vk4IlvLKi6qbynm5VyPFv7tZClPGg2d0GPjDhXKCa1BsdrymXqa5TQKbf5n-ulw5L-uU7SL_0HL8E_WADVP1BbfesaboeA-H8cD1rb4j3gTwRiVZ0/s320/DSC_1254b-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUo8p7SteBp7l8j0SDICqqfmewj6qAUbOhF0uND0Rrj3rqDE0WuGEyeqiY2Fl7NknQdI1ztO4XC-RodAbzAPqZlsHQF_6HUq_ol2-1McKuYFkUrvqz_-jj5RYkaqbTp6p34KNuKa_2Rw/s1600/DSC_1257b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUo8p7SteBp7l8j0SDICqqfmewj6qAUbOhF0uND0Rrj3rqDE0WuGEyeqiY2Fl7NknQdI1ztO4XC-RodAbzAPqZlsHQF_6HUq_ol2-1McKuYFkUrvqz_-jj5RYkaqbTp6p34KNuKa_2Rw/s400/DSC_1257b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And the group:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzj-P8WTUex8PTpg_fe1JjqyWYjD85sz5UhSg7sExujyfYLq0-jtMUztKvQLg4Da9vPiuf3frR4J13MAqAhwchLjLAh-wlwGXmmdDe08xyEvkGvJnbSMp7djcNI_oW6dH9evqjkg1rhg/s1600/DSC_1259b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzj-P8WTUex8PTpg_fe1JjqyWYjD85sz5UhSg7sExujyfYLq0-jtMUztKvQLg4Da9vPiuf3frR4J13MAqAhwchLjLAh-wlwGXmmdDe08xyEvkGvJnbSMp7djcNI_oW6dH9evqjkg1rhg/s400/DSC_1259b-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-15005904507388993402012-11-27T10:29:00.001+01:002012-11-27T10:29:43.684+01:00Back to School for Fooday!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT8jFhoHpiNQu1sJhNMBBcmgibRcWm9AsZYPNNxaXbpDuqvfdBnOLbFz5EP94XAy2HJGgzSUtCQYwyL2MuPPQrAlgNmLUNAwxehAL9ey1XaaQcoOWdxnEBy7qrynbxyGbd6c9RmNhdBTg/s1600/F1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT8jFhoHpiNQu1sJhNMBBcmgibRcWm9AsZYPNNxaXbpDuqvfdBnOLbFz5EP94XAy2HJGgzSUtCQYwyL2MuPPQrAlgNmLUNAwxehAL9ey1XaaQcoOWdxnEBy7qrynbxyGbd6c9RmNhdBTg/s400/F1.jpg" tea="true" width="265" /></a>It's always special to have ortho kids with us, because they usually stay longer, thus giving us a chance to get to know them and love on them a little longer than cleft lip kids for instance, who come, have an operation and leave within 3 days.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
This is again a great story form our ship's writers. As Christmas is coming (even though it's hot here), I try to give you more heart-warming stories like this. Enjoy!</div>
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
"Volunteer nurse Melinda Kaney joyfully exclaimed, “The eight-plate surgery to straighten Fooday’s legs worked wonderfully!” Aladji, Fooday’s father, was so grateful that his eldest son’s journey to healing was complete. Fooday would now return to school and perhaps, one day, be a teacher – something his mother Yakha dreamed about for her son.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<em>Fooday’s bowed legs started at the age of eighteen months when he began to walk. The prayers of his family for Fooday’s healing were answered when he was accepted for free surgery onboard the Africa Mercy hospital ship while it was in Sierra Leone.</em></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewXRbAcI4q3AF8X_6cf0dtxD2HnNv7SK1Mw5Ost0q79DDAxHPB4GfXGKO6lIDlxZiJOSwzgpviZnfKQ0IkNG7g5vDW_pULd__G1bhqtYeg30vghqrsWJbEeeBRr4YkOCT9EZRo7U1Fo0/s1600/f2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewXRbAcI4q3AF8X_6cf0dtxD2HnNv7SK1Mw5Ost0q79DDAxHPB4GfXGKO6lIDlxZiJOSwzgpviZnfKQ0IkNG7g5vDW_pULd__G1bhqtYeg30vghqrsWJbEeeBRr4YkOCT9EZRo7U1Fo0/s320/f2.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyhGYGwcWkcBMP57iQY6otsuUYo-5IZ3iqXpBJXyrCss9gaQOYVWLSzJ0iM_cf33LBLunRG7dmo7LoEBP0BLtes_2ipJPQdBGxncr5LDeza5-zU5-awLmTEZ2BlR2IhjuWdtR35GwFsw/s1600/f3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyhGYGwcWkcBMP57iQY6otsuUYo-5IZ3iqXpBJXyrCss9gaQOYVWLSzJ0iM_cf33LBLunRG7dmo7LoEBP0BLtes_2ipJPQdBGxncr5LDeza5-zU5-awLmTEZ2BlR2IhjuWdtR35GwFsw/s320/f3.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><em>Eighteen months following his first surgery to straighten his bowed legs, Fooday, along with his father, Aladji, were transported to the Africa Mercy hospital ship, now docked in Conakry, Guinea. Fooday and other hospital patients enjoy a Bible story while staying at the Mercy Ships HOPE Center, which provides lodging for out-of-town patients before and after surgery.</em></div>
<br />
Fooday’s start in life was tenuous, Aladji recalls. “Fooday was born prematurely. He was so tiny and weak, we didn’t think he would live. All of our family and the neighbors prayed for Fooday to pull through. By the grace of God, he did.”<br />
<br />
When Fooday began walking at eighteen months, his parents noticed that his legs were bowed. The family’s meager income wasn’t enough to pay for the herbal poultices offered by the traditional healer. In desperation, Aladji resorted to beggging to raise money for Fooday’s sessions. Sadly, the traditional medicine did not help – the abnormal curve in Fooday’s legs worsened.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-LxYIX0qfB1rOtRWB51T8Gz43G-1-9JJgl2mqmO9G5TeF2n2Z_2DRw47EBbX70uDUBQ7tNuCa6oYFiTA2KcWMUA5OAH7_LOByLc04g9SvQQIHJWdAk33W3yE1jQ0ZyewghNLbbAYmVE/s1600/f4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-LxYIX0qfB1rOtRWB51T8Gz43G-1-9JJgl2mqmO9G5TeF2n2Z_2DRw47EBbX70uDUBQ7tNuCa6oYFiTA2KcWMUA5OAH7_LOByLc04g9SvQQIHJWdAk33W3yE1jQ0ZyewghNLbbAYmVE/s320/f4.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Volunteer physiotherapist Kalinda Ramsaran completes the assessment of Fooday’s leg movements. Fooday’s original eight-plate surgery was a complete success. The second and final step of Fooday’s journey, removing the eight-plates, was also successful. Fooday and his father, Aladji, both look forward to Fooday’s return to school.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Yakha explains how much they worried for their son. “Fooday had pain that kept him crying all night. But worse was the shame and hurt that I knew Fooday would go through with bent legs.” Yakha’s fears were well-founded. When Fooday started school at age five, other children continually laughed at him. After a few steps Fooday’s unsteady gait would falter, and he would fall. With each tumble Fooday faced another barrage of insults. Aladji and Yakha were heartbroken. The only safe place for Fooday was at home. He could no longer go to school.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Praying continually, Yakha and Aladji asked God for a miracle of healing for Fooday. Aladji clearly recalls the morning that their prayers were answered. “There was an announcement on the radio that a hospital ship was coming to provide free medical care. I heard that the hospital did surgeries for children with bent legs. Yakha and I were overjoyed.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Within three weeks Fooday was onboard the Africa Mercy hospital ship for his free surgery. A small metal plate, in the shape of a figure eight, was attached to the outside of each of his leg bones. The eight-plate, designed to slowly correct the bow in Fooday’s legs, would also allow the bones to grow straight in the future. When successful, this technique avoids a much larger operation that requires the bones to be broken and reset.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3q7j5KfVsSZHnu7mPtP3eZv6EMQiX_otEX4P3tyqR__TdF19N87Y08I4v4CiqgyxVDEYS10K30F4YFM0iZTxe_9eh4Owf_-afYfd_4BL9E9VoWCNotgfPY4MnBoAjJ4y1g9OKOzbOhM/s1600/f5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3q7j5KfVsSZHnu7mPtP3eZv6EMQiX_otEX4P3tyqR__TdF19N87Y08I4v4CiqgyxVDEYS10K30F4YFM0iZTxe_9eh4Owf_-afYfd_4BL9E9VoWCNotgfPY4MnBoAjJ4y1g9OKOzbOhM/s320/f5.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Now Fooday can run, jump and play with straight and steady legs. He can return to school and be accepted by the other children. Fooday’s mother, Yakha, prays for her son to one day become a teacher. </em>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jpJSyhLRci_H9tVs_isWRKyx6Rvp4rG24B2fs2ElXzOGVsMGEDpxf3-H5U4a_O69ajv5yfcjd50bABYfoeiPUeb2nSYnwGxlnX63ty4X2EHmoGjWPI5PdN45BncD6WXFdTcRpPVDKqE/s1600/f6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jpJSyhLRci_H9tVs_isWRKyx6Rvp4rG24B2fs2ElXzOGVsMGEDpxf3-H5U4a_O69ajv5yfcjd50bABYfoeiPUeb2nSYnwGxlnX63ty4X2EHmoGjWPI5PdN45BncD6WXFdTcRpPVDKqE/s320/f6.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Fooday shows off his straight-as-an-arrow leg to his proud and happy father, Aladji. Fooday couldn’t wait to return home to tell his mother, Yakha, that he was completely healed and ready to go back to school.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, only one step remained until everyone could breathe a complete sigh of relief. After doing their straightening job, the eight-plates would need to be removed. Otherwise, the legs would bow out the other way! So, over the next eighteen months, while back at home, Fooday’s legs gradually straightened. His eventual return to school was a cause for amazement as his schoolmates could already see a dramatic change in his legs.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
At the eighteen-month point, Aladji and Fooday eagerly travelled to the Africa Mercy hospital, now docked in Conakry, Guinea, for his final surgery.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
Fooday’s reunion with nurse Melinda was filled with excitement, hugs and giggles. “Melinda took such good care of me when I had my first surgery, and I always hoped I would see her again. Now, here she is giving me the best hug of my life!” he declared.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
As it turned out, Fooday’s eight-plate removal was not the only step in store for the family. To Aladji’s surprise, Mercy Ships had a greatly appreciated treatment in store for him too. For years Aladji had focused entirely on Fooday’s healing, while ignoring the pain of his own four decayed teeth and infected gums. At the same time that Fooday was in the Africa Mercy hospital, Aladji had an appointment at the Mercy Ships Dental Clinic. Aladji, with the tormenting dental pain completely gone, shared a warm smile with Fooday back at the ship. Aladji whispered in his son’s ear, “Fooday, thanks to Mercy Ships, it is happy teeth for me and back to school for you!! God is good!”<em> </em></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZov76MP8BgnkG1eEqBywpix6oXEjz6N-QQDGFCuH6XlrJQCgmtn7c-Q34LsfvlNFUCzCOfwXxluPb7Sc2QdLHrwQrnS-cTsMD-bwqNs2XcgfSZFQxSN703h4Ayi-N5zbuzFJRpeBx3pU/s1600/f7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZov76MP8BgnkG1eEqBywpix6oXEjz6N-QQDGFCuH6XlrJQCgmtn7c-Q34LsfvlNFUCzCOfwXxluPb7Sc2QdLHrwQrnS-cTsMD-bwqNs2XcgfSZFQxSN703h4Ayi-N5zbuzFJRpeBx3pU/s400/f7.jpg" tea="true" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-86534493585144122342012-11-26T23:33:00.000+01:002012-11-26T23:33:15.814+01:00D-23 days... gateway friendsLast January I joined a 6 weeks preparation course (Gateway) with a bunch of others from all around the world before we could become crew. We quickly became good friends as we tried to survive the program... :)<br />
<br />
We had some amazing memories over the last 2 years, but sadly one by one our friends leave the ship. Today was another Farewell party to a superwoman from Canada. Jane has short red hair and was wearing a turquoise top. We took her out to the International Club of Conakry - her choice of place for one last group activity. (some of the guys were just there, they weren't part of OUR Gateway group, but we love them anyway so they could stay for the picture haha)<br />
<br />
We all agreed from day one that "when we grow up, we wanna be like Jane, because she is so awesome!" Indeed! Jane, we gonna miss you a lot!<br />
<br />
Have I told you already how much I hate good-byes??? :(((<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmbD-nw3Nz1XXcMxuqxIH83k1W5gXw4imMXO-xY2kEZX6H7-cVVC7aOXNAS62p1rqzQ9Aza6-tRXurTvgspq4n2tAQV_31j4N6K-SmgyWLNFte7VpwEZIk4zQFKYkOg6WhyA64CsC9Ps/s1600/DSC_1251b-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmbD-nw3Nz1XXcMxuqxIH83k1W5gXw4imMXO-xY2kEZX6H7-cVVC7aOXNAS62p1rqzQ9Aza6-tRXurTvgspq4n2tAQV_31j4N6K-SmgyWLNFte7VpwEZIk4zQFKYkOg6WhyA64CsC9Ps/s640/DSC_1251b-small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1795063371283926925.post-72865881071371597912012-11-26T17:59:00.000+01:002012-11-26T17:59:06.749+01:00D-24 days... BBCWhen I joined in 2011 January the Internet was very slow and many things were blocked like skype, youtube, any type of downloading or streaming media. Thanks to some very generous donors our bandwidth is now doubled, which means Darren and I can watch in our cabin some short news clips on the BBC website every now and then, so we can keep up with what's happening in the 'real world'. :)<br />
<br />
This lazy Sunday morning was a perfect day to catch up with world news with ham and eggs in bed! :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6xWCWe55DQHdoc6cc-QOCHiEFvn9plECYWsf13ImmiKC07nxxc1q7cgLhZ25WtYKkjemvfSFmdoQwHByzOiNMedWG9mPm3K3K_5zogNG1_s0vXJSVoZ1Ang0UZd9xya92BOjSoX9wl8/s1600/bbc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6xWCWe55DQHdoc6cc-QOCHiEFvn9plECYWsf13ImmiKC07nxxc1q7cgLhZ25WtYKkjemvfSFmdoQwHByzOiNMedWG9mPm3K3K_5zogNG1_s0vXJSVoZ1Ang0UZd9xya92BOjSoX9wl8/s400/bbc.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is the satellite dish that makes it all possible:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HMrOGpt6V85zchVt2lFxfM6UtKxxIrkyLFKP8MBTy7fDJoSF09_G6j0MdpFO-8DTVrL2V2J47mIXAhG_PJfV-M0hJzsaf9po47vxWGS3-FkUWN0jewr3b2oIV3kMvVhe_JPSIYQb8I0/s1600/DSC_0532b-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HMrOGpt6V85zchVt2lFxfM6UtKxxIrkyLFKP8MBTy7fDJoSF09_G6j0MdpFO-8DTVrL2V2J47mIXAhG_PJfV-M0hJzsaf9po47vxWGS3-FkUWN0jewr3b2oIV3kMvVhe_JPSIYQb8I0/s400/DSC_0532b-blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0