KRB Update #2146 November 12, 2009 Assessment
In the Mercy Ships world, there are various stages of assessment. Some assessment is done on a general level of the entire nation as a possible future country that the Africa Mercy would visit.

After the leaders have looked at the possible nations in our region (currently Western Africa), a pre-assessment team is sent out or a full assessment team – depending on timing of a visit and whether we have been in the nation before or not. I have served in the past on pre-assessment and assessment teams – this is one aspect on my job description, though there are those who do this as their full-time responsibility. Pierre and I were asked to do the pre-assessment in late June for Togo – only a three day trip with set objectives. In September, I was a part of our larger team which traveled from Cotonou to Lomé, Togo by vehicle. We arranged to stay at a Wycliffe-SIL mission guest house for our time there. Our initial meetings were with the Christian Churches of Togo association & with the Ministry of Health, which is our main government partner. We also revisited the Port of Lomé to meet again with them on the needs of the ship and all the needed logistics from crew and patients getting from the main gate to the ship, to refueling by bunkering, security, water purity issues, etc.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs received us very well and was very friendly and helpful. Relationships are important in this culture and so building those relationships is vital for the present and for the future. I know personally sometimes I can become task-orientated and I have to be reminded to be more relational and yet still get the tasks done.
Besides meetings, we were tasked in finding possible options for the off ship facility needs – 1) one location for the Dental Clinic, 2) two locations for the Field Eye Team, 3) Hospitality Center for patients pre and post-operative, and 4) Programs Support Facility – team housing. As we presented the basic details on each facility need, we visited various locations to report on them if they are a possibility or not.
In addition, we are looking for possible partnership for our capacity building/training projects and our construction projects. Prior to leaving, I had a friend translate the document from English to French so that we could present them the document and what we would need to learn from them to consider a partnership.
All you can imagine, there is much going on during assessment – you usually start out early in the morning and go into the evening – no 8am-5pm for this type of service. Though, if we can successful with our relationship building and the information that is gathered, the better success for the field service and for the Kindgom of God.
Serving Together, Keith

Email: [email protected] – using this email account for personal correspondence
www.KeithBrinkman.com
Mail: Keith R. Brinkman, Mercy Ships, P.O. Box 2020, Lindale, TX 75771 USA