I have moved out of my previous office and have returned to Deck 3 Forward of the ship. This photo shows the pile I look at daily – though thankfully over half of these things will leave once we arrive in Sierra Leone as they belong to my friend Jean Claude and to Off Ship Projects. Another photo will follow once things have been moved.
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Thank You Event Tour
After I posted the photo of Donovan giving a tour, I found on Facebook a friend who was in my group posted a couple photos – so I copied them here for you all to see and enjoy. I love how the hospital staff set up the room with a stuffed animal on the table with the mask and the bright lights – they did a great job.
KRB Update – Final Days in South Africa
KRB Update #2162 January 23, 2011
Keith R. Brinkman
Final Days in South Africa
Greetings from South Africa for probably for the last time as our season here is finishing. I have been living in this nation since starting with the Advance Team in May and then with the ship’s arrival on September 1st. The time is approaching to return to West Africa with our new improved tool, the ship – new generators, new air conditioning units and other systems that will last the life of the ship (maybe 20-25 more years). Please join us in prayer that everything will past the tests and inspections. They are due to test #3 generator tomorrow.
Related to our projects here, the eye training, mental health training and dental, they all have come to an end. We hosted some of our partners last week at our Thank You Event along with partners from the government and the shipyard phase. A time to thank them for their partnership and assistance offered to us during this season in South Africa.
Eye Project: Our Eye Team provided training and mentoring in the Eastern Cape to surgeons, medical officers, registrars, surgical nurses and community eye care workers. They also provide hundreds of cataract surgeries using the same technique that is used on board the ship while in West Africa.
Mental Health: Our Mental Health Programs Administrator provided training in mental health issues for five groups of church leaders at venue sites in Pietermaritzburg, Pongola, Eshowe, Mbazana and Newcastle. This was the project I was most involved with from my assignment on the Advance Team to find potential partners to offering logistics assistance during the six weeks of training. Along with the writer and photographer, I visited two of the sites while the training was offered. Since the training, I have heard from the directors of the Christian Councils on the impact of the training.
Dental: Instead of setting up in one location for the entire 12-week field service, the Dental Team at the request of the Department of Health in Pietermaritzburg went to many of their hospitals and clinics. Many patients received treatments plus some patients received dental prophylaxis. With a great emphasis on training, the Dental Team visited local schools and provided students with basic oral health training and their teachers received instruction on teaching oral health.
Tour after Thank You Event
Following the Thank You Event at the nearby Seafarer’s Centre, we did offer to take our guests on a tour of the Africa Mercy while still in the shipyard. I was the tour guide for group #4 and we really enjoyed our time. In this photo you see Donovan Palmer, our Managing Director, taking his group into one of our operating rooms which was set up by the Hospital department – to give our guests an idea of what it looks like.
Thank You Function at Seafarer’s Centre
When the Advance Team arrived in May to help prepare for this season in South Africa, they started to attend Northside Church located near to the rented house for the Advance Team. I joined the team a bit later and most Sundays we would worship with them. Even though we are not in that house anymore, many of us still continue to attend services with them. For the Thank you Event, the pastor’s wife Di and Auntie Val came to represent Northside, our dear friends.
Thank You Event
As we are nearing the end of our time here in South Africa, last Monday we conducted our Thank You Event. We invited our partners and friends who have helped to make the field service here a success and for the shipyard phase. Some of our contacts with dental and with mental health training were able to attend.
Workstation – Appelsbosch
With the move to Appelsbosch during the shipyard phase, we have set up our own business center. My workstation is upstairs above the library and it is shared with the Marketing department, Staff Development and Off Ship Projects. In this photo, I am conducting some training with Robin in her new role as Hospital Projects Manager.
Room at Appelsbosch
This has been my home at the rented Appelsbosch College since September 2nd – in block A – room # A115. Most of all the non-technical crew members moved to Appelsbosch while the Africa Mercy has been in drydock/shipyard in Durban. Though we hope to be able to move home this coming weekend if the generators testing goes well.
Christmas Day on the Ship
We were so blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas on the ship – even in shipyard! The Southern African Shipyards allowed all the crew from Appelsbosch (including our children) to come to the ship for Christmas Day! A group of us volunteered to help with setting up and cleaning for the celebration and we were able to stay overnight the ship on ship on Friday night. This meant I was able to sleep in my own bed in my cabin even though it was hot in the 90’s and so enjoyed being home.
Christmas South Africa
Christmas in South Africa
Greetings from South Africa to you all my family and friends around the globe at this special time of the year as we approach Christmas.
Our chaplains have led us in the four Sundays of Advent during our Sunday Evening Services at Appelsbosch. The first candle is a symbol of Hope, the second a symbol of Preparation, the third of Joy and then the fourth candle reminds us that Jesus comes to bring Peace to both the world and to people’s hearts. Without Christ there is no peace in this world. He also shared this quote from an anonymous source: Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the LORD Almighty will guarantee this!” Isaiah 9:6-7
We have had some of our familiar activities leading up to Christmas, though since our community is divided it has been a bit different. We have those living on the ship in Durban, those of us non-technical crew out here at Appelsbosch and then also our long term crew who are away on extended leave during this unique period. Here at Appelsbosch we have had the four Sundays of Advent, time to decorate the tree (a friend said it looks like a Charlie Brown tree – see photo to the left), time to build gingerbread houses (which we did last night – see photo below), worship services with carols and all. For Christmas Day we have permission for the group living at Appelsbosch who are not traveling to go to the Africa Mercy for the day, which I am looking forward to our time together. This will be my first Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere.
Merry Christmas and UKhisimusi omuhle (which is in the local language of Zulu)
Prayer Requests: ** Safety for those living on and off the ship ** The final stages of the shipyard phase (as my friend Greenfield put it ‘that everything is done accurately and correctly the first time’ ** For our Advance Team in Sierra Leone preparing the way for our 2011 Field Service including surgical screening which will take place next month prior to the ship’s arrival.