Greetings to you all.  Another KRB Update to share what is happening with my service with Mercy Ships.  My season in Freetown, Sierra Leone has finished.  So thankful to report that all is going well there with the surgeries and the education and training on the ship and off the ship at the primary hospital in the country – focusing on anesthesia students and providers and nurses.  Mentoring is taking place on the Global Mercy in our operating rooms and with the simulation lab.
 
We have just complete a five day training in Saly, Senegal.  A time of coming together for relationship building – four team members, I had only met via Teams online and many sessions and group activities to better equip us for our duties.  Subjects included diplomacy (which I would love to learn more), transformational development, patient selection, programs, cross cultural interactgions, wins and challenges, Clifton Strengths, monitoring and evaluation, servant leadership and devotions daily.  They counted and we represented 16 nations for this training.  The Africa Services team includes all of us on country engagement teams in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, and Madagascar. 
Two counselors joined to provide one-on-one member care, shared at a session, and spent time with us all.  Thankful that they are available to us over Teams as needed while we serve remotely.  As I move from country to country and ship to ship in my Port Liaison role, I truly enjoyed being together this week.

Photo:  Participants at the Team Training in Senegal

Photo:  Group Sessions with various scenarios – ie. Meeting with Port Director, Meeting with Dean of the medical school, and Meeting with Ministry of Health leaders related to patient selection.
 

Photo:  All but one meal was at the venue – for the meal out we took two small boats to travel to the restaurant with the specialities of fresh fish and seafood. 

I am en route back to Madagascar.  For Mercy Ships, geographically we focus on West Africa, Senegal is the farther north west, to Central and Southern Africa and to Madagascar – the East Coast – port city of Toamasina.  So my travels this week take me from one extreme side to the other. 
I remain so thankful for the opportunity and privilege to continue to serve.  I will take care of all port related activities, helping the Africa Mercy as she prepares to leave for annual maintenance period, for the time they are gone and then arrangements for their return in February.

Praise:  * Documents signed with the government of Madagascar  * Surgeries ongoing on both ships  *  Training happening on both ships  * Lives being impacted

Prayers:  * Additional documentation for customs with Madagascar  * Continued safety for all involved (I will move back into the same apartment building where I lived before) and good health.