We are getting closer – we crossed the equator on Thursday morning – looking at arriving in Freetown, Sierra Leone – at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay on Sunday morning.
18 Feb AFM
We continue on our journey towards Sierra Leone in West Africa – teams are there awaiting our arrival. I guess we missed a previously mentioned storm as we did not encounter the 15′ waves – thankfully.
17 Feb AFM
Our location as of noon 17 February as we sail to Freetown, Sierra Leone – we are due to arrive on Sunday the 27th of February. Thank you for your prayers for the journey.
AFM Leaving Cape Town
Our beautiful evening departure from Cape Town, South Africa after a 25 hour stop over from our journey from Durban South Africa to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The backdrop is the beautiful Table Mountain.
Sailing out of Durban
We are sailing once again !!!! We left Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa on Thursday. It is good to leave and sail once again. Appreciate your prayers for the journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, – back in West Africa.
Appelsbosch Group Photo with T-shirts
For the non-technical crew who lived at Appelsbosch, a friend designed a t-shirt – “I survived Appelsbosch” and so since we have the t-shirt, we were just missing the photo and so here it is – a photo of some of us who survived Appelsbosch.
AFM Shipyard in Durban
The Africa Mercy is only days away from leaving Durban here in South Africa and return to West Africa. The Project Teams are doing their final tests and we are having fire and emergency drills and securing for sailing – next stop Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Pile in my new office
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.
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.