During this field service, our dental team has gone mobile – to a psychiatric center that our mercy ministries team visits every Saturday – to a refuge camp near to the Togo border and for the last two days to the main Civile Prison here in Cotonou. They were primarily doing extractions and some hygiene lessons – I have not received the count yet on how many people, but my friend Joycee who is the receptionist shared it was greater than 300 people cared for.
Ward Service Benin Nov ’09
One of the events I enjoy inviting the patients that I am visiting in the Hospital Wards to – is our Sunday Morning Ward Service. It is an optional for the patients to attend. It is conducted by our Hospital Counselors (local nationals serving with us) and as you see in the photo we have worship and then someone sharing a short message and usually a testimony. It is limited to only one hour.
Rotary Event onboard the Ship
Earlier this week, we had the privilege to host a Rotary Event on board the ship. Rotary International was conducting their West Africa Project Fair and we extend an invitation for them to visit us as their project fair was right here in Cotonou. Rotary has partnered with us on various projects, sponsorships of the International Lounge and other locations on the ship – in addition the Rotary club members have aided us with contacts and other resources in the port cities we visit here in West Africa. It was a good visit – in the photo the main Rotary representative from Benin was sharing and being translated into English.
Youngest Cataract Patient Benin 09
The youngest cataract patient in Mercy Ships history, Jose’ HEHOUNTHE receives a final checkup from eye surgeon Dr. Glenn Strauss before leaving the Africa Mercy.
KRB Update 2146 Assessment
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
Patients on Deck 7 from Ward B
On Sunday afternoons, I usually invite the patients I am visiting to walk with me up to Deck 7 where we can sit outside. For the patients, they love to be outside – fresh air and the warmth of the sun and watching activity in the habour. There are some ride-on-toys for the kids to play with which is always fun.
Benin Games ’09 on the Africa Mercy
An annual event we have on board is the ____ (name of the country) Games – which happens on board – this year we had 19 teams participating with 12 different games. I served as the scorekeeper for the Games. In this photo you see the ‘Lost Boys’ at the platform game – they were one of the last teams and so you see many surrounding them. We presented each team with a certificate including those to the teams with the higher three scores. It was a fun day for all.
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KRB Update 2145 Programs Reporting Time
KRB Update #2145 October 16, 2009 Programs Reporting Time
With almost 400 people living and serving on board, one of the ways to share with the ship community what is happening in Programs on and off the ship is by conducting our Programs Reporting Times on Friday mornings at 07:45-08:15 in the International Lounge on the Africa Mercy. As Programs Administrator for the Africa Mercy, I am responsible to coordinate and arrange everything for these meetings and to serve as the MC and Audio/Visual guy. Even though this is an optional meeting, we normally have 80 – 100 people in the room to listen and others watch via the video camera system.
Here is a list of projects that have shared or will share before we stop next month:
Hospital
Surgical Screening, Maxillo-facial Surgeries, Plastic Surgeries, Orthopaedic surgeries, VVF surgeries, ICU Nurses, Infant Feeding, Ward Nurses, Hospital Counselors, Dental Team including their counselor, Field Eye Team, Ship Eye Team, Adopt-A-Patient, Hospitality Center and Palliative and Outpatient Care
Health Care Development
Construction of Dormitory/Training Facility with Bethesda, Construction of Pediatric Orthopaedic Clinic with OSAREH, Church Leaders’ Conferences, Agriculture Training, Administrative Personnel Training, Biomedical Technician Training and Mental Health Training
Mercy Ministry
Missionaries of Charity, Maison de l’Exellence, Maison de l’Esperance, Jardin d’Eden Children’s Home, Jesus Film in French and local languages, C.E.O. Boy’s Home, School of the Deaf, Jacquot Psychiatric Clinic, and Fondation Regard d’Amour.
For some projects, I offer the speaker 12-13 minutes and thus we would have two speakers. For other projects including those which may have multiple speakers, I offer them the entire 25 minutes to share. For some, this will be the first time to speak in front of a crowd and for others it may be the first time to give a speech in English. I start with a welcome to the crew and then share the opportunities in Programs that we are inviting them to sign up and join us – these may be going to an orphanage, helping to paint and clean at a construction site, and adopt-a-patient in the hospital. I will also share with the crew on the opportunities to attend a local church where transportation is provided and where English translation is available. Many of our speakers share and use Power Point to help visualize and then I posted them on Navigator (Mercy Ships intranet system) for others elsewhere in the Mercy Ships world to view (hopefully for next year, I will be able to post the audio of the reporting time).