At last I have officially walked up the gangway of the M/V Anastasis. It has been 2 years since I last wandered the corridors of the old ship! It is lovely to be back on board and seeing familiar faces with whom I have served in Sierra Leone and Togo (West Africa).
For the first couple of days it is required that you attend various orientation meetings. These meetings are informing us about ship life and what goes on from day to day. It is also a time to let us know about the safety measures to be taken on the ship and in West Africa and what is culturally accepted while we are serving in Ghana.
Living in a tight knit community has its challenges, so it is compulsory for all new long term crew (At least a 2 year commitment) to have orientation regarding stress and conflict management but also talking about our expectations of living with so many people in close proximity. There are about 350 crew living and working on board with day workers and patients as well.
For the first week on board I received a hand over from the previous Operating Room Supervisor. Fiona (Assistant OR Supervisor) and I spent time orientating ourselves to the Department we will call home for the next 10 months. I am grateful that I have worked on the Anastasis before and so I am familiar with the systems, equipment and where to find different places on the ship such as Hold 1 and 2 which contain our sterile medical supplies.
Most of the operating room crew have arrived including OR Nurses, Sterilizers, Recovery Room Nurses, Surgeons and Translators. The Anaesthetists will be arriving next week when we will require general anaesthesia for some of the operations.
These crew are all new to the environment and it is my aim to build a great team spirit as we begin surgery so that we can give the best care possible to the patients. We wait in anticipation for the first patient to enter the Operating Room Department on June 29th. Eye surgery will begin first followed by facial reconstruction surgery the week after.
The Health Care Services Department on board the ship held a Medical Reception in the Pacific Dining Room inviting employees of the local health facilities. This evening helped us to network with them and find out the needs of the people. These health care professionals can also refer patients to us should they think that we can help with certain types of surgery. It was a lovely evening and I enjoyed connecting with the local people for the first time since arriving in Ghana.
On Monday the 26th June and Tuesday the 27th of June are screening days where we will see thousands of patients and book surgery for about 10 months in advance. They will be long and hot days as we process the people at the Assembly of God Church in Community 4 in Tema, Ghana. We wait in expectation of who will turn up and who we can help. It is a privilege to be able to bring hope and healing to those who need it most.
Kylie
This has to have been our busiest month yet. Some real mile stones for us! Our annual street appeal which is only the 2nd appeal we have ever held. We had appeals in Invercargill, Winton and Dunedin. The weather was freezing but I was encouraged by the warmth and generosity of people on the street and those collecting. We raised over $2000 There was a lot of preparation for our trip to Romania/Russia in July and only received the last of our visa approvals with 2 days spare! What a relief we really are going and knowing we have Rob Harley joining us in Romania is a special treat. We are excited about the possibilities that await us in both countries.
I spoke with a school and there are some real possibilities with connecting an Invercargill school with some children in Romania as an ongoing project.
Our Trade Me store has been launched and we are really excited about the potential that this has for us both raising funds and marketing and getting the word out there.
I have spent a lot of time organising what will happen while we are overseas and training key people. We have employed an administrator Maryanne to help with the workload as I have been getting bogged down with a lot of small issues.
I have been working on 3 major stories that will be released during July one of them being the Womans Day magazine which the Vodafone team have organised for us. I spent an enjoyable afternoon in Queens park with my family being photographed for the article what a thrill!!
The highlight of this month has definitely been the Ribbon Day held last week for the Auckland RDA Groups. We were honored to have HRH Princess Anne attend and present each of the riders with a commemorative rosette. I have to say most of the month was spent preparing for the big event and I am relieved that it was such a success.
The main objectives were to offer a taste of competition to the riders in Auckland who have a competitive spirit, to promote RDA to the wider community and for the event to be a teambuilding opportunity for the volunteers from the Auckland RDA Groups.
All the riders received ribbons for their three events: working trail, barrel racing and equitation and made their families and all of us very proud. The event was published in several papers and was broadcast on TV. I feel so privileged to have been part of such an incredible team effort. The NZRDA staff and Board, the staff at Ambury Park and the volunteers from all the Auckland RDA Groups pulled together and made the event something that we’ll all remember for a very long time. I am especially grateful to the horses who coped so well with everything and carried their nervous riders though each event with such obvious care.
Also this month, Robyn Stead presented a workshop to the Auckland Volunteers on Relationship Development Intervention, a new approach for working with people with autism. Robyn is also a volunteer with RDA and was able to give us
