The slave trade

Wow today starts my last week in Benin. It is a bit sad. I am not ready to leave yet and I have met so many great people I may never see again in this life so saying goodbyes is a sad prospect. But on a brighter note I am meeting one of the aussie girls in Paris on the way home for a day or so which will be lovely.

Yesterday we went to Quidah (said weeda). Quidah was a major port for slave trading in West Africa. The port has a long history of changing hands between many nations and a sad history of the slave trade. It is also the voodoo capital of Benin and one of the largest practising voodoo towns in Africa. Been a very secretive religion the only evidence of it's existence in the town were statues to foreign god's and small huts dotting the lagoon shore and forest where voodoo rituals are practised.

The story of slave trading goes that the King never started the trade though he handsomely gained from it. At the peak an estimated 20,000 slaves were shipped out of the port every year. Of those packed into ships like sardines lying side by side chain in shackles, wallowing in human waste and suffering horendous abuse only 20% survived the 3 week journey. What one human being can do to another is repulsive beyond belief. In typical voodoo style the men had to walk around a tree of forgetfulness 9 times each time forgeting either wife, family or anything to do with thier previous life. Women walk 7 times to forget their past. Then a second tree was walked around- it was so their spirits could come back to rest in Benin after death from what I understand. During the boat trip men were positioned face down and the women face us so they could be abused. On arrival the dead and weak were thrown into mass graves. If the sea was bad during the trip the dead and weak were thrown into the sea- some still alive. At the slave markets those slaves with diahoreal diseases have cloth stuck up there anus's and were propped up against walls etc so the purchasers would not notices their poor condition. We may niavely think this kind of thing doesn't happen today. What about the sex slave industry, the child slave industry, the genocide in Rwanda, the Sudan today and they many places we don't hear about. Thankfully God promises to one day restore this broken world and to bring justice.

At Quidah today marking the slave port is a memorial. It contains a gate of no return. Marking where the slaves left from and a gate of return for their spirits to return through. The irony is that the idea of a gate of return is related to the voodoo spirit world and in the centre of the gate is a Christian cross. The people here live in such fear of spirits and want to appease all spirits so they mix a bit of many religions to cover their bases. Sadly for them there is only one God and saviour Jesus Christ.

The gate of no return for the slaves

The gate of return.

We walked the slave road back to the villiage. Today the beach and road are so beautiful and peaceful. It is a sad irony.

Peaceful view from the slave route.

Below are a few pictures from the road trip home. Often the drive in Benin is as interesting as the point of arrival.

The coffin manufacturers. It amazes me how such fine art can be made in such primative buildings and with simple tools. These people are talented. The furniture here is made and sold in similar road side buildings.

A larger gasoline station. Apparently the gas is imported from across the border in Nigeria.

In typical aussie stlye we had a great bonfire on the beach last night. For most of us it felt a little like home. We played frisbee and volleyball, toasted marshmellows and drank coke. It is nice and really important I think for all of us working here to take some time out for rest and relaxation. It was a fun night with a beautiful sunset and a starry sky with a spectacular moon that lit the beach up.

Au Re Voir

Love

Naomi

Wow. It has been ages since I have written- apologies. It has been a bit busy of late. I only have a week and a bit left. I am not ready to leave. I'm loving it and have really settled into the community life on board, found my feet at work and gradually started to figure out the cultural differences and learn to work with them- both with those on board and those in Benin.

We have had our little sailing excursion to get fuel- not without it's drama's. African time and logistics is an amazing thing. Firstly we had been re scheduled numerous times over the last month. The fact that we are not paying port fees probably means we can't argue too much about that. We were to move at 8am Sunday morning as the final set time. The tanker before us had a dispute over how much fuel it received so we moved at 2pm. Aside from the deckies who were working away most of us were able to enjoy the spectical from deck 8. The able body patients also enjoyed the activity.

I had the joy of securing the lab. Do you think I could make the rachet ties work. Nope. I bit my pride and went to find someone who knew what they were doing. Thankfully the deck crew were still in dining hall. Problem solved. The sail was so smooth it seemed unnecessary anyway.

Up goes the gangway!

Patients enjoying the sail.

The tug in action.

I've had some of the mysterious fun that happens when you get a tailor to do some sewing. Having been pre-warned of some of the unusual creations that can result I went to the tailor armed with photos from the internet of what I wanted. My tailor spoke not a word of English nor I a word of French. Yay for translators from post ops who helped out. The African style is to be tight and very unflattering around the hips- so I asked him to make it big big not small small when pointing to my hips. He is a good listener- I got it big big- too big with some extra creatvity of his added to the bottom of the skirt- it was actually quite nice with the extra pattern though.

I had a dress also- not too bad either except for the ribbing been in the wrong spot. The funny part was he took the liberty of using the left over material to make a few bags then he sold them back to me. 2 were very nice the third was a camera bag fashion to the camera size of another crew member who requested the tailor the same day. It seems they have the idea that all us white people want the same things made. Funny experience. He was very good though so i'm about to have a few more things made- could be exciting to see the outcome.

We regularly walk around a circuit for about an hour every afternoon. Regularly we past beggers on the street. They push through the traffic at the lights. Some with out legs others with injured legs scooting around the traffic at ground level seated on boards of wood on wheels- similar to skateboards. Along the traffic islands children lead blind relatives in the hope someone will give. Some of the beggars are rude and pushy. Many are genuine beggars living day to day. Some I am told have maimed themselves as a way of begging to achieve a living. It is a sad world when people resort to that. The sadest I have passed was a couple of ladies and their children. One lady only had a torso- no arms and no legs. She sat on the roadside unable to move. Next to her another lady in a hand pedaled tricycle. The children mingled around. What stuck out to me with this group was that they obviously needed help and yet they didn't beg. They politely greeted us and we stopped to play with the children briefly. They never asked for a cent. I only wish I had money on my when on that walk. I hope to see them again if I walk the same route. They were so cheerful it was humbling and so friendly- whats more it was genuine- their attitude to us didn't change when we left without giving them anything.

We had a weekend trip to a near by village last weekend. It is called Ganvie. It is a stilt village built over the water of the lagoon. The village originated because people didn't like the king and they wanted to escape him. Apparently the king hated water so the people moved to live in the water. Today it is a poor place but amazing also. I had mixed emotions about going as it is promoted as a tourist sight and yet it is home for the people who live there and we are intruders in their backyard. Some people certainly made us feel like intruders- understandable. Others welcome the tourists as we can buy thier goods. Below are some photo's of the village. Every thing is conducted on water. See the market place. Boats full of goods lined up. Children as looking young as 4 command their own canoe with skill. Mothers with babies on their backs or one even breastfeeding whilst manouvouring a canoe laden with goods redefine multi-tasking altogether.

We were at the stilt village on Benin independance day and canoes full of people in their Sunday best passed us as a sea of color. Music and even dance can be performed in a canoe.

In a true show of cultural ignorance we found ourselves in the middle of an array of boats with people dressed stunningly and singing away. We took photo's- then we realised we were in the middle of a funeral procession- they do funerals differently to us. There was more celebration then sorrow visable. One doesn't stop to ask where the body goes in a water surrounded village- in the water we figured.

A fishing boat at Ganvie- The sail is made from hesion rice bags sewn together definate recycling. Some the house walls were recycling masterpieces made from square plastic drums cut open and stretched out and joined together. Though here the environment is not the reason for recycling. Indeed the photo's further on show the huge piles of trash that surround the city centre of Cotonou. The floating market at Ganvie

Home with the washing out to dry

The market in Cotonou on Benin independance day.

Home for some under the bridge pilons in central Cotonou- a picture tells a thousand words. I had thought this degree of poverty was limited but it is how much of Cotonou lives- and this is the nations largest city.

Homes along the river bank in the centre of Cotonou. In front are piles of rubbish metres high. The smell is overwhelming. These tin homes make up a large proportion of the accommodation in the city. Occassional government homes and houses dot the scene.

Some of the amazing girls who make for great company and encouragement. The two to the left are fellow aussies and then Pamela, the South African who has taken most of the laughs and tears with me is next to me.

Fishing boats like this go out in there hundreds from the port every morning. The view from the ship is an ocean dotted with these boats. Some had small motors. Others are paddled by hand. Every boat has a water bailor armed with a bucket- most start bailing from the moment they leave port- a very concerning matter particularly as most of the Africans can't swim!

Life in the lab can be quite or hectic- rarely anything in between. With 3 callouts a night every night this week I was glad to hand the pager onto the next person. In the quite times we have taken to bringing a sewing machine into the lab, or ducking up to the galley to cook something wicked for afternoon tea. You can duck off to the post office, bank, ship shop and cafe- Starbucks as required without getting in the car- Yay for convenience.

Today was a quite afternoon so we had a tour of the ships bridge and bow. Yay for friends in high places- I am blessed to be friends with a fellow aussie who is the second officer- He's a champ and is always looking out for me so he took us on a VIP tour of the usually out of bounds areas. A few pictures below for you.

I did say you undertake responsibility in areas your not familiar with- bet you weren't thinking steering the ship was one of those added responsibilities.

This weekend I am going to Quida. It was the slave trading port. The point of no return for many Africans shipped around the world in the poorest conditions. Seen the movie Amazing Grace- those were the conditions. Apparently only 20% of the slaves even survived the trip. I have been warned to be prepared to be horrified. I think it is naive to ignore history so I whilst I am sure it will be confronting I hope it will give me a better understanding.

Sunday I am touring 4 hospitals in Benin. One of the translators relatives is a president in health so he is driving us and giving 3 of us tours. Again I have been told that I will be confronted and horrified at the conditions. I shall fill you in.

We have the most amazing sunsets in West Africa and tonight was no exception. I would post a photo but photo's never do them justice. Sometimes it is nicest to sit back and enjoy without trying to capture the moment with the camera.

Well I am off to walk to dock with all it's sights, sounds and smells. Even since the ship moved and came back I swear the smells are worse. Between the buffers that prevent the ship from hitting the dock rubbish and human refuse float in mats covering the water thickly. Walking down the steps can be overwhelming but very quickly one's nose adapts so you no longer notice the stench. I do feel for our wonderful Gerka's- Danish guards who stand on the gangway to guard the entrance- they have the smelll all day everyday. Yet they are the happiest and friendliest people- they make my day everyday. Whats more they know everyone's name.

The sights- well last night it included people squating over the edge of the dock doing their business. Canoes full of naked people bathing as the bring thier fishing boats back in and lorries in numbers loading up with cement I think from the ship behind us. Blowing ones nose on return to the ship generally yields black stuff (charming I know). To the environmentalist this is a lost cause. To the average person the pollution is remarkable.
As for sounds- everytime a ship enters of exits the port is sounds the horn and Zimee John motor cycles toot endlessly to signal they are coming through.

So off to walk the dock.

Love Naomi

Desire's photos

Sorry to everyone who was unable to see the pictures of Desire before and after in the emailed newsletter. Here they are hopefully.

What an amazing transformation.

Miracles do happen

" You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, " Psalm 65:5

Today I want to share with you some of the amazing medical stories that are happening daily. Many are miraculous and true answers to prayer. If you don't believe in a God who knows our every need and has us in the right place at the right time then please read on. If you do believe in this God than please give Him thanks for His awesome and wonderful deeds.

Where to start- perhaps with a hernia repair patient from last week. In the middle of the night a man (approx 40 yo) started to bleed- badly. He was opened up by a great team in the ICU before been rushed to surgery. The lab was called for blood (I wasn't on). Night reception was asked to pray and pray they did (along with many other staff). The patient was B Pos which is a little hard to come by but 4 donors were found and woken between the hours of 1am and 6am (gotto love it that we can just go upstairs and wake our potential donors- and at times the other 10 people in their cabins). Conveniently our ward physcian was B pos, the Captain was also roused from his sleep along with many others. After a haemoglobin around 40 and been on the brink of death with the added risk of infection from been opened up again this patient miraculously recovered and was discharged 5 days after this crisis. A true answer to prayer.

Next is a Nigerian man I met at the hospitality centre awaiting surgery. He tells an amazing story of God's place and timing. Emmanuel has a large facial tumor. He is from Nigeria but was in Benin on business. In the market a women left her stall and ran to him speaking in Fon- speaking English he couldn't understand. The women found another lady who could speak English who told Emmanual of a hospital ship in Benin. The womens young nephew who's had had a similiar tumour removed only months earlier wanted this man to have the same opportunity. Emmanual asked the women to take him to the ship and she did. On Sunday Emmanual will be admitted to have his tumour removed. The market visit was his first time in Benin and he gives great thanks for this women and for God's timing in having them both in the same market at the same time.

Emmanuel with the lady from the market and her nephew after his surgery.

There are many toddlers around who can brighten any day.

Meet Maiomi- a sweet little girl who had a haemangioma (large mass in laymans terms) on her neck nearing the size of her head i'm told. She was tiny (and still is- she looked newborn although she was 4 months). I'm speculating but it is likely she couldn't feed properly due to the mass. She has a stomach feed in although now drinks by herself and after been in hospital for many months finally went home this week. Her mum was ostricised because in this culture children with her deformaties are believed to be cursed. Even now her mum has fears that the feeding tube which will remain after her return home will cause the villiage to reject her. Our prayer is that she will be lovingly received by her people just as she is by the God who loves her.

Then there is Geraldo the little fellow below. He was born with a neural tube defect in which a part of his brain coming out through a hole in his skull. Now he is the snuggliest little boy in the hospitality centre.

Meet Ansette ( Below). She has a cleft lip and palate which means she has trouble feeding and is very small and malnourished. She is currently on a feeding program to bring her body to a condition to cope with surgery. At present the max- fac team and plastics team of surgeons is on board so the focus is on facial reconstruction and tumour removal. Ansette will be one of many to received this surgery. In Benin children with this condition are considered cursed- some are left to die, others die because they are unable to suckle. The lucky ones survive.

The picture for confidentiality and the confrontational nature of the injury I am prevented from showing you. I walked through the post op door to deliver some results on my first day and a gentleman named Ganiyou was sitting on the bed awaiting wound care for his burns. His entire torso was pink, white and raw looking. Both his arms were amputated above the elbow. He was doing some electrical work on his mothers home and was eletrocuted over a year ago. At first he was left alone- believed to be dead but he came around sometime later and was taken to the local hospital. His burns were so severe to his arms that both were amputated. For a year he went through the terrible pain of wound dressing and care at the local hospital. His wounds failed to heal. After 6 weeks on board his wounds have healed and he doesn't need any grafts . He awaits prosthetic arms and is keen to get back to normal life. Praise God for such amazing healing!

The last little guy I want to tell you about is Daniel. Daniel is about 10. He was born with probable cerebal palsy which meant he never learnt to walk- instead he had calloused knees from crawling. Daniel has been a regular in the hospital halls for many months doing rehabilitation- first for core strength to his body which had never been upright in the standing posture and to his legs as this tendons and muscles were stretched and strengthened. The pictures below tell his story and amazing transformation from been unable to stand or walk to walk out of here last week when he was discharged.

The best part of Daniel's story is that his mum now believes in the God of the bible who through some miracles and the work of loving, skilled people on the Africa Mercy has brought her son to be able to walk.

This is why I am here! I love it and the little ups and downs an inconveniences of living in ship community are far outweighed by the impact had on the lives of our patients. If you can walk how much have you to be thankful for!!

" You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, " Psalm 65:5

Hello Mr President

The entrance to our wharf- see fishing villiage at the end.

Well there is never a dull moment here.
But first some pictures from the orphanage mentioned in my last blog

On route to the orphanage- this is the main rd heading North out of Cotonou

Live chickens in their hundreds on a Zime John to market


We arrived at dinner time. This little fellow is under nourished and on a feeding program. Hey drank faster than I can.

Oh so sweet

Emma having a cuddle The balloons were such a hit

Road side home and cooking stall

A 'FAN Milk' bike- These guys are out in there hundreds and wind in and out of traffic selling frozen icecreams and yoghurts that taste amazing and cost only 30c. You just slow down in traffic and falg one down...If the traffic moves no problem he will catch up with you to give you your change.

Village kids outside the orphanage checking out the Yovo's (Yovo means white person- the children yell out all the time in a very cut song that they have made up about us. The song seems universal as the kids in the capital city also sing it to us. It goes:

Yovo Yovo (white person white person)

Bonjour (hello)

Cava (how are you?) Bien (good) Mercy (thankyou).

The adults will also yell out and sing it to us. Often they then add a Mercy ships? to the end of the song in Cotonou paticularly as the assumption is if you are white you are from Mercy Ships. It is almost true though we have met several other missionaries who are white and live here. A few business men and very few tourists can be seen in town.

Kids singing Yovo song to us.

This week I had Wednesday afternoon at the hospitality centre playing games with the kids and painting the ladies nails softening their hands with cream. Language is a barrier to some extent though you can show love to people in these simple ways without much conversation. Hand gestures and a smile go a long way. We had balloons, bubble blowers and bible stories (in French) though the gorgeous little french speaking boy Daniel who I brought the stories for had left for home which is great for him. He has been around the hospital for a long time for contracture releases of both his legs. Before coming to the ship he could only crawl. His legs were contracted from the knees. He was depressed and quite (apparently). Now he can walk upright a short distance on his own and he gets around fast with a walker. Hopefully with continued walking his muscles will improve so he can walk unassisted. He curled up asleep on my lap in church last week. On leaving his mum told the OT staff that she gave thanks to God that he had brought people to help her son to walk.

Another boy Evie has also been around for a while. I felt so sorry from him, He also has a contracture (I think) and they stretch out his leg with a horrible looking brace. His hamstrings appear contracted and as they are stretched he was screaming the halls down this week. I had promised him i'd visit him but no amount of distraction could calm him. He comes to the ship for regular exercise up and down the hall ways.

Friday night I went with the team to show the 'Jesus' film in a nearby villiage. The Jesus film recounts the gospel stories. We arrived at the designated meeting spot- it seems like the middle of a sandy street just outside a fishing villiage/ tin shanty town. We were told to park there though and the guys put up a big screen. To start with we had a few spectators then the drums started and soon we had a crowd- mostly young children under 5. People here know all the Christian songs so soon the crowd are all singing and clapping along in Fon a local dialect. A local church brings out some wooden pews and puts them in the street all but blocking it. No one seems to mind- the Zimie John motorcycles just toot and divide the crowd to get though or take an alternative route around us. I take a seat on the sand to watch the film and pretty soon some children have made there way one my lap and snuggled up- totally amazing these kids have no idea who I am and I don't know them but they cuddle in and their parents who I assume are somewhere in the distant crowd don't seem worried at all. A few children are scared of the white people and stay away occassionally venturing close and then over time into the laps of some of the girls.

The most amazing thing was that as the night grew dark so we could start the film we had a crowd of around 200 people. Advertising unknown- drums bring people out of anywhere here.

The film is shown in Fon. I couldn't understand any of it but I could guess from the pictures what part of the bible we were up to. Amazingly when Jesus's miracles are shown 2 cause the whole crowd to errupt in clapping and cheering exclaimated by someone beating the drums. Those 2 are when Jesus's turn the couple of fishes and bread loaves into enough food to feed thousands and when Jesus healed a blind man. Ironically these two challenges- hunger and cateracts are two of the afflictions the people can most likely relate to best. It is great to not only serve these peoples physical health needs but to also give them a hope beyond the struggles they face in this world. The hope of eternal life that can never perish, spoil or fade kept in heaven for those who simply trust Jesus.

Today is Saturday. We took a road trip to Porto Novo the capital of Benin. We went up a toll road- wow the first tarred reasonable road in a month. The drivers were still crazy although we mostly kept to our side of the road with the occassional diversion around the hundreds of broken down cars littering the road.

Porto Novo is much like Cotonou. The level of living standards appear much the same (later on I have added some general life pictures from Benin to give you and idea of living standards in the cities).

In Porto Novo we went to some markets and were sung the Yovo song on every corner- some kids even broke into dance whilst singing to us. The kids and even some adults want to touch white people so shy children run up touch you and sneak away giggling. The bolder kids want to hold our hand or shake it. We stumbled across the tourist info centre- a run down building that was full of beautiful craft wares. A girl with us spoke a little French thankfully and we got some directions.

The market Porto Novo

One of the many amazing fabric stalls

We attempted to find the botanical gardens when the sign posts are in French it's fun times. After going the wrong way down some streets and venturing down a street where cars are not permitted we made it (our French speaker was in the back so only read the signs after it was too late to rectify our route).There are two gardens- an free entry one which was a square of dry red dirt with an occassional green plant. The paid one we was green and from the gate it looked quite nice.

We went to the local sports stadium which had a good reputation. On arrival there were security guards and militray every where. We were directed in. Many people were arriving in beautiful clothing. We just followed the crowd having no idea what the hype was about. Then a military helicopter landed and out stepped the President of Benin to open the days game of football (or soccer as we call it). The game was free so we entered the stadium. It was huge and reasonable modern with more entrances than I could count. Some of the crowd makes it's way into the grandstand- just as many are on the field. Many vendors wander through the crowd with huge baskets on their heads- some are merely children. The weight people carry on their head is astonishing. Kids start young with unbreakable things like plastic bottles on their head and progress to baskets of vegetables then entire bakeries of bread!!!

Waiting for the Presidents arrival at the stadium.

The Presidents Helicopter.

The Vendors

General photo's around Cotonou



All apologies for bad gramma and spelling....I'm a little tired and my English isn't the best most of the time.

Au Revior.

Love Naomi