Weekend in Kpalime -- Feb 20/21st

Kpalime (pronounced 'paulimay') is a town about 2.5 hrs north of Lome where a group of 17 'Mercy Shippers' went for a weekend getaway off the ship. The area of Kpalime is very beautiful and lush. It was so nice to get off the ship, out of the city to a rural area of Africa to experience part of the African culture.

Saturday morning we got a taxi van to drive us out to Kpalime. Since the van did not have air conditioning we were ready for a swim in the pool at the hotel when we arrived. The hotel we stayed at cost only 4000CFA ($8 USD) a person. Although we had to sleep 4 to a room, 2 of us on mattresses on the floor, our room was good, the other girls room had cockroaches so they ended up sleeping 4 on 2 single beds :) We took 'zemi jons' (motorbike taxi's) to a beautiful waterfall! After some of us took the zemi jon taxi's for a ride up a mountain. It was a hoot, even though my zemi broke down, which did not really surprise me as that seems to be a usual occurance here in Africa. The driver attempted fixing it with no luck...so here I was on a mountain in the middle of Togo with my transportation broke down and my group ahead of me, and not knowing any Ewe (a local tribal language they spoke) or French. Somehow, someway they make things work, so the next zemi that came along, the driver stopped, spoke with my driver, unloaded his passenger and took me up to meet the group.

Sunday we hiked the highest mountain in Togo - Mount Agou. It was a beautiful hike, probably not the easiest, but record breaking for the one most sweat on. Not an inch of us, including our clothing was dry. I didn't know that the back of my fingers had sweat pores, but yeah, found out they do. It was a beautiful hike. Our guide Noel, painted us with different colors from leaves, ferns, showed us cocoa, papaya's, banana, pineapple. We hiked through a few local villages and got to see community life, church, etc. It was beautiful!!!

Road construction

Ruth (RN from Germany) & I on our zemi jon

Sarah & Jens

The waterfall in the distance

Stop for gas...old bottles filled with gas, 1 liter please

Brake!! Herd of cattle crossing

Here's my broken down transportation :)

Group shot top of the mountain...with our zemi drivers

Hike up Mount Agou








Sarah holding cocoa







Doing the spelling game...TOGO

Out & about in Lome

Our first day out in Lome...and sweating already, just a regular occurance

Off to the market
Gwen & I in the market with my first purchase - the skirt the man is holding up. I paid 6000 CFA (which is equivalent to about $12 USD), that is after some bargaining :)

Micah bargaining for a soccer jersey

Swimming at the Hotel Palm Beach

This & that...

Medical Reception

As Mercy Ships partners with the Togo ministry of health we held a reception for all the dignitaries. This was to inform them of the work Mercy Ships does, to thank them for allowing Mercy Ships into their country, as well as to make contact with the local physicians and other health providers for education and followup. The reception included speeches, tours of the hospital, tables with information on the different specialties, as well as refreshments.

Dr. Gary Parker (max-fac's surgeon with the ship for over 20 yrs)

Gwen & I (both ward RN's)

Hannah & Becca (OR & ward RN's)


Day Volunteer Orientation
The ship has approx 90 day volunteers/workers from Togo who work in all different areas of the ship: engineering, deck, construction, dental, eye team, galley, housekeeping, hospital (including translators), security, etc. We assisted with their orientation and welcoming them to the ship.



Hospital Open House

The hospital staff had an open house prior to starting surgeries for the non-medical staff to be informed of what happens down on deck 3. These crew members (housekeeping, gallery staff, reception, deck, etc) have the opportunity to get involved with the hospital by our 'adopt a patient' program. They follow the patient through their stay on the ship (pre & post op) visiting them and getting to know them. The open house was also a great opportunity for the students from the Academy to learn about the hospital. There are approximately 50 students (staff members families) and 12 teachers for Kindergarten - Grade 12.


Learning about the OR

Techniques of intubation

The OR had a game representing the fistula (abnormal holes/tears) conditions. Birthing injuries that leave women incontinent of urine and sometimes feces. Target practice in OR stirrups isn't the easiest :)

Learning and practicing suturing techniques

Nasogastric tube feeds for our maxilofacial patients

Our station - learning to start IV's

The patient race - five people trying to beat each other in patient care...including giving pills, bandaging, helping to bed pan the patient, check their temperature, hilarious!

Our trouble maker patients/co-workers :)