Welcome to Liberia

Well, here I am in Monrovia, Liberia.  I made it safe and sound with no problems after getting to the airport.  We had some major flight issues the night before I left so that I ended up buying full fare tickets, but in the end everything worked out and I got here!  So far I'm loving it here!  My first day yesterday included spicy crawfish (delish), ping pong, homemade pita pizza, and my first ever bucket bath.  It was also my second 'malaria friday', making the day quite epic.  :D

So I arrived here yesterday in the late afternoon.  For the moment I'm staying in a compound with some other westerners until I can get a ride up to Nimba where I'll be doing health care stuff.  From the sounds of things, I think that should be around Monday or Tuesday.  I'm still not exactly sure what I'll be doing, but I'll find out when I get there!  It's going to be about a five and a half hour drive to get there, depending on the roads and traffic. 

It's nowhere near as warm as what I had expected.  It is pretty humid, but otherwise it's been very comfortable t-shirt weather.  Although actually it's cold enough right now that I'm wishing I had brought my sweater with me when I left the compound today!  Haha for my first day in Africa, I'll take it!  The compound is very close to the ocean, and from the roof there is a beautiful view of the sea and the many dugout canoes that line the beach.  My friend brought me to see the beach, and it's so funny because you can see hundreds of really big crabs running along the water line.  Funny little creatures.  Also today I saw the biggest gecko I've ever seen - it was as long as my forearm and bright yellow and red. 

So I'm trying to get used to the culture and language here.  They do speak English here, but the accent is heavy and there are many phrases and sayings that I don't remotely understand.  It's almost like trying to learn a new language at times, which is quite humbling and good for me.  I'll have to work on my comprehension skills, that's for sure!  I think I've been put on cooking duty for tonight, so I'm very glad I got the chance to cook a bit while I was in Newfoundland!  Hopefully I'll be able to avoid all major disasters! 

Ok, so that's it until next time.  :D

Preparations

June 9, 2012

My departure for Liberia is rapidly approaching.  I’m scurrying around trying to finish up my clinical here in Newfoundland while simultaneously preparing to leave for Liberia (on a side note, I have now successfully drawn blood cultures and initiated IV's!!!!).  I have my Liberian visa already, I got my last vaccination last night and I have a volunteer ID card with the organization I’m going through.  The flight loads look good at the moment, and it looks like I’ll be leaving close to June 21^st!  Things are really coming together and I’m getting so excited, but I’ve also hit the point where I’m now terrified.  There’s so much that I don’t know, and it’s quite intimidating.  I may have to check a bag for my flights, which is terrifying all alone - I don’t have the slightest clue how to do that!!! 

I’m really looking forward to learning more about Liberian culture, and ironically that’s also what I’m nervous about.  Where I don’t know anything, I really don’t want to unknowingly offend people because of my total ignorance.  But at the same time I can’t wait to learn about everything.  I don’t want to be a poor reflection of Christ because of myself and my western cultural tendencies; I think that’s what I’m most concerned about.  Prayer please! 

Maybe I should be sheepish about this, but I’m looking forward to checking out what the food is like!  Cassava in particular is something I’ve heard about so much, and I can’t wait to see what it looks like, what it is, where it comes from, how it tastes, learn how to cook it…!  And of course rice, can’t go wrong there.  :)  New experience, bring it on.

Beginnings

Talk about a crazy exciting time in my life.  I am in the middle of a six week stint living in Newfoundland doing my third year nursing preceptorship.  During this clinical rotation I get to practice all my advanced nursing skills such as IV initiation, drawing blood, NG tubes, catheters, tracheas, chest tubes and so much other fun stuff!  So far it’s been great, and I’ve been enjoying life here and love learning more about nursing and how to become better at my future profession.   

On a slight side note, you might know that I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.  At the end of the day, I decided to take a nursing degree because I want to do international missions work soon after I graduate.  My greatest fear with my life is that I will settle down comfortably and forget my passion for helping people in less fortunate circumstances.  I decided that nursing would better serve my long term goals and would still be useful anywhere in the world.  To help keep my focus on missions involvement, I have always planned on taking a summer to get the feel for nursing in an international setting before I graduate.  With graduation is in less than a year, this is the time. 

A few months ago during midterms, I sent an email to a missions organization asking them about their nursing internships and if I could be used anywhere as a third year nursing student.  I was simultaneously shocked, excited and terrified when I received an email telling me that certainly, I could be used.  And by the way, would you like to go to Liberia?

Needless to say, midterm studying wasn’t particularly effective!  After a lot of prayer, thought, and research, I decided to pursue the opportunity. 

So here I am.    

I am busy getting ready to head off to Liberia in about a month from now.  I plan on being there for approximately two months, and I am getting super excited.  I’ve started to research, think and work though getting the vaccines and medications I’ll need, getting everything on my packing list, keeping an eye on the flights, etc.  I’ll get my last dose of the rabies vaccine tomorrow – exciting stuff, let me tell you.  Although I have to say it’s probably a very good thing for me to know what it feels like when I’m poking needles into people all the time! 

I will likely be working in a health clinic where I will see and help treat people suffering from malaria, cholera, hepatitis, and that type of thing.  I also expect to see plenty of pregnant women – Liberia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.  I will have limited access to medical technology and electricity, which I have never experienced before. 

This will be hard, but I know it will be good for me on many levels.  In addition to learning more about nursing, I’m excited to see how I grow spiritually from this experience.  I know that as a result of this missions trip I will change in ways that I cannot even imagine.