~~
The last week of September was a biggie, with selection day and
prep and lots of meetings and getting the hospital ready to start. That Sunday, the 25th of August, a
friend and I had been given the opportunity to speak to the crew about education
and healthcare in Congo, and it went smashingly well. We were asked to present it again on Friday
to all the national offices in a virtual roundtable, which also went pretty
well. Dana Perino was onboard, the
founder and much of the International Board was around, and it was just a
crazy, exciting week. I was trying to
keep on top of it all while preparing to run our first medical conference the
following week on Radiology. The
stretching continued, and I’m amazed and honored at the story and life experience
that has brought me to this place to serve these people in a way that so
beautifully utilizes so much of my strengths and skills; not for my own glory
but for His.
~~
Friday afternoon – I was in the middle of three conference
calls in a row and needing to head to the airport afterward to pick up one of
the radiology instructors, when I was asked to meet with one of our leaders in
the café. A bit breathless after the crazy
day and week and sprint that I had been on since the start of Congo, I sat down
and was informed I would be heading to Brazzaville on Tuesday to speak and
present Mercy Ships to the United Nations - World Health Organization, which
was hosting a large gathering with delegations from 49 of the 52 African
countries as well as a group from the headquarters in Geneva, including the Secretary
General.
Okay. I said. And then ran out to do the airport run.
I was really glad my car was full of people for the airport run
as it allowed me to just drive and think and pray and not engage in
conversation! It was a blur of thoughts
and prayers and emotions and excitement, but ultimately, I just want to honor
and represent God and Mercy Ships to the best of my ability. I trust the leaders here and know they wouldn’t
ask me to do something like this without complete confidence that I could do it
well. And I know I have a gift with
communicating, and I don’t get nervous in front of an audience, regardless of
who is in the audience. I’m just honored
that I get to use that gift to bring glory to God and visibility to Mercy
Ships, an organization I love and believe in.
~~
The next day I had already made plans to go hiking with friends
and debated as to whether that was the best idea or if I should stay behind to
work on my talk, I’m really glad we decided I should go. My dear friend and coworker Michelle was
going to make up the PowerPoint for the presentation and go over with me on
Sunday the things I needed to cover. So
I went out and hiked and enjoyed the beauty of creation and friendships and
exercise and fresh air and freedom from marine grade glass and bulkheads and paperwork
and computer screens. It was glorious.
.jpg) |
| Hiking through legit jungle. Incredible. |
~~
Sunday I finalized some details for the Radiology course and
did some laundry and worked with Michelle and then some other people on the
presentation. We weren’t really sure about anything – not about how much time
we would have or the setup of the room or whether or not we would have PowerPoint
availability or even whether I should speak in English or French. So we planned for most of those possibilities
and I felt (mostly) ready for any of the above.
I’ll admit I panicked a little tiny bit about what to
wear. I mean, I have some decently nice
clothing but nothing seemed appropriate to be catapulted on to the world stage…
But ultimately, I reasoned, I’m a volunteer who had three days’ notice. I
couldn’t fly to Paris that weekend to go shopping and I didn’t know I would
need a suit and can’t get one here. So I’ll wear the dressiest thing I have
with me and that will have to be good enough.
And then, of course, it was. Phew.
Monday began the course which went really well, and I was so
thankful I had prepped my day crew well enough in the first few weeks that I
felt confident enough to leave them to it whilst I was away. I borrowed a nice
carryon bag and ironed a couple shirts and went over the presentation again and
tried to get some good sleep.
 |
| A snapshot of students learning about ultrasound techniques |
Tuesday I was out at the radiology course early as we were
expecting press there that day. Sure enough they showed up and I was glad to
have Jay, our PR/Media guru, present. Racing back to the ship to throw the rest
of my stuff in my bag I was obviously a bit worked up and nervous as I
completely forgot my passport – Brenda saved me and got it to me before we left
the ship but if she hadn’t, I would have not probably realized it until we had
reached the airport! Traffic was especially bad, too, and it took a long time
to get there. I was travelling with one other Mercy Shipper and we would meet
the third at the hotel. I’m always amazed at the stuff that goes on in an
African airport that you would never see in the states; nothing dangerous, per
se, but it’s always extremely loud with arguments erupting here and there and
security hand searching every single bag and everyone hurrying up to wait.
The flight itself was short and we were greeted in the
airport by a driver who rushed us through passport checks, no standing in line
this time! Didn’t see much of Brazzaville
but what I did see was nice; wide roads and traffic circles and big parks with
pine trees (those somehow always seem out of place to me here in Africa). We met up at the hotel and talked through
what would happen that evening; as it turns out it was a bigger gathering than
we had initially anticipated, they expected 500 attendees and it was all Ministers
of Health, Ambassadors, government leaders, and high ranking officials. It was a huge and actually unheard-of-before
honor for Mercy Ships to present to this audience; to their knowledge it’s
never been allowed for a non-profit to present at this level. It was decided the best course of action was
for me to speak in English and the PowerPoint to be in French, that way we
wouldn’t lose half our time in translating every word but the message would get
out appropriately in both languages. I was relieved; I knew I could do it OK in
French but not knowing really what the venue or audience would be like I was
glad to fall back into my mother tongue.
Then we headed to our respective rooms and I stretched out
on the huge king size bed after taking a long, hot shower. Truth be told, that was one of the most fun
things about the getaway; our ship beds are smaller than a standard twin and
our showers are limited to two minutes, so to enjoy the luxury of space and time
was a perfect way to be mentally ready for the big event that evening.
 |
| Snap from my hotel window. Grass! Beautiful. :) |
~~
The dinner was held in a huge tent - but not like any tent I
have ever seen. This tent had
chandeliers and air conditioning and a dance floor and a stage and seating for
500 around ornately decorated tables. We
were early as we wanted to make sure the PowerPoint would work and after a bit
of fumbling around it did. Guests arrived by the hundreds through a receiving
line of elegantly dressed hostesses, the music provided by two of Congo’s
best-known musical groups. Our
presentation was the first and only presentation before dinner; I was thankful
to find this out as then I knew I would actually enjoy dinner and conversation
in a way I wouldn’t have had it been afterward!
It went really well, even though the room setup was awkward
and I couldn’t really see the screens, and our participation served its
purpose; to put the name and mission of Mercy Ships in the minds and hearts of the
500 world health leaders in attendance. After we finished dinner was served and
the music began; the musicians were very good but very loud and conversations
were limited. However, we made contact
with a few people we needed to make contact with and then headed back to the hotel.
~~
The next morning, after a restless night and another
obscenely long shower, I found out at breakfast that the delegation from a
nearby country with which we (Mercy Ships) very much wants to build a
relationship so as to serve there in the future would be coming back to the
ship with us for a private lunch and tour… and I was invited to be a part of that. Wow, what an honor! We packed up and headed back to the airport
and after an uneventful flight back to Pointe Noire I got to experience another
first: travelling in a police-escorted motorcade! It was crazy, how fast we
drove as the traffic parted like the Red Sea for our motorcade heading back to
the ship. Wow! Once we arrived at the ship
we were ushered up to lunch and then the tour and translating and it’s honestly
all kind of a blur to me but I remember looking around a few times and thinking
about the previous 24 hours and thinking, how
on earth did I end up here?
~~
Once we saw the delegation off I dove head first back into
Radiology course details among other meetings and projects and reports and people.
I worked quite a long day Thursday and another long day Friday followed by
dinner out with our instructors and back at it Saturday morning… but it was
wonderful. I love people and speaking
and tours and relationships but couldn’t do that all the time or I would go
crazy. I also love administration, details, reports, supporting others, but
couldn’t do that all the time either or I would go crazy. I love that this job allows me to do
both.
~~
So that was my week. It was crazy and exhausting and exhilarating
and entirely awesome. This week should
be much calmer, and I know that I need to settle in to the marathon pace for
this field service, as a sprint is just not sustainable. Thanks, my friends, for your support and
prayers and thoughts and encouragement. I have much more to write but will leave it at
that for now…. Blessings- Krissy
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