Guinea and the sail

Blog 23

Guinea and the sail

Brenda van Straten (SA) on the radio, sending down the Guinean flag bearers Michelle, Carys and Lara.

the group that went to the island. The man in black is a friend sam met whose name i never learnt. Sam, me, Rox and Sandy.

Michelle and me before arriving in Guinea

A few SAn crew having a laugh

South African crew!

As scheduled we arrived in Conakry, Guinea last week Wednesday. It was a wet and welcome arrival where we were met by the Advance Team (a group of Mercy Shippers who left the ship 4 months ago to prepare many things in Conakry so that we can hit the ground running once here), the prime minister of Guinea and a Mercy Team (a group of short term servers from a church that come to help with certain projects). Obviously and sadly it is very easy to simply compare Guinea with Togo as I found people comparing Sierra Leone with Togo in my first few weeks with the ship.

Perhaps comparing to ideals is better. Conakry has a small peninsular and this houses many important state offices, popular sites and the port. It is wonderful that we can be walking distance from many things around town. There are many restaurants and markets around and many different things can be found. Last week I found the fish market and bought calamari for a very good price (I cooked some in garlic and the rest in a spicy tomato sauce).  The peninsular is much militarised due to the various departments and presidential palace here. Many roads are blocked to cars by spikes and armed bakkies! It is nice though to be able to run on these roads without fear of cars.

Our berth is rather close to the port exit and the port authorities are pleasant to deal with. We don’t, however, have the luxury of our own dock which increases the safety measures in place. There is a cholera outbreak in Guinea so our hygiene and enforcement thereof on the ship have also been stepped up. Could the health of all the crew and day workers be prayed for please? And, of course, an end to this outbreak.

This week the new day workers began work. The galley has been very full, having 8 extra staff. This will only be until they have all been trained, then they will divide between the two teams. As I’m sure you will remember I wrote about a friend/ day worker in Togo called Tom. Tom was told that he could come and work in Guinea as the ward (hospital) chef. He raised the 160$ from donations that he required to travel from Lomé. Upon arriving he was told that he was never promised a job and did not have the paperwork to prove it. Yesterday I met up with him outside the port gate where he waits, trying to get my boss to call him. I hassled my boss until he called Tom to explain the situation regarding Guinean worker/ non Guinean worker restraints. The galley has finished hiring staff. My boss said that he would speak to Human Resources today to make some sort of arrangement whereby Tom can work. Could you please pray that a solution might be found soon and that Tom is not left in the awkward position he is currently in.  

Thank you

I spent my second to last free weekend in Guinea relaxing and reading while it rained outside- enjoying the little of winter I might get this year. I also went for a drive away from the peninsular which was helpful in learning certain landmarks such as the Grand Marché and our screening venue for Monday and possibly Tuesday’s potential patient screening. I will be able to help with the overnight security the night before the screening and then will have a few hours’ sleep before swopping with a galley worker from the other team on Monday afternoon so that they might get to experience screening day as well. Around 4000 people are expected to arrive for the screening. Could you please pray for peace and safety during this screening as well as opens ears to hear the Gospel?

On Sunday morning 3 friends and I went to one of a few islands off the Conakry coast. We were fortunate in having a beautiful day and in attaining a boat willing to take us there. Owing to the culture here, shorts are not appropriate for wearing ouside. I am, as a result, wearing my tailored ones more often. Due to pollution we may not (and wouldn’t want to) swim at the beaches around the peninsular. The islands have beaches which are somewhat cleaner and not polluted with sewage. We did not have too much time on the islands but did manage a swim and to see a hotel of sorts that looked rather run down. Thankfully the sea was not rough- many people have drowned crossing over due to unsafe boats. I may return there to spend the night next weekend. That would be instead of going to Sierra Leone. Leone is looking like an expensive trip with visas being a reported 100$. We are still investigating though.

With less than four weeks to go I am fast wrapping up my time here.

Once again, thanks for reading!