My Africa Mercy blog

Mercy Ships delivers free, world-class healthcare services to the forgotten poor in developing nations. More than 1,500 crew members from around the globe serve annually. Each one volunteers his/her services to help fulfill the mission of Mercy Ships.

• Hi! Thanks for visiting my page! My name is Julie Stutzman and I'm serving with Mercy Ships for the first time from June 19 to July 11, 2010 in Togo, West Africa. I'm volunteering as a dental assistant and living on the Africa Mercy Ship, but driving to a Mercy Ships dental clinic in the village to work.
• UPDATES!
• Saturday, June 19 - Arrived safely at the Lome airport in Togo along with a group of about 9 other Mercy Ship volunteers. We were met by Mercy ship staff and taken to the ship by around 8 pm. A brief orientation presentation was given along with official name badges and room assignments. After eating with my group, I gratefully went to bed:) 
• Sunday, June 20 - Took the required "ship safety" tour with the others who just arrived last night. On the tour I saw the ship Starbucks and found the internet cafe where I'm sitting right now. I start working in the dental clinic tomorrow, and can't wait to see what adventures that will hold
• Monday, June 21 - Left the ship for the dental clinic around 8 am and arrived there about 1/2 hour later after a bumpy ride through town. People were already lined up outside the clinic and under the overhang around the building to get out of the rain. The clinic was actually nicer than I expected - a three story building with screening/check-in done on the first floor, patients seen on the second floor with about 10 manual dental chairs around the outside of the room and instruments set up down the center, and on the third floor sterilization and an open-air staff area for morning devotions and lunch break. I am assigned to work with a dentist from Switzerland and a Togolese interpreter/assistant named Mawuli who showed me the routine today. Together we saw about 23 patients and did 37 extractions I think. It was a busy morning, but all four dentists and all the assistants were able to treat most of the patients before lunch, and after lunch we finished up and went back to the ship. I still have lots to learn in the clinic, but a better idea of what to expect tomorrow.
• Tuesday, June 22 - Started for the dental clinic around 9 am today, however we were soon stopped by a lot of traffic in the city center and told to find a different route to the clinic because of some government protests. Tried several routes with the same results, so we decided to come back to the ship and see what was going on. Our director said that work is cancelled today and we'll try to get to the clinic again tomorrow. So much for thinking I knew what to expect today!
• Wednesday, June 23 - Protests in the city of Lome continue, so all staff is required to stay on the ship today. That means no dental clinic again, but I'll be working in the dining room and kitchen today so that should be fun:)  
• Thursday, June 24 - After an evaluation of the conditions in the city, the safety team said we could leave for the dental clinic about mid-morning...yay! Started seeing patients around 11:00 am which made for a short day, but I was glad to be back to doing what we came for - helping people with their teeth problems:) No protests or safety issues coming or going, thank the Lord!
• Friday, June 25 - A normal clinic day to end my first week at the Mercy Ships dental clinic. Hard to believe I'm already 1/3 of the way through my time here. The Swiss dentist, Mawuli and I saw about 20 patients: a few fillings, 27 extractions and 2 minor dental surgeries. Everyone at the clinic finished their patients early  so we were able to leave around 2:00 pm but heavy traffic on the way home made the 20 minute trip last an hour or so.
• Saturday, June 26- Visited a village orphanage with a group from Mercy Ships. On the way to the orphanage our SUV had to navigate bad roads with several deep "puddles" of water up to the top of the wheels because of rainy season I guess. The leaders of group did a short Bible story and some songs with the children, then the rest of us who couldn't speak much French (or any like me:) helped with a coloring page activity and games outside. About 20 children from toddlers to teens live there in a small building with a large walled garden area. It seemed to be safe for the kids and nice by African standards, but it was still hard to leave them all behind - especially my new little friend eleven-year-old Gloria.
• Sunday, June 27 - I went with two Land Rovers full of Mercy Ship crew to an African church thats called the "Fishing Village Church" because of its location in a very poor fishing village on the water. The worship service was very different than anything I've ever experienced and I really can't explain it here, other than lots of African singing, dancing, and a very long message lasting about 2 1/2 hours. The church building was just an open pavillion with a tin roof and dirt floor so the breeze felt good in the heat and watching the children wandering in and out of the service along with goats and such was interesting too :)
• Monday, June 28 - A busy day at the dental clinic! One of the dentists from the UK left over the weekend so the remaining 3 dentists saw a long line of patients. Mawuli, Dr. Daniel, and I were responsible for three dental chairs that were constantly full and by the end of the day we had seen 34 patients and were all tired.
• Tuesday, June 29 - Record number of extractions today! 71 teeth pulled by Dr. Daniel! Other than that exciting bit of news it was a fairly routine day at the dental clinic.
• Wednesday, June 30 - After a busy day at the clinic, I went out to an African restaurant with the dental staff and friends to celebrate Dr. Sandra's birthday. One of the local workers took us to the place which served a few different African dishes. Most of the group ordered fufu, so that's what I got too. It consisted of a dish with a scoop of mashed yams (like thick, stick mashed potatoes) and a dish of sauce with goat meat/parts. The way everyone ate their fufu was by using their fingers to grab a glob of yams and dip it into the sauce. The yams were very bland but the sauce was spicy so together the fufu actually wasn't bad and the fact that we ate outside in the dark was good so I couldn't really tell what goat parts were in the sauce:)
• Thursday, July 1 - Thankfully no bad side effects from the fufu! On a more serious note, an important government meeting about the African protesters was held today. The dental team was allowed to go out to the clinic but we were constantly on the look out for any sign of trouble. God protected us and there were no issues at all. The government also decided to lower the price of fuel because I guess the protests were about a sudden increase in gas prices.
• Friday, July 2 - This was the day a large strike/demonstration was planned for the city of Lome to protest the cost of fuel...however since the goverment lowered gas prices yesterday the Mercy Ship safety officers had no idea what to expect so neither did the dental team. I don't know how many times I heard that as a dental team we were going out to the clinic...no we weren't...yes we were... you get the idea:) The week before 3 African people were killed in the protests so Mercy Ships wanted to make sure it was safe to go out in the city, thus we waited to hear the official word. At 9:00 the safety officer told us the roads were clear and it was safe to drive to the clinic. The roads were super quiet because the taxi drivers were on strike all day long, but thank the Lord for answered prayer, because there were no protests or riots and my second week at the dental clinic finished safely.
• Saturday, July 3 - My first day to sleep in since I got to Africa:) After lunch I went with a group of Mercy Ship crew to the markets of Lome. We started at an artisan market where African craftsmen were selling their own handmade goods. There were all kinds of fabric, dresses, bags, carvings, paintings - everything very African and everyone wanting you to buy THEIR products. Next we ventured into the grand market where absolute craziness was the theme. Here anything you can think of was being sold or at least pushed on all the poor people walking through the markets and if you didn't get run over by a car or motorcycle going at high speeds through the crowds some vendor might just run you over in his enthusiam to make a sale to "rich" foreigners:) Most of girls I was shopping with were looking for fabric to have African dresses made by some of the African dressmakers on board. So we went into several fabric stores and bargained with the shop keepers until we got a price we all agreed on. Not only did I survive the market maddness, but I also found some very nice fabric and I'm excited about trying to get a dress made this week before I leave.
• Sunday, July 4- Happy Fourth of July to all Americans! "God bless the USA" was playing on board today as we were waiting to leave for church. I went to the Fishing Village Church again this morning for a very good service and lots of pictures with the kids afterwards. If the internet here wasn't so slow I would post more pictures, but I may be able to upload a few... Tonight there is a BBQ on the dock to celebrate our American holiday with fireworks, I hope:) If I had to guess, I would say that about 50% of the crew serving on the Africa Mercy are Americans and the other 50% come from MANY other countries, but tonight everyone will be celebrating the Fourth of July together!
• Monday, July 5- One of my patients today was the 4,000th patient to be treated at the Mercy Ships dental clinic in Togo! Dr. Daniel, Mawuli and I got a picture with her that I'll have to post sometime. The goal for the clinic is to treat 5,000 patients during an outreach and we're not far from that goal for this year.
• Tuesday, July 6- After working at the dental clinic, I went with a group from Mercy Ships to show the Jesus film somewhere in the city of Lome. We set up outside the Mercy Ships hospitality center where some patients live before and after treatment on the ship. It was amazing to see people in the street stopping to watch the story of Jesus and there was a nice crowd gathered by the end of the film. Pray that seeds of the Gospel would be planted in the heart of each African who saw the Jesus film that night.
• Wednesday, July 7- Very busy day at the dental clinic! Just the dentist I was assisting saw over 40 patients and took out something like 88 teeth, beating our last record to pieces:)
• Thursday, July 8- At the weekly community meeting for all the people on board the ship, we saw a brand new tv series filmed on/about Mercy Ships called Mighty Ships with the Discovery Channel. I guess it plays in Europe next week and the USA sometime in the fall. The series had great shots of the life on the the Africa Mercy and interviews with lots of people I've gotten to know during my time here. So if you get a chance to watch it sometime, I would highly recommend it:)  
• Friday, July 9- My last day of work at the Mercy Ships dental clinic... it was another super busy day and goodbyes were hard at the end of it, but we're all going to try to keep in touch through email and facebook. After supper, my friends from the Mercy Ship took me and one of my roommates, who is also leaving, out to an ice cream shop in the city. I had an amazing crepe with ice cream and fruit toppings, proving that there is good food to be eaten in Togo:)
• Saturday, July 10- Sad day....my flight home leaves today at 10:00 pm. Some of my good friends from the ship also left early to visit the country of Benin for the weekend, so I got up to see them off, then watched the sunrise from the top deck of the ship. My plans for today include one last trip to the orphanage, the grand market this afternoon, then packing, more goodbyes and off to the airport for the long trip home. I'm so grateful to God for the opportunity I've had to be in Togo, West Africa for the past 3 weeks and for Him blessing my time here with amazing friends, experiences, memories and stories. Also most importantly, seeing first hand God's work in the lives of the African people, the Mercy Ship crew from all over the world and my own life as well.
• Please pray for: -Safe travels, on-time flights, good connections in Europe -God's blessing on the continuing work of Mercy Ships here in Togo -Mercy Ship crew as they prepare the ship to sail to South Africa next month -Praise the Lord for the amazing experience, friends and memories over the past 3 weeks!
• Facts about Togo, West Africa- Geography: Togo, twice the size of Maryland, is on the south coast of West Africa bordering on Ghana to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Benin to the east. The Gulf of Guinea coastline, only 32 mi long, is low and sandy. The only port is at Lome. The Togo hills traverse the central section. Languages: French (official, commerce); Ewe, Mina (south); Kabye, Dagomba (north); and many dialects. Ethnicity: native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%. Religions: Indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Islam 20%