Counting my blessings...

I had another one of 'those' moments yesterday. I was standing on an outside deck thinking...How did I get to be the one spending my birthday watching whales on the beautiful Indian Ocean, on a ship in Africa...right after my classroom has been completely TP'd (toilet papered) by my best international friend. Is this real life?

Just Keep Sailing

After having ‘been in’ Benin, being ‘gone’ to Ghana and getting ‘to go’ to Togo, we are now making the voyage to South Africa! The journey through the Atlantic has been exciting! The first few days of the sail were beautiful! I forgot how much I enjoyed sailing! We then spent a few days holding onto the constantly-moving environment and strapping ourselves into bed at night as the seas became quite rough! The seas have calmed again allowing for some beautiful days on the bow of the ship – watching for whales, dolphins, seals, sharks and yes….even penguins!
Contrary to what many would expect, being confined to a 500 foot ship surrounded only be water on all sides….is actually quite fun! Thanks to some very creative and fun crew members, there have been a lot of great activities!

1. A massive game of ‘gotcha’ proved to be nerve-wracking as we all watched our backs in the dining room and hallways, avoiding the crew member who had your name. I sacrificed my life (in the game of gotcha) to this dolphin…just when I turned to admire the dolphin….Squirt. GOTCHA!
2.The IMAX theatre really wouldn’t do Titanic justice as much as being ON a ship, hearing waves crash and feeling the cold breeze as Jack slips away into the cold abyss of an ocean while Rose passionately blows her whistle to alert the attention of the lifeboat that would come to her rescue. Never let go. Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” has never sounded so beautiful.

3. Hob Nob Olympics. Hob Nobs are cookies that are very effective for seasickness. Teams of 4 competed intensely at different events to win the Hob Nob box trophy. Here is our team…the Peptos. Another possible remedy for seasickness although I haven’t tested out this theory yet.
4.My list of teaching vocabulary has been extended…or maybe just ‘modified’.
a. “Hands to yourself” has become “two feet on deck!”
b. “Sit down in your chair” has become “try to hold your book down as you work
on the floor since your desks and chairs have toppled over”
c. “You feel sick? We’ll call your mom” has become “You feel sick? Watch the
horizon.”
d.“Recess!” has become “Whale watching time!”

5.‘Under/Over the Sea’ Day was our most recent spirit day. We had the entire cast of Spongebob join us as well as sailors, sea animals, ships, and seaweed.


6.Camping took on a whole new meaning when we had a girl’s sleepover on deck 8!

Just to name a few! Now we can see the beautiful coastline of South Africa! Land ho!

"She would have been trafficked...."

My family started sponsoring children when I was young. I was fascinated by the fact that we could write letters and be a part of someone's life who lived so far away! I really enjoyed writing to the children and sending family pictures! Each time I would write a letter I would imagine what it would be like to go and visit one of these children in their village. Well, this dream came true for me on Saturday!



We received a letter from one of the children (Catherine) while I was visiting home this summer. She wrote about her village and mentioned the name of it. Google maps brought me to realize that she was literally 2 hours away from where the ship is located right now in Togo! Catherine lives in a small village in the Volta Region of Ghana which is a bordering country to Togo. After a few emails back and forth with the organization, a meeting time was set and we were on our way!!

3 friends came along (Christina, Stephan, and Friedhelm) on the journey. We were picked up at the Togo/Ghana border early in the morning and made our way to the village. We were greeted by some people from the village and were taken to Catherine's house. We sat and talked (through translation) with Catherine, her 6 siblings, her mother, grandmother, uncle, the village Chief and 2 of the village elders.



They took us on a walk around her village, showing us the small lake where they wash their clothing, the well that provides the whole village with clean drinking water, and the school where Catherine goes (along with her 54 classmates and 500 other students from surrounding villages!). The government has agreed to put electricity in the village so there were some hydro poles (without wires still) around the village as well.





Catherine's village is one of the villages where an Ewe cultural practice called Trokosi is common. In this practice, young virgin girls are sent into fetish shrines to atone for the sins committed by their family members. These girls serve as sexual or domestic slaves for the fettish priests and never receive a payment. The Ghanaian government outlawed this practice in 1998 so IN Network has participated heavily in liberating these girls from the shrines. They have a rehabilitation center where the women learn new skills so they can start their own businesses in their villages. We were also able to tour this facility and meet some of the girls at the center.

It was so amazing to see the work that IN Network has been able to do in this community alone. God has used this organization powerfully to affect so many lives. The words are still ringing in my ears when I was told "If Catherine was not sponsored, she most likely would have been trafficked into Trokosi". It just breaks my heart to think of how many more young girls there are in the world where the reality of trafficking is the only future that exists for them right now. When will this reality end?

Back to School!

Tomorrow marks the first day back to school for the kids on the Africa Mercy!
I am honoured to teach Grade 4 this year. We had an Open House event for the kids and families on board to check out the new classrooms and meet the new teachers! Our Grade 4/5 class this year is 'detective' themed! Here are some pictures!

From one home to another...

Ahoy matees! I arrived back on board on Sunday evening after 25 hours of flying, driving, and of course, lots of walking! It is good to be back on the ship. We've swung right into work mode with school starting up on Monday! I will be teaching Grade 4 this year in a brand new (much bigger) classroom! :) I am very excited for this new challenge!

Having been surrounded by close friends and family at home the last few weeks, I really have come away feeling refreshed and ready to tackle another year on board the Africa Mercy. I have been so encouraged by everyone and have realized why exactly I was so excited to come home! One of the questions I was asked a lot when I was home was ‘are you culture shocked?!’ The quick answer to this was ‘yep, definitely’.

There were times where I would stand in shock thinking….”I must have lived the past year of my life in another reality altogether.” It really feels like such a different world. I think the most culture shock I have experienced during my time at home, has been the reality that two VERY different worlds can co-exist on the same earth.

On my first flight, I sat beside a young boy with the newest clothing, fully equipped with an Ipod touch, a gaming system and a brand new VERY NICE cell phone. We looked through a plane magazine that tried to convince us that we needed a self cleaning cat litter box, a small robot, video taping sunglasses and an indoor turf box for the puppy…..duty free!

Did I really just spend a few hours in a metal flying object that placed me back in a world where food is only a mere possibility for someone? A world where the contaminated water someone will drink will contribute to the rapid flesh eating disease they are experiencing? Or the tumour that is increasing in size daily on their face?

Its hard to fathom that these worlds really do exist simultaneously- that our primary concern CAN be ‘how can I get the cat litter box to clean itself?’

Shocking?… yep, definitely.

When the lame walk....

Sometimes pictures really do say more than 1000 words ever could.

This is Abel...

Held...In her Father's arms

Words seem so hard to find. Anicette was taken into her Father's arms on Monday morning (http://alirae.net/blog/archives/371-speak.html) . Heaven rejoices to have such a precious little girl join them. Her family left to grieve and return to their village, empty and broken. We can only pray that they too, would be held in the arms of the Father.

Held (Natalie Grant)
Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we'd be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We're asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it's unfair

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held

Hold them Father. Please, just hold them.