"Angels amongst the sons of men"

Sometimes I miss home. I miss good coffee. I miss being able to go out and about on my own and going for a run in clean, non-polluted air. I miss being able to communicate with anyone. I miss baking and of course I miss friends and family. So why come to Africa? For me, that question is answered every day: every time a crowd of kids gleefully greets me on the street simply because I'm white; every time I send an entire ward of Africans into a fit of laughter because I'm trying to pantamime the question "have you had a bowel movement today"?; every time I jog by the crowd of disfigured people that is forming outside the ship each morning waiting to be seen; whenever I get to cuddle the orphans who are craving attention, and every time I get thanked profusely for placing an IV just because they are so grateful to be having surgery. I love the huge hug the little cashew-vendor lady on the street gives me when she sees me even from a distance because I've purchased her cashews on a few occassions. I love that I can have a full conversation with a mama about her baby by using hand signals. I love the joyful music and dance that breaks out at any given time...and letting them laugh at me as I try to dance along! I think its beautiful when a surgical patient herself gets up to help another patient to the bathroom or when the mothers on the ward lovingly care for each other's children in times of need. Of course there are things that are difficult but God is definitely real in this place.
This week I have been blessed to work with an older man who is very sick. He is precious and gives me the biggest, most genuine grin every time I walk to his bed. Half his face is covered in gauze as he has a weeping wound around his left eye, grossly disfiguring his face. He is being treated for a very serious infection and we are discussing what to do next. Hopefully the medications will clear up the purulent, bloody drainage that is constantly dripping from his nose and face. He is gentle and grateful, reminding me when it is time for his IV medication and nodding happily as I draw his blood. He told us that he was so depressed about his condition and his appearance that he contemplated suicide before coming to us for treatment. My heart broke to hear this! I'm praying that we can help him but mostly encourage his heart.
It is a true blessing to be here.
Please keep praying for these people and for my heart, that it would be willing and open to whatever God would have for me.

This is a beautiful poem that a patient wrote for us (his English is great!)

ANGELS AMONGST THE SONS OF MEN
The day the Big White whale landed on the black shores of Africa was a blessed day to the sons of men.
It came with angels to walk amongst the sons of men.
Why do I call them Angels? Let me tell you of my time with them.
I came aboard the White Whale with rooms filled with the lame, the mame, the formed, the deformed, the wrong and the rough.
And deep into the darkest part of the night I saw men and brethren, maidens and ladies though flesh as us yet with hearts of angels.
Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night, through the pains and aches of men. They with hands to heal and mend, bringing from above the Fathers love to the sons of men.
Some they cut, some they tie, some they seal and yet others they fix with tools untold.
Like messengers of the Most High they came not thinking of their own, they risked their lives and sailed the sea to the lands beyond the endless world to shores of men afflicted and in pain.
Their hearts and lives they came to share as angels who walk amongst the sons of men.
Some in this life are born to pass and some are born in life to live, yet these angels are born to preserve humanity.
Though some lives we see as waste yet with speed they move to save. With words of love and touch of peace they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.
You were born as men to your lands and yet as angels you served the earth.
Gold is dug from earth beneath. Treasures are hunted on high seas. But love so pure and true can only in hearts like yours be found.
Your labor in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save
For every bone you mend and every face you straight
The Lord of life and light will light your path and guide your life.
For you are truly Angels amongst the sons of men.

By Prince Eddie Daniels

Work and Play

I just wanted to share an amazing weekend with you guys! After a hard work week I enjoyed a LONG bike ride down African dirt roads to a distant salt-water pool with amazing girlfriends! What a great day enjoying the sun and seeing the country from a different vantage point.
Saturday night we had an 80s dance party! Who knew serving on a ship off the coast of West Africa could be so much fun?! We were wondering what the locals thought of us... a bunch of white people in crazy clothes jumping around to loud music on the top deck of a ship. :) It was a great time to laugh, be silly and let our hair down with our fellow shipmates.




walk like an egyptian...:)



doing the limbo ...



My beautiful roommate...so stylish! :)




It was a great time!

Now then, I wouldn't want you to think we only play on this ship called Africa Mercy. I have a few pictures (a bit graphic I'm warning you) of some of our patients going into surgery. They had some of the most massive tumors I've seen and have lived trying to hide their face... How sad! Praise God for amazing surgeons and for the fact that these patients are recovering nicely on our wards.



This is the mama of one of my favorite tiny babies in the whole world!! We have loved caring for her baby while she recovers. :)







This person wore a cloth over her face all the time to cover this tumor. What a new start! I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve these people :)

Here we go again...!

Wow. "Here I am again" is all I could think as I got off the plane to be greeted by crowds of sweaty people pushing and shoving to be first in line for their luggage. After three days of travel it was all I could do to barely muster a smile and make an apathetic gesture as my suitcase rolled by. My energy was rejuvinated, however, when I was reunited with several wonderful friends from my time before. Sarah, who out of the beauty of her heart willingly became my bunkmate in the tiniest space two people could possibly be expected to live, met me at the airport. I felt loved as I was welcomed by Mel, Deb, Sarah, Davey, the Nepalese guards, and the dear African translators. What a wonderfully warm place to be!
We started the weekend off with a bang, going from pool to beach to favorite local eatery. I was so blessed by this as I had the inevitable "transition jitters." What am I doing here again? Did I make the right choice? One such adventure was the African carnival. As it was one of our friend's last weekends in Africa, he wanted the excitement of entrusting his life to African ferris wheels. We all went along for the experience. ay ya yai.











Now, moving right along. They are short on nurses right now, especially with all the sicknesses ravaging crew on the ship, so I was put right to work. Honestly, though, it was just what I needed. I needed to love on some kids and be reminded why I fell in love with them in the first place. These kids are so brave!!






One such brave little hero of the week was Aimee.(pictures following) This little 4 year old boy was suffering from Burkett's cancer.When I arrived they told me he was just here for his third dose of chemo. This cancer (which really only exists in subtropical areas due to the fact that it attacks children who have been immunocompromised for a long time from malaria and are consequently bit by a certain type of mosquito) is usually treatable if the child receives three doses of chemo within a very tight time-frame. In 80% of cases you can actually visibly see the facial tumors shrink within a day! Aimee, however, was too sick for this chemo. He had contracted a respiratory infection and therefore the chemo was a few days too late and had spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes. My poor little boy was suffocating to death and it was miserable to watch. His mother went from having a healthy little boy only a few weeks earlier to being told that she was going to lose him. As this was her only boy she was hysterical, literally pulling her hair out. What was beautiful out of this was to see the other patients care for her. One patient in particular who had a deep love for the Lord and was healing from surgery himself would walk over to her several times a day to lay hands on Aimee and pray for him. When we could do little, her fellow Africans stepped up.
Aimee passed away on Wednesday in his grandmother's arms. His mother had gone home as it was too unbearable for her to watch.



All I can pray is that God will "turn her mourning into gladness" and "give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow." Jer 31:13.

On a happier note, my heart was FILLED with joy when I had a very special little visitor!! Maomai was a tiny 4 lb baby girl that I cared for in the ICU three months ago after a very intense surgery to remove a massive taratoma from her neck. She was expected to die and we were especially worried after she would not eat or gain weight. I called her my "little peanut" as I spent countless hours on my night shifts holding her and trying to feed her. This week she came back for a visit..and she is BEAUTIFUL and best of all...CHUNKY! :) Praise the Lord. :) Her mother was beaming and it made my week.

before...

our chunky "little peanut" with her happy mama!


Okay what else can I go on about...? :) For some more fun I sang a worship song in Spanish with my friend Juan as we were celebrating all the different cultures on the ship. I don't seem to really fit into any certain culture... :) Also I got to dance and eat ethnic African food on Obama beach for a goodbye party that Davey's African friends threw for him. They know how to have fun!

Overall it has been a wonderful week, jumping right back into life in Africa. It has been full of ups and downs, concluding with a very long stay in bed as I have had the joy of contracting a stomach bug. I don't think I have ever lost that much in the way of fluids! And I definitely wanted my mommy..:) But God has a way of slowing us down when we need it which was good for me. Thanks for your prayers!! Please keep in touch. Angela

Wrong address

I made it to Africa and through my first week. I already have some great stories so will post an update slash pictures tomorrow but wanted to correct a mistake I made in my address here...It was brought to my attention that I put the wrong zip code down for my address here. It is :
Angela Nesse
ICU Nurse
c/o Mercy Ships M/V Africa Mercy
PO Box 2020
Garden Valley, TX 75771.
oops :)

Photos I love

Going back...!

Hello friends and family!!

As some of you know, I spent the last couple months volunteering on a medical ship called the Africa Mercy in Benin, West Africa. Who thought of turning a ship into a mobile hospital that offers free surgeries to needy people all over Africa? Brilliant if you ask me. :) The local hospitals in Africa are filthy, expensive and crowded. They require payment upfront for any sort of treatment that they offer... money that people don't have. That is why I have come to love and appreciate what the medical team on Mercy Ships is doing for Benin and the surrounding countries. I absolutely loved my time there, despite the challenges that arose. God filled my heart with joy and purpose that is unexplainable! Coming back to work at Doernbecher has made me realize how much my heart is still wanting to be in Africa. Therefore I am quitting my job in trust that God is calling me to Africa from mid-August until at least the end of this Mercy Ships "outreach" which ends in December. It was a tough decision as I feel so blessed to have an amazing job at a state-of-the-art facility in Portland but know that the knowledge and skills that I have learned here will be incredibly useful overseas. I also trust that when I come back, whenever that may be, that there will be another great job available. I would like to ask you for your prayers, mostly for joy and trust. It is amazing what a heart that is full of joy is willing to do! Also I feel like I am making some big life decisions and just need to trust God with my desires, hopes, plans and ideas. Trusting Him both with the big and little details of life is a challenge for me. One important area of trust is with finances and I would welcome your financial assistance these coming months if you feel so led. I need to raise about $5000 to cover the cost of living and travel through December.
You can make a donation!Angela Nesse, 202 Leisure Ln, Port Angeles WA 98362 (until mid August)OR send a check to:Mercy ShipsPO Box 2020, Lindale TX 75711. Please designate “Angela Nesse” on the check itself and with a sticky note. (this is tax deductible and will be deposited in my ship account). Thank you!!!

Please keep in touch! I bought a laptop so will be able to update my blog more frequently http://angelanesse.blogspot.com/ or (better yet) find me on Facebook. Also I am able to receive mail on the ship (they charge me by the ounce to receive a package so just letters are best unless it is pretty light :)) My address will be:Angela NesseICU Nurse/Wardc/o Mercy Ships M/V Africa MercyPO Box 2020 Garden Valley, TX 75711 I will have a phone in my room that is a Texas based phone number so calling me from your cell phone would be free! The best way to coordinate a time to talk would probably be through email so that I can be sensitive to all my roommates. I'll keep you posted on the number. Email is easiest for me so please email me as I would love to stay connected! angelanesse@gmail.com Thank you for your support, encouragement and prayers. I’m excited for this adventure! Please pray for the people of Benin who receive treatment from us, that they may experience love and compassion. Also for the thousands of patients we need to turn away due to a full schedule: please pray that they may somehow find hope and healing. In His love, Angela Nesse J Isaiah 61

Frustrations

Sorry this took me so long! I have arrived back to Portland safely and absolutely LOVED my time in Africa..this is the last note from there:

A car full of crew members was driving along a busy city road when a tragedy occurred: a zimi (motorbike) that had been weaving in and out of traffic hit a woman on the side of the road. It was a terribly gruesome accident as the woman's leg was nearly completely severed off. Luckily Dr. Jose, an extremely talented surgeon from Spain (he was actually the chief of pediatric thoracic surgery in Madrid), was in the car. He did his best to tourniquet the leg before rushing her to the local hospital. She had lost almost three liters of blood so we took an emergency blood donation on the ship to keep her alive. Because we paid the $44 required to do surgery on her leg at the local hospital she is doing well and healing. Through this experience, however, I have become aware of the desperate state of the local hospital system. The hospitals here are first of all dirty, cramped and noisy. There are so many patients that they carry numbers around their necks to identify them and must sit lined up in the hallways when beds run out. What's worse is that if they do not have the money up front to pay for treatment they will not be seen. They must pay a daily fee to stay in the hospital plus the cost of their treatment, which includes buying their own medications, IVs, bandage supplies, etc. Those that are unable to pay are not admitted. Instead they lay on the dirt ground outside the door as doctors and nurses pass by, ignoring their cries. One of our translator's siblings had severely fractured his humerus and because he had no money, was laying in the filth for five days, bleeding and screaming in pain.Celestine had been a patient with us for three weeks. She came with a grotesquely infected leg, worsened by diabetes. She was septic and therefore had her leg amputated. She seemed to be healing slowly but was clearly depressed. We discovered that her husband left her years ago when she first got sick and took her sons with him. Her entire family disowned her because of this gross infection and refused to come despite our many attempts to contact them. She passed away this last week as I was caring for her, alone and unloved by family....but very loved by many of us on the ship. Maybe she was just brought here to be loved as she died.Another one of our patients passed away but this one was an act of injustice. A teenage mother brought her two month old baby to us four months ago, extremely malnourished due to a cleft lip and palate. He weighed only 3 lbs. With tube feeds and three months of lots of care and attention he gained enough weight to have surgery. Many people on the ship fell in love with him and the mother seemed to bond with him, despite the fact that these children are traditionally thought of as demon children because of their deformity. We sent them back to their village with special formula and a feeling of success. This week, however, we found out that the mother had gone home to another man (not the baby's father) and that they were refusing any follow up visits and would not pick up their formula. The social worker finally travelled to their house only to discover that because of the strong voodoo beliefs in the village the mother had been pressured to starve "our" baby...to death.These frustrations and heartaches have been tough but as I was reminded I did ask God to open my eyes to what breaks His heart. I guess He answered that prayer! What a broken world this is...It has been a tiring, busy week but I have learned a lot. I have worked every day as we are short staffed, even helping in the OR and getting some experience as a dental assistant! :) How interesting...I can't complain though because last weekend I joined some friends on a fun adventure to a village called Possotome, right by the Togo border. We learned how to fish from the locals, played with many cute kids that enjoyed staring at us, hiked through several villages, made friends to eat lunch with, etc. I love the laid back, easy-going attitude of the people. :) It was very relaxing.On friday we were all planning to go to one of the president's palaces for a banquet he had prepared for us. That morning, however, he told us that he would have to reschedule. I'm sure as the president of a country he is a very busy man and that would give him an excuse to cancel on 300 guests! :) haha. Oh well...we still had a fun night. It is an amazing blessing to live with so many people that have become wonderful friends. And I am so blessed to be a nurse...I do love my job! :) Love you all...see you soon!