Mercy Ships - Benin

Today is my first day on Mercy Ships in Contonou, Benin. I have been here a little less than 24 hours. When I landed in Benin I couldn't believe I had actually landed in Africa. The airport had only one lane. The airplane had to do a 360 degree turn to around. There was no other lane for the plane to turn around on. Once the plane was stopped we had to all exit through one exit onto stairs onto the runway. The air smelled different. A mixture of air by the sea and pollution. It was air that I have never smelt before. Then we had to take a bus to the airport. Let me tell you, people do not use deodorant in Benin.

Once in the airport I had to fill out customs papers and go through immigrations. They didn't even really look at my papers, they just saw Mercy Ships and let me through. Then waiting for my luggage was a 45 minute ordeal of people pushing and bumping into you. Also it is not air conditioned room and it is humid here. Then there are police checking your bags, so I waited for that to happen because everyone else was doing it, but the police officer waived me through.

Then I came upon the crowd of Africans and I kept scanning for some white faces for Mercy Ships. I found them and 5 other women had arrived with me. We took the car to the ship. First seeing the ship, I was in amazement. It is huge. I knew it was going to be large but I have never seen a cruise ship or any ship of substantial size.

Once we arrived we got our badges and room assignments. They had dinner waiting for us. I was surprised to find that there was no rice. I thought I was going to be eating rice and beans for dinner all the time. However, I learned that corn is the main stable here. After dinner I met my roommates, who are all nurses and they are very nice. I unpacked and then went to bed.

The next day I had to wake up at 8am to get my day started. I had breakfast and then orientation. I was taken around the entire ship was pretty confusing. Then the hospital manager took us on a tour of the city. We just drove around the main streets. I got to see the craft market and the vegetable market. Also we stopped by a hotel where people from Mercy Ships people swim and it is so nice. That is where the wealthy stay when they come here.

The streets are filled with these motor bikes, which are called jimmy jons, and they are their form of taxis. Apparently they are not very safe at all. Besides not wearing helmets, apparently some of the drivers are partially blind and Mercy Ships has fixed their eyes and told them they are taxi drivers. The pollution is bad but not as bad as Korea.

We went by the hospitality center. This center is for people pre and post surgery who don't need to be the hospital but who don't have someone to stay with in Contonou. They house the people in this two rooms. The patient sleeps on top of the bed and the caregiver sleeps on the floor underneath the bed so there is no waste of space. They also have a room that is for physical therapy, school for adults and children. There is no wasted space here.

We went to another restaurant and ate pizza there. the pizza was good surprisingly. Bill, the hospital manager, told us some of his experiences which was incredible. He had worked in Liberia for 8 years and he ran the biggest hospital in Liberia during their war. He was also the liason to Clinton when he visited Liberia. He had so many more stories.

We returned to the ship and then me and three other girls walked around town for a little bit. Of course people wanted us to buy things from them.

It has been a good day but I am still tired from travel.