October Update

We have now been in Benin for 10 weeks and are quite settled. The hospital is running at full capacity most weeks. October is typically a very wet month and this has proved to be true with some truly torrential rain. It is scheduled to be drier through November and very dry and hot in December to February.

A new Supply Manager has been selected and will start in November allowing Tammy to remain as the Supply Admin Assistant. She will no doubt continue to remain the glue and continuity in the Supply Team. Tammy is well into her intensive French course at Institute Français and really enjoying it.

Mick was promoted to Second Engineer this month and is settling into the new role. We also bunkered 210,000 litres of fuel which took 2 full days. Hopefully the fuel company will bring a better pump next time. Mick has also completed 4 dives on the ship in Benin now. All the sea water grates have been removed and baskets ("Bangkok strainers" we called them in the Navy) have been fitted with magnets to hold them in place. The dive conditions remain challenging with limited visibility, a lot of rubbish and quite a lot of surge.  We are scheduled to conduct our second monthly main propulsion test this Wednesday which will be Mick's first as Second Engineer - please pray it goes well.

Bangkok strainer

We haven’t found a regular Saturday morning cafe to practice our French whilst having lunch. However last weekend we took a boat ride out to the stilt village of Ganvie - also known as the Venice of Africa. This was pretty cool. About 30,000 people live out here on the lake with schools, churches and a medical clinic all on stilts or man-made islands. The primary industry is fishing with the women trading and selling the fish for other goods and foods which are then sold in a floating market. Mick just wonders where all the sewage goes - fish food he suspects...

Harry driving the boat to Ganvie

We made friends with a visiting surgeon from Sydney - Christophe Berny - who originated from Geneva, Switzerland. He and Mick visited a school at Tangbo about 1 hour drive from the ship - École Clément Magnenat - financed by a young Swiss man - Clement Magnenat - who is a friend of Christophe's family. The school for about 50 students provides a second chance for kids who come from very poor families and have missed out on attending school. They range from 9 to 15 years old and typically do 8 years of schooling in 4 years to try and get them to a level they can re-join regular school. It was truly inspiring to visit and meet the teachers, children and administrator. We are planning to try and raise some money for the school and go and visit.

École Clément Magnenat

Mick has continued to try and get out on both his road bike and mountain bike. He and a few friends (aka cycling tragics) have taken to riding out to Bab's Dock along the Rue de Peche (12 km of sand road), and then taking the bikes in the small boat to Bab's Dock for coffees and waffles, before cycling back through the backblocks and along the disused rail line.

Bikes in the boat on the way to Bab's Dock for a coffee

Next weekend we are going to stay at Bab's Dock again on Saturday night giving us two days and a night off ship. The little sailing boat has been repaired so hopefully if there is some wind Mick and the boys can do some sailing. It will be good to have a break.

A film crew from National Geographic has been onboard since we arrived in Benin. They are partially financed by SBS and the producer is Madelaine Hetherington who produced The Surgery Ship. They filmed Mick in the engineroom changing a fuel pump and dosing the sewage system and then interviewed us in our cabin prior to Mick's promotion ceremony which they also filmed.

That was October.

Cheers, and Blessings,
Mick, Tammy, Jack, Mark and Harry

September Update

Well we have now been in Benin for 6 weeks and things are starting to settle down. The hospital is up and running, into its fourth week of surgeries. The ship is humming with the hospital running and the wards are full. Patient selection went for 4 weeks in Cotonou and all allocated slots are filled except for fistula. We have reserved surgery positions for up country patients and selections for these will start soon. The Hospital Out Patient Extension (HOPE) centre opened last week and is filling up too.

An interim Supply Manager has arrived from Texas allowing Tammy to revert to Supply Admin Assistant. However she is still the glue and continuity in the Supply Team. Tammy has signed up for a 9 week (3 times a week, 2 hours per lesson) intensive French course at Institute Français. She is both excited and nervous. At present there are 4 others also interested in attending. Mick will probably try and do the same course in January next year. On Friday afternoons she tries to get off ship with a few of the Mums for a drink and pomme frites at a local hotel.

For Mick the last month has been pretty hectic. The Chief Engineer is away on leave and courses for two month and we have an interim Chief who although very experienced needs advice on some things. The Second Engineer also changed for two months and the Fourth Engineer is also back in the USA on leave and courses without relief. We are also short engine ratings this month and are having to hire some contractors. The good news is that most of the machinery is running pretty well. We had our first monthly main propulsion test last Wednesday which went very well. We had our first dive on Thursday which Mick was part of the team for. It was miserable with about 15 cm visibility and lots of rubbish. He dived again on Friday which was a bit more successful but almost as poor visibility. We have not bunkered yet as there are still some deliberations over which company to buy the fuel from. Once this is sorted out we expect to bunker about 210,000 litres  per month which will take about 2 days each time.

After a bumpy start to the school year and field service the boys are settling down. It is always tough after such a long break, new teachers, new class mates and a new country. The blessing is our teachers are very committed to our children and truly partner with us in educating and raising them. We have done a few trips out on Saturday mornings looking for somewhere to practice our French whilst having lunch but have not yet found anywhere to rival Sucre Sal in Tamatave. Buying Fan Ice on the way home is a winner though, at 100 CFA each (about 20 cents).

Rode to Ouidah

Mick has managed to get out on both his road bike and mountain bike a few times. The traffic is quite chaotic with thousands of motor scooters so not a place for the boys to ride like Madagascar. He has ridden down to the Nigerian border a few times (about 70 km round trip) and to Ouidah once (88 km round trip) and been out in the bush on his MTB with some locals and expats.

Mountain biking with the locals and expats around Zinvie

Bab's Dock - Sunday morning

We have been out to Bab's Dock twice, once for a day trip and once for the weekend, staying overnight on Saturday. It is situated on a brackish lagoon about 20 km from the port. There are kayaks and a small sailing dinghy. Mick plans to teach the boys to sail. There is a restaurant and 2 bungalows and an assorted menagerie of animals - baboons, tortoises, dogs, cats, donkeys and a crocodile. We plan to try and stay there about once a month in order to refresh and recharge our batteries.

Mark and Harry hanging out at Bab's Dock

Our first visit we met some German Embassy staff and along with the German crew members we hosted 12 guests onboard last Sunday. We were then privileged to be invited to the German Reunification Day reception at the German Ambassadors residence. It was quite surreal dressing up and attending a reception again - our past life colliding with our current life.

Past life meets present at the German Ambassador's residence

So that was September.

Cheers, and Blessings,

Mick, Tammy, Jack, Mark and Harry