Church with the patients at the HOPE Centre

This morning we biked to the HOPE centre for a Sunday church service. HOPE stands for Hospital OutPatient  Extension. This is where our patients wait to receive surgery or for those who need to stay on whilst they have follow up appointments and therapy. It's kind of like a guest house, on a larger scale.

The thing about the HOPE centre is that it lives up to its name. This morning, a little girl pulled faces at me as we clapped the rhythm for Malagasy hymn. The fingers on her right hand were deformed and twisted out of shape due to burn contractures. I know our plastics surgeon, Dr Tertius, is back onboard and in the next few weeks, that little girl will have her surgery and the start hand therapy to regain movement in her fingers, hand and wrist. I look forward to seeing her again as she starts healing, either onboard or at the HOPE Centre.

I held hands with the man next to me and his wife as we sang and swayed together. He had a large dressing on his neck. I have no idea which surgery he had onboard - his smile and that of his wife and child, said enough.

I looked around the tent and saw many babies with cleft lips and palates. I know the Max Facs team will be preparing to see them soon. How wonderful that we are here when they are babies. The adults with cleft lips and palate repairs have a hard life living with that easily repairable deformity. We have often wondered if they divide their life into before and after chapters, once they have their surgery.

Up on the balcony were the ladies from the OBF ( Obstetric Fistula ) clinic that opened this week. I have a special place in my heart for these ladies and their courage. Sometimes they have lived with decades of exclusion and isolation. To see them form their own support community as they heal together, is inspiring.

My boys asked why we go to the HOPE centre service. I told them that we go for the patients, to show them they are loved. We are here for the patients and it is easy to get caught up in work and forget why we are here. However, one morning at the HOPE centre is a reminder of why God called us here and what He is doing here through Mercy Ships. It is privilege to be part of that through trading smiles with a little girl, holding a grown mans hand as we sing together or visiting the OBF clinic and saying "Salama" to the courageous women there.

We're going back to Madagascar!

We've been volunteering on the AFRICA MERCY for two years now. As most of you know, it's a hospital ship that provides free surgeries and healthcare education to the poorest people in the world. I'm no surgeon and Mick's no nurse - I am volunteering in the Supply department and Mick keeps the machinery working and the poo disappearing.

We don't get paid to do this. We give our time and expertise to serve aboard the AFRICA MERCY for free. Or you could say, we donate our potential earnings to the organisation as Gifts in Kind.

Not only that, but we have to pay to live onboard the ship - things like food and accommodation, compulsory health insurance, school fees and all the usual things you need like toiletries, cleaning gear, clothing and shoes for growing boys! Roughly it costs us A$38,000 per year ( just over $3k a month) to serve and it gets better or worse depending on what the Aussie dollar is doing.

How do we pay for this?

Firstly, we have rented out our home - the leftovers that the mortgage doesn't swallow, come to us.

Secondly, our church - Bayside Community Church - raises the funds for the boys education each year. An amazing blessing.

Third, a few family and friends have donated money to Mercy Ships Australia and designated it to come to the Dunne family. They get a tax deductible receipt and it finds its way into our bank account.

Fourth, we have some savings.

So, why are we writing about this now?

Because we are going back again and we need your help to stay there. Simply put, we have a finite amount of savings which will cover our expenses for a period of time. Beyond that, we need to build a support base.

Asking for help, financial or otherwise, is a tricky thing in modern Australia. It goes against the grain. We all grow up wanting to be independent and successful in what we do. 

However, Mick and I have seen a different type of success. Success for us now is measured on a different scale - one of shipping containers received, motors rebuilt, surgeries completed and individuals lives changed. 

This type of success is not individually based - it is a total team effort. The surgeons, doctors, nurses, and lab techs get their meals in the Dining room - from food that the Supply team orders.  The Engineering team keeps the Operating rooms cool, provides drinking water, hot showers and makes certain the toilets work when you press the button. 

For Mick and I, being part of this team is the most successful work we have ever undertaken. And we're wondering, if you'd like to help us stay on the team?

https://www.mercyships.org.au/donate - please put Dunne family in the "My donation is for" box 

Tammy