As the 2009 field service in Benin comes to a close, we've had many goodbyes over the past few weeks. The first was a very generous thank you dinner with the President of Benin Yayi Boni at his palace in Cotonou. Five Mercy Ships folks were knighted into the National Order of Benin on behalf of all the good works Mercy Ships has done for Benin. No small feat!
Here we are in our finest African attire getting ready to celebrate
The venue - the Presidential Palace
and the fabulous African entertainment: tribal dances with beautiful costumes
Who would have thought when in Africa we would dine with the President?
We also said goodbye to our 200+ day volunteers that live in the local community and came to work on the ship every day. Sadly I didn't bring my camera so the pictures are minimal. We ate, celebrated them, and appreciated all their hard work this year. One of my favorites is Rebecca. She and I spent every morning together as I dried my hair in the locker room while she folded the scrubs working in the laundry department. Every day she would just stare at me awkwardly. I couldn't figure out what her deal was. After a while I realized it was because the sight of my hair dryer amazed her! She had never used one before and turning it on every morning caused her to stop folding her scrubs and just watch me dry away in awe and wonder...every single day. Sometimes it's the little things here that still surprise me most. Only in Africa! =)
I constantly tease my friend Jesse about getting an African outfit made for him because he always says he'll never wear one. However, at our day volunteer event he was presented by his day volunteers in the galley with a nice African outfit which he wore proudly!
Me and Jamie with Jesse in his true African attire
In other thoughts on packing up, we prepared for the sail with a swimmers and pirate watch. Just a few weeks ago there were pirates of the coast of Benin that attacked a ship about 20 miles away from where we were docked. Watching for any unwanted visitors in the days before and after leaving was critical. This involved wearing some rather snazzy reflective gear up on deck eight between two and four a.m. and shining our huge flashlight (more like spotlight) into the water every 20 minutes to look for potential swimmers that might make their way up the side of the ship. Yes, that is a real possibility. We had some fun moments hanging out on deck eight amusing ourselves in the wee hours of the morning this past week.
A glowing Haley and I with our fun gear
Kelly: Is that a swimmer I see? Haley: No Kel, just a fish.
At one point my friends even took me hostage! Fun times on deck eight. So far we haven't had any unwanted guests, so I guess we are doing our job! Next up...the sail!
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