Aberdeen Women's Centre & ship life

Today we visited the Aberdeen Women's Centre. set up a few years ago by Mercy ships to provide free quality maternity care and related health care for the poorest women in Freetown. There are over 3000 babies born there every year and they provide pre and post natal care as well as education for (young) women about pregnancy, baby care, vaccinations, diet and complications related to child birth (fistula surgery).
It is a collaboration with the government who provide nurses and doctors with (ex) Mercyship staff helping to manage and maintain the facility.
It mainly serves the Aberdeen and Freetown area but some women will come from the provinces.
We started off with a tour of the facility which included walking through the labour ward where 8 women were coping with contractions. Sally was glad that she did not have to endure this whilst she was in labour.
We felt it a privilege to be part of their day to not only the great work they do there but also show to the staff and service users that they matter and we wanted to know them and encourage them. Our Chaplain shared another bible story with a group of teenage Mums (called Dream Girls). We sang songs with them and their babies / toddlers.
We are learning that African people are a lot more open to sharing things that we would consider to be a personal or private matter as illustrated by the labour ward example. Whilst we have been mentoring people in the classes on managing their money they have been happy to share openly with us and the group their income and outgoings.
The water situation has improved slightly so we are no longer on a downward trajectory (which could have ended our mission). We still have level one measures so that's taking 30 second shower on alternate days, disposables in the dining room etc. However this weekend we have reverted to crockery as we have run out of paper plates and the plastic cutlery (that we have had to buy locally) has been deemed a hazard as they break so easily and could end up with us eating pieces of them! Therefore the water consumption in the dishwash area is being monitored closely to see exactly how much is used. This has presented Sally with a challenge to try and get the team to think of ways to do the job differently using less water (they really really like to use the pre-wash spray liberally). Changing habits is hard.
We have been attending the community gathering on Thursdays where we are following a Bible based course called "Unoffendable". The format is to watch a film then discuss questions with your neighbour as well as a panel giving their answers. This week was about Anger. We usually go to the service on Sunday evening and additonally we attend a worship evening in the chapel on Tuesdays.
The Sunday evening service is followed by the "Dutchies" group - there are a lot on board! Usually someone from the Dutch community brings something to eat. Last week was an enormous platter of different cheeses with dried fruits in the middle. What a treat. Sally found herself sitting next to a new arrival called Eugene!Read more