Week 1 Done . . .

I promised I would try to add a picture for blog entries now that we have left Minnesota.  Denise and I are shown at the entry building for the International Operations Center (IOC) for Mercy Ships.  This facility has several buildings including dorms, a cafeteria, a gym, a guesthouse and cafe, an administrative building and several office spaces.  Most of our class was in the classroom this week, however, because we had been down here in September, we spent most of the week helping with duties around the IOC.  One of our duties was repacking eye surgery packs.  Alcon donates all the packs used for restoring site to thousands of people blinded by cataracts in Africa.  Alcon boxes them 5 to a box; however, Mercy Ships has found that by doing some rearranging they can get 7 packs in the same box.  As donor dollars are used to ship these via container to Africa, this results in a significant savings. 

We have spent many hours bonding with our class.  The class has people representing Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Idaho, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Canada, The Netherlands, UK, and Slovakia (via Spain).  All this in a class of 24!!  We vary in age from 18 to 60's.  This just shows the reach of Mercy Ships and the worldwide vision of "Bringing Hope and Healing to the world's forgotten poor."

We will be here in Texas until March 6, then will fly to Conakry, Guinea.  We will work on a land-based mission for 2 weeks building a playground at the women's hospital.  At the end of March we will join the ship and begin our regular jobs.

Hope all of you have a great week!  Blessings . . .