Screening Day!

Today was a long day, but it marked the beginning of our field service here in Guinea. (Sorry, there won't be any photos. We're very limited on what we can photograph. I still don't know why, but maybe I'll find out at my orientation meeting). We had people line up starting last night at the People's Palace in Conakry to wait for a chance to be seen and selected for surgery/hospital care. To help with the process, Mercy Ships has very specific guidelines for what surgeries they can do, which means several of the 3500 people who came were turned away and referred to local hospitals or doctors. The criteria are based on what type of surgeons are going to be on board, what other staffing is available (ie nurses and auxiliary staff) and what kind of equipment is available. Sometimes someone will have something treatable, but the ship hospital isn't able to accommodate that particular treatment.

I was placed as an escort for the first section people, which is where a patient sees a pre-screener and are either sent in for a more thorough history or told that we aren't able to help them. I walked so many patients to the next section with their precious square card that indicated which surgical group would treat them, and it was so fun to engage them and ask names or where they're from. I also walked many people who were told no to the prayer tent or the exit, and it was hard to know what to say. Compounded by the language barrier, most often all I could do was say hi and my name and that I'm sorry. I'd try to put my (right) hand on their back and offer a smile, but it seemed like such a small gesture after disappointing news. I had several people who smiled back, and one man even said he understood, but there were some who didn't understand. I really just had to pray that God would watch out for them, since He loves and cares for them more than anyone on this ship ever could.

The night before the screening, our community meeting speaker challenged us to look at how we approach our service here. He talked about the levels of poverty and how my attitude towards helping the poor can actually be harmful rather than helpful. I'm still processing what I think of what he said, and I'd love feedback from anyone else, but the last thing he said was to think not just how a Guinean might need our healthcare skills or knowledge but to think how I can learn and gain knowledge from a Guinean. For alot of the day today, I found myself trying to look at people I met (Mercy Ship crew, translators, patients, everyone) not as a project or something to be rescued, but as someone to grow with. It made me think of the verse of how we're entertaining angels everyday (sorry, my Bible is downstairs), and that helped change my perspective of how I treated and engaged people I met today. I don't know how else to elaborate on that, and I'm sure I'll have many more opportunities to engage, but it made today more reflective than I'd planned.
 
One fun part of this whole process was my french practice. Apparently I should have watched Amelie a few more times before coming. I know I said some ridiculous stuff throughout the day. Mostly grammatical stuff, but I got more than a few "Quoi?"s with a questioning stare, which I followed with charades to attempt to act out what I was saying. As the day got longer, my American accent got stronger, and I think at one point a Texas drawl came out of my mouth.  I did pick up rather quickly that as soon as you say "Bonjour" and "Ça va?" ("Hello" and "How's it going?") you break through any tension and are often greeted with a big smile. So if all other communication failed, I'd just say hi and smile. Which is pretty much the start to any friendship, no matter which continent you are on.