"Thanksgiving..."

Last week, when I was able to access my email again, I had this thank-you waiting in my inbox.  I was quite surprised to find it there.  We have so many patients go through the hospital, many of then will ask for our email addresses, but rarely do we receive anything from them.  Most patients we help are truly thankful, but few take time to write us and give us a note of appreciattion.  This one was from Lawson.  Lawson was one of the first patients that we helped while we were in Togo.  Most of the crew on the ship remembers Lawson.  He ran around showing potential patients. crew, and whoever would look, his before surgery picture.  He was such a delight to be able to help.  This is what he wrote...

Hello i m Lawson Amuzu if you could remember i was the one with the sickness and you all help me as human help human. And i m here to thank you for all that you have done for me. It is not all people who can do that to his friend or someone he/she no but you were faith to. So the reason why i m is that i m here to thank you for what have done for me. And i no this my thank will be in a very useful act

"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him..." Luke 17:15-16



"Appelsbosch Tour..Pt 3"

Well, finally we are at the point where I can give you a tour of Appelsbosch.  It is an absolutely incredible facility. We are able to have four different dorms A-D which house our families, couples, and singles, a dining area, full school including a lab for chemistry, a business center, gym and cafe area.  It is more than we could have ever imagined it to be!  Although, the only problem is that there is a lot of maintenance needed due to lack of use over the years.

The tour will begin with the surrounding community. Where we overlook a Zulu village.  The area is surrounded by sugar cane fields, and as you can see in the picture, it is usually quite smokey.  Before the sugar cane can be harvested, the fields need to be burned to drive out snakes and mice.

The round houses are called rondovals.  When you drive through the countryside they are all over.

This is D block...our rooms are on the second floor...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

Our toilets...when they work...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

Our sinks...when they work...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

Our shower area...when they work...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

Yes, there is a general theme...water is at a shortage in the area-it is a precious commodity...when there is no water...there is no water until the tanker truck comes or the municipality gets water....

Dorm hallways...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

View to the gym...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

Inside the gym...what a blessing this area has been for the kids!

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

The dining hall...

(Thanks Olly for the picture)

A favorite place to hang out talk and drink coffee...the tuck shop...

The amphitheatre area...just off the tuck shop...business center to the left

School area facing the grade one room...

School administration area with the giant hill in the background...

Since we are not on the ship, I (Deb) have been working in the grade One classroom in the mornings and then in helping in the admin area in the afternoons....so I spend a lot of time in the two areas above...

That is a basic tour of our home for the next four months or so.  We have not had a lot of contact with the surrounding community.  We have gone to church twice in the community. 

"Pt. 2..."

After about a 2 hour bus ride out of Durban and into the Kwazulu-Natal hills, full of Zulu communities, we arrived at Appelsbosch (meaning apple orchard in Dutch).    The road was full of curves and almost hairpin turns.  The weather, the higher we got, became more rainy and foggy.  When we arrived-cold wet and hungry, we proceeded to unload the two moving trucks and place things into the gymnasium.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anyone who too pictures that night~...

The view from our dorm area the next day...

Applesbosch has an interesting history....

Appelsbosch was established by the church of the Swedish Mission in Sweden.  They sent Missionaries to South Africa in the 1800's. The founder of Appelsbosch’s was the late Reverend J. Jungquist. It is said that the year was ±1883.


The aim was to bring the Gospel, the Light (schools) and health (hospital).  One of the oldest buildings built in 1886, was used for church services and as a classroom {both not existing}. The second Building built in 1923 and extended in 1951, was to be used as a Matrons – Sister’s Home. This was followed by a garage; Store Room and Mortuary room {not existing}. One main ward was built and used for all purposes i.e. out patients; attending small children; attending adults people; confinement cases, Dispensary, etc. {all in one block}.


The Hospital was established in 1926. The Additional Wards were added onto the Main Ward during 1951. Two Cottages were erected for Staff Nurses. These were later demolished. When one building was available it was used as a Staff Nurses Home or Residence.

During the year ± 1951 the superintendent of the Hospital was the Missionary / Priest in charge of the Church. The Missionary would stay across at the Mission House, the building is now falling apart. In those years - there was no Doctor on site, District Doctors were called to give help if needed. Additional wards were added during 1951.

During 1958 a Doctors residence was built. A Swedish Doctor (Doctor A. Anderson) was employed to stay on site at the above building. He only stayed for one year. The work was too much for him – to work from morning to sunset and through the whole night. He attended the Emtulwa Clinic and also Theatre cases, etc. In 1959 came a German Doctor (Dr W. Bodenstein) – born in South Africa. In 1951/62 came another German Doctor (Dr H. Schumann)


In the early 1990s, the apartheid government built Appelsbosch College of Education, which was used to train 800 black teachers at a time, although it was only in use for less than two years before the apartheid government fell and the college was closed.

Now in 2010, Mercy Ships has come and taken over the whole campus.  It has taken us weeks to get everything established...phone lines for the offices, Internet connections, water supply, etc...

Needless to say, everyday is an adventure!

Stay tunes for pt 3-a tour of Appelsbosch....our home for the next 4 months...or so....

"We're Here...pt. 1"

Well, after a long 12 days, we are back online and things are getting settled.  Let me take you back to the move to Appelsbosch.  The crew of the Africa Mercy arrived on Sept. 1 in Durban, South Africa.  This would be our last night on the ship for at least the next four months.

The Africa Mercy with the lights of Durban in the background.

After we arrived, the crew began to get things staged to move off of the ship the next day.  Can you imagine, moving your apartment times 150 people, adding in your school, a small financial institution, all your business computers, and kitchen in 27 hours...it was a crazy...amazing time. The crew worked really hard to accomplish this task.  The Africa Mercy has an amazing group of people!

 

Staging of the Academy boxes for the move.

We thought the Academy had a lot of boxes, then we added in the crew bags, suitcases, boxes...whatever we could find to pack things into....

Then we loaded everything into two moving vans...we all looked like busy ants going down the gangway and in the pilots entrance of ship with whatever we could carry...

(Thanks Murray for the picture)

After all the loading was done, the crew of 150 loaded into the Land Rovers and two buses to take the 1 1/2 hour journey to Appelsbosch Mission.

(Thanks Murray for the picture)

(Thanks Murray for the picture)

We left behind about 80 technical and support crew on the ship who will be working on the generator and other projects for the ship. 

It has been an whirlwind of a time...

Then we had to to get settled that afternoon at Appelsbosch...stay tuned for part 2...

"We're Here..."

After 17 days at sea, we arrived in Durban, South Africa-where the ship will undergo a major ship yard period.  The families, some couples, and single crew will be moving off the Africa Mercy to Applesbosch, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (about 90 mins. from Durban).

We have been busy the last few days getting our cabins packed, offices packed, and the ship ready for the shipyard time.  From early this morning we were occupied with whale watching, watching Durban on the horizon, and then finally a "tour" of the harbour to our berth. 

Africa Mercy flying the flag of the Republic of South Africa.

Durban, from a distance...

Entering the harbour...

The tug that followed us in...

Skyline of Durban...

Coming near our berth...people waiting for us...

Putting down the gangway...

And we're here!

It has been a wonderful journey these last weeks.  What will we be doing while the ship is undergoing change?  We will have three programs that will be running-Mental health, Eye and Dental Teams.  The Academy for the children will still be going full force.  The rest of us will be either working on the ship or working on programs for Sierra Leone (Feb 2011).  So it will not be a time of vacation for the crew.

I did notice that appropriately this is blog #200.  Time to enter into our new season.  Over the next ten days we will not have internet access till we get settled at Apllesbosch.  So check back in about ten days and hopefully I will have new pictures and stories to share. 

Please pray for our time of transition-that all that needs to be done and the moving will go well and safely.

Thanks to everyone for all your help and support...

Talk with you soon....Blessings, Deb