Sunday June 6

I'm here!! I arrived in Togo on Tuesday having walked across the border at 9.30am. Both the Ghanaian and the Togolese immigration posts were easy to pass through with the correct visas. I was identified a couple of times as "white woman" but it perfectly described me in the crowd and was certainly not offensive in any way, merely a way of distinguishing me from the crowd.

Having checked the price of taxis from the border to the ship, a ride was soon sorted and the officials at the port gate similarly were happy to direct me to the ship. An hour later I was drinking coffee and saying hello to many folk still on the ship from my last visit.

By 2.00pm I was in the operating department having unpacked, had lunch, sorted out my account and bought a telephone card.

In the theatres I found both surgeons and anaesthetists that I knew along with nursing staff and much time was spent catching up with each other.

On call Thursday evening I was called in for an emergency, the patient is doing well, but I was reminded of just how precious our lives are and how Father protects us and keeps his loving arms around us.

Friday was my late shift for the week so in the morning I was free to go to the hospitality centre where the post op eye clinic is also held. The hospitality centre this year is in a cement building unlike the converted warehouse of last year. it has small rooms which house up to 4 patients each with their carers. Patients stay here usually because they live too far away to be able to return each day e.g. for daily dressing changes or physio. Occasionally some patients travel great distances for their surgery and arrive a day or two early and are housed at the centre.

The centre is in a plot of land surrounded by red sandy soil and with the rain on Friday morning had become more of a mud bath. A tent outside the building provided shelter for the "Celebration of Sight" service held each Friday. This involves much singing and dancing along with some speaking and prayers. It is always an enjoyable experience to see how many patients lives are touched by the restoration of sight.

The clinic on Fridays sees over 100 patients and typically includes nearly 100 patients for YAG laser treatment to their operated cataract eye, and some medical eye patients who come, referred from the field clinics during the week. This week we had just 7 slots left for children to receive eye surgery and of the 10 or so young patients 7 could be helped with surgery so there were no heartbreaking decisions to make about which one would be unable to have surgery. So this next week I shall see some of these young patients as I work with the anaesthetists in the eye room.

Saturday evening saw me operating a popcorn maker in Starbucks, probably the only Starbucks to have a popcorn maker. I was asked at short notice and my apprentice status provided some amusement to those waiting. The discovery of just where the corn for popping was kept took some time and meant a delayed start but I just kept "popping corn" until we reached the end of the line. It's a great way to meet people and there were one or two surprises for customers who hadn't yet seen me on the ship!