Assessment Day

Assessment day was yesterday and it went very well.

Smooth, orderly, and calm.

The weather even cooperated.

It was our largest screening day to date with over 7300 people evaluated for whether we could help them via surgery. Those that we couldn't (as well as those we could) were offered prayer. All in all we handed out over 4200 cards to people for surgery or further evaluation. A successful (and extremely tiring) day! 

For the full story of what screening was and more importantly why Mercy Ships - why I - am here in Africa, read Jay's account.

Dana Perino also wrote a piece on her blog which offers a more nuts-and-bolts description of the day.

Both are worth the read.

The cake is not a lie - really

Birthday + nerdy GF = WIN (for science)

Broadcast-ed

Success! All the tech worked and the segment went well. Estimated 3 million viewers. Here's the glamor shot afterward with all of us "McGyver techies" as she called us. 

Broadcast-ing

We're setting up for Dana Perino's segment on Fox News, broadcast live from the AFM.

No pressure...

Manioc

I found a new local street food wrapped in banana leaves that was not immediately identifiable (by me at least) so I bought one:

500 CFA (~1 USD)

What's in the box?! err...leaves?

Cassava of course! Made with lemon and roasted over coals. It had a nice aftertaste and would definitely be filling if one ate the entire thing. 

The cake is not a lie - mostly

So...this showed up on my desk today:

After some questioning from my colleagues as to what I'd been doing in my off hours and some postulations that my French was, perhaps, not quite as good as I'd thought, I realized that it said "Wifi".

Congo sunset

It looks like we're in for some spectacular sunsets in Congo!

T-Rex herd

The local T-Rex population in Congo is much more organized than in other parts of Africa. Scientists postulate that by working together the herd can more easily meet the needs of the entire group, giving them an advantage over more single-focused species.

Paperwork

Want to know what the paperwork looks like each time the Africa Mercy calls on new port? How about 300+ passports?

Congo

We've arrived in Congo.

There was quite the reception waiting for us on the dock!

Royal Diamond Shellback

We had to divert south to avoid a buoy but came back directly over 0'0" N 0'0" E. A few blasts of the ship's horn and we're all Royal Diamond Shellbacks. Woohoo!