I will be leaving Mercy Ships in six weeks time and I am very
much in a season of transition. I find myself spending quite a lot of time
reflecting on the last five years of working in Africa. Two things in
particular have made me reflect.
First, we have had a film crew, or to be precise three film crews from National
Geographic on board with us since August. Known as NatGeo, they are making
eight, one hour episodes of TV about Mercy Ships. That is huge! The main
producer, Madeline, and one of the cameramen was on board with us in Guinea in
autumn 2012 and they produced an Australian documentary called The Surgery Ship. I really liked the way the way Madeline made
that film but what has been really interesting is how much Mercy Ships has
changed since then. Back then, medical capacity building was only just being thought
about and I had just been asked to spend up to 50% of my time thinking how we
could do ‘training’. Now, four years later, training is a core part of Mercy
Ships’ focus. It has been a big culture shift in how we perceive ourselves and
how others perceive us. I have found it helpful to reflect on how much we have
grown organisationally, and personally very rewarding to have NatGeo here to
film the medical capacity building story among the numerous patient stories. The
NatGeo film teams are fun to work with. I have spent time anesthetising
patients that NatGeo are following, including babies with large facial tumours
who present huge challenges for anaesthesia; and I have given numerous
interviews. I am happy talking about surgery and anaesthesia; I love talking
about medical capacity building; and I literally tear up when they ask me about
my departure. Tears of grateful thanks at how Mercy Ships has changed and how I
have been able to be a part of that, and how I have changed and grown
personally, professionally and emotionally. The NatGeo team are such
professional interviewers that they seems to know how to ask deep questions in
such a way that I find my emotions unravelling as feelings surface that are
actually quite hard to articulate. But sometimes tears convey a thousand words.
The second event that caused me to reflect was a recent trip
to Chicago. I have been privileged to go to the American Society of
Anesthesiology (ASA) meeting for four of the last five years. I was first
invited in 2012 to help teach the ‘paediatric
difficult airway workshop’. Over the
years my attendance at the ASA has served as not only a great source of
continuing medical education for me, (it is huge - approximately 9,000
anesthesiologists and over 600 different sessions), but also a great source of
support and encouragement. Back in 2012 when I was just beginning to ask the
question, ‘How can Mercy Ships do medical
capacity building and how can I create a plan to meet the desires of the
Congolese government?’ I met many people at the ASA who were involved in
global health or surgical missions. They helped and encouraged me and were good
sources of stimulating discussion and proved to be good sounding boards. I
quickly realised that ‘none of us have it
all together’ and over the last few years we were often wrestling with the
same questions and challenges as we strived to make our big dreams reality. But this year was different. It was still a
source of encouragement as I re-connected with people who have now become close
friends, but additionally it enabled me to reflect how far Mercy Ships has
come, and how much I have learnt. I attended
a few sessions where people discussed issues of credentialing medical
volunteers, or how to monitor quality in the surgical outcomes of mission-based
surgery, and I realised just what a good job Mercy Ships does in these areas
and how over the last five years we have worked hard to create systems and
processes that ensure patient safety and that quality of care is our priority.
Furthermore, on a very personal note, a few different people at different times
commended me on my wisdom and insight. Comments that caused me to pause and
look at back at just how much I have learnt over the last few years as Mercy
Ships has worked from grassroots level to government level to help build the
capacity of low income nations to deliver surgical care and to develop policies
that support and strengthen their health systems. I certainly don’t consider
myself an expert, but I can pause and reflect how much I have learnt and grown.
So this year at the ASA it was a pleasure to be able to give a little back, to
provide support and encouragement to others, as well as receiving myself.
I am one of those people who are always looking to the future.
I am a visionary and a pioneer. I see what needs to happen and I start to go
after it, sometimes without pausing to draw breath. Often I am on to the next
thing without waiting for others to catch up!!
And that can be exhausting for those around me! One of the things
someone told me once in a feedback session, was that I needed to take time to
stop and reflect, not just for myself but for others - to let them catch up and
regroup. But I know it is important for
me too. Spiritually , I know pausing and reflecting is vital to draw strength
from what we have achieved, to praise God for his hand upon us, and to remember
his blessings and favour. It helps us
have thankful hearts that overflow with joy.
So I am grateful for NatGeo and time at the ASA in Chicago
that has caused me to pause and reflect. And as I do so, I find my heart full
of joy and thankfulness, and that brings tears to my eyes at unexpected
moments. SO, today I am thankful for this season of reflection, which I believe
it is an important aspect of my transition. In six weeks I will have left Mercy
Ships and be in London, expectant at what the future will hold.