Part of the dental team!

Hi Everyone,
Was given the opportunity to join the dental team as a tag along for their operations. It was an amazing experience to go from dental screening the previous day to actually being within the working environment. I will start at the screening process- which I also went through in a previous blog. It started at approximately 815 am where we made our way down to the "hope center". Getting closer to the clinic, we were able to see the LONG lines of people who had traveled from all over just to be seen by our dental crew. Some of these people arrived to the line up at 5 am or earlier in order to ensure a spot, but these people may not even be able to be seen by the dental team. Those who arrive at the front of the line are not seen first due to the fact that some people may arrive extra early to hold a spot in line, only to sell it to people who have traveled great distances (or short)! So to stop this from occurring, the dental crew screens from random places within the line. It was MY job to make sure the lines were even, that no one was getting physical with the dental crew in panic to be seen, and to interact with the beautiful women and children who were standing so patiently. The children are always so sweet, and love to play games with really anything. One child and I played a simple game of catch with a rock we found. It was actually a lot of fun! The neat part was that the next day during my time within the dental clinic, I was able to interact with some of the children I had seen from the screening as they waited patiently in the waiting room. It was a totally different atmosphere inside the clinic than during the screening as these patients knew they were going to be seen and treated.
Now within the dentistry department, most of the procedures are extractions (and some fillings). The teeth have become so rotten that really the only solution is to pull them out. This, of course, requires that nasty numbing needle which catches any eye at any age. The Malagasy adults pain tolerance and fear suppression is extremely high! However, the children are no different from the children anywhere else in a dental office, of course. As soon as that needle is in sight, the hands become clammy and require holding, and the eyes are glued to that incoming needle which requires TOYS to distract. However, hand holding, drawing, and distractions were not enough, and just about every child screamed in anguish as the dentist numbed the mouth-as I am sure we all did when we were children. When the dentist was going in to do the job, it was my responsibility to hold their hands and try to distract them in anyway I could. Also, I was given the neat opportunity to work the suction (under supervision of course) and help the dentist out first hand!
YES it was heartbreaking
YES it was difficult
BUT the dentists were EXTREMELY efficient and were able to numb the mouth in a matter of minutes, to which the children and I would draw on some etch and sketch. Most of the time, they were far better than I at the drawing portion. This act of playing with the treated children gave me joy as I knew these children would no longer have to feel the pain of extreme toothaches to the point of not eating or to the point of being unable to sleep. Not only the children, but many adults had the same problems. Not eating or sleeping can not only affect health, but your relationships and self image as well.
I felt honored to have played a role in positively influencing the health of these patients, young and old. It was amazing to see a group of dentists, hygienist, and assistants (ALL VOLUNTEERS) working long days to ensure that less and less people go on in their lives with excruciating pain. 

PHOTOS:
#1: The necessary pre-dental crew photo op. Taken by Moira Munro!

 #2: Preparing the instruments for the day! Lots of great day crew to help out

 #3: Here is the beginning of the day just prior to the final setting up of the dentists and the incoming of patients!

 I hope to have more photos from Mercy Ships! Will put them up when I can get them!

Thank you all so much,
Jesse Spooner.

Working with Nursing Admissions

Bonjour mes amis et la famille.

One of my favorite parts of working on board Mercy Ships is the ability to serve on different departments and culminate new experiences. The past week and a half, a wonderful nurse named "Frankie" (from Florida) gave me two opportunities to join her in the admissions clinic. The clinic is located within a tent just off board the ship. On a regular basis "Frankie" sees people ranging in ages from approximately a year to well over 40 from all walks of life. During my visit to the clinic, we were able to see a young boy of approximately 1 year who was coming in for an indirect hernia repair. The mother and son had traveled from a relatively obscure village a few hours outside of Tamatave, and looked a little bit exhausted; They were in relatively good spirits however seeing as they knew they were going to get excellent health care for no cost at all! It was quite an experience to see leap of faith taken by the mother. She had taken her baby from her secure home to be seen by a group of strangers who want to fix her baby by not only taking blood samples but by using "sharp objects" repair an indirect hernia! The mother seemed very trusting and gave her consent to everything we had to offer, from blood transfusions to photos during recovery for Mercy Ships. As a side note, the child did not even cry or wimper upon receiving a "finger poke" to receive blood samples, nor did it seem afraid of the pulse oximeter. To help, the teddy bears that we gave to the children post blood sampling seemed to help calm some nerves!

What really blew me away about this example was the impact Mercy Ships has had in the world. The word of the hospital ship that performs "miracles" or free surgeries has clearly run its course all over Madagascar since its docking October 28, 2014.

Another man, well over 40 came in for another hernia repair. He works in construction when times are good, but odd jobs when times are not. The economy in Madagascar is not too hot, so finding a job is really NOT easy at all as I have heard from many of the Malagasy coworkers I have had the honor of working with. This man was very strong and did not show weakness in really any area. He seemed to be very happy to be seen by our staff seeing as not everyone who shows up to screening days can be taken in for surgery.

As keeping with my previous blogs, I am honored to have worked with health care workers who really capture why I and many others want to pursue such a career. It is not for money nor prestige, but it all boils down to holding relations with others and through these relations, having a direct change in others lives for the better. Medicine and dentistry are two very efficient vehicles to deliver this change.

Observing Surgery

A big surprise to me on board the ship was the fact that crew are able to view surgeries for a certain time slot. It can be really any surgery, it just matters what is going on at the time! The first surgery I witnessed was a hernia repair on an 8 year boy followed by a hernia repair on an older gentleman. This was then followed by a palate surgery which itself was followed by a sebaceous cyst extraction! The doctors were very kind and allowed me to get very close (without touching anything of course), and even explained what was going on throughout the surgery. It really blew my mind that these surgeons are paying to work on board the ship and do not receive any form of payment. The amount of joy they take in working on board the ship is inspiring and really drives me to want to continue my journey into medicine.
It is my belief that almost anyone who wants to study medicine does so not to make lots of money or gain the prestigious title of M.D, but to really change peoples lives both physically and mentally for the better; to have direct/positive impact on the mental and physical well being of another human being. In my opinion, the physicians on board this ship are acting this out to an extreme degree by not only not expecting a pay cheque, but funding their own trip and crew fees in order to perform these surgeries! An extremely inspiring group of men and women.

Thank you all for reading my blog!

Here is a rare/my only selfie in a mirror taken prior to heading into the operating theatre:

Working on shore as Dental Screen Volunteer

Mercy Ships does not work all its magic simply on board the ship. Essentially all of the dental work is done on shore through the "Hope Center" (http://www.mercyships.ca/hope/). I was fortunate enough to help with the screening process by simply going up to the long lines of potential patients and talking to them and making sure they felt comfortable. Some have traveled a great distance just to be seen by a dental health care professional. Some are chosen to be suitable applicants while others are told they will not be seen in the clinic this time around (however, screenings are held Monday and Thursday each day of the week). It was quite heartbreaking to see some parents thrusting their children towards me pointing to their child's mouth. Of course I have no expertise on the matter and had to tell them they had to wait for the dental professionals to make their way (I said this of course through a translator). I was able to ask basic French questions and use some of the Malagasy language to converse with the people which was nice!-- The crew that I work with on the ship is mostly local Malagasy people so they took it upon themselves to teach me key phrases and how to speak (very primitively) in Malagasy. After the screening process I was able to watch dental work being done and was actually given the opportunity to comfort a patient via holding her hand whilst she received "the long numbing needle!" in preparation for a tooth extraction. I find it rather remarkable that despite our language barrier, simply holding her hands communicated to hear a calmness that I could not do by mouth. All in all I would say this was a fantastic experience and something I am most definitely going to do again. Here are some photos from the experience.

Orphanage in Madagascar

Hello Everyone,
As the title says, a group of us were able to travel to an orphanage in Madagascar via a 3 hour boat ride along a river. The ride was quite an adventure and sight to be seen. Local villages and huts were located along the 3 hour voyage to which the residents would wave us a greeting as we passed. We passed local families cleaning their dishes, bathing, and/or swimming in the river! Here are some photos from the trip to the orphanage:

Upon arriving at the orphanage, the children were very excited to see the Mercy Ships crew as they knew games and songs were in the near future! They quickly swarmed those that they recognized from previous trips and most were not afraid to come and introduce themselves to newbies like myself. It was quite an experience. Now we had a bag of rice that needed to be transferred from the boat to the orphanage, so my friend Phildriche and I took it upon ourselves to help out and bring it there.... The method of transfer was not efficient whatsoever- it consisted of putting the bag on Phildriche's shoulders and switching ever so often. When we placed the bag down a couple meters from the orphanage Phildriche and I thought the transfer was complete, but we were wrong. About 5 minutes later we see a group of children no older than 10 carrying the bag of rice no problem with a far more efficient method. This method had them having the bag resting on a long stick held on the shoulders of 2 young men, and the bag was kept on the stick by the remaining children. It was no sweat... It was a great start to be out smarted by some children :)

When inside the orphanage we all played games that any child has played during their youth. Games like duck-duck goose, tug of war, musical chairs (a variation of the game was played), etc. It was so nice to see the children having a blast, and I think I may have had more fun than they did! All in all I had an amazing time with the children and could not have asked for a better time. After the games we all sat around a table to color and sing some songs in Malagasy, French, and English. It was a fantastic time!

Thank you all,
Jesse Spooner

Soccer

Hi everyone,
Just finished an great game of soccer on the beach of Tamatave. A few locals joined in and we played a good game on a bumpy field. Our team lost 3-0, but it was still a blast. In addition, I met a lovely lady from Canada as well... in fact she is from Vancouver. Tomorrow morning I head to an orphanage which should be exciting, and I will write yet another blog after that. All in all, there is not one person here who I have met that gave a bad impression. Everyone is here to work for a great cause (they actually pay to work for free on board! -- and take time from busy schedule). I have met amazing people that I would have never got to meet, and I am able to contribute to the ship in a very small way. Thanks!

Here are some photos of tonight:

First days upon the Africa Mercy

Hello,
This post will cover what my first 2 days have been like upon the Africa Mercy! Upon arriving to the ship, I was given a short tour of the ship and a lot of paper work to sign and go through. I was actually given the ship orientation via a lady from Vancouver, British Columbia. It was nice to see someone from British Columbia for the first time since my departure to Tamatave. I was introduced to the crew that I would be working with, and a lot of them are hired via the ship from Madagascar. They are all extremely nice people and even taught me some of their language-Malagasy. I believe I can say " Hi, my name is Jesse Spooner.  I am from Canada. I am 21 years old". My colleagues/friends from Madagascar are not only nice people but extremely hard workers as work starts early in the morning and some have to travel more than an hour to get to the ship.

Aside from the working aspect of the ship, there are plenty of times to sign up for activities off the ship to which I signed up to go see the local children's hospital. In fact, A group of us went tonight to deliver gifts to the children that are stuck in the hospital. I forget the name of the organization that sends shoe boxes full of gifts, but it was amazing to see the kids eyes light up when they received toys such as a stuffed Snoopy (from Charlie Brown). The next trip will be to an orphanage to visit with more children.

All in all, this is an amazing ship doing amazing things. I will definitely have more to write about after a few more days. Thank you very much for reading this post, and I will write again soon!

Thanks!
Jesse