All Aboard

I’ve been on the YWAM Medical Ship for 11 days now.  Ship life is quite cozy which helps the “getting to know your neighbor” process.  The ship sleeps 50 people in various nooks and crannies.  Virtually every bench, counter and bunk room doubles as a handy storage area.  There is a mess hall and lounge on the main level.  The upper level has the aft deck and medical clinic.  My team, the primary health care team, holds land based clinics, and the dentists use the medical clinic on board.  At times the ship does feel very small.  During last week’s outreach in the capitol city, Port Moresby, we not only had a full ship but also multiple other DTS students (disciple ship training schools)helping us in the clinic.  They were in town from Kona, Hawaii and Swtizerland (Last week we had 14 nations represented and this week we have 11). The total meals served  by the cooking staff last week was over 2000 - which is amazing given the size of the ship’s kitchen. Despite the small space, I have found a couple cubbies that give me not only a quiet space but also great views of the sunrise and sunset.   I usually take advantage of one of those quiet spots each day.  Overall, a ship’s life is suiting me well and bringing back childhood memories of weekend getaways on Encore, our family’s sailboat.

Speaking of sailboats, we do “set sail” around 12 AM Saturday morning (so probably around 10 AM Friday for all you on Eastern Standard time).  They are predicting that it will take 24 - 28 hours to get to the Bamu Area (on the PNG map, look for the Eastern mouth of the Fly River) of the Western Province.  Our ship apparently does not travel at rapid speeds.  Not much activity is planned while we are sailing.  From the sounds of it, seasickness is more the normal for most passenger’s while sailing - so I will be grabbing my bucket, praying for calm winds and waters, and trying to stare at the horizon as much as possible (see GBR post).

Last week, we had 1 day in a nearby village and 4 days in Port Moresby clinics.  On Monday, we loaded up a large flatbed truck - my total count was 29 in the back - and headed to the village as clinics were closed due to the public holiday - Day of Rememberance.  The village clinic was pretty small so I set up my shop under a shady tree.  It was my ideal set-up: great breeze and sunshine.  I worked one on one with 15 villagers that day - mostly treating low back pain and knee pain with various stretching and strengthening exercises.  I felt like I had plenty of time and space to connect with each patient which was definitely a blessing.  None of the patients or healthcare workers have worked with an athletic trainer before.  Education has been a big chunk of each of my consults and trainings.  Education has included anatomy, education about the benefit of the prescribed exercise and how each patient can add these exercises to their daily routine.  My days in the clinics looked fairly similar to my first day at the village - everyday I did get to lead an exercise class or two with exercises focusing on benefiting back and knee pain.  I also got to teach the healthcare workers at the clinics a session on back and knee anatomy/treatment. 

The clinics were super busy, and we provided 962 medical services this week.  I worked one on one with 60 patients.  God provided in so many ways.  Every clinic was filled with moms and babies.  I have never seen so many kids and babies - everywhere.  These kids made me miss Hannah and Charles so much.   Walking through the clinic waiting areas, it is so easy to see that musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction is the least of their worries.  But I am super thankful that I get to play my small part in helping people have a higher quality of life.

I’m so glad I got to take advantage of my clinic leader’s computer and iphone to post today.  I am really, looking forward to our next outreach which starts tonight with the sail and glad I got to touch base with y’all before I go internet free for 2 ½ more weeks.  We will have 2 weeks of clinic in the Western Province and then head back.   Hope that all is well with you.  Holding all of you in my heart.  Send an e-mail to mkmart@gmail.com if you think about it...I would love to hear what you are up to.  Check out www.ywamships.org for updates...also look at Kim Cooper’s blog from last week’s outreach in the Townsville Bulletin.

Moment of the week:  Hard to pick just one...but one of the top ones was teaching moms in the community how to take care of their backs.  One Mom with six kids came up to me after one of my classes and was so thankful.  She had never heard about belly strength contributing to a healthy strong back. 

Movement of the week:  Dead bug - for abdominal strengthening and four-point leg extension.  More to come on those exercises when I have more timeJ

Quote of the week:  “Many small people in many small places doing many small things can alter the face of the world.”