Nursing...a universal profession?

Differences of working on a hospital ship in a 3rd world country...

- We recycle and sterilize everything! Those little plastic medicine cups we would throw away after putting 2 pills in it...yeah we sterilize those. It's funny how in 2 short weeks I've changed from being weirded out by sterilizing those, to now wondering if there is anything else we can sterilize and re-use!

- 8 hour shifts. I never thought I would get used to working any less than 12 hours and 4 days off a week, but here I am loving 8 hours. The time goes by so fast! Especially day shift; you eat lunch and then its practically time to go!

- Spiritual life. It's amazing that we get to pray together for our patients, and fellow nurses before and after each shift. Often we sing worship songs, and the patient's will sing along, too! After every morning shift, the day nurse takes the patients up to deck 7 and some volunteers have games and worship music. There is nothing like ending your day worshipping the Lord with your patients! Praying with your patient before they go into surgery.

- Having babies around. I took care of my first peds patient my very first day of work here. It was awesome and scary all at the same time. Patient's are allowed one caretaker to stay with them throughout their hospital stay, and sometimes that means that the patient might be a Mom and her "caretaker" is her 6 month old baby that we get to play with all day! That has been one of my favorite things here, and the Moms don't mind you taking their baby, strapping it to your back, and walking around all day!

- Caretakers sleeping under the bed. You read that right. Forget about the fold up cots, our family members sleep on a mattress under the bed! It's amazing that they don't even second guess sleeping on the floor, its actually more unusual to sleep on a bed!

- Having to explain how to use a toilet

- All the patients in one room, no curtains, no doors.

- No bedside tables, IV poles, or monitors

- Patients helping other patients

- Watching what you throw in the trash. Anything can be resold i.e. empty cans of Ensure so we have to take off the labels, or cut our IV tubing so it cannot be reused.

- Changing linens three days a week

- Walking your patients to the OR

- Taking 1 minute to get to work

- Living a few doors down from your patients

- Being a walking blood bank. I was notified tonight that there is a patient with my blood type having surgery tomorrow. Because there is no way to store blood, if they need blood for the patient they will call me and I'll donate my blood, walk it to the OR and administer it right then and there!

Hope this gives you a little insight into my world, and helps you think about yours a little differently! Good night!

Screening day....a day of hope for many

Screening day was last week...I can't believe so much time has passed and I feel that I blinked and now its a week and half later. Forgive the delay, I wanted to show pictures so that you can see with your own eyes what many experienced that day. I'm afraid my words won't do it justice.

We left VERY early on Wednesday...4:30am to be exact! The sun wasn't even close to coming out. As we rode along the streets in our Land Rover caravan something struck me. There were many shop owners, and their families sleeping outside, on the ground, with no blanket, and no pillow. It hit me as I was thinking about how poorly I slept the night before because it was loud, or my roommates woke me up, or because I was cold (the AC is on full blast in the ship!). Then I stopped, and I saw the people I came to serve sleeping on the ground. It's funny how that happens, you think you've come to help them, but they in turn have helped me so much more. I came here to let go of my comfort and yet I find myself still clinging on. We arrived to a short line, only 130 people! We prayed that only the people we would be able to help come, but 130 was kind of cutting it short! As the day wore on more people eventually came. My job for the day was to take medical histories from patients that were screened for potential surgery. Before they came to me they waited in long lines, some alone, some with their families in tow. For many it was their last hope, last chance to be "normal" again. For some it was life or death. For others it was an answer to prayer.

This isn't going to be pretty; for a lot of us it was an emotionally draining day, and without the love, hope, and promises of Jesus it would have been unbearable. Many came who we had to turn away. Do you know how it feels to squash someone's dreams over and over and over? The escorts (God bless them) had to take each and every "no" across a long field, usually in utter silence. But they did not walk away without comfort, and love; they were prayed with, and reassured of the love God has for them. Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Some were crushed, but many were thankful that we came to help their people! It was amazing and humbling to see. They are truly living the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself." I can say that I would not have that response if presented with the same situation.

Okay, enough with the depressing and on to the hopeful! God did AMAZING things at the screening. The one thing that hit me most that day was the overwhelming sense of peace. In a situation were there are many people gathered in a small area, and desperation is certain, it could have been chaos. It wasn't. It was absolutely calm. We were able to see almost half of the people that were in line, and have started surgeries this week! The ward is full of excitement and energy as our first patients come out of the Operating Room new people. I will leave you with some pictures from screening day...ENJOY.



single file amazingness


precious kids








no words necessary





tears



History taking area...I'm way in the back




Goiters were such a huge problem...it's as simple as salt



More cute babies!!!


(the one picture of me at screening day...haha I look so pensive)

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God"

Shake what yo momma gave you...

Have you ever done a congo line in church? As of this morning, I have officially been part of a congo line at church. Yes, you read that right-a congo line. You know, the kind they do at weddings where you dance around in a single file line, and laugh and sing. It was like that, but so much more awesome 1. because African's actually know how to dance, and 2. they were doing it in praising the Lord! They take to heart what David said in Psalm 66:1:
"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!"
Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!"
According to our standards the people in Togo don't have much to praise God for. They don't have a two-story house with 3 cars and a boat. They don't have a retirement fund or any money in savings. They live for today and are thankful for today. They dance and sing to Jesus because He is enough. I need more of this heart attitude myself!
Coming here has made me realize what is truly important in life. Having sold everything I own, and pack 6 months of my life into 1 suitcase and a duffel bag was really eye opening! More and more I realize why Jesus said "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV) Where's your heart at? Mine is broken, and ready for repair. Praying for more of Jesus and less of us.




Love you all!

Going Postal

Some of you have asked about sending "snail mail" to the ship. So I thought I would fill you in on some of the nitty gritty. Packages sent by mail usually arrive in roughly 2 weeks, and cost me $8.80/lb (yes, that is in addition to the postage you already paid!). I kindly request that if you are going to send a package either make it light or throw in a couple bucks to help with that cost =) Okay so enough of that, here's where to send mail:

Stephanie Fiduk
Mercy Ships IOC
M/V Africa Mercy
P.O. Box 2020
Lindale, TX 75771-2020
USA

I will try and write back snail mail but it might take a while to get to you because we wait for people who are going back to the US to mail it for us!


Okay so enough of that, many of you have asked for pictures! I had great plans to take many pictures, until I went outside! The humidity here is so high that my camera lens immediately fogged up =( I have some pictures to share and more to come.





* Here is my cabin! There are 3 "rooms" in a cabin, each with a bunk bed, closet, and desk. There is a bathroom to the left (out of the picture) for 6 girls! So far it hasn't been bad, but wait til we start working! Surprisingly it is more spacious than I expected.




* Here's my "room." My Bunk is the messy one on top! haha




* It looks deceivingly foggy out, but it's just the humidity playing tricks on you. It's actually quite beautiful. The water is blue and the sky is full of big fluffy clouds. When it's windy here the sky turns "overcast" but it's just the sand from the Sahara Desert!

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for next time...I'm going to an orphanage on Saturday and Church in the city on Sunday. I can't promise pictures of the orphanage because I'm not allowed to bring a camera, but maybe Sunday. Love you all! See you soon...

Location:Lome, Togo

A long journey

It's been a lllooonnnggg day. 29 hours to be exact. Is that still considered a day? Technically it's two days, but I've been up for a majority of it and I've changed my watch so many times I don't know what time it is! My day started Sunday at 6:00 in the morning, and hasn't stopped since. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) I've had two morning so far and can attest to the truth of this verse! The morning I left was an interesting one. I got my bags checked, had my ticket (so I thought) and got in line to go through security. I realized halfway through the line that my ticket didn't look right. I asked the TSA agent and she said I had to go back and get another ticket, but that I could return to the first class line (much much shorter). Ahhh, sigh of relief. I go and get my ticket, and come back to security, the line is twice as long and there is no sign of the TSA agent that told me I could go through first class! I shot up a quick prayer, and asked another agent. He said that I could go ahead through first class! Yay! I went through like a breeze and made it in just enough time to eat breakfast and board my first of many flights. I am convinced that if I hadn't taken a closer look at my ticket I would not have made my flight. God is faithful. On my flight in Chicago I met some fellow Mercy Ships people and made fast friends! Thankful for not being "alone." I'll be updating soon once I get my bearings on the ship, and my brain back in order. Love you all!

(P.S. It's now Wednesday and I just got internet access, so I'll be updating more frequently now. )

Location:Lome, Togo

Sneak peak

I thought I'd share with you guys a little sneak peak into what life will be like on board and the types of patients we'll be treating. Enjoy.

Whats in a name?

   You might be wondering what in the world “a kernel” has anything to do with faith and even more, Africa! Coming up with a blog name was probably the hardest part of my journey to Africa! I have wrestled for months trying to come up with something that was meaningful, had to do with Jesus, yet was versatile enough to be used after Africa. In Matthew 17:20 it says “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there; and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”   I’m not trying to move mountains, but I am going on a little faith, knowing that nothing will be impossible with God. 

    I’ve gotten ahead of myself, let me tell you how this whole thing started!  Over the summer God showed me how self-reliant, and comfortable I had become in Orange County. I felt the urge to move away and be totally reliant on God alone. I searched far and wide for nursing jobs abroad, but didn’t feel right about it. God reminded me why I became a nurse, to show the love of Jesus through hope and healing, and in that moment Mercy Ships came to mind.  I first heard of Mercy Ships a long time ago, before I was a nurse and I was working at my mom’s office. A patient of hers had worked on the Mercy Ship and I knew then that was what I wanted to do! At the end of July I started praying about serving aboard Mercy Ships, and how long I would go for.  God kept responding, “six months.” So I looked on Mercy Ships website and there was a job opening for a surgical ward nurse starting in January for six months! I applied right away knowing I would need to get the ball rolling soon, and by early August I had been accepted for the surgical ward nurse position. Its amazing when I look back on my life and see the hand of God directing my path that leads to this very moment. Four years ago I, along with 12 other people in my class, had applied to one position on a surgical floor. It was the only job I applied for and I was one of the first to interview. I had to wait 2 weeks before I would find out if I got the job, and meanwhile had to hear how everyone else’s interviews went during that time! But, I needed not worry as God had it all under control. I got the job! And four years later I have learned about the very patients I will be taking care of in Togo, Africa! God equips, even if its four years in advance. So that brings me to the here and now.  I’ll be leaving January 22, 2012 for the most amazing journey of my life, I would love if you would join this journey with me!