The lovely ladies of the ward!

On the ship there is an " adopt a patient" program that allows crew the chance to get to know the patients on the ward. To my left is my dear friend Rebecca Nartey, she calls me her sister-in-law because she is convinced that I am going to marry her younger brother who she tells me on a regular basis is "the most beautiful" of all her siblings. She was also quite impressed when she found out my mother bore 6 children because most women from the west only have a one or two and according to her African women can have up to 15...her exacts words were " Oh, your mother has done well!" She herself is not married, her fiance broke off the engagement when he realized her right arm was deformed following a severe infection. While on the ship she underwent surgury to release the contracture of the right wrist, at this point though I don't know if it will help her prospects of marriage. I don't know that there is a place in society for women who remain single, bearing children is everything in most African cultures. In fact, if a women is unable to conceive it can be grounds for her husband to divorce her. I took care of Rebbeca her very first day on the ward and we have developed a close friendship which we have maintained even though I am no longer working on the ward. She and the other girls have taught me several songs in the local dialect, Twi. This picture was taken the night before she was discharged.

The woman to my right is very special as well. Her name is Elizabeth and like Asare she has also come to know Jesus since coming to the ship. When she first arrived on the ward I remember she was in a bed in the corner and she wouldn't talk to anybody or even look at her neighbors around her. She had a huge tumor on her right leg, I think it was nearly 20LB...it was tremedous in size. It has been removed and is healing well. One night, I had plenty of extra time so I was giving hand massages to several of my patients. She wasn't my patient but I thought she might want one as well so I sat on her bed and gently started massaging lotion into her hand. She had wart-like growths on her hands and arms and it made me wonder when was the last time someone had touched her intentionally. Her leg wound was infected and smelled awful. She hardly looked at me, but as I continued to massage first her right hand and then her left I saw her start to relax. I believe that even the simplest human touch can start to bring about healing in a person's heart.