We arrived here in Danja Saturday morning. The trip here was pretty uneventful. Spokane to Seattle. Seattle to Paris. Paris to Niemey. Then early Saturday morning on a small six seater Piper plane, Niemey to Maradi. It was exciting to run into Jolene, Ginger and Jacqui in Paris. I hadn’t met Jacqui before but Jolene and Ginger and I worked together in Togo on the Africa Mercy. It’s great to be here with some good friends.
Harmitan is here so there is a constant haze. This is when the winds blow in the dust from the Sahara. Because of this we didn’t have great visibility flying here from Niemey. I’m hoping for a dust storm but I’m told it won’t happen this time of year. Bummer. From the pictures I’ve seen they look incredible!
The women are here! They were sitting under the tree when we arrived! Many of the women from the previous trip are here for check ups and many more are here to be seen. The rest of the team arrives tomorrow and screening will happen tomorrow afternoon to see who are surgical candidates. Surgeries will then begin on Tuesday. The four of us have been working to set up the operating room and ward. It’s been great reconnecting with the group here who help us. They translate for us, cook for us, laugh with us and at us, help us out more than we could ask for, and care a lot for these women as well. It’s a good team to be a part of.
More to come soon!
