Tuesday 26th February

In the morning we were sat by the window watching all the patients being brought to the ship for their surgeries and going to the waiting area. Every time you leave the ship and walk past the patients waiting 
area they always want to say hello and wave as they are so thankful for what Mercy Ships are doing for them. Many are dressed in their best clothes to attend this special day.

Also outside our cabin window on the dock side is a recovery tent and we watched a boy having the casts taken off his legs, being checked out and doing some exercises. We then had the pleasure of watching him walk for the first time since having the operations on his legs - amazing!                      

                                                                           


Today was the day we were going to walk into the town. Wasn't looking forward to this, but had to be experienced! It was VERY hot and VERY busy! Trying to cross the roads is a nightmare. You just have to find a space and hope for the best! Trying to walk through town is quite slow as you have to weave in and out of people, stalls, cars etc which are just everywhere and anywhere. You spend a lot of time on the road. Sharon had a map which just didn't seem to match the town or bear any resemblance to where we were!

There were lots of people begging, trying to sell you things, staring etc, especially with us being white - we stood out quite a bit!! We looked in a few shops selling clothes made of African print material and wooden crafts, etc. We had some lunch and looked in a couple more shops then had to make our way back as it takes a long time to get through the crowds and it was getting hotter and hotter! We actually felt safer than we thought we would. 

They try and bribe people for money all the time here for all kinds of stuff. While we were in town we saw a group of policemen trying to pull a man over to the side of the road and he wouldn't move over. Sharon told us that they were only pulling him over because he was dressed really smartly and driving an expensive car and they were probably just going to bribe him to try and get some money out of him. The man stood his ground and wouldn't pull over so they eventually let him drive on. 

They have now learnt that Mercy Ships people don't do bribes so they leave them alone. 

There are the most random things being sold on the pavements, by the side of the road and out of the baskets on peoples heads. There are photocopiers and binders in the middle of the pavements and people just go and get their photocopying and binding done, peeled oranges, TV's, sunglasses, cotton buds (?), clothes, shoes, fridges, beds, mattresses and cabinets just to mention a few! 

Sorry for the lack of photos on this post, but we aren't allowed to take photos of people in the town. Here are a few blurry photos I managed to take through the car window as we were travelling through town a couple of days ago.