End of a season.

 

The end of a season.

So. Here we are at last.

Said multiple fictional characters and probably some people who did exist and were in some kind of event that happened to be the proverbial 'end of the line'. Probably, I don't feel like fact checking this, but it doesn't seem like much of a unique thing to say. I don't know.

My time with Mercy Ships and my long service onboard the Africa Mercy has now come to an end, and now I feel in a state of  What is even happening right now. Presently, I am in in the middle of already left the Africa Mercy, and getting ready for starting the next season of life. University. It feels really strange.  The image below, taken from the plane, just coming over the British Isles is, I feel, a bit of an illustration of I am feeling.

It was only on the flight home, that I actually took time to notice the clouds over England. It is almost mesmerising just how still these big bunches of dust and vapours clouds are sometimes. I did A-level geography, but that was over two years ago, I have forgotten exactly the science of clouds, don't judge. But it was like they were frozen in time, and, like all clouds do (well, most), obscure. At the moment, this time of transition feels like that. A bit frozen, surprisingly dynamic, and almost covered up. 

They also are a bit of a reminder of just how  breathtaking and complex His creation is. Whilst we as a species understand what clouds "are", they are still incredibly detailed. The massive bunches of cloud, and how frozen they look are amazing on their own, then I noticed the tiny slithers of cloud branching out from the 'main bodies' almost suspended. I don't understand clouds fully. I have seen the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets, particularly over the last 5 months, but nothing will compare to the wonder of clouds, in my eyes.

I didn't expect that two Novembers ago, I would ''embark' on a journey quite like the one I have just finished, but I am incredibly glad that I did. It has been a period of ups, downs, growth, experiences, adventures, and learning to live, work and serve in community. Through Mercy Ships, I have learned more, gained more skills and experience, that if I had blindly made  the decision a little over three years ago to just do what everyone else seemed to be doing after finishing education university, without thinking about what I would be getting into, or if I was even ready (I wasn't) I would have never had the chance to do things that I have done. I have said it before, and I'll say it again. Through my work in the Deck Department, I have steered a ship, helped to tie off the ship, and operated a crane. I honestly cannot think how many guys or gals my age would be doing that straight out of school. Plus, I got something pretty dang neat out of my work, through training. As of about the middle of July, the slow months of trying to fill in sections of a training book, and also one almost long night of watching about 4 (some very boring) 20 minute training videos, to hand in my training book to Eric (then safety and training officer, now Chief Officer) the next morning, paid off. I became a Malta-recognised Deck Rating. Official title: Rating forming part of a navigational watch. What can I do with this, asides from shameless boasting, I could work on a ferry. #thinkingahead. All jokes aside, I am truly grateful to my officers onboard for helping me to get through this training, and allowing me to get to this level. If archaeology doesn't work out, I have a career path to fall back on. God is good, and it was his will for this to happen in my life, and it is a great blessing. I am ready and looking forward to starting this new season of university. I don't know if this is the path destined for me, but Jeremiah 29:11 gives me knowledge that I will be blessed.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"

Side note - I may or may not have gone on a tiny tangent to work out the parallels between Halo and the Bible by finding 1 John 1:7. I didn't work out the parallel, I just checked an interpretation on Reddit.                                                                                                                                                                                               

It has been a massive honour and a privilege to work alongside the guys I have worked with, directly. The Deck Department.  These guys are the most remarkable men I have ever met. It was very strange, not going to lie, I stood  out like a proverbial sore thumb. Being the only white guy and also by far the youngest team was a bit daunting, This was essentially my first job, and my entry into the working world, and I felt, at times, that I needed to prove myself to them all, but their warming nature told me otherwise, and I was quickly accepted into this unique working family, as a brother, and it is an honour to call them brothers as well. Looking ahead, I will probably never work in a team so diverse, coming from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Ghana, Madagascar, Guinea and Senegal. (Also The Philippines, Sweden, and Finland and Hungary. Though the Finns and the Hungarian were Deck Cadets)  I am incredibly thankful to have had this opportunity to work with and get to know these guys. Though, I feel like being different to the rest of the people I work with is going to a running theme, for me. Well, for the next year or so. As I go to start University, it is going to be weird, to introduce myself to my fellow students. Specifically fellow  first years, who will predominantly be made up of 18 years who just finished school, whilst I finished school two summers ago, and have been volunteering on a hospital ship serving in West Africa. 

Land ahoy! Oh wait, I am on a plane and not working
as a deck rating on a watch anymore.

Add caption

As well as the people that I have spent pretty much the last year and eight months working with, I have also met and made friends with the most diverse and extraordinary people. I will always be thankful and blessed by knowing and calling these guys my friends, and like my deck department work family, I will probably never meet a more diverse group of people, from all different nations, working in different departments on the ship. I have had friends from Engineering, from Food Services, from Reception, from Hospitality, from the Hospital, from Internet Serivces, from Finance, and from the Hope Centre. I will always keep these friends in my heart, and I cherished the moments of laughter, all the experiences and memories we made together, and I will always appreciate and never forget the time they took to make my birthday truly memorable (although, having a birthday locked down and under quarantine on a hospital ship in Tenerife is pretty memorable on it's own), and to make me feel loved. Some of my favourite memories with the  different friendship groups have been spending a night on Casa Island, Guinea; Going for an unexpected sprint through Conakry Port in a desperate attempt to get back to the ship before curfew we didn't; Going for an early evening swim on a beach in Las Palmas, which was much more pleasant than I expected for about 6/7 o'clock; A day trip Dakar, with 1 out of three planned visits done. Still bummed out that the western most point in Africa isn't allowed to be stood on. Call of Duty matches on Christmas morning and Secret Santa; Completely ruining a teammate's fun playing 'Codenames'  with the intention of losing the game, and somehow succeeding in that task by accident; Nerf war in the Hospital (The hospital was closed, and we were in Tenerife, in quarantine) Want a solution for having a bonfire on a ship where bonfires are not  allowed? Two bits of wood carved to look like a fire, with fairy lights/ and chocolate-coated banana chips; mattress surfing (I can neither confirm nor deny) and the 'Tour de AFM', or 'Great Deck 8 Tricycle Race' This goes out to (in relative chronological order of friendship. Mostly) Caleb, Laura, Filips, Imani, Michiel, Kim, Philip, LK, Rimke, Michael, Simon, Stephen, Sam, Laurianna, Rachel, Ian, Kate, Moise, Luke, Leon, Anna, Cameron, Josh, Kees, Heilke and Justin. I just want to thank you all for walking with me in this journey, it has been an absolute pleasure, and I love you all.

Casa Island, Guinea

'Funky sock Monday' Tenerife

A bonfire made out of wood. But then, bonfires are made
of wood anyway. Mostly

So what about my time with Mercy Ships, how has that been? It's been alright, I suppose. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity I had back early into the Senegal field service, when I had a day off, and I had the chance to see what working in the hospital was like. No, it wasn't a day to work in the Operating Rooms, I would be far out of my depth! I helped in Hospital Supply. It was almost satisfying to  see how my work in the Deck Department emptying containers full of hospital supplies, pays off. Apart from some of the medical supplies actually going towards the life-saving surgeries. It was like "So I empty the containers full of general supply and medical supplies, but where do they go after that?" then it's like "This is so cool, I now know the complete journey of all this medical stuff." I had two memorable moments of interacting with the patients. The first was playing Jenga, which quickly became a very advanced version of Jenga, where me, John the electrician from Australia and one of the young men competed to keep our tower stable, whilst putting the blocks on at really awkward positions. Even if we understood each other very little, it was wonderful to just have a laugh playing Jenga. Honestly, it was fun to watch the tower fall. The second most significant memory I have of interacting with a patient was purely accidental. It was  in Dakar, and one day, in the deck department we were engine testing, and I was stationed on the forward end of the dock, to keep an eye on the mooring lines, to make sure that they didn't snap or become damaged, or unless we were getting too loose. As I was watching, I suddenly felt a small hand touching mine. I look down, and I just find a little girl, smiling at me. I smiled back, but then felt incredibly awkward. I was just thinking "I know there is a fence between us and the lines, but still, you shouldn't be here!" But being British and not wanting to be rude and not trying to make her upset, I kind of just let her stay. I don't know if I should done that. I think she just wanted to help me do whatever it was that that I was doing, she didn't know what I was doing, but felt she wanted to help. I have no idea. Eventually, I think she got bored of not doing anything and went to play. I don't know why, but that felt special.

So what now?

A very good question, that I will answer. I am starting University at the end of September, studying History and Archaeology with a Foundation Year, at Bishop Grosseteste University, in Lincoln. I am very excited about this, studying and learning about the past has been a passion of mine, and I have this opportunity to study further. Plus, the idea of interacting and discovering lost artefacts is really intriguing to me. Whether or not I find cursed occult treasures and end up running for my life keeping the artefacts at of the wrong hands, I have no idea. Indiana Jones is a very bad depiction of Archaeologists. 

I guess you could say that I am looking forward..... puts on sunglasses to looking back freeze frame, roll credits, 80s rock song plays in the distance

I am ready for this new season of life. I think. I think I am walking out into a new world. But this new world is.... my own country. Looking at this in the bigger picture, I have spent most of the last year and a half on a hospital ship in a completely different continent, serving two cities that I may never see anything like ever again. Conakry and Dakar were completely alien to me, but Lincoln, a city in my own country is also alien to me. I applied for University, on the ship, blind. No open days, just researching courses on the internet. I have never been to Lincoln. What is even more hard to get around is coming back to England in the time of Covid. I was expecting everything to be completely different, and all the towns being deserted. (Because I am a seafarer, and I have spent the last five months locked down on the ship, with very little contact with the outside world, I am exempt from self-isolation) But, apart from the social distancing measures in place, everything feels the way I left it, after returning back to the ship after my personal time off last August. The line between familiarity and  unknown is blurred. The first thing that I noticed coming back home, and I am sure most of my friends who have been to the ship and been away from the ship, is just how loud the ship is. There is always background noise, whether that be the air-con system, the generators below me (I have spent most of my time onboard on the smallest six berth on the ship on deck 3), loud work involving hitting things or grinding things (Both below me in the engine room or on the exterior of the ship, when I am on night patrol and sleeping during the day), my fellow fireman or the Firefighting Equipment Officer (miss you, Liang!) checking the SCBA bottles in the fire locker right outside my cabin early in the morning on Fridays (Also when I have just come off night patrol.), or the faint sound of the dead man alarm in the engine control room late at night, until the watch keeper switches it off. I will almost miss the background noise of the ship. 

Before I conclude, enjoy some photos from the promotion of myself and the rest of the deck crew. 

Me and Femi, my Bosun.

Eric putting on my epaulets, whilst I hold a certificate, which is a photo of the certificate.

Francis, Me, Djurre Jan (then captain), James and Cherif
(we became Deck Ratings); Richard and Patrice
(They became Able Seafarer Deck)

"The Firemen" and Liang, Firefighting Equipment Officer + Cherif, who is a waterman.

So what happens with the blog, you may be asking? I intend to keep the blog going, however, I don't think posts will come out as regularly as I have tried to do, mostly because I don't want to keep pumping out blogs about university life, and most of my time will probably be filled up with studies, and whatever I feel like doing. This will be more of a personal blog, writing about whatever is important to me and I want to share. Tune in for that, I guess.

Thank you!

This one will probably have a lot more meaning, I just want to thank you for reading. it has been a bit of a chore, at times, but to me, a read of any of my last how many or so posts is a big encouragement, so thank you for that support. I really hope that you, if you have been following the blog you have enjoyed reading.

Thank you,

And goodbye.

Matthew.

A different kind of ship-life, reflection and two decades of life.

A Different kind of ship-life, reflection and two decades of life.

Hello. It's me, Matthew Little. The author of this blog I just want to start by recognising that yes, I haven't updated this blog in a few months. My reasons are that I just didn't know what to write. I had honestly felt like that I had written everything that I possibly could have about life on the M/V Africa Mercy (This is the name of the vessel I have been serving as a deck hand for about a year and a half . There is a United States Navy Ship Mercy, which is also a hospital ship, and has been in the news recently for an unfortunate reason but we are two completely different vessels. I just felt I should clear this up.) 
Without repeating myself by recalling doing the same tasks over and over again, but in a slightly different part of the ship, in a slightly different circumstance, neither, did I want to flood the blog with other information about what I did in my free time. Whilst I have heard that some of my readers like that, and it allows them to have a virtual way into Senegal and West Africa, but I also didn't do too much exploring, asides from the occasional night out with friends getting food or something. There just wasn't much that I thought was interesting. But now times have changed. I think we all know that. 

Be warned, this may also be a long one. Stick around, if I ever publish my blog posts as volumes, this post may just be it's own book. And if it is adapted into a film, Peter Jackson managed to adapt one book into a trilogy of movies, so why not this one. Just add characters who don't even appear in the book, it's fine.

For those curious about what has happened in Senegal, please read this official statement issued by Mercy Ships:

The current situation of COVID-19, highlighted by the W.H.O.'s announcement of the designation of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the increasing travel restrictions applied by several countries, have made it increasingly difficult for Mercy Ships to continue to carry out its programs to the required standards, while protecting against the possible spread of the virus.

Therefore, in line with the measures taken by the President of Senegal with the Ministry of Health, Mercy Ships has reviewed the activities associated with the Africa Mercy and has decided to wind down the programmatic operations of our mission in Senegal.

The main concerns of Mercy Ships are the health of the Senegalese people and the safety and well-being of our own volunteers, crew and staff worldwide

While we regret these measures, we are convinced that they are necessary for the safety and well-being of all concerned.

As we face these challenging events, we would like to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support to Mercy Ships and our mission to bring hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor.

And now, we are no longer in Senegal, and we have sailed to Tenerife, where I write now. Over a course of a few weeks, I will add. I can't sit down to write one post in one day. When we received this news on board, that was when I realised the world had just been turned upside down. And everything on the ship changed. Well, not literally, but for a few days after this.... It was hard to process the news, but on the ship, I noticed a very stark change of atmosphere. 

Already, the world seems a bit less bright. - Joshamee Gibbs, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

It was really strange, that us on board, looking in, reading the news from back home about how COVID-19 is spreading rapidly around our home countries. We were worried for Family and friends back home. I had decided that I would give up Facebook and Instagram for lent, but then, not knowing exactly who to talk to, not knowing exactly what to ask, who to ask if they were ok, I just wanted to read a message saying a "Yeah, I'm ok", I just decided to break my social media fast, just to see updates, to see that they were doing ok. Starting these conversations scared me. But social media updates were just a huge a relief. I didn't like deciding to break that fast, but it was worth it, to see that people were ok. 

It was also very strange, to read updates and statistics, to think that being so far away from home, where there were no cases in Senegal or Africa yet, and to think, we were safe where we were. But then that all changed, hearing about the first confirmed case of Senegal, reading that the World Health Organisation declaring Covid-19 as a Pandemic, and suddenly, shore leave has been stopped, and we will prepare to sail away to safety as soon as possible. But where was safety? Covid-19 was everywhere. It was the most unexpected thing in the world, and it was scary. For all we knew, we could be sailing out of Senegal, with no clear destination, stuck, out at sea for who knows how long. Out of all of the fictional universes that I know, The Last Ship was not the one I wanted to live out. Bearing in mind, the only episodes of The Last Ship I have watched are the last three episodes of the final season, so apart from that a Navy Vessel goes on a research mission in the Arctic, only to return to a world where a pandemic is running rampant, I mostly have no idea what it is about, only how it ends. 

Books I have read, and how they strangely apply to my life now.

On the ship, I joined a book club, headed by a chaplain with such members as the Captain, an IT Specialist, an Academy student, a Hospital Supply Assistant, a Medical Capacity Building team member, and a few from Human Resources. We have read two books so far. Looking back, I didn't think that I could have possibly put myself in the shoes  of the two main characters of the books we read. Until now. Well, one of them was a biography, but still. This book was The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel. This book tells the story of the so-called last true hermit in North America amongst other names such as North Pond Hermit. This guy lived as a hermit in Maine for nearly 30 years. Reading and discussing the story of this guy, trying to make sense of a guy who decided that in his prime, finished school a few years prior, supposedly had a few good friends, and a good family, just decided to run away from home and live in a well hidden campsite close to a few holiday cabin, for no reason. It was a good book, and I would recommend it. Whilst reading, I did think "What if I did that?" and I will admit that growing up, I did think about "What if i just ran away and  ceased communication and contact with humanity one day" I could do that, I could survive (probably, I've read The Hunger Games) I could identify with the hermit, I'm an introvert, face to face conversation sometimes overwhelms me. But he also taught me that even when we don't want to talk to people and we just want to run away, we still crave some form of connection with people, even if it is by listening to music, podcasts, or by watching people on YouTube whether they are vloggers or a gaming channel, just sharing their passion with the world. I would never actually run away. But when you are quarantined to a ship with many other people for an unpredictable period of time, it is near impossible to be a hermit, and alone time is a rare moment, and perhaps a gift. I have found the only time at the few moments of solitude you can get on the ship at the moment are in your cabin. There is a lot  cabin movement, just to push for seperation, to prevent the potential spread of Covid-19, or just illness in general. Also being a Deck Hand, doing Night Patrol, is also one of these rare moments of solitude.

The other book, however, is one that right now, I want to be in that world. The book is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It's about this man, Jason, A physics professor at a university, who is one day abducted, and wakes up in another universe. It's a book about travel in the multiverse, and how with every decision you make, an infinite number of parallel universes are created. There is no wrong or right decision, but there are a never ending number of outcomes. It was a crazy book, but these days, I wish I could be in that world, where you can essentially become a god, creating a new world with thoughts and emotion, just to escape this world we live in, with a pandemic. It's an incredible power. How insane must it be, to explore different outcomes, and to live in a world where you can go to a world where you can live in a world as if you corrected your own mistakes, or just imagine a new paradise, and to not look back.

Looking back on working in the Deck Department, and the opportunities i had.

After pack up was completed, the cables were stored and the anchors on board, we were ready to begin our earlier than expected journey to wherever next. And boy, was I given new opportunities and responsibilities than I never expected to get - ever, let alone not long before my 20th birthday. I was given the responsibility of steering the ship during a man overboard drill, where we had to do a fancy manoeuvre, which was pretty much a 180 degree turn. Although, it wasn't a straight up turn around, we had to go a certain degree off course, then sort of back again by about half. All so that if there ever was a man overboard, we don't hit the man overboard, or they got chopped up into little bits, and also to give the rescue boats space to rescue the victim. If you ever find yourself being asked to take the helm of a ship during a man overboard rescue, I'll tell you this: Don't get your hopes up for excitement at the wheel, it's pretty uneventful. 
The expectation: Many wheel turns in quick succession and a bunch of momentum and fluidity.
Reality: "Starboard a certain amount of degrees" says the Captain, calmly. The helmsman dutifully repeats the command just given, conveying calm and confidence, as a show of understanding, then begins to carry out the order. When the order is carried out, the helmsman yells "Starboard a certain amount of degrees, sir." With the same degree of calmness. The Captain then acknowledges the completed order, and the helmsman stands-by for the next, calm collected command.
No matter, to be given that amount of responsibility was an incredible honour, and I am very glad to have been able to do that. During my time with Mercy Ships thus far,  I have had the opportunity to do many cool  and different tasks working in the Deck department. To look back on my time, months after finishing school, doing things such as operating a crane, operating a forklift, being a team member on mooring operations, to get the ship tied up and freed (I Guess? How else do I call unmooring operation? de-mooring? un-porting?), hauling heavy mooring lines and operating capstan winches to make sure the lines tight and loose, Night Patrol duties (Even though they are very boring, mostly uneventful, and long) keeping lookout for the safety of the crew and the patients we care for, when they all rest. (But a benefit is that it is  one of the only times on board where you get to be alone), assisting with container operations, and as I have already mentioned, steering the ship. If you look at Mercy Ships and wonder "How does this help to bring hope and healing and life-saving surgeries?" I sometimes ask myself the same question, but watch your favourite film, watch the credits, MARVEL has been rewarding audiences for patience since time began. You find that a film is more than just the actors/actresses, directors, producers and writers. A whole, sometimes global team work to bring entertainment together. It's the same way with Mercy Ships. We need staff to cook and serve the food for the crew and patients, to give them sustenance, strength and to keep us healthy, housekeepers to keep the ship clean, and the crew healthy. The plumbers to work on the vacuum system and make sure the toilets are working. Engineers and electricians to keep the lights on and power running. Information Services to give us internet. The team in the only Starbucks in Africa to give us our caffeine and waffles. Transportation and maintenance to keep  the vehicles and off-ship facilities running. The deck department to make sure that the ship is strong enough and in the right conditions, to keep the ship sailing, and to continue bringing hope and healing. I am sure I have already written about how the jobs we do on deck help, such as emptying the containers of the medical instruments and equipment, moving into another container, lifting that container on board, emptying the container, for medical supply to provide for the operating rooms. It may not be on the front line, but the fact that I can say that I have supported bringing hope and healing with the work I do on board, all before I was twenty years old, is a very cool thing.

What has happened? Why is the world so new?

Right now, the ship is docked in Tenerife. In quarantine. For about two weeks. But when that two weeks is over, we still have to follow the Spanish regime of lockdown. So we don't actually know the next time when we are free to leave the ship and explore. It is a stark contrast to ship life a little over a month ago. It already feels like months ago when shore leave was restricted, and the priorities of the ship changed. It all happened so fast. over a weekend. Going from "We are going to continue  bringing hope and healing in Senegal until we are due to leave" to "We are going to get ready to leave as soon as possible" in under two days was a surreal thing. I maybe repeating myself, but for a few days after we received this news, I sensed a very different vibe on the ship. It was a vibe of sadness and confusion. The next few weeks were like looking through a dirty window, and no-one knew what was going on anymore. Then began a slow, mass exodus of crew, desperate to get on the last flights home before borders closed and charter flights became available. They were bittersweet farewells. On one hand, they may have been final goodbyes, depending on plans, then might have been the last time we would see them again, with repeat offenders or just good friends saying goodbye unexpectedly. I can personally put faces and names to some of these people. I am due to leave to ship (Hopefully, in August), saying goodbye to crew who I know would be returning to the ship once this whole COVID thing blows over, I may never see them again if they return unexpectedly later than I leave. But on the other hand, they left to go back home to help in the fight COVID in their own countries, using their skills and gifts when they can't use them now. Or they left because they recognised that we needed a certain number of crew onboard to sail, and they wanted to reduce numbers. They made sacrifices, and we are truly thankful for the sacrifice and hard decisions they made to return back home. whilst this was going on, It was just a fast push to get the ship ready to sail, breaking the dock down, bringing everything on deck, tying it all down, cleaning and securing. I don't remember leaving Guinea in the same way last year. Leaving Senegal just felt like a huge rush, we were evacuating, leaving for uncertain safety. Whereas when we left Guinea, we knew we were leaving, and we knew where we were going. And we had done all we had done, in Guinea, we had finished. But we left Senegal with unfinished business. We also couldn't say goodbye to our deck day crew. Only about 50 essential day crew were allowed to live in our tents on the dock, the ward day crew, housekeeping, the engine control watch keepers assistant and galley staff. We didn't want to break our quarantine bubble. But, the men who I had spent about 8 months working alongside, whilst teaching each other about our respective cultures, growing in friendship and respect, working together, even with big cultural and personal differences. I am truly glad to have worked with them. And also sad that there wasn't any closure. We celebrated with the day crew from Guinea, having food together. We couldn't do that this time. I wish we could have. I may not see them again. Going from working in safety and out of reach from the disease to "We are unable to continue, we don't feel safe here anymore" was a strange thing, all around.

Things haven't been so bad, though. Reasons to celebrate. Living in a rare thing today.

It is easy to think about the sad things that have happened recently. But things haven't been all bad though. There were things that we thought we would be doing differently a few weeks ago. These things include Birthdays. Over the last few weeks, the Adventure Crew celebrated a few birthdays, albeit differently than we expected. The first of these birthdays was Cameron's. Cameron worked at the Hope Centre, our sort-of hotel for those living out of Dakar, and we waiting for surgery, or had surgery, but were still with Mercy Ships for recovery. Cameron was from America, but had heritage from Asia.  There was a Korean place in Dakar, and we surprised him with a meal there, a few days before his birthday. Why before? He had an interesting story regarding flights. His birthday was on the Saturday after (Also the Saturday that shore leave was restricted), and he was due to fly to Paris before his birthday, so we decided we would surprise him before his Birthday. The Adventure Crew gathered at the Korean place, and he was told that he would go out with just the Hope Centre team, so they showed up later. And surprise, all his friends were also there! It was a delightful evening of fellowship, friendship, and broadening horizons of food. But then Covid-19 and the flight was cancelled, so he was able to spend his birthday in Dakar, or more rather, on the ship, as that was the Saturday when everything was turned upside down. We were planning to go to a beach in the evening. But at about half 10 in the morning: Shore-leave had been restricted, and everyone who had already left the ship were called back. Everything had changed, in a matter of less than 24 hours. So we decorated the Crew Mess with MEMES! We had to wait for Cameron to get back from the Hope Centre in the evening, and we spent the evening celebrating Cameron in a tiny room. And there was cake. We miss you Cameron. (Cameron did manage to leave)

The next birthday celebrated was Kate's. Kate wanted to go snorkelling, but as plans had shifted, we improvised. By transforming the Queen's Lounge into the 'ultimate underwater experience'. complete with Gabriel, a fish caught earlier in the day (R.I.P Gabriel). My contribution to the whole thing was being asked to watch and guard the snacks and juice for the punch. Until Anna and Rachel forgot about the task they gave me for over an hour. But hey, none of it was stolen, so I think I did a good job. It was a very cool sight. The room had a blue tint, there were paper jelly fish, streamers, fish, and to top it off, there was a marine life themed MEME WALL! We said Happy Birthday like we were whales, and I have never seen someone walk into a birthday party for themselves get so excited  wearing flippers and a snorkel mask, and it is that much joy radiating from one person that makes life worth living. And lock down not so bad. We also managed to get in touch with some previous members of the Adventure Crew (Although, once part of the Adventure Crew, always part of the Adventure Crew. Unless you accidentally make someone leave voluntarily). We spoke to Simon (EAGLES, WOW) and Meg (his girlfriend, who I haven't met in person), In New Zealand, and Philip, who now works at the Mercy Ships headquarters. (At least, we tried, with the Internet being SO BAD at the moment, because no one can leave) It was very nice to catch up with 'The outside'. 

And then there was a break for a few weeks without Adventure Crew birthdays, but in between, there were other activities on board for the rest of the crew to get involved in and enjoy together. (which is a rare thing these days, and it is a privilege to be one of the only people in the world right now, who can celebrate Easter and birthdays, or just being together) These have included, pub quizzes, (I joined a team with my parents and Stuart and Frances, the parents of a British family here onboard. We won the last quiz. I am convinced that me knowing thee difference between the Rolex and Hallmark crown) Mandalorian marathons (This is the Way.), A few Deck-department lead Irish/ sea-shanty evenings. My father on acoustic guitar, Riku playing the violin, Adam (Deck Cadet, Hungary) on guitar, and me playing (or at least, trying to play) the ukulele, Kim on the Cajon, Cherif (Guinea) on the keyboard, and Femi. Oh yeah, Femi came back with his wife Jennifer, and their daughter, Meghan, just after Christmas! I was super excited for them to return to the ship. As I type this now, a ping pong tournament is going on. There was a bake-off, Prince of Egypt, amongst other activities.

And then there were two Adventure Crew birthdays within one week. The first was my own. Yeah, I didn't think I would be spending my 20th under quarantine, but these things happen. But I had people to celebrate my birthday with, which was just nice. What was even better, is that because I was on Night Patrol the week before, I had my birthday (on a Monday) off! But the celebrations really happened the day before. And how did my amazing ship friends surprise me? With escapism; from reality, and the Death Star. They made a Star Wars themed escape room, and transformed the Queen's Lounge pantry into a Death Star data centre. My team of Rebels (Kate, Kees-Ake from the Netherlands. He also returned to the ship, Rachel, Luke and Patrick) were stuck on the Death Star, during the finale of A New Hope, and the Rebel Starfighter pilots were beginning the attack. We had to translate Aurebesh like all nerds do, do maths Ugh. Maths, answer Star Wars trivia, identify a character who said 'I have a bad feeling about this.' All to discover the find the location of Rebel Allies, before the Death Star explodes. We were told that the Death Star blew up 5 minutes before we escaped, but whatever, we said we won. Also, Josh, fellow Star Wars nerd, created back story for my character: a force-sensitive Ewok, trained in the Dark Side of the Force as a Sith. My Sith ability: The ability to discern the ways of the Universe, but at the cost of taking a life. Putting it simply, I could kill a team mate for a clue. It was a hard decision, but for time, I had to kill two teammates. (Rest in Peace, Luke and Patrick) but that wasn't all. Rachel and Anna baked a BB-8 cake for me haha, BB-Cake got BB-8, and we spent the evening after the Sunday service in friendship, all because I was alive, and almost lived for 2 decades. And the gifts I was blessed with.... An african Fabric Hat, an African model of some description, a novel about being an IT Leader and a fake Handle Bar Mustache. The Hat and Mustache I gladly wore for my actual birthday. At least, when the tape actually did it's job and actually stuck. My actual birthday was fairly chilled out. I was called out by John, our Operations Director during the Monday morning briefing. I wasn't very camouflaged. But, what was the first thing I saw when I walked out the cabin door? A MEME WALL!  There was the Queen, Star Wars, British memes, inside jokes, MARVEL and references to birthdays during the time of COVID-19. If the Great Wall of China was built to keep the Mongols out of China, then a Great Birthday Meme Wall of Deck 3 can keep out COVID19 and quarantine depression. In the evening, my Parents and I watched Master and Commander: Far side of the World for the first time. It's a good film, I would recommend, and gave me presents. A Mercy Ships  t-shirt, A book on the history and Archaeology of Petra, the once capital of the Nabateans, the city carved into a rock, and the location for the hiding place of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones, Toffifee and the most important and crucial item to have today.... a bottle of hand sanitizer. The Adventure Crew also made a card, with I guess... their favourite photos of me. I don't take many photos of myself, or have many photos taken. Or take many photos generally. Anyway, It was a great few days, I felt so appreciated and loved, and I couldn't have asked for better friends to celebrate my life with under quarantine. To Laurianna, Luke, Kees, Patrick, Kate, Anna, Rachel, Josh, Moise, and anyone else who contributed, or were just there, I love you all so much, thank you for what you did for me that day. or days. Also, to my parents, who brought me into the world, and with whom I was around to celebrate with, thank you. Who knows if this will be the last of my birthdays we will celebrate together, but I am glad you are here, with me, on this ship.


OK, Self-indulgence over.

The last birthday we celebrated, in the form of a Garden Party Brunch on Deck 7, was for Laurianna. Because, if we can transform a room into an underwater scene or a room on the Death Star, then Deck 7 can definitely be turned into a garden. And so we did. Kinda. But what other garden has a sea and mountain view. Yeah. Not many, so it is instantly better than yours. My role - enforcing the 'Wear nice clothes and be ready on time' directive. At least, it was my primary role in the whole thing, but I did have others. But it was a nice morning, we had Galettes buckwheat pancakes. This was my first galette experience, and, they are, surprisingly, quite nice. At least the galettes that Kate prepared. So the bar is already quite high. Good job, Kate! Anywho, it was another time to gather with some pretty cool people, and celebrate the life of a friend. And another MEME WALL. was erected in the honour of Laurianna. Because MEME WALLS are the next best thing.  Thank you for the friendship, Laurianna! Then later that day, I found an error in the book about Petra, which labelled one monument as another. I know, the horror! 

And, of course, it's spring, so Easter happened. Last year, I didn't enjoy Easter on the ship. It was an extravaganza, and this Easter was no different. I think the main reason why I didn't enjoy Easter last year, was because the concept of celebrating the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in community was so new to me, and I couldn't handle being around the number of crew on board. Christmas has always been a time where people get together to celebrate the Birth of Christ, but not Easter. But this Easter has been different, and I think that after last year, I knew what would be going on, so I could mentally prepare myself for the season. It was both that, and I had become used to the number of crew onboard, Because nobody has been allowed to go off-ship. Last Easter, everyone just seemed to suddenly be onboard, but we had gone for nearly a month where everyone was here. During a Sunday worship service recently, we were reminded, that this year, because with so many countries going into lockdown, and everyone staying inside, not being allowed to make large gatherings, and with us onboard, who have to remain onboard, in community, we would be some of the only people in the world, who could celebrate Easter, with other people. And how privileged we are to be able to do so. My question "Why, out of the billions Christians on the planet, have been given the honour to celebrate with people?" So I was ready to celebrate, to make the most of what others could not do.  Out of all the Easters and Birthdays I have celebrated up to now, this year will probably always stand out to me, not only because they were both during the time of a pandemic and I was under quarantine, but also because I was onboard a ship, with a celebrating alongside a crew of 200-odd, and we could celebrate together. 

And now, my plans, during a time where nothing is certain to happen anymore. I have always been fascinated by history and artefacts from history, and I have the opportunity to study such things, and I have realised that, through working in the deck department, from the stories told by our officers and cadets, a life at sea, is not one for me. So, I have plans to return back to the UK later this year (hopefully) and start a four-year course studying History and Archaeology. I believed coming to Mercy Ships this past year-and-a-half was my calling, but it has only been my calling for the past year-and-a-half, and a few more months. It's roughly 3 months off two years. I am certainly happy with what I have done during my time, and I have done things I never would have expected to be doing, during my late-teens. I have met people, and become friends some of the most extraordinary people I have ever, or will ever met, that I wouldn't have if I hadn't come. Those people are both the crew on board, and also the African day crew. So I wasn't ready to face University a year and a half ago. But after spending  a year and a half, helping to bring hope and healing in a completely different continent. So, to my parents. Thank you for inviting me along for the ride. Another thing you should know about me, is that I could not reflect on myself to save my life, and I could not pick out a personal development that has stood out to me. 

So, that's probably about it for now. At least, all that I am allowed to share, and all that has happened in my life for the month or so. Sorry that this has basically become a book in itself, but I truly appreciate you for sticking through it. 

Thank you,
Matthew.
Now, enjoy some photos, just so that this book has something for the eyes.

The very wet (and somewhat salty) forward mooring deck,
from the port side bridge wing. I hadn't seen the spray get as high as the bridge before

This is me in the chainlocker

BB-Cake got BB-8 (Thank you, Rachel and Anna.)
And that is punch, not blood..

Sailing away from Dakar, from the Aft mooring deck

The horizon..... somewhere in the Atlantic

Happy birthday to me, I guess.

Aft mooring deck, leaving Dakar

A view of the Atlantic from Starboard side, in Tenerife

Artsy photo  number one

Arriving in Tenerife  (photo credits: my mother)

Artsy photo number two

Artsy photo number three

A sunset in Tenerife

The first thing I saw leaving the cabin on my birthday.
And yes, that is Nigel Farage

(From January)  Surviving twin cannons from the French Danton-class semi-dreadnought battleship Verginuad, on Goree Island.  I was looking forward to seeing these in person. 

Blog post 11 or 12: One Year Anniversary edition

Wow. It has just been just over 365 days since my Mercy Ships. This is counting the days since climbing the gangway of the Africa Mercy for the first time, not since I actually joined Mercy Ships. otherwise it would be about ..... 407 day. No, I'm not taking out the  month's PTO I took during the summer, because I technically never left Mercy Ships. I still have blue lanyard, not Alumni green.
I say that, but in actual fact, I reluctantly gave into getting a replacement lanyard. Which I was saddened by. It was like a piece of my identity was taken away from me. Mainly because after a year, It didn't look blue, it looked a dusty-brown grey. I really enjoyed when other crew members asked "So what does a grey lanyard mean?" and I would then go "It's not a grey lanyard, it's a blue one but just old". Like the time in Doctor Who, when the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) confessed that he actually enjoyed hearing "Doctor Who?" said out loud.


Ship life has been pretty standard, over the last month or so, with some interesting new things I have got up to on Deck. One of these things is learning how to maintain and repair chipping guns. That involved taking a chipping gun apart, cleaning it, checking if all the components are in order and in condition to be used again, and then putting them back together again, oiling them, and testing that they work. I did another week of Night Patrol, which went overall, pretty great! Nothing caught on fire, and there were no emergencies. Although, there is usually something that is on the back of your mind that they don't want to happen and are out the ordinary. Nothing bad happened though.

During my week of night patrol, my Thursday was interrupted by a fire drill. Not that I didn't already know that there would be a fire drill that Thursday, but here is the catch. It was a surprise fire drill. That happened about half past 10 in the morning. It wasn't great to have just about fallen asleep for about 3 hours, and then suddenly to be woken up abruptly by a overhead announcement by the captain saying "Attention crew, attention crew this is a drill this is a drill. I am announcing this before the crew alert alarm so we don't disturb the Operating Room. It's on the dock". Obviously, I had just woken up, and it took a very minutes to register what was going on, and then the crew alert alarm went off. So, I had to put on some trousers, not change my tshirt, because why would I, and went to my muster station. They got kitted up, I was asked to tell muster control who was missing from our team, whilst the rest of the team went to the scene. I went down, looking very confused, very tired, and squinting. And very hot. I have been outside in the sun in the bunker gear, it was not fun. My mum has some very bad photos of me in the bunker gear, completely unaware she was taking photos, looking sleepy and flustered. The drill finished, I helped with pack up, and went back to bed. Until about 3:30 in the afternoon, woken up by ANOTHER DRILL! It's safe to say my sleep was interrupted big time. No one wants to woken up by an unexpected morning fire drill, let alone two unexpected drills. It was a security drill, and we were practising an evacuation from the ship. So I accidentally created another line waiting to get off the ship very awkwardly, until I was allowed to get off. It wasn't a long line, but still. I then didn't go back to sleep. A week later, on fire team training, a competition was held between the four fire teams, to which team could suit up the fastest, and ready to enter a space with a fire. That means, skin completely covered up. My team, Fire Team 4, won the contest!  On the basis that we were the only team to not be disqualified for having anything wrong with our suits! You know the saying 'Slow and steady wins the race'? Having that mindset is crucial in fire-fighting. You may be fast, sure, but are you ACTUALLY ready?

Dreams do come true... even if they are getting Ice Cream.

After waking up on Saturday afternoon, after completing another week, I told some friends that "I really want to go out for ice cream at somepoint." So, we tried to arrange to go out for ice cream the following Tuesday. The plan was like a plant. I provided the seed, (Hey, I wanna go get Ice Cream), a friend sowed the seed (Sure, let's do this on Tuesday), and another friend watered the soil (Hey other friends, wanna get ice cream on Tuesday). The plant quickly withered and died. The plan conflicted with other plans. Unfortunately, the message of "hey, most of us are busy, so we are going to have to cancel the whole plan, sorry." Didn't make it's way to the seed of the plan until the day of the plan. All hope of getting Ice Cream seemed lost. Or so I thought. After a Saturday full of out of town activity (more on that later), The message was sent to the Whatsapp group "Ice cream at Cremino". It was happening. After only a week. And it happened. A few hours ago, I had been ziplining through Baobab trees, had a White Chocolate and Strawberry Magnum, and now we were getting Ice Cream. I felt I had peaked that day. And the perfect photo showing exactly how I was feeling was taken. Also, If you are in Dakar, and are looking for Ice Cream, I would highly recommend Cremino!

Together at last.... Choc

o Noisette and Salted Caramel

Safaris and ziplining through Baobab trees

Most of that Saturday was spent exploring and seeing the beauty in the natural landscapes of Senegal, in Bandia nature reserve and Accrobaobab. I, along with my parents, and a fairly large group, including Mike, the Carpenter, Nic (One of the officers), Riku (Another officer, from Japan!) and 'Matsu' (Engineer, also from Japan), Barry and Cheryl (British, married, chaplain and housekeeper, respectively), and about another Mercy Ships vehicle full. We weren't the only Mercy Shippers going to Bandia, though. There were like another two Mercy Ships vehicles going to Bandia. We calculated that all but one of the vehicles for personal use had gone to Bandia. Only one was either at the ship, or elsewhere. So where was the last vehicle? That was a mystery. So, Bandia. Bandia was so nice. It was so good to just get away to get away from the hustle and bustle of the port and town, swapping people not that I don't like people, it's just, being around people, particularly a large number of people, does get tiring for lots of beautiful animals, and swapping the environment of dust, metal and concrete structures for baobab trees, and the breathtaking West African countryside. If that is what you call the more, natural areas of West Africa. I had never been on a Safari, but it felt like exactly how you may imagine: A big, open sided jeep, with a guide. Not the most descriptive description, but that was all there was to it. The only thing missing was the guide carrying a rifle with tranquilliser darts, in case some animals got a little bit too grabby with our food. I'm looking at you, monkeys. The animals were chill, I think they just wanted the humans to stop looking at them, and mind our own business. Especially a couple of giraffes, who kept bashing their heads into each other. I don't blame the animals sometimes, to be honest. We also saw a juvenile tortoise trying to pick a fight with some of the older tortoises. I can imagine they were thinking "Please leave me alone. I just wanna stand around being a tortoise"

After a relaxing truck ride on the ground, observing African nature, we then used an opportunity to see the serene African nature from a different perspective, and with a slightly more active demeanor... up in the sky.... Nearly. Zipling through Baobab trees. It's like Go-Ape, to all my fellow Brits. And maybe some Americans, as I just found out! Accept, through Baobab trees. The course we did, the highest and longest, was a mix of predominately ziplining and tight rope walking. The ziplining, surprisingly, was the easier part of the course. All it involved was hooking yourself up to the cable, and ensuring you get the wheelly system hooked up correctly, then you zoom through the sky, hoping that the cable doesn't snap halfway through. On one of the last lines, I didn't put in enough 'oomph' at my launch, so I just missed reaching the next platform without having to drag myself to the platform. And I grabbed on to the cable a bit too soon, and stopped myself. Just before the end. And rubbed my hands against the cable. Wasn't fun. The next line, though. landed perfectly, In one. zoom. Maybe. I don't know how to put it, but I reached the next platform in one go. The hardest part was the tight rope walk parts. The first was two cables vertically parallel too eachother. It wasn't easy, with the fear of maybe losing a shoe. That almost happened climbing up the first ladder. And also maybe getting hit in the head by a rogue Baobab fruit. Which are heavy. Almost happened twice. But, taking the time to not slip off, (We were clipped to the top cable, so not fall off) allowed me to take a good look at the surroundings - the trees, the plains, the settlements, the odd industrial building. It is truly breathtaking. It kinda felt like being the camera of the aerial shots of a nature documentary. Or the establishing shots, just before we see the city in Wakanda in Black Panther for the first time. Nic, who was ahead of me in the course, who waited for me to get to the next platform before zooming to the next mentioned how focused and determined I looked, walking across the last tight rope walk. After completing the course, and after ice creams, it was time to head back to the port.

Other recent deck work has included greasing life boat davit cables. Not very nice, mainly because Harmattan is back, the dusty season, so cleaning the dirt off the cables wasn't fun. Also, some not so fun enclosed space work. Though, I didn't go in, I was just supervising, by being the standby man, but, for the guys going in, my fellow deck HANDS, James, Francis, Cherif and Ishaka (James has several names for me. the most current being 'Supey' - shortened from Supervisor), It has been tough work. In James' words (or similar) "It's like an oven. The air blowing around is hot. We have been doing maintenance underneath the stores crane. That has involved sweeping the dust inside, chipping, and yet to be done grinding. It's a tedious job, and is a job that cannot go wrong. To all the 'Landlubbers', Enclosed Space work is one of the most dangerous work on a ship- that and diving operations. The entrances to the enclosed space also look like an old oven. It is apparently a job that has not been done in about 13 years. Which, in Mercy Ships history, is a year before the Africa Mercy started it's Mercy Ships service.

WOW, EAGLES!
My Adventure Crew, an elite group of young Mercy Shippers established during shipyard. A group that we want to go down in Mercy Ships history and legend, until no one knows how it truly started. We said goodbye to another one of the 'Founding Fathers, Simon, from New Zealand.  Simon joined at the very end of the field service in Guinea. It was a sad day. The day that we said goodbye, not when he joined! We became close friends. Mostly through his love of the way I say "Wow!" It was nice to have that close friendship with someone is a bit older than me. And someone to have a laugh playing Age of Empires 2 with, as I desperately clung on for life, trying to building farms, whilst he layed siege to my last villagers, stuck between a wall and a forest. So, a few hours before waving him off, as he left for the airport, we, aswell as some members of the Adventure Crew- old and new, went out for dinner at La Pampa, a nice local Argentinean place. Simon and I shared a Calabreasa Pizza. It was touching. After ice cream at Cremino, we went back to the ship. Simon wasn't due to leave until 10, so I joined another group that another group of us have formed within the last week. our little 'Mandalorian' watching party. The Mandalorian, If you haven't heard within the last month, is the new live action Star Wars TV series, exclusive to Disney+. Only 4 episodes in, and I am really enjoying it, the new grittier side of Star Wars, very intriguing plot. We watched the first three episodes a few days ago, and we watched chapter three again, mostly because on  of our party left before we started episode three. But that didn't matter, but because it was worth the rewatch, because it is the best of the four at the moment. Then we watched chapter 4, which had just been released. So, then it was time to say goodbye. And then we went back to the Mandalorian. So long, Simon, I miss you already!
I also said goodbye to another friend that I had made during the last two months, Vanessa, one of the OR Nurses. If you see this, actually written not long after you left, it was a pleasure to have met you, get to know you, and call you a friend.

Deck hand - Admiral (to be)

Trying to get back into Tabletop miniature war-gaming (after about 8 years, from visiting a Games Workshop in Cambridge and buying a starter set of Ultramarines) and about a year of my friend from back home trying to get me into the hobby, I decided that I would order the starter set of 'Black Seas', the new Age of Sail (1770- 1830) line of tabletop war-gaming miniatures. I have started to build a fleet. Or two fleets. I intend to build two small British and French Navy Fleets so I can actually play with someone. Then expand to create a massive fleet. Maybe.

This is what they looked like a few Saturdays ago.

Three 5th rate frigates, without masts. 6 Brigs, with masts

 Thank you for reading, now enjoy some beautiful photos of nature. Taken with my new phone, and I was trying to work out all the fancy photography features. So not all that great. Not that I take many pictures anyway.

See you again soon!

Matthew.

And here's a selfie I didn't realise I took.

What are you looking at?

"Are they gone yet, Derek? My head hurts"
"Well, you hit me with your head."

This lake didn't look as nice as the picture would make it to be.
But it was nice to see a different body of water

Take my ice cream. I dare you. I double dare you

An antelope, I think. I don't remember

A beautiful black and blue bird