We are back to school at the Africa Mercy Academy! Even after over 20 years of teaching I still get so excited this time of year. Araina is in Grade 5 and Amayah is in Grade 2. Chris continues his role as the Principal. I am the Library teacher and do some student support, substitute teaching, and helping out where needed (today I taught Grade 1 and loved it!).
We were sad that we did not go back to Canada this summer break, as it's been a year since we have seen our family and friends. However, Ethan came to visit us and we were so fortunate to spend almost a month with him! Some super generous friends provided us with places to stay in France and Switzerland. Our days were spent exploring castles, and cathedrals, visiting museums, and eating lots of gelatos! Ethan turned 20 years old (can't believe he's not a teenager anymore!) and Araina turned 11 this summer. Having our whole family together was such a blessing as we were able to make memories that we will cherish for a lifetime. Here are a few pictures of some highlights from our time together:
After our trip, we arrived back in Dakar to very different weather than when we left because the rainy season started. Within the first 10 days back we experienced a very powerful rainstorm with such strong winds that one of our patient canopies on the dock was picked up and landed on the Outpatient tent. Thankfully, it happened on the weekend and there were no patients and everyone had come in from the dock when the storm started. Driving in Dakar can be quite interesting during the rainy season! Here's a little video clip of Chris driving down a street in Dakar.
One of the reasons we wanted to volunteer with Mercy Ships was to give our children an opportunity to learn about and show compassion and love for others. In the past few weeks, we were able to see their little compassionate hearts in action. Araina and her friend, Ava, wrote an email to our hospital director asking if they could bake some muffins for the patients. Then, the girls baked the muffins all on their own!
Having contact with the patients has been very restricted for the crew during this field service on the Africa Mercy due to Covid. Consequently, students and other crew can have limited opportunities to play games or visit with the patients as they have in previous field services. When the students were out on the dock for gym class they had the privilege of seeing one of our patients walk down the gangway for the first time after her surgery and cheer her on! They were so excited and all said it was one of the highlights of their time here on the Africa Mercy! Even though our direct contact with patients is limited, we have clearly seen God working through the regular updates shared with us from other departments. Our Chaplaincy department reported that many of our patients have been excited to hear about the gospel when they are at the Hope Center. The Hospital shared a miraculous story about a little girl who had a massive tumor on her neck and had to be operated on immediately because the surgeons felt she would not live for more than a month or two. The surgery was done in about half of the time that they initially anticipated and she went home a few weeks later with minimal evidence of having a tumor at all! If you would like to see some videos of other patient stories, you can check these out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL84054AB3D2C4A897.
The main language spoken here in Senegal is called Wolof. At the Academy, we teach a bit of basic Wolof to the students and I am taking a night class to learn more. French is also widely spoken around here so the little bit of French we learned living in Canada has come in handy. If you are interested in learning a bit of Wolof, here is a great video!
What's coming up for us?
In December, the Africa Mercy will sail back to Tenerife and then go to Durbin, South Africa for some major work called 'refit'. During the refit time, our family along with many other crew members will move over to our brand new ship, the Global Mercy. The Global Mercy ship will sail back to Dakar, Senegal, and stay until June 2023. At this point, we have been told we have a cabin on the Global Mercy but do not know what roles we will have since there is already an Academy up and running on there. We are grateful to know that we have been assigned a cabin and trust that God will put us in roles where we can use our gifts and talents to serve where we are meant to be.
Praise & Thankfulness:
making amazing memories with Ethan this summer and safety while traveling (and recovering our lost bags)
wonderful friends for making it possible for us to travel this summer
week 29 of doing surgeries here in Dakar, including a little 3-year-old who most likely would have died within months without getting her surgery
Prayer Requests:
a wonderful school year for our students and staff at the Academy
protection for crew and the people of Senegal during rainy season
many more successful surgeries bringing hope and healing to the people of Senegal
crew to meet staffing needs, especially finding surgeons
equipping the Global Mercy in time to come back to Senegal in January
As always, we love receiving mail here on the Africa Mercy! We also love to send mail! When a crew member leaves to go back to Canada or the United States we can send mail back with them to mail for us. Buying Canadian or U. S. stamps here in Africa is tricky. We could really use your help by mailing us a package of U.S. or Canadian stamps so we can keep in touch with all of you! If you feel like reaching out, please send mail (or stamps) to the Mercy Ships head office at this address:
Mercy Ships - AFM- Crew Mail
Chris (or Shae, Araina, or Amayah) Attwater
15862 State Highway 110 N.
Lindale, Texas
USA
75771-202
We are so grateful for all of your support, love, and prayers throughout this journey. It has been such a privilege to be here on the Africa Mercy! If you would like to support us financially, please click on the DONATE button at the top of our website.
With lots of love and gratitude,
Chris, Shae, Araina, & Amayah
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