We finally made it to Africa! After months (well actually years) of waiting, praying, and hoping we arrived in Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday!
The sail took us 4 days to get here. Chris was pretty sick if he wasn't lying down,
but the kids and I were fine! It was pretty rocky sometimes and we definitely needed to hold onto something to stabilize. We were very fortunate to be able to see dolphins and whales on the sail!
School at the Academy carried on during the sail as usual...except since I am still teaching Araina's class we packed up our things and had school on deck 7!
The Academy got to have a lesson about sailing from our Captain!
As we sailed into Dakar, Senegal our family was honoured to hold the Canadian flag.
Yesterday we had the opportunity to go with our friend, Martha, to visit the Mercy Ships Hospital Out-Patient Extension Center, known as the HOPE Center. It is where the patients come for pre and post-op care. Mercy Ships' advance team visits the country we are partnering with before the ship arrives to find existing structures that can be renovated as housing for our patients. Today at school we made a welcome sign in English, French, and Wolof (French and Wolof are the most common languages spoken here in Senegal) for Martha to put up at the HOPE Center to greet the patients who will arrive tomorrow! Here is a wonderful article with more information about what Martha, the HOPE center manager, and her team do.
So far we are loving Dakar! The people are friendly and we feel so privileged to be a small part of bringing hope and healing to the people here.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed, supported, and encouraged us on this journey! We would not be here without you!
We always love mail! If you feel like reaching out, you can send mail to this address and we should get it in a few weeks:
Mercy Ships - AFM- Crew Mail
Chris (or Shae, Araina, or Amayah) Attwater
15862 State Highway 110 N.
Lindale, Texas
USA
75771-202
Prayers of thanks:
arriving safely in Dakar
all the crew managed to travel successfully to get here
opportunity to continue to teach Araina's class
the ship staying Covid free
Prayer requests:
for the patients patiently waiting for their surgery (surgeries begin next week)
for the crew (especially the children) to feel peace as we transition to life in Africa
for the Africa Mercy stays covid free
for Araina's teacher to feel better each day and can return to work soon
If you would like to support us financially, please use the link below or click on the DONATE button at the top of our website:
As always, thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers! We are so grateful for each and every one of you who are following our journey.
With love and gratitude,
Chris, Shae, Araina, & Amayah
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