[to all the faithfull people that eat what we serve, the ones that compliment & encourage the food service crew even when they hated the menu, the ones that carry on with life even if the food wasn't what they wanted that day or the next...keep it up! and disregard this post]
I have tried to be political correct, humble, organization conscience, and a little removed when maintaining this blog...it really is my own personal blog that is linked to the AFM intranet for those of you who enjoy being able to actually look at a dinner(supper) menu for the week.
But today multiple complaints were aired about food running out at 12:30 for lunch today...to which I say is UNTRUE! Really I don't want to beat this dead topic into the ground but it is way past the limit of times it should have ever happened.
Hot food is never guaranteed for lunch, and I covered this quite well in an earlier post. And because there is food you may not personally want to eat, does not by any means translate to being out of food. If we have a lot of leftovers, then you have a lot of hot food for lunch.
AT 1pm, after the food was down in the dining room for 1 1/2 hours I received rice, snow peas, and soup back from the dining room. Cold cuts and cheese were out for lunch along with options from salads, and the minimum of peanut butter and bread is always out! And that my friend is what I have been conveying to crew since Mercy Ships has set this standard (it has been the same practice on the CBM, ANA, & here on the AFM). The only place that it may be different is at the IOC.
I have also noticed that the dining room staff are the recipients of most of the complaints & criticism. This is unfair to them and it is not right.
Please adjust the condition of your heart to the reason you came to serve and move forward from there...so somebody else can get to the peanut butter!
Ciatta went home....
Let's be honest, not many patients that come back from the OR on a ventilator, on the ship, have happy endings to their story. Ciatta came into the ship very sick, but yesterday she went home with her family and she looks wonderful. I had the privilege to get to know her and her 4 children and husband over the past week, and they really are lovely people. Today she came back to the ship to have her dressing changed and her wound looked at (which is fine-o) and she brought me an African dress, skirt, shirt, and head wrap. When she told me she wanted to buy me a suit I cried and she wiped my tears and told me she loved me. When she introduces me to people she says I am her white daughter. When she took my "measurements" she told me to stand up and turn around and told her husband to buy a dress and my size is "plenty, plenty". Which apparently is very large. Pretty much it just made me laugh.
Put your hands on your hips....
Today I was on D ward and it was a great day. The ward is filling up with the cutest kids in the world. Oh my they are just precious and they love to be loved on. After the shift we took them up to deck 7 and 2 of the girls were trying to teach me how to dance African style. They said "Put your hands on hips and shake your hips". It was so fun to see Fatu (12 that had cleft palate surgery) and Baby (15 jaw reconstruction due to Noma) dance, laugh, blow bubbles, and really enjoy life. The VVF women were learning how to crochet and the young boys Abraham and Emmett blew bubbles, pretty much it was great.
Multi-purpose tubs
I stole a few pictures from Michelle Zeller (her blog is mzellerafrica.blogspot.com she does palliative care). Just because the pictures were so cute. (yes, this is still Tyrone talking).
We have several of these tubs that we use in the galley, colored just like the one you see here...we use them for defrosting meats, marinating meats, making salads in bulk (coleslaw, macaroni, tuna... those kinds of salads), and a myriad of other things. Here in Liberia, well as you can plainly see it works as a good bathtub for babies!
I am sure this is what I would have looked like as a child if I was west African and grew up in Liberia~ (pssst, I still eat like that)
This is baby George eating his rice. How cute is that?
The Liberian Handshake
An example of the Liberian handshake. This is used whenever greeting or meeting people. Mostly a simple handshake and the snapping of fingers is what I use.
1 - grasp the hand of your counterpart:
2 - slide into a thumb-to-thumb grip:
3 - pull back to clutch the finger tips of your counterpart:
4 - release with a loud snap of the middle fingers:
Note that the handshake can be abbreviated by jumping straight from the quick hand shake to the snap.
Reminds me of a couple of handshakes in my old neighborhood...
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