Dance Floor Venue – aka A Look at Africa Mercy

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so today, I am including several photos of
Africa Mercy to give an idea of the current venue for the dance. I know that my learning style would be identified as visual, so it has been really helpful for me to have seen photos from Laura of Africa Mercy, prior to my arrival, but then it has also been so very good to actually “be here,” so that I have an accurate picture in my mind of this venue, and not solely what my imagination conjures up. I hope that these photos will also help this to be true for others as well.

Africa Mercy is docked in the port of Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The ship is moored with the stern to land, the bow to ocean. The ship has eight decks. Only decks five and above have windows. I spend the majority of my time in the lower decks with no windows, which is especially nice on days like this past weekend when I worked 12 hour nights and needed to sleep in the daytime. Without the light of day, that is really much easier than having to cover windows to block out sun and psyche the mind into thinking it is really dark outside. But it has its downside, as many of our patients are here for quite extended lengths of stay, and without seeing the sun, or daylight, it can become disorienting for them. On the days when it is not pouring rain, we take them up to the portside of deck seven for an hour or so in the afternoon.

With several views included, I hope you get a little perspective of my current dance floor! (Remember, you can click on any photo and see it in a larger view. With the patients on deck seven photo, look closely, you might see someone you know!)