Lisa and Cherie Chalmers in front of the Africa Mercy ship. Photo / Mercy Ships
Paraparaumu twins Lisa and Cherie Chalmers have returned home after spending 10 months on a surgical hospital ship helping many people with illnesses in West Africa.
The twins were part of a large contingent of missionary volunteers who worked on the Africa Mercy ship in Senegal.
The crew provided free essential surgical services, and more, not usually available in the low-income country.
The experience had a profound effect on them especially as they helped people with life-threatening illnesses but also learnt more about themselves.
Their humanitarian adventure started in Tenerife where they boarded the ship and helped prepare it for a month before it journeyed to Senegal.
Covid-19 struck when they arrived, which forced various crew members to stay in their rooms, so a lot of the early tasks involved keeping the ship as clean as possible.
Before long the ship arrived in at Port Autonome, Dakar, where the real work of helping ill people began.
The twins, who wore masks all the time apart from when in their cabin because of the Covid-19 threat, were up early, had a short shower, got changed, ate breakfast, prayed with others, before starting work at 8am and often finishing at 5pm or 6pm.
Cherie started out in hospitality before becoming the preoperative team leader for the majority of the time.
The role, which meant ensuring patients were well and ready for surgery, started with nursing diagnostics, consultation with a surgeon, and then admission onboard for surgery.
“Surgery was a big day for many because they never thought they would get it in their own health system,” Cherie said.
Surgery was varied and ranged from children whose legs were windswept/bowed, children who had contracture burns, men who had hernias from heavy lifting, and lots more.
Schedules were tight and it was Cherie’s job to keep the flow going in the dockside tent.
The results from the surgery were heartening to see.
“These people’s lives were massively changed.
“There was one man who was so down, who was hiding himself away, but after his surgery, he had so much hope and dignity.
“It was very fulfilling to be able to help people.”
People who got a no in the pre-op tent, often because they had cancer and the ship wasn’t equipped with chemotherapy treatment, were referred to Lisa’s palliative care nursing team.
Her team would be out and about among the community each day.
“Our job was pain management, wound care, working with families to help care for their loved ones, as well as educating families and local hospitals.”
One of the first cases was a woman with a large mandibular tumour.
The gratitude of the patients was so amazing. These people had an amazing spirit about them.
“She could hardly eat. It had grown around the carotid artery. They couldn’t remove it, and if they did, she would bleed to death. She had a one-month-old baby. It was very sad and she passed away a few months before the end of our field service.
“We saw people that had all sorts of cancers but three women we cared for died from breast cancer which is one of the highest forms of cancer there.
“A man had been overseas and had his tumour cut out but half of his face was missing. We were the first people to go and care for him and he lived for about six weeks.”
Twice a week, for seven months, Lisa and her team visited a 21-year-old woman who had cavum cancer.
The woman’s parents were very concerned and couldn’t afford the chemotherapy treatment.
“They couldn’t believe that nurses would come to their home and care for them because their system is so broken, and they were angry with the health system.
“When we first went to her house she didn’t talk, and just lay on her bed, but it was because she was in so much pain.
“But over that time she was up, went for walks with her father at night mainly because of the illness stigma, and on one occasion we took her to the beach and walked down to the water to put our feet in but she jumped in”.
Lisa’s team also went to local facilities and “talked to them about palliative care because it’s relatively new in Senegal”.
The days were taxing mentally and often they would get back on board, get back to their cabin, and cry, wondering why people had to suffer so much.
Other times it was just the pressure of being out of their comfort zone, and being with so many different people when they are introverted by nature.
“Some days it was the hardest thing ever to be on that ship,” Cherie said.
“But you also do a lot of healing yourself.”
And they took comfort that a higher power was looking over everyone and took heart at patients’ outlook.
“The gratitude of the patients was so amazing.
“These people had an amazing spirit about them.
“Whether it was good news or bad news, it was always ‘God willing’, they accepted things.”
Lisa summed up their work with the Senegalese.
“They were beautiful people.”