Salama

Salama Friends and Family

I finally have a chance to sit down and write about the adventures I have had thus far. I thought that it would be hard to find things to write and talk about but so much has already happened in the few days that I have been here.

It was so special to spend my last day in SA with my cousin Lauren and her family in Pretoria. There is something about hanging out with family that is so relaxing and supportive. They really blessed me with love and quality time. The best part though was hanging out with little Zoom Zoom (Zoe) who is just a bundle of joy and fun.

The whole international flight thing really scared me as I had never travelled internationally alone before and I was scared that something would go wrong. Luckily everything went smoothly and I made it through in good time. When I arrived at the gate I got the greatest surprise of a girl wearing a Mercy Ships hat. I sat for awhile and wondered if it would be weird to go and introduce myself but then decided to just bite the bullet. I am so glad I did because through it I made my first 3 friends.

Marie-Claire was the one wearing the Mercy Ships hat. She is from Australia but originally from Puerto-Rico. Her role on the ships is an OR Nurse.

Marie-Claire

Next was Krista who is from Canada. She will be working as a PACU Nurse. I was extremely excited to hear that she was also staying for 3 months and was keen to go on adventures too.

Krista with her first taste of litchi

Lastly was Jan who had served before on Mercy Ships. She is a real hoot and you are sure to never have a dull moment with her around.

Jan 

Meeting these ladies defintely put my mind at ease because if this is what the rest of the Mercy Ships crew was like then I would be fine.

Safely arrived in Madagascar

I was luckily enough to have 3 seats to myself on the plane flight so I invited Claire (Marie-Claire) to come sit next to me. The next 3 hours flew by with us talking the whole way there. Upon arrival we were quite overwhelmed with the paperwork we were required to fill out but luckily we were met by Cathy who helped us through the process.


I thought I would be prepared for poverty because I have experienced it first hand in South Africa but it still hit me like a ton of bricks. The houses are all on top of each other with people flooding the streets. All the houses had a french influence to them but were so run down it was barely noticable. We were taken through small roads and eventually came to our guest house. The people in Madagascar are lovely and so hospitable.

The capital, Antananarivo

My room where I was sleeping reminded me of the place we went to in Pennington with our youth group (as you can see in the pictures).  Me and Krista were roomies. I spent most of the time outside watching the storm go crazy and then watching the most incredible sunset which I felt was a warm welcome to all of us.

Toilets 

The trip the next day to Tamatave was an experience to say the least. Two near head on collisions, toilets in the ground, roller-coaster type roads etc. You catch my drift.

Our bus for the 9 hour trip to Tamatave

Finally arriving at the ship was a flood of emotions. The excitement build up from the last few months and the long journey to get to it just made the waterworks flow (I was doing so well before that).

View upon arrival 

My welcome balloons from Michelle :)

So the ship is pretty huge. Took 2 tours and a few walks around to kind of know my way around it. I work on the dock which is nice because at least I still see sunlight. My team that I work with are amazing and it is just so incredible having God the centre of it all. We start every morning with a devotional time and then can pray for patients when we feel like we need to.

Mhairi

I have made an awesome scottish friend when I arrived. Her name is Mhairi. She had been travelling around Madagascar for the last month. Her job on the ship is a dentist. She is so much fun and has a love for adventure and is kind of like a local now.

Katy with the cast I made 

I have also been learning so much. I have an incredible co-worker Katy who has been teaching me so much. She is such a sweetheart and has so much experience behind her so I am really enjoying learning. She is a pro at casting so I made my first cast and this morning (2/12) I did my first cast on a patient. Was such a cool feeling :)

Another amazing thing about the ship is they employ day workers who are local people that are assigned a department to work with. They function as translators but have been learning how to do some of our treatments. We have an amazing guy called Marco that works with us. He is so talented and is so much fun to have around. He is also teaching me Malagasy which is going pretty well.

Marco with his drawing 

I am so sorry it has taken so long to post this (I have been doing a little bit every day since Monday). There are so many other things that have happened but there isn't enough time to tell all of them. Please feel free to contact me and we can chat about my time here :)

I am still looking for donations for my trip. If you would like to donate my banking details are:

I got litchis from the locals 

FNB

Account Holder Name: K H Wills

Account No.: 62445765045

Branch No.: 220426

Type of Account: Cheque Account

Please put reference: *MERCY SHIPS* 

Valema

Kaylee

38 days and counting....

So today is 38 days till my big adventure. I have been counting the days and updating everyone regularly, but only recently has it started to become a reality. When I found out on the 1st July it was so real, but having to wait so long has caused me to get caught up with work and other things. I have had so many people in the past few days ask how many days to go and ask me how I feel about it, that I got really emotional on Sunday afternoon.

When I say emotional it involves both good and bad emotions. I keep looking at posts by Mercy Ships and am so excited to be a part of the life change for many of the patients, while I am there. From the pictures I have seen the island of Madagascar is possibly one of the most beautiful islands to visit and somewhere that I have been wanting to travel to. I can't wait to go exploring and meet the local people when I have breaks. There is something about going to places where people have so little yet they are so content with what they have and still have so much joy. I look forward to this trip for how it is going to change my life. It is a little bit daunting going by myself without knowing a soul on the ship, but I am keen to “start afresh” meeting new people and enjoy getting to know them.

I don't know if you can call them bad emotions I think it is just my inner self having a mini freak out. My family is my everything and have been geographically close and there for me throughout my life; so it is going to be tough not being able to have them within easy reach. It will also be a good thing, as I will have to 100% fend for myself and I am sure I will grow because of it. I also started to think about all the friendships I have made this year and even though its only a short 3 months, you still miss out on peoples' lives. On the ship I do have access to WiFi internet, but because of my busy schedule I won't have much time to communicate with everyone back home. I do hope that I will be able to blog often, in order to update everyone on my time and the experiences I am having. 

This trip has come at the perfect time in my life and I truly believe God is involved in everything that has happened this far and will be with me throughout. He put Philippians 4 vs 13 on my heart at the moment which says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Although I am a strong cookie and determined to make the most of this, this scripture will become even more real to me during this adventure.

I am still needing funding for my trip especially for my account on the ship. Should you be interested in sponsoring me please go onto my mercy ships account page http://mercyships-us.donorpages.com/crewmates/KayleeWills.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and please respond in the comments section should you want to chat to me or ask me any questions :) 

Kaylee Wills = PIN CUSHION

 Nervously waiting for my injections

So this is a long overdue post since I was a pin cushion nearly a month ago already. Yes thats right a pin cushion haha. My injections weren't nearly as bad as everyone had told me they would be but I definitely could have done without them. I still have to go back in the next 2 weeks for boosters so bring on more injections. But for those of you who tried to scare me, I was apparently the perfect patient and very relaxed. God had my back :)

A total of 5 HUGE injections

The aftermath (pin cushion arm)

Don't look if you hate injections haha

One of the the special donations I have had towards my trip has been one that has come indirectly from my granny. She passed away quite a few year ago now but had left my mom with some shares. My gran had a big heart for the poor and needy and would go out of her way to help them or lend a helping hand. My mom made the decision to sell these shares in order to give me money towards my trip. I think my gran would have wanted this and been very proud to see what I am doing with my life and especially because I am following the dreams god has placed in my heart. I think she would be even happier if I met a Jewish boy on the trip to marry (she was a huge lover of god's chosen people) haha.

I just want to extend a huge thank you to those of you that have already donated to my adventure. It has allowed me to pay for flights and have my immunisations done.

My US Dollar account on the ship is now open and accessible for secure donations in any currency: Simply click on my Fundraising Site address below to visit my personal fundraising page @ http://mercyships-us.donorpages.com/crewmates/KayleeWills to make a secure online donation.  The graphic on the RHS of the page indicates the amount still outstanding for my accommodation and meals on the ship. This is my account on the ship from where I pay my boarding from, the amount needed here is $1 500.

I am still needing funds in my South African account for things, such as medical aid and cellphone contract. The amount still needed in this account is R15 000. The account details for a contribution towards these costs are as follows:

FNB

Account Holder Name: K H Wills

Account No.: 62445765045

Branch No.: 220426

Type of Account: Cheque Account

Please put reference: *MERCY SHIPS* 

Stay tuned for the next installment of the blog which will hopefully be sooner than later. :)