Goodbye Dili – Hello Darwin

Dear Family & Friends,

At first I thought this Blogging thing was going to easy. It’s not! When you are as busy as I am, it is often very difficult to sit at the computer and get the work done. There is so much happening here, it’s never difficult to find a topic. The difficult part is finding the right story to share with you all. That – and, of course – finding the time to actually write it. At least to not having the writing interfere with my day-job.

We departed Dili, Timor-Leste last Monday and just wrapped up a brief logistics/liberty stop in Darwin, Australia. I’m starting to have great hope for the country of Timor-Leste. It still has a long way to go; however, is has also come a long way from it’s beginnings in 1999. I can also attest to a significant improvement since my last visit in 2006. The violence that has shaken this country is down considerably over the last few years. Make no mistake about it…there are still some old grudges and perhaps a few scores to settle. Nonetheless, there is also a real desire in the hearts of the people I met that the past can somehow be put behind them. There is also hope for a better future – a knowing that it is more important to look forward then looking back.

I was able to take a couple of helicopter flights to visit a few of our MEDCAP sights. The countryside of this small nation is stunningly beautiful with a terrain much like the Coastal Ranges of northern California. The weather was warm but not oppressively humid. The people were very friendly and receptive.

A few of the numbers for this visit:

9846 patients
270 surgeries
1198 dental patients
3892 eyeglasses provided
$298,509 value of biomedical repair
2 major engineering projects
523 animals treated

More important then the numbers we rack-up, are the impressions we leave when Mercy sails away. Our multi-national and multi-organizational crew will, I hope, leave the people of Timor-Leste the knowledge that the world cares about them and their future.

On another note… It was a wonderful 5-day visit to Darwin. Just what the doctor (so to speak) ordered. The crew had a much needed rest and a chance to unwind. We again changed out a whole bunch of reservists and NGO personnel. Many new shipmates aboard. The process begins again. Next stop is Papua New Guinea.

One final note: I would like to wish both my good friends Vicki & Ron a very happy 50th birthday!

More to come…

Bob

Who We Are – Project HOPE

Dear Family & Friends,

Of the many partnerships we have fashioned over the course of this voyage, there is one partner who has been with us since the beginning. I’m speaking, of course, of the great folks at Project HOPE. These wonderful volunteers, from all walks of life, first joined Team Mercy during the 2005 Tsunami Relief effort. They also joined our sistership, USNS Comfort, during the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and participated in Mercy’s 2006 Humanitarian Assistance mission. Last year, more HOPE volunteers embarked on USS Peleliu for Pacific Partnership 07 and also for Comfort’s Humanitarian mission to Central America. Today, Project HOPE is still a major player in Pacific Partnership 08 and is remembered as the NGO who “opened-the-door” for all other organizations to participate on these missions.

Project HOPE - the acronym is for Health Opportunities for People Everywhere – was the brainchild of Doctor William B. Walsh. In 1958, Dr. Walsh persuaded President Eisenhower to donate a U.S. Navy hospital ship, the U.S.S. Consolation. The ship was transformed into the S.S. HOPE, and the organization known as Project HOPE was born. On September 22, 1960, the S.S. HOPE set sail from San Francisco bound for Indonesia. The S.S. HOPE was retired in 1974 after completing 11 voyages traveling to Indonesia, Vietnam, Peru, Ecuador, Guinea, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Tunisia, Jamaica, and Brazil. [Above cited from Project HOPE’s website] Project HOPE celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year!

Since it’s founding, the charter of Project HOPE has been to build the fundamentals for long-term sustainable health care in underserved regions around the world. This has dovetailed nicely with Pacific Partnership’s goals to “leave something behind” in the places we visit. During the Tsunami Relief effort of 05, Mercy provided much needed immediate health care in many of the inflicted regions. However, it was also apparent that much of the region’s health care infrastructure had been destroyed. A crash program was started to provide health education services and training to the health care providers who had survived. Today, this important work continues in what we call SMEE – or Subject Matter Expert Exchange. We have provided thousands of contact-hours worth of training and education to local health care workers. Project HOPE has been our partner in the effort to ensure a regions’ health care doesn’t vanish when Mercy weighs anchor.

Typical of the Project HOPE volunteers is my good friend Diane Speranza. Diane is an RN from New York who first served aboard Mercy during Tsunami Relief mission. She again joined Mercy for the 06 Humanitarian Mission as well as Comfort’s mission to South America last year…and now again for Mercy’s Pacific Partnership 08. It’s scary to think she has more time sailing aboard Hospital Ships then I do! In researching this post, I asked Diane why she continues to volunteer: “It puts my life into perspective” she stated. “And gives me something money can’t buy.”

I think Diane speaks for many of us aboard Mercy…why we enjoy doing what we do here. Diane is only one of the many wonderful Project HOPE volunteers working not only aboard Mercy, but in many places around the world. I “hope” this partnership continues for many years to come.

More to come…

Bob

Promotions – Mercy Style

Clockwise from Top Left: LT(jg) Kendall Natter; LCDR Katie O’mara; LT(jg) Mark Ariizumi; Commander Kim Davis.


Dear Family & Friends,

I enjoy shipboard traditions. Some traditions can be rather extravagant: Equator crossing comes to mind as well as breaking the champagne bottle for a ship’s christening. And some can be rather simple: Such as calling a mop a swab or even the tradition of always making a fresh pot of coffee for the oncoming watch. Of course my favorite shipboard traditions are those I get to make-up myself. What I’m talking about is our new tradition for promoting Naval Officers aboard USNS Mercy.

A promotion is a critical juncture in any military officer’s career. It’s both a recognition for what has been accomplished, as well as an endorsement for future expectations. For a Naval officer, a promotion while aboard a ship will always be memorable.

This all started a few months ago when then Ensign Kendall Natter, one of our nurses, received her promotion to Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Kendall is from a Navy family and is the daughter of a retired Admiral. She asked if it might be possible to hold her promotion on Mercy’s bridge. I was more then happy to grant her request. The morning of the promotion, the entourage arrived and asked me where I thought the best place for the oath to be administered. For me, the logical place was next to the ship’s wheel. Kendall stepped into place for the oath - which was about to be administered by the Director of Nursing, Commander Maryann Mattonen – and raised her right hand. This was when I noticed something was missing… So I shouted, “Kendall, put your left hand on the wheel!” It was just the right touch for a perfect promotion ceremony. The former Ensign Natter walked away Lieutenant (j.g.) Natter in what I’m sure is the first of many promotions to come.

Since that day, three other officers have asked for the same promotion ceremony. One of our Pediatricians, Lieutenant Kathleen O’mara was promoted to Lieutenant Commander; Ophthalmologist, Lieutenant Commander Kim Davis was promoted to Commander; and another nurse, Ensign Mark Ariizumi, was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. I hope all these promotions will be remembered for each of these individuals as their most memorable. They are certainly well deserved!

More to come…

Bob

Dili, Timor Leste

Dear Family & Friends,

Here we are in Timor Leste. If there was ever a country in need of a ship like Mercy, this is it! One of the newest countries to join the United Nations (in 2002), it is also one of the poorest in the world today with an average per capita GDP of only $2500. The island of Timor is divided roughly in half with West Timor a part of Indonesia and the eastern half its own independent country. It is actually a beautiful island with a very moderate climate this time of year. This is Mercy’s third trip to Timor Leste - a brief stop was made in 2005 and then again in 2006.

To give you an idea of the poverty here, I was told the other day by the American Ambassador that over 90% of the population (roughly 1.1 million) cooks using wood fires. Of course, with the price of oil these days, we could be doing that real soon back in the States. Timor Leste, formally known as East Timor, was a Portuguese colony from about the 16th century until 1975 when it was granted independence. Shortly thereafter, East Timor was invaded and annexed by Indonesia. In 1999, after a particularly brutal occupation, Indonesia caved to international pressure and granted a UN referendum to allow East Timor to vote for independence. The vote for independence was overwhelmingly approved. Unfortunately, extremely violent clashes broke out - mostly instigated by the departing Indonesian military forces. A peacekeeping force led by Australia intervened to restore order.

Nation building is never an easy task. There is a full time UN peacekeeping and police force here now; however, our friends in Australia still have the lead…and doing a heck of a job. There is still a lot of “bad blood” here although I sense a real desire from the people I’ve met to put the past behind them and look to the future. For those of us on Mercy; we’ve got our work cut out for us!

One more thing: I would like to wish my brother Joe a very Happy Birthday!

More to come…

Bob

Neptunus Rex

Dear Family & Friends,

We are out of Singapore and headed to East Timor – now called Timor Leste - which, in fact, translates to Timor East. To get here it was necessary to cross the Equator. For those of you who understand a sailor’s life, you know what that means! Yes, friends, it was time again to cleanse the ship of all slimy pollywogs!! For those of you not in the know, to a sailor there are two types of people: those who have been across the Equator aboard a ship – Shellbacks…and those who have not – Pollywogs. When you cross the line the shellbacks all get together and give the pollywogs a little…err…well… I guess you could call it an “initiation.”

King Neptune, Davy Jones, and the royal court arrived on board Wednesday morning. All the slimy and scurvy pollywogs were mustered in Causality Receiving (CASREC) to prepare them for this time-honored ritual. When they got to the flight deck, their challenges awaited them. They must prove themselves worthy to be welcomed into Neptune’s royal domain. This mostly consists of being sprayed with hoses, dunked into tubs of water, and crawling around being forced to answer ridiculous nautical questions. Once these “challenges” were complete, the wogs were presented to good King Neptune (actually, one of the crew dressed up to look like Neptune) and the royal court. There, they were sworn in as faithful and trusty shellbacks.

Of course this was all in fun. When I went through this back at the academy they used to make you crawl across the deck while everyone swatted you on the butt with a chunk of fire hose. Can’t do that kind of stuff anymore. We’re a much kinder and gentler bunch of sailors these days (Kumbaya). Nonetheless, I had the honor of welcoming over 400 new and trusty shellbacks.

More to come…

Bob

Singapore

Dear Family & Friends,

Sorry for the delay getting the latest post out to you all. Even the most devoted blogger disserves a hiatus from time to time. No better place to take a break then Singapore. I think everyone enjoyed their brief respite here – who wouldn’t? This city (country) has so much to offer. Great shopping and restaurants as well as a night life that is second to none.

We said goodbye to just about 120 of our shipmates and welcomed aboard about the same number of new folks. These are mostly reservist, NGO, and partner nation individuals. These people are only assigned for specific segments of our voyage. For instance, the reservists all hold down full time civilian jobs at various medical centers around the country. Normally, a reservist being called to active duty is often a hardship for the person to undergo – not with the folks assigned to Mercy. Almost every one of the reservists who departed this week expressed how much they enjoyed their time aboard and wished they could have stayed longer. Matter-of-fact, several managed to get their deployments extended to participate in the next mission segment.

We arrived in Singapore on Wednesday and stayed through today (Monday). This allowed us to be in port for the 4th of July weekend. The transit through the Singapore Straits up to the Sembawang port terminal is always a challenge…even more so for a ship the size of Mercy. Next to Gibraltar, Singapore is one of the most heavily transited shipping routes in the world. Our departure this afternoon was mostly uneventful; we have safely cleared the straits and are now en route to our next mission stop in Dili, Temor Leste.

As much as I enjoy Singapore, it feels good to be back at sea. Phase III of our mission is ahead of us. I feel the ship is really in its rhythm. The medical folks are itching to get back to work and I know the folks in Dili are looking forward to our visit. One minor detail is ahead of us before we reach our destination… We’ll be crossing the equator the day after tomorrow. I’m thinking King Neptune might be paying us a visit. Hmmm… Pity the poor Wogs!

More to come…

Bob