By The Gypsy Nurse

August 8, 2014

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A Travel Nurse Volunteer in Liberia: Local Foods

The Gypsy Nurse Volunteering in Liberia with Cross Cultural Care

As you probably already read, The Gypsy Nurse is volunteering in Liberia.  I plan to bring you along with me; virtually and give you a ‘feet on the ground’ accounting of the entire process.

CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS SEGMENTS OF THIS SERIES IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE AS A TRAVEL NURSE VOLUNTEER IN LIBERIA.

On a Mission for an Authentic African Meal 

Two volunteers arrived unexpectedly on my second night in Monrovia. Sally and Stan. They have been working out at Robertsport for about the past three weeks. Sally is an RN, and Stan is working with C3 to set up a rainwater catch system to increase water availability. The Locals are currently bringing water from the nearby river to the hospital for things like flushing toilets and washing hands.

Sally and Stan were on a mission to find some local food for me for dinner. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not fearful of street food, and I generally seek it out. Sally and Stan are no different.  We ended up sitting on benches along the side of the road and eating with our bowls in our lap. The food was amazing, and fortunately, there were no ‘after-effects’ from the street food.

Food Name:  Cassava Leaves

Summary:  This dish is from the via tribe and happens to be a national favorite of most West Africans. Although cooking methods varies by country, all west Africans love their cassava leaves. In Liberia, it is cooked with assorted meats, onions, hot peppers, and palm oil. It is served with rice.  –
This is one of the dishes that I had for dinner last night.  Mine was served over white rice and had a wonderful flavor.

This is another dish enjoyed last night which is cassava leaves ground in palm butter.  Again with wonderful spices and flavor and served over rice.

Cassava Roots and leaves are utilized for many of the local dishes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava: According to the article, cassava contains cyanide and has to be prepared properly to release the cyanide and avoid poisoning. Fortunately, I avoided any cyanide poisoning.

C3 – A Day in the Life of the Volunteer

The MoH here in Liberia has provided financial assistance for C3 to provide the volunteers with assistance to make life in Robertsport just a little easier.  I’m provided with a cook and a cleaner.  Jebba currently fills both roles for me.  She cooks 4 days a week and cleans 3 days a week.

I have to say that although I love having the help, it’s a weird feeling to me to have someone cooking for me. For whatever reason, the cleaning doesn’t bother me; I’m unsure if this is because I’m not at home while she cleans or because this is a service that I’ve paid for in the states. I will say that although having a cook is a bit uncomfortable for me, the food has been amazing, and I’m thrilled to have her. It’s been a wonderful experience to have someone cook local foods for me, and I’ve found that I have enjoyed everything that’s been prepared.

The only thing that is a bit unlikable regarding the food is that there are many bones in the fish.  I’m a bit spoiled as my dad is a fisherman, and he has always filleted the fish and removed all of the bones for me.   The locals eat various fish from the Barracuda that is wonderfully large and meaty  (and my preference) to dried and smoked fish, which tends to have many more bones and much less to my liking.

If you are familiar with Liberian history, the US sent many of our slaves here after being freed in the United States.  Many of Robertsport’s population are descendants of these slave families.  I think because of this, it makes it difficult to have one of them waiting on me.  Let me give you an example:

Jebba comes to the house on Monday through Thursday evenings arriving around 5 pm. I’m usually playing cards with the local children while she cooks.

She then serves my dinner and sits to the side, scraping the bowls and eating from them.  I’ve offered her to sit and eat with me, but the closest she has come is to sit away from the table in one of the chairs instead of on the floor next to the kitchen.  After I finish eating, I generally pack a small amount for lunch the following day and offer Jebba to take the remainder home for her and her family (she has two girls at home that sometimes come with her).

Local dishes that I’ve tried to date include:

  • Cassava and Cassava Greens
  • Potato Greens
  • Eggplant Soup
  • Fish, fish, and some more Fish!  (It’s a fishing community, after all)!

By The Gypsy Nurse

May 12, 2014

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Volunteering In Liberia: Educating the Community on Ebola

The Gypsy Nurse is heading to Liberia with Cross-Cultural Care as a travel nurse volunteer.

As you probably already read, The Gypsy Nurse is going to volunteer in Liberia.  I plan to bring you along with me; virtually and give you a ‘feet on the ground’ accounting of the entire process.

IN THE PREVIOUS SEGMENT OF THIS SERIES OF ARTICLES, I SHARED RECENT INFORMATION ON THE EBOLA OUTBREAK AND MY DECISION TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY COMMITMENT TO C3 TO VOLUNTEER. Find out more about the Ebola outbreak here!

Post by Cross Cultural Care.

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Along with volunteering, The Gypsy Nurse plans to bring to you; the reader, an inside peek at this volunteer opportunity.  With an emphasis on the people served, the cultural differences, and the impact that Cross Cultural Care is providing to the communities of Grand Cape Mount. Liberia.  I am excited to have this opportunity to utilize my nursing skills to assist Dr Montana in his vision to provide training, mentoring, and growth of skills as a strategy towards lasting change and improved healthcare access for the communities served by St Timothy Hospital. If you would like to contribute to the ongoing efforts of C3, you can donate HERE.

As always we will keep you updated here on our volunteer trip and what transpires.  And keep you informed on the Ebola outbreak.  Keep checking back for more information.

THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE INFORMATION TO COME AS I SHARE WITH YOU THE ENTIRE PROCESS TO GIVE YOU A “FEET ON THE GROUND” PERSPECTIVE.

By The Gypsy Nurse

April 28, 2014

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Volunteering in Liberia: Obtaining Supplies from SOS

The Gypsy Nurse is volunteering – heading to Liberia with Cross Cultural Care

As you probably already read, The Gypsy Nurse is going to volunteer in Liberia.  I plan to bring you along with me; virtually and give you a ‘feet on the ground’ accounting of the entire process.

In the Previous segment of this series of articles, I shared recent information on the Ebola outbreak and my decision to follow through on my commitment to C3 to volunteer. In this segment, I’m going to share some additional preparations that are being taken.

As you may already know, this is my first such trip.  I’ve traveled extensively through many impoverished areas but haven’t until now, volunteered. I was totally unaware of the resources available.  In light of the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa, I wanted to bring along some PPE (personal protective equipment) for use at St Timothy’s hospital where I’ll be volunteering.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ATLAS MEDSTAFF

Upon hearing about the upcoming medical mission trip to Robertsport, Liberia; I was contacted by Rich Smith, Senior Managing Partner at Atlas Medstaff with a request to assist. After some discussion, Atlas Medstaff agreed to cover the cost for the hand-carry supplies that I was able to obtain.

Now…where to find supplies?

My first stop…a former employer; Floyd Memorial Hospital (FMH). I checked in with the staff that I previously worked with at FMH in the Home Health Department.  They were excited to hear about my upcoming trip, unfortunately…they were unable to provide any supplies.  FMH (as well as many other hospitals in the Louisville, KY and Southern IN area) send all of their medical surplus supplies to an organization named Supplies Over Seas (SOS)

The staff at FMH directed me to SOS

Supplies Overseas (SOS) “Delivering a World of Health and Hope”

SOS IS A 501C MEDICAL SURPLUS RECOVERY ORGANIZATIONS (MSRO) LOCATED IN LOUISVILLE KY THAT SUPPORTS SHORT-TERM MEDICAL MISSION TRIPS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS THAT PROVIDE HEALTHCARE ALL OVER THE WORLD. SOS IS ONE OF A GROUP OF MSRO’S  LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE US.

We were given a wonderful overview of the mission and day to day activities at SOS. Having arrived to the facility with no appointment, I would like to give a special thank you to the Volunteer staff members that assisted us; Melissa Mershon, President & CEO and Bill Roof, Warehouse Specialist.  Both of these individuals showed the upmost excitement in sharing the mission of SOS.

SOS was able to provide us with a variety of much needed supplies to hand-carry with me to St Timothy’s Hospital. The entire process was very simple.  A quick application, a small fee for the supplies and we were off with a loaded trunk full of gloves, gowns, and masks.

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Along with volunteering, The Gypsy Nurse plans to bring to you; the reader, an inside peek at this volunteer opportunity.  With emphasis on the people served, the cultural differences and the impact that Cross Cultural Care is providing to the communities of Grand Cape Mount. Liberia.  I am excited to have this opportunity to utilize my nursing skills to assist Dr Montana in his vision to provide training, mentoring, and growth of skills as a strategy towards lasting change and improved healthcare access for the communities served by St Timothy Hospital.

THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE INFORMATION TO COME AS I SHARE WITH YOU THE ENTIRE PROCESS TO GIVE YOU A “FEET ON THE GROUND” PERSPECTIVE.

By The Gypsy Nurse

March 24, 2014

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Volunteering In Liberia – The ‘To Do’ List

The Gypsy Nurse is volunteering in Liberia with Cross Cultural Care

As you probably already read, The Gypsy Nurse is going to volunteer in Liberia.  I plan to bring you along with me; virtually and give you a ‘feet on the ground’ accounting of the entire process. In this post, I’m going to share with you my current “To-Do” list.

“Cross Cultural Care (C3) is an international non government organization (NGO) that pairs western health care providers with medical staff in areas of the developing world to assist with medical training and health capacity building.

Cross Cultural Care (C3) was founded by Dr. Robert Montana, an American Emergency Medicine physician who decided to create such a program while volunteering in North India.”  – http://www.cross-culturalcare.org/about/

The Gypsy Nurse will be spending the entire month of May 2014 in Liberia. I’ll be volunteering with C3 in Robertsport, Liberia.

Along with volunteering, The Gypsy Nurse plans to bring to you; the reader, an inside peek at this volunteer opportunity.  With emphasis on the people served, the cultural differences and the impact that Cross Cultural Care is providing to the communities of Grand Cape Mount.t Liberia.  I am excited to have this opportunity to utilize my nursing skills to assist Dr Montana in his vision to provide training, mentoring, and growth of skills as a strategy towards lasting change and improved healthcare access for the communities served by St Timothy Hospital.

There will be much more information to come as I share with you the entire process to give you a “Feet on the Ground” perspective.

  • Passport Renewal – My nearly-full Passport was reaching expiration so off it went to the US Passport Processing Center for a renewal.  It expires in May so this wasn’t an optional thing to get completed.  I’ve sent it through express mail so that hopefully I’ll get it with plenty of time to spare for obtaining my Visa for Liberia.
  • Book Flight – Although C3 does refund most of my airfare, I still have to book my flight personally.  I’m currently trying to decide if I want to do some personal travel around Africa after the volunteer stint and before heading home (this really isn’t much of a question, I already know that I want to.) Figuring out flight details is in the works.
  • Liberian Visa – As I’ve mentioned above, this is currently on hold as I wait for my passport to return. As soon as the passport is back in my hands it will be off to obtain Visa’s.  In looking at my post-volunteer travel wishes, it appears that I am actually in need of 3 total Visa’s: Liberia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. The remaining countries that I’m planning to travel (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana) either don’t require a visa or offer a visa on arrival. It will be interesting to see if I can get all three of the visa’s in time.
  • The Gypsy Nurse – Yes, this is on the ‘to-do’ list.  I’ll have limited internet capabilities while I’m volunteering and am desparately attempting to get enough website content pre-planned and ready to publish for the website. In addition, there are a lot of other technicalities that I’m trying to work though for the site. If you would like to contribute a story, photo, destination, etc It would greatly assist me in providing content for the reader during my ‘absence’.
  • The Travelers Conference – As one of the board members and primary organizers for #travcon14, I need to make sure that my commitments here are well covered and managed. I have a commitment to make the 2014 Travelers Conference the best one yet so I can’t slack off here.

As you can see, I’ve got a lot of work ahead in preparation and this doesn’t even take into account the PACKING!  Stay tuned for more information as I continue to share with you the process.