Last Friday, I had the honor of making a very special trip, one that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. I was invited to accompany T home to his aunt’s house here in Conakry. She lives about 50 minutes from the ship by Landrover, and will be a crucial step for him making his way back home to his village. This is a test to see how well he can care 100% for himself, and how his wound will continue to heal in a real Guinean environment. So after a long night, I walked myself home (all 50 steps), splashed some water on my face, and grabbed a cup of coffee. I wanted to be in tip top shape for this adventure, so I had to take a moment to pull myself together after 3 night shifts in a row. I headed out to the tent a tad early, and asked if he wanted to head into the ward to say an official good-bye to the dayworkers and nurses. YES! He shook his head excitedly, and took off towards the ship without his mother. The half hour we had on board was amazing. We happened to get to the wards in perfect timing, and our hospital chaplaincy team was beginning morning praise. T was given a hero’s welcome, because let’s face it--he is a legend on this big white ship. I daresay he has hit celebrity status and invaded the hearts of all those who have met him! He was able to sing, dance, and thank each of the nurses, hugs all around. As we were leaving he said, “what about Dr. Gary”? I told him Dr. Gary was in surgery so we wouldn’t be able to see him today, but then another dayworker happened to have spotted him in the screening room. I headed down to ask if he had a few minutes to see T. Dr. Gary was so excited, he bounded back up the hall and had a mini examination/consultation right there in the middle of the hallway. This is what I love about this place, Dr. Gary, one of the VERY best surgeons in the world has dedicated his life to caring for these people. He takes every opportunity to be with them, and is so tangibly excited by their success. His love just oozes out, and I wish honestly I could work with him forever. He takes every moment he can for teaching, both us and the patients and does it in such a genuinely loving way. Even with simple things like his word choice, he makes each person to feel important, holy and dearly loved. So after they guys had their moment in the hallway, we were given a royal send off---with all the chaplaincy team walking him to the door of the car and we set off for outer Conakry. It was a bumpy ride, but thanks to our Landrover and local driver we made it without delay. There we were also given such a warm welcome full of hugs, kisses, and hand holding. It seems that everyone in the area of her home made it out to welcome him back. Lots of men, aunties, children and even his grandma. We took a tour of the area, got to love on some kiddos, and I got to hold his grandmas hand for a good solid amount of time. It’s funny how even in Africa Grandma’s just have something special about them. In their beautifully lined faces, their soft skin, and the way they hold onto you. Since I didn’t get to love on my grandma this year for her birthday or Thanksgiving, I held T’s just that much tighter--thinking of all the grandma’s who give up time with their grandchildren so they can go and follow their dream to serve abroad and how their faith is similar to those here in Africa who put their loved ones into our hand, without hesitation hoping that we can change their lives. They both want what is best for their babies, sacrifice their own time because they want them to have a bigger and brighter future. (thank you grandma!)
After a few interviews on the media team’s side, a few pictures demanded by T, and lots of hugs, we piled back into the rover and headed home. It was great to see where he has started the next phase of his recovery, and to see his loving family. This man gets to make a future, to start over, a new lease on life. When we asked him what is next, his only thought was that maybe, just maybe, he would like to become a taxi driver. I am here to tell you that I would give anything for that man, and would happily let him drive me all over this beautiful green country.
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