This is the blog post that has taken me a month to summon up the courage to write..
At the start of each outreach we use what we do a mass screening to locate as many patients as possible that we can help. The people are then given appointments for surgeries or for a followup appointment to have another assessment of their condition. There are a lot of people that we sadly cannot help, due to our limited possibilities on board and how advanced their condition.
Before we arrive the wheels are already put in motion; radio commercials go out and posters are spread to tell people over all the country where and when we will be screening.
At the beginning of May we did our screening at the national stadium. Through a series of events this day turned from what should have been a day of celebration to nothing more than a disaster.
I myself was first involved in an outreach with the kids then transferred to security outside the main gate. There were too many people and not enough organisation.. there was chaos and it ended in the tragedy of 1 man losing his life and more being injured. I do not car or wish to revisit the details of the day.
It shook me, more than I even thought it had. It hurt me, it knocked my beliefs about people and about God. I left wondering why I was here, why we were here and in all this where God was.
I still don't have all the answers, but God and me are working through our part of this.
There is a happier story to tell.
About 2 weeks ago now we tried again, at a new location, to do a mass screening.
I was part of a 9 man team that went out the day before to run security through the night and ensure that the organisation that was missing at the previous screening was thoroughly set up before the crowds arrived.
When we arrived at 15.00 the day before the screening there were already people waiting around the government compound that we were going to use. This is more than 17 hours before we were going to start the screening.
As the night progressed the line grew longer and longer. Our team made sure to speak to every person who joined the back of the line. Firstly to check that they have a problem we could possibly help, secondly to assure them that all would be fine in the morning, to ensure people that we cared.
The day itself ran better than I could have expected. Sam and myself ran the main gate, letting people through that had come through the pre-screening (an initial medical examination to see if we can actually help them) and were actually going to be assessed for surgery.
A lot of people were turned away, but a lot of people came through the gate, and a lot of them will end up having surgery on board.
I don't know how to describe how 'real' life suddenly felt when you were surrounded by people that were either having there life changed or were moving on and back to every day life.
But I know that every person who was even considering coming that day left with our prayers. And sometimes that is all I have to offer..
As I read this blog post through after writing all I can think is how insufficient it is to describe the intense feelings and thoughts that this took and takes me through, but I had to try.
God bless,
Ben
Photos taken from the second screening (thanks to Tom Bradley)
