Greetings from Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire!!

We have arrived safely at Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan. It was a long trip but all in all not too bad. We took off from ATL about 1 hour late – We flew 9 hours to Dakar, Senegal. Dad and I wished we had slept more on the plane but all the movies and TV shows were so tempting! I watched an episode of House, two episodes of My Boys and movies Smart People and 27 Dresses. I did sleep about 1-2 hours. We thought our 4 hour layover in Senegal would be long, but after arriving late, waiting for our bags for 1 hour (with a nice African man assuring me there were more bags for Golden), standing in a long line to re-check-in and getting to the gate we didn’t have long. There were about 6 other M families on our 2nd flight headed for the conference in Abidjan. All the kids seemed so excited for the “vacation” and to see their friends from other parts of W Africa. Dad and I did manage to sleep most of the 3 hour flight from Dakar to Abidjan. Once we arrived in Abidjan (around 11:30am here) some of the M personnel started getting concerned about our 2 trunks full of supplies getting through customs. Praise the Lord we did not have any problems – the trunks simply went through the “x-ray” machine and they didn’t even look inside. We attribute this to many prayers offered up for this request. Everyone was SO thankful! We joined all the M families on a short bus ride to the Hotel. The streets of Abidjan remind me a lot of Nairobi, Kenya – dirty, in disrepair and crowded. Hotel Ivoire is considered a “4-star” resort here and while it is not terrible, you can tell it is not what it once used to be. They are in the process of renovating it and I am very thankful that we have a comfortable place to stay. We are on the 19th floor and this is where our clinic rooms and pharmacy will be also. After lunch we started setting up the rooms along with the pharmacy – I was able to organize all the meds and supplies and we met to go over our schedule for the week. I then went with Cindy, the regional medical coordinator, to the local pharmacy and grocery store close by. It was a neat experience. I wish I knew some French so I could communicate – but it was interesting to hear Cindy talk with them. When we got to the pharmacie… there were 2 “techs” working there. They seemed interested to know that I was studying to be a pharmacist and we talked (through her translation) about the difference between American and African pharmacies. They do not have to have prescriptions for most medications – only a few narcotics and antibiotics. Anyone can just walk in and ask for Valium… We ate dinner, showered and are ready for bed! I don’t think I will have any trouble sleeping tonight as I am exhausted. We have a full day of physicals and clinic tomorrow.
Prayer requests:
- There is a church from Knoxville, TN here who is in charge of the meeting, logistics, childcare, etc. (Like Lakeview was for Thailand). 16 of their team members arrived a few days ago with the remaining 30 supposed to arrive today. They have been delayed and may not all be able to get here in time to make it worth the trip. Pray that they will be able to arrive soon and for the members of the team that are already here and will have to work very hard to pull it off if they don’t make it!
- We have already seen a few patients – 2 of which have Malaria. They battle very different disease states from those in the US - keep these M’s health in your thoughts and prayers.

I think that is enough blogging for one night…we’ll try to write again soon. Thanks for reading and for your continued prayers!