Sorry it's been a while since we've updated the blog. Sharon has been away for a short time in the UK following the death of her Grandmother. We'd like to share this poem that Sharon's Uncle Ken (Gladys' son) wrote for the funeral. It gives a glimpse of their lives with her on a personal level. Meanwhile we hope to be back with some regular posts next week.
Forgive us if we don’t cry today
We’ve cried so much before
For years we’ve watched you drift away
And stood helpless on the shore
Today we’ll think of better times and bring you drifting
back
Like all the times you scrimped and saved
To fill our Christmas sacks
Sixpences from the Tooth Fairy
Sunday tea at Castle Cary
Sing something simple played in the car
The babycham fawn meant it won’t be far
Caravan and B & B’s those holidays were good
But it rained and you did look strange
In that clear plastic hood
Sometimes naughty you never blamed us
One of your looks was enough to tame us
A night at the pictures
Chips in Kingsmead
Square
All these little things let us know you cared
I could mention lots more things
I’ve got a massive list
But by now I think you’ve cottoned on
I think you’ve got the gist
We’re saying thanks for everything
And that you will be missed
Is there a heaven? I don’t know
You always said there was
So when you see that familiar face
Please say hello from us
You’ll meet him at Saint Peter’s Gate
He’ll be driving the shuttle bus
(The last bit refers to Sharon's Grandfather who passed away in 2000, he used to work on the buses in Bath.)
This week we said goodbye to Sharon's Nan. Sharon and Nathanael were able to fly out to be with family and friends as they joined together to say goodbye last Thursday. We know that she has invested so much in our lives that we wouldn't be the people we are today if it hadn't been for her influence, so we wanted to share her life with you.
Gladys May Powell
24 May 1919 - 16th January 2012
Gladys was born in Bath on 24th May,
1919 & had a strict upbringing with her younger siblings, Kath & Dennis. Her mother always said that she
was different to the other two & had ‘big ideas above her station’. She was in serious trouble when her father
once caught her dancing with a chair!
She passed her 11plus, but her parents couldn’t afford the uniform for
her to go to the grammar school & Gladys was too proud to accept the help
offered by the State, so she didn’t take up the place.
On leaving school she went into service with the
Maw family of Bath & took care of their 2 children. The house rule was that if the children
didn’t eat their meal it had to go back into the larder & Gladys was
instructed to bring it out every day until they ate it, but she couldn’t bear
to do that to them & used to eat the leftovers herself in secret so that
the children always had fresh food. The
family kept in touch with her for many years & invited her to their
weddings.
She met her husband, Cyril, at the drill hall in
Bath & they were married on 22nd November, 1941. Cyril wore his army uniform & Gladys wore
her W.A.A.F. uniform.
Within days of the
marriage Cyril was posted abroad to serve with the Desert Rats, while Gladys
continued to serve with the W.A.A.F. as an equipment assistant, spending long
periods not knowing where Cyril was.
After the war they settled in Bath & had 2 children, Jacqueline
& Kenneth. When Jacqueline passed
her 11plus, Gladys was determined that she wouldn’t let her miss the
opportunity of attending grammar school & took a job cleaning a tailor’s
shop to enable her to afford the uniform.
She later worked in various grocery shops in Bath, then eventually took
a job as a home-help & enjoyed helping the clients by often doing extra
tasks that weren’t part of the job description, such as taking washing &
ironing to do at home.
Gladys was always proud of her family &
welcomed Jane & Bob on their marriages into the family. She was particularly proud when Ken went to
work at the British Embassy in Washington DC.
But, her proudest moments were on the arrival of grandchildren Sharon,
Sally, Kimberley & the much longed-for grandson, Michael. She was delighted when Sharon followed in her
footsteps & joined the WRAF, and then Sally worked as a nanny.
Gladys was a life-long member of The People’s
Mission Church in Bath & her life revolved around the Church, both
spiritually & socially. She served
on various committees, taught in the Sunday School, & had very few friends
outside the Church, enjoying many holidays abroad with other Church members,
particularly a trip to Israel when she & Cyril were baptised in the River
Jordan. She & Cyril eventually moved
to Radstock & when Cyril’s eyesight started to fail they started to worship
at Westfield Methodist Church as the journey to Bath became too difficult, but
at every opportunity Gladys joined her old friends from The People’s Mission.
During the 90’s Gladys began to show signs of
dementia, although Cyril was quick to cover up for her. One evening in 1998 she was walking to a
ladies’ meeting at the Methodist church when she was knocked down by a car
& sustained injuries to her head, eye & leg. The shock accelerated the dementia &
Cyril‘s sudden death in April 2000 caused another setback. She managed to continue to live in her own
familiar home, but became increasingly confused when she began to have
hallucinations. In 2002 she was admitted
to hospital after staying out all night & was sectioned, so in June of that
year she moved to Heanton Nursing Home where she was cared for until her
death. Although she met her great
grandson, Nathanael, she couldn’t comprehend who he was, but she & Cyril
would undoubtedly have been very proud great-grandparents.
Gladys was known to be very house-proud &
had a very good sense of humour & told many amusing stories of her life in
the W.A.A.F. but her references from the W.A.A.F. & Ifoulds grocery store
probably sum her up very well:
‘This airwoman has reached a superior standard
of efficiency in her trade.’
‘We have found her faultless in every possible
way – always reliable, keen, energetic, punctual & most important of all,
completely trustworthy.’
We lost the Gladys we knew many years ago, but
the memories will always be there.
Isatu was crying hysterically as she and her three-year-old daughter, Hawanatu, accompanied a friend to the home of his neighbor, a Mercy Ships day-worker named Bassey. Despite the fact that it was 6:00 a.m., the three were invited in.
But Isatu’s crying prevented her from telling Bassey what she wanted. She held out a large envelope. Bassey took it and pulled out an x-ray showing a 2½-inch nail lodged inside the little girl.
Isatu had seen her daughter put the nail in her mouth and had tried to grab it before she swallowed it, but the youngster was too fast. A quick trip to the pharmacy had cost quite a bit, but had not produced a solution. Isatu bought some fruit, which she thought would help. She planned to take the little girl to Freetown the next morning to get a medical opinion. But her focus was turned unexpectedly to her husband, who had a serious automobile accident that morning and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The next day she found a doctor, but after listening to her story, he told her, “There is nothing I can do.”
Pregnant and with three other children to care for, she had reached her emotional limit. So, she took Hawanatu to the home of a trusted friend who lived in Bassey’s neighborhood. Bassey showed the x-ray to the medical team onboard the hospital ship, the Africa Mercy. The child was immediately authorized to see the admission nurse. A second x-ray revealed that the nail was taking its natural course. The little girl asked to use the rest room, and the nail came out naturally without piercing any organs.
There were shouts of joy from everyone involved.
“Everyone here who saw the x-ray has been making an effort to help. I’m very happy and very relieved!” said a grateful Isatu.
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At the moment we are playing catch up, so over the next few weeks I will be sharing what has been going over the last month - since the last time we wrote we are now in our third country. We left Sierra Leone at the beginning of December. As usual we hosted many thank you events, 2 of which were small lunches held personally with the US Ambassador and the British High Commisioner, both of which have been a huge help in our stay here. Plus we held a big thank you event to all that have helped our stay in Sierra Leone go smoothly.
Then we had the day worker thank you event. Each year we employ around 200 local people to help us out with extra work, translations, skills etc and they become part of our family for the 10 months we are in a country. Saying goodbye to them is hard. I must admit, the Sierra Leoneons topped it in the celebration category as they attempted to lift certain crew members up in the air and carry them around our international lounge, Tim included. Now I've searched and searched for photo evidence but all I can come up with is the initial push and lift - the carrying around the room, you'll just have to imagine and have a chuckle to yourselves.
So you lure him in with a bit of African Dancing
Make him comfortable with dancing and surround him
then grab and lift!
We have some very strong people!
Sharon and her friend also said goodbye to our tailor friends. We were able to get them a new iron and bibles to remember us by and our picture is stuck on their wall.
Saying goodbye to Foday, Osman and Omar, wearing one of the skirts he made
Nathanael said goodbye to Tenzing, a friend he made at the US Embassy.
Then there was the saying goodbye to everybody who has come across our path during our time in Sierra Leone. The sail wasn't too long because we were just going to Ghana for a few weeks of downtime before heading straight to Togo. Our schedule is changing this year so the dry dock can be done in the summer so we are fitting in 6 months in Togo as we only gave them a short time the year before! The sail saw many dolphins and we will tell you more about Ghana in our next posts.
Back in 2008 Joyce, one of the children on the ship, decided to send a message in a bottle. At that time she was docked in Monrovia, Liberia so she released it into the sea. Little did she know that one day somebody would find it. In 2011 a dutch archaeologist was working in the Caribbean when he found the bottle. He deciphered the message and contacted the Mercy Ships Holland office.
The story was aired on Dutch TV in December during a National News Program. It may be "dutch" to you, but hopefully you will get the idea of it. You can watch it at this link:
This week was a sad week for the pre-school onboard - the time had come for Nathanael's teacher, Miss Elizabeth, to finally leave the ship. Miss Elizabeth has been Nathanael's teacher for 1½ years and she has been perfect as an introduction to school for the pre-schoolers. She always had time for all the kids and took a real interest in them. She knew their quirks, their strengths, their weakness, their tantrum moments, their moments of brilliance and Nathanael has learnt so much under her care. We will miss her! This is a picture of Nathanael saying goodbye
When January comes there will be a new teacher waiting in the classroom and already she has been taking part in classes so they could get used to her. Welcome to a pre-schoolers life, Miss Herma.
A few weeks ago we had the privilege of hosting the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral, Sir Timothy Laurence. They were touring Sierra Leone for a few days as part of the 50th anniversary of independance and a chance to visit some of charities that Princess Anne was patron of. They were onboard for just over 1.5 hours and talked to anybody they could. Their intention was to meet people in their daily "work" lives.
(with Tim at the Gangway)
(visiting the ward)
(on the bridge where Sir Tim and Tim could talk a common language)
(visiting the school)
(She casually stopped to talk to those who were just taking time out in the mid ships lounge)
(We met her as a family - please note, Nathanael's shirt was tucked in at the start!)
Before the visit, Sharon tried to prepare Nathanael, going through all the be good, be polite, answer questions if the princess asks you something etc etc talk. Nathanael's response was "ok, I will try mummy, (and with a big cheesy grin) but you never know what might happen". We don't know whether that was a disclaimer incase his body did something he had no control over or what, but it didn't exactly put us at ease. Hence I think the photo below is probably one of those moments when his body did something he had no control over!
Weddings are always exciting but even more exciting when you get to experience it in a different culture. Long time friend, Alfred, who has worked in the deck department both on the Anastasis and the Africa Mercy was getting married to Edwina from Sierra Leone who was working on board as a day worker with us. Here you have to do a lot of planning because just going to do a single task can take all day to travel there and back to complete a task.
PART 1
Events started on the Thursday night where we were invited to the "formal" part of the marriage. We filled 3 landrovers and drove to the family house of Edwina. Initially we weren't allowed to enter the building so the upstairs landlord gave us shelter from the sun rays. Meanwhile, Alfred left to "hide". Now you're probably thinking what is going on, well, yes, so did we, but this is Africa and we went with the flow.
After all the relevant people had arrived the ceremony began. I say arrived, because again, this is Africa and so you just wait until everybody is ready. If somebody is on the other side of town, you know you're going to be waiting at least another hour. It's just normal here, time is a guide not really a definate.
First came a knock at the door. The host asked who was there and the response was "visitors". "Are you good or bad visitors?"......."good visitors".....and so we went through this sort of drama/comedy play for a bit which had us in stitches with their quick quips. (Click play to see the video's).
Fiinally they let the visitors in and after introductions they had a seat. The leader then brought greetings to prove that they were REALLY good visitors. He passed envelopes with greetings and money gifts for the father of the house, the sisters, aunts, brothers, landlord, village chief....you name it, it was in there. May I add, there was still no Alfred at this time!
Then the real question came. The visitors had really come for a flower. Now the host met them with confusion because he was a pastor, not a gardener, he has no flowers. So they clarified it, a "special" flower. So they suggested that he must have a garderner in the house that looks after these special flowers.
Eventually a lady came who acted as the gardener and so she shuffled away to look for that special flower. Finally she came with a little flower with a veil over her head. The visitor looked and decided that the flower was too young and he would come back for her in 5 years.
The next flower was to skinny and tall and again didn't fit the special, perfect flower he was after.
Finally they found the right flower and Edwina came in covered in a veil. More jokes followed and the visitors presented a calabash bowl and asked for her hand in marriage on behalf of the groom. They take the bowl away to examine the goods before accepting his offer. It seems the calabash was good because they accepted their offer. The bowl included a ring which was placed on Edwina's finger and a bible which she showed to everybody. Big cheers!
Then it was food time. Each of us got given a plate of fish and chips which tasted wonderful. May I add.....still no Alfred. I was a bit concerned as it had been 2 hours he had been outside and he got to miss the good food too.
Finally after the ceremony had finished, Alfred came in so we could congratulate them together. Normally they would now take the bride to the groom's house and they would live together as man and wife, but because this is a christian wedding they will wait until after the church ceremony a couple of days later.
It was fun to be a part of this special occasion.
PART 2
So Saturday arrives and we all head up to the church in our nice african outfits to support Alfred and Edwina in the big day. The trouble with living here is that it's not worth spending too much time getting dolled up as you will be a sweaty mess by the time you get there.
The service was about 2 1/2 hours and the church was full by the time it ended as people continued to arrive through out the ceremony. We enjoyed a good dance to "O Happy Day" whilst the register was being signed, 3 offerings for various things and different groups came and sang songs for the couple with plenty of African dancing.
(The grooms party (left) & brides attendants (right))
(Here comes the Bride)
(The vows)
(Nathanael not coping very well with the hot temperatures)
(The kiss)
(Sharon and Nathanael dancing to O Happy Day)
(Dancing at the church)
After the service we drove to the other side of town for the reception that was being held at the Mercy Ships team house that usually houses our off ships programs staff. The sun was shining with a light breeze in a lovely grassed area, ideal for a wedding party. The top table was set up on a platform along with the cake and the guests sat below.
(The Cake)
(Tim was asked to bless the cake)
(The brides attendants having a rest)
(The happy couple)
All in all it was great to be a part of a Sierra Leoneon wedding and something we wanted to share with you. Please pray for Alfred and Edwina as they begin their lives together as a married couple. Edwina will be joining us as crew so we will be getting to enjoy them for a while longer.
Congratulations Alfred and Edwina and thank you for letting us enjoy your day (s).
