How to make Club foot braces…. in Africa

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to take the opportunity to share a few things I’ve learnt out of helping to set up a few Club foot clinics here in Sierra Leone…

For those who don’t know, a very important step in managing a child with a Club foot is fitting them with special braces…

Now of course when you’re in Africa you don’t have the luxury of pulling a prefabricated brace off the shelf… so we teach the clinicians how to make them from scratch…

This obviously has its fair share of challenges and that’s why I want to share a few tips on how to make these braces... I hope this helps all of those thinking about doing something like this I hope this helps… J

Tip 1. Think outside the box….
If you run out of leather never mind… go get some from your local market….

Tip 2. Be flexibleIf the workshop looses power, travel across town in search of someone who has a generator…

Then use your powers of persuasion (i.e. money) to use their generator…

And if that fails, make the best out of a bad situation…

Tip 3. Be willing to learn knew skills

Tip 4. Take control

When treating a child with Club feet make sure you have control at all times.

Tip 5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

When you are very busy remember that it’s ok to ask for an extra hand

Tip 6. Remember that all the hard work is definitely worth it….

Tip 7. After work make sure you have fun with all the locals…

 

These are just a few things I’ve learnt along the way… I hope this helps…

God is always so good,

even when the power goes out and you run out of materials...

Nick J

So you think you can dance :)

Hey Everyone,

So we had a film festival on the ship the other day…

It was so much fun...
Anyways I just thought I’d put up a couple of the films from the night…

Chicken Fight - A tour of the ship... click here 

This video is awesome.....

So you think you can dance... click here

we actually managed to take out the major prize…



It was such a fun night...

God is good J

A week in the life of a Missionary….

Ok for all those wondering – yes I am still alive…

I’m really sorry this update has taken so long but there always seems to be something exciting going…. so let me tell you about this awesome trip our rehab team did upcountry.

It was so good to get out of the city and see some countryside. We went to three different hospitals teaching clinicians how to treat kids with club feet.

Ok so our Club foot teaching adventure began after a hectic day at Ola During, which is a local hospital we’ve been teaching at all year. Just picture a tiny room (and when I say tiny I really mean tiny) with up to 10 people in it at a time (and the occasional chicken or rat). Then picture a massive line of patients outside with club feet. Then add in another whole bunch of patients with medical problems varying from Cerebral Palsy to broken arms and legs coming with the hope of us being able to help them. Anyways when you picture all of this and then add in about 35 degrees you start to get the picture of what we do every Wednesday. It’s funny but in amongst the chaos I find myself loving my Wednesdays.

So we left after the Wednesday clinic and headed to Bo. The road there is great – nice and smooth so we got there in a few hours and settled into our hotel. Now when I say “hotel” please don’t picture a nice luxury resort or anything like that. Where we stayed was fine but it was located in between two very loud night clubs and Wednesday night in Africa is ladies night (a very popular night for going out and partying), so getting a good night sleep wasn’t the easiest. I managed to get a few hours in between the honking car horns, the loud music and the arguing on the street. The funny thing was that my African friend Mr. Bambino (one of the local clinicians we have been teaching) who was in the same room as me had a perfect nights sleep. I guess practice makes perfect… however I think next time I am going to take some sleeping tablets….

Anyways so I was kind of tired for our first clinic at Bo. After taking a couple of hours to wake up I was fine and the clinic went ok. It’s so awesome when you get to do something you truly love and help others make a lasting impact…

We then took the road (if you can call it that) up to Koidu. The locals actually call this road the “road of judgment”. Just imagine the most turbulent airplane ride you have ever been on and combine it with a six and a half hour fast washing machine cycle and you are getting close. Aside from the bumpy trials and tribulations this leg of the trip was amazing. I really enjoyed it as it’s not everyday you get to travel through untouched beautiful country side.

So we made it to Koidu after a long days travel and Koidu is where the diamond mining happens so it has a mining town feel to it… and no I didn’t go mining for diamonds. The Club foot clinic there wasn’t very developed so it was really great to teach them the basics and get them started. We head back in a month so it will be great to see how they are doing.

We then got back on the bumpy road and headed for Makeni. As we got closer, we found out that the President was in town, and as we had not paid for our rooms in the hotel we were booked into, the booking had been cancelled so that all his entourage could stay there. Therefore, we ended up finding a very basic guesthouse (very basic).

Now in Africa there are a few things you should expect when you are staying in a guest house or apartment. You should be prepared to take bucket showers, sleep in a bed that is broken and sleep on sheets that aren’t clean. You should also be prepared to have uninvited guests (like the occasional rat or cockroach) and if your lucky you can avoid getting pink eye – bringing your own pillow case is a good idea which I will do from now on J Oh you should also be prepared to loose some weight because with the amount you sweat it’s impossible not to. Anyways believe it or not I am looking forward to doing it all again pretty soon as our team is doing this trip monthly until the end of the year. Now I realise everyone isn’t called to be a missionary but I am glad I am.

Anyways we spent the weekend in Makeni, where Mr. Bambino lives and works as a Prosthetist, so we got to hang out with his family and also watch the amputee football team play, as he has made most of their prosthetic limbs. It was amazing how fast they can get around on their crutches – it was great to watch and then talk with them afterwards. Many of their injuries came from the war so they had amazing stories. We also got to hang out in a nice hotel and go for a swim, and have a shower, which was a treat!

The Makeni Ponseti clinic on Monday was much better, so that was encouraging. I would expect it though as Mr. Bambino is a really good teacher. He has employed three amputees there, which is great as there are so many of them that just use begging as a source of income.

We headed back on Monday evening, tired, sweaty but happy. Straight back into work on Tuesday so it was a busy trip and definitely a great adventure.

Hope that this has not been too long for you – just wanted to fill you in on what a week is like in the life of a missionary

God is so Good… all the time

Nick J

It’s great to be reminded...

Ok so I realized I didn’t give much of an update last time… so I thought I would fill you in on a few things I’ve realized over the last couple of Months J

Revelation No. 1. God doesn’t go on Holidays J

Ok so let me start by saying something I am realizing more and more as time goes on… God wants to use us wherever we may be (even if we think we are on holidays). Now the reason I say this is because I spent about three weeks in the states “on holidays” before arriving in Freetown and I was amazed at all the opportunities God had presented to show His love… the strangest one was that I got asked to be a guest speaker in a high school to talk about Health issues in a third world country…. Obviously this was the last thing I thought I’d be doing whilst on holidays…. Anyways I said to the Big Guy a long time ago that if He ever gave me the opportunity to share what He has done and is doing in my life I wouldn’t argue… so I jumped at the chance…. And it was amazing. Lots of kids came up afterwards and were definitely moved with everything we were doing with Mercy Ships… The awesome thing was that I got asked to speak to three different classes… it’s funny to look back at times like these because doing something like this would have been the last thing I though I’d be doing in the states…it was a good reminder that God never goes on holidays and even if we are.

Revelation No. 2. God has special ways of confirming where He wants us J

Now I have been here in Freetown about 2 months now and I will say one thing…. When I was flying into Freetown and saw the barren red earth from the plane, the kids (who looked like ants) playing soccer and the broken down old buildings, I realized something. As I looked around at all the Africans and saw their excited smile that showed they were going home, I realized something.... I realized that I had the same smile and excitement on my face...

And as I looked down at the title of my book "Don't waste your life", my eyes started to tear up because I had this resounding feeling that I was exactly where God wanted me to be... I was home again J

Revelation No. 3. Don’t let tough times stop you from doing something you love

Ok so this revelation comes from one of my room mates – lets just call him Rob (because that’s his name)…. anyways he is a funny kind of guy… one of the first things he told me was that he had diarrhea but didn’t want to miss out on going surfing on the weekend (which he loves). Ok so anyways when he was out surfing he didn’t want to miss any waves but needed to do a number 2… anyways lets just say that he didn’t miss out on anyway waves…. Hearing this just cracked me up…. it gave me the revelation that you should never let tough times stop you from doing something you love doing J funny funny…

(practice makes perfect)

Revelation No. 4. God can give us the strength and grace to forgive

So let me tell you one last thing which was pretty amazing which really did blow me away…. It showed me what true forgiveness and grace looks like…

I was talking to one of the doctors and they were telling me about a patient they had treated in the past….  The doctor was saying that they came across a father whose daughter’s arms had been cut off by a rebel in the war. Now the rebels would often cut off arms because it got a lot of international publicity for their cause and it was a strong reminder to everyone else to not mess with them. So the father has to feed her daughter everday and is constantly reminded of what was done to her… the father went onto say that even though the war is over and things are more settled now he is constantly reminded of the atrocities of the war… and what makes it worse is that the person who massacred his daughters arms lives just down the street… everyday he sees the person who cut his daughters arms off… and he said everyday he needs to ask for God’s strength to forgive that man and not go and harm him…. Now hearing this blew me away…. So much forgiveness and grace was shown by the father to forgive this man who hurt his little girl so awfully…

It kind of hits you hard when so many of your patients have literally been hit in the cross fire of war… fleeing for their lives… seeing your friends and family die all around you… When I step outside of my world for a second and think about what I am doing here, I truly feel so blessed to be part of something small which is helping to bring healing to so many lives…

I know this kind of work isn’t for everyone but I am glad that it is for me J

God truly is good and I am soooooooooo excited to be back on board the ship J

Nick J

Arrived Safe and Sound...ish

Hey everyone,

So I just wanted to give everyone a bit of a heads up and let you know that I am still alive and well… despite being almost run over (several times), having my wallet almost stolen and having a pretty dodgy taxi ride where the guy decided to get lost and then ask for more money.... anyways its great to be back in West Africa safe and sound…

Ok so before I fill you in on the last couple of months let me share something… so people often ask me about my time overseas as a missionary and then some get excited about doing something similar… now for these budding missionaries I have put together a short video giving you a few tips on what to expect…. enjoy….

 

Ok so let me first catch up on thanking everyone for all their generous support… Now I said if I managed to raise over $3000 I would do a few things… One of which was to convince my house mate Ben to wax his chest (because there was no way I was going to after last year…. for a reminder check the video out below)…

Now I wish I was allowed to post some of Ben’s photos but he swore me to never ever post them, so you will just have to picture someone really hairy getting waxed with their chest beetroot red afterwards…

Ok so Ben getting waxed definitely got the part started but then came my end of the deal which involved getting dressed up in a Gumby outfit going to a busy place and then proceeding to ask people to get up and dance. Now what you probably didn’t see in the video were all the people who ran away when I asked them to dance…

Anyways I just wanted to thank everyone who for all their generous support which continues to grow daily… I really don’t know how to thank everyone for all their support, prayers and emails… everyone’s encouragement really does make the world of difference…

I know I haven’t written much about my time since landing but I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone first J

Nick

God is Good :)

Another year already :)

I am so excited to say that I am volunteering with Mercy Ships again. Last year I was in Togo and had the most amazing time. I was part of a team that literally transformed thousands of lives and I look forward to doing it all over again in Sierra Leone.

For those who don't know Mercy Ships is a Hospital located within the walls of a massive ship and we provide free health care to the poorest nations on Earth. The advantage of being a “Hospital Ship” is that we can bring much needed health care to those who desperately need it.

It's strange to say but I feel at home when I am in West Africa helping those in need. The best thing about serving with Mercy Ships is that I am able to use my clinical skills as a Physiotherapist. This year I’ll be volunteering from March until December while the ship is docked in Freetown, Sierra Leone. During this time I’ll be working in the Orthopaedic and Surgical wards. I’ll also be helping to set up a Ponseti Clinic in Freetown, which will involve teaching local Doctors and Health care professionals how to treat children with Club Feet. For an overview of what we are doing check out the video link here.

The reason I am writing is that I need to raise money again to help cover my expenses. As Mercy ships is a volunteer organisation, volunteers need to cover their own expenses. For me, this predominantly involves my flights and crew fees (food and board). The good thing is that all donations are tax deductible.

If you, or anyone you can think of is interested in supporting please let me know and I can send through the details of how to donate.

It truly was amazing what we achieved last year. I hope that you will walk with me on this journey. Please support me with your thoughts, prayers and emails.

Thank you kindly and God bless,

Nick Veltjens

nickveltjens@gmail.com

Tired and Exhausted

Lately I have been quite exhausted and tired as it is hard work when you see so many patients in a day. I definitely lost track of the difference I was making and started to just see my patients as just another foot to cast or another leg to give exercises to. I caught myself saying things like “oh my gosh I have 15 or 20 feet to cast today” (which definitely isn’t a good attitude to have because there are people whom God loves attached to those feet). So I guess I was becoming a little desensitised to the difference I was making….

Anyways so I prayed to God simply to remind me what difference I am making, and then came along a little boy called Junior… who reminded me of why I am in West Africa.

So he is about 6 years old and use to have bow legs (before he came to us). Anyways his mum was telling us what we had done for him. She was saying that his whole life he had been teased by all the other little kids because of his deformity. The other little kids use to chase after him and tease him cause of the way that he looked with his bow legs, the sad thing was that he could never run away from them as he was too slow. Anyway Junior wasn’t like any boy, he would never back down and always stand up for himself and say “you’ll see one day my legs will be straight and I will chase after you”. His mum was telling us that she had taken him to another hospital and Junior said “maybe this is how my legs will become straight”. But this hospital had said that there is nothing they could do, anyways Junior continued to believe that one day his legs would be straight so he just said to them politely “that’s ok, one day my legs will be straight”. As the years went on he continued to believe that one day his legs would be straight. Now this 6 year old boy had heard that Mercy Ships were coming to Lome and he said to his mum this is finally how my legs will become straight. And low and behold he was picked up at our screening day, had the surgery and now his legs are finally straight.

He is running very fast and playing soccer and now is ready to go back to his village. Actually by now he will be in his village, legs straight and chasing after all the other little kids saying I told you so “one day my legs would be straight”. For me it’s when I hear stories like these that it makes being here in West Africa worthwhile.

Actually I would really like to share something else which has simply blown me away. The more time I have spent here and the more lives we impact like Junior the more I find my heart being drawn back here. I had perhaps saw myself coming back in 5 or so years as I thought there was no possible way for me to come back anytime sooner other than quitting my job in Brisbane and I really wouldn’t want to do that as I really love my life in Brisbane and definitely see myself there long term. But at the same time I was thinking how awesome it would be to come back next year. Anyways what I have learned by way of experience is to sometimes leave things in God’s hands and just say – “perhaps maybe” perhaps maybe God could open up some doors for me to come back sooner, even in the midst of every door being apparently closed. Anyways one of our little kids who we are treating for club foot (who has an amazing story of their own – but maybe for another time anyways his mum was very thankful for what we are doing for him and she said something to me which I thought was kind of weird since she had no idea of my situation. She said that she was praying for the impossible to become possible for me.

And when I heard this I new exactly what she was talking about, even though she didn’t. So I decided to email my boss back in Brisbane just to see if I coming back next year was a possibility (and I even said to her that I was completely expecting her to say no and that I was fine with this). Anyways as God would have it I found out just the other day that my work back in Brisbane has given me another 9 months off to come back to Sierra Leone next year. I am so thankful for all the caring people at Royal Brisbane hospital who have released me to serve in Africa.

And I am always thankful for a God that answers prayers.

As they say in Africa,

God is good,

ALL THE TIME