Togo, West Africa: days 0–1

This would be my first trip to Africa. First trip alone overseas. First mission trip. 36 hours of flying, just to get there. And it was costing me $2500, though I'm unemployed.

Have you ever gotten cold feet? Did you turn back, or did you keep going?

I didn't really get cold feet while preparing for the trip. Until I got to the airport.

I was flying out of LAX at 7 a.m., so I'd have to arrive by 5 a.m. My cousin Pat was able to give me a ride, but only the night before. So, I went then and stayed overnight in the terminal. There was something about sitting in an empty terminal, with nothing to do for 6 hours, that just made me think, "Why am I going to fly for the next 36 hours to go somewhere I have no idea about, where I have no idea what I will do? What if I … just don't go?" What if I just got in a taxi, went back home, and didn't get on that flight? 

There's a scene in the movie Braveheart that I always remembered. William Wallace has been fighting many battles, but he was betrayed at Falkirk by some nobles. The nobles repented and have asked William to come to a secret meeting. William discusses this with his friend, Hamish:

Hamish: "The nest of scheming bastards couldn't agree on the color of shit. It's a trap, are you blind?"

William: "Look at this. We've got to try. We can't do this alone. Joining the nobles is the only hope for our people. You know what happens if we don't take that chance?"

Hamish: "What?"

William: "Nothing." (William walks back to his horse.)

I knew I could back out without losing much; just some money and some pride. But what would change in my life? Nothing. So I stayed in the airport, found a place to sleep for a couple hours, and got on the flight.

By the way, why did Mercy Ships chose Togo, or West Africa in general? This video explains a little.


During the trip, I shot mostly videos. Below is the video for days 0–1.


The above video has many short clips. I will describe each clip below, and you can jump directly to some of them. We'll do that by showing the same video, but starting it in the middle.

For example, the above video starts with some scenery from Brussels airport. Then I go looking for my teammates. My first teammate is Gene Anderson, from Texas.

Then, Gene and I enter into a long conversation about who we are and what we'd like to accomplish on this trip. The conversation starts 39 seconds in, but if you play the video below, you'll jump directly to this conversation. (0:39)

Eventually, Gene and I talk about not being in charge. I thought this was important, so you can see this directly here. (5:07)

Gene and I waited in Brussels airport for several hours, but we didn't find the rest of our teammates until just before boarding! We'd have to wait until later to get to know each other.

Our flight to Togo was on Brussels airlines. They didn't have fancy TVs in each headrest, but I was very impressed with their food. They even had ice cream!!!!




We landed in Lomé, Togo. This was the most worrisome part of the trip. In Africa, corruption is not uncommon. Many officials expect bribes and won't let you pass until they get one. Thankfully, when we told them we were with Mercy Ships, they let us right on through!

At the airport in Lomé, we met our team leader, Bill Foley. Bill and his wife Eileen are serving two years on the ship! However, Eileen was back in the U.S., so Bill had to lead our team solo. In the videos you may notice Bill's accent; he's from New York.

We arrived at night, tired and sweaty, so we basically went straight to our lodging and to bed. Our accommodations were surprisingly nice: We stayed at a secure facility called the "Seamen's Center," for sailors. We each had our own room. All of our beds had mosquito nets.

The next morning, Friday, Bill brought us breakfast at the Seamen's Center. We chatted and got to know each other a little better, and we had a short Bible study. Then Bill drove us to the ship, only a mile away.

Two of our team members had served with Mercy Ships before. For the rest of us, this was our first time seeing the ship. (6:36)


I didn't know anyone on the ship, but my sister did. She said I should find Jillian Norris, the hairdresser. Little did I realize that everyone knows Jillian, because everyone needs a haircut! (6:54)


Bill led us on a tour of the ship. It's amazing how much there is! Anyway, there is a cafeteria where they serve meals prepared by the cooks, but there's also a crew galley/kitchen for anyone to use. Here, Bill said that he and Eileen would make treats for when they visited prisoners in Togo. Bill was a cop for many years.

Looking out from the ship, we could see almost 50 ships along the coast! Bill explained that they're afraid of pirates.

On the deck is a large Mercy Ships logo. Great place for a team photo! (9:09)

From Mercy Team Alison

Here's my team! From left to right, it's Louise Underwood (Vancouver), Christine Bryan (UK), Gene Anderson (Texas), Bill Foley (New York), me (Los Angeles) and Alison and Peter Briggs (UK). Alison has been on more than half a dozen Mercy Teams! Our team was aptly named, "Team Alison."

Besides the cafeteria and the crew galley, the ship has a snack shop, a convenience store, and the only Starbucks in West Africa! Almost everyone on the ship is a volunteer and has to pay their own way to get to the ship and to stay on the ship. This includes Bill our team leader, Jillian the hairdresser, a guy named Jim who runs the convenience store, and the baristas in the Starbucks.

After the tour, we started working! Yes! Our job was to help where most needed, and Bill directed us. Louise went to hospital administration to scan and shred some documents. Alison helped out in the ship's school. (They have a full K–12 program.) Gene was given cleaning duty, which he accepted joyfully. (9:22)


I should mention that Gene first heard about Mercy Ships only last fall, and here he was, helping out in Africa. Also, Gene is 79. =)

Peter and I were in charge of cleaning up one of the storerooms. (9:33)


I also met with Miriam, one of the pharmacists. The ship strives for excellence, but the pharmacy lacks professional pharmacy software. Miriam wanted to know if I could help. (If anyone knows how Mercy Ships can acquire some professional pharmacy software inexpensively, please let me know!) (9:41)


Our work day ended at 5 p.m. We enjoyed dinner with the rest of the crew in the cafeteria, then we had the evening to ourselves. People are always hanging out around the ship or going into town. One of the crew, Briggs, gives free drum lessons. The local drum is called a djembe, and my whole team went to learn how to play it. (10:38)


Learning an instrument in a group setting is a little embarrassing. Thankfully, Briggs would lead us and make the loudest sound, so the rest of us could meekly follow along and pretend we knew what we were doing. Imagine my terror when Briggs said, "Now, we are going to play one at a time!"

Fortunately, I had already gotten over my cold feet.

Africa, why?

In April, I was in Africa for ten days. This was quite a departure for me, as I usually just stay home, work on my computer, play games and take naps. So, how did I end up in Africa?

Let me answer that question by posing a question: Do you feel you have a good sense of the world's pulse? Of what happens in the world?

In December 2006, I had another unusual departure: I spent Christmas vacation in St. Louis, Missouri, for the Urbana Missions Conference. I spent three days surrounded by college students and recent grads, all praising Jesus and excited about serving as missionaries. Except me. I had come hoping to find a spiritual awakening, and indeed everyone else seemed to be experiencing something. I sang, prayed, talked, asked and listened, but deep down I knew it hadn't clicked for me.

On the last day of the conference, I walked again around the exhibit hall, where dozens of charities had booths. Each booth presented a fine idea: Send missionaries to the Middle East. Bring clean water to others using device X. Attend Bible school. But none resonated with me. And then I walked by a booth, and they had a 3-foot-high photo of this person:

This is Hawa. She lives in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She's 7.

And what's that thing sticking out of Hawa's mouth? It looks like she's eating something really weird.

The booth had a woman working there, and I remember looking at Hawa's picture while trying to appear like I was not looking.

The woman must have noticed; also, there was no one else at the booth. "Do you have any questions?" she asked.

"What is that … thing?" I asked, pointing at Hawa's picture.

"It's a tumor."

A tumor? As in cancer? I looked more closely and thought of a mole on Hawa's skin growing out of control. It looked like her upper lip has a giant growth on it, obscuring her mouth from the camera.

In fact, the tumor is growing from inside Hawa's mouth.

Technically, Hawa has a tumor but not cancer. A tumor is a small bit of your body, such as a mole, that keeps growing and growing. A tumor is "malignant" and cancerous only if it will spread to other parts of the body. Hawa's tumor isn't spreading; it's only(!) growing. In medical jargon, Hawa's tumor is "benign."

Of course, you can see how the tumor is almost choking her. How can she eat? The tumor has grown this large in only a year. Soon it will starve her to death, or suffocate her.

Do you feel you have a good sense of the world's pulse? Of what happens in the world?

Before, I would have said yes. I knew a lot, and I had a sense of what I didn't know, so it wasn't a big deal. But Hawa was in a situation I had never imagined anyone in. My view of the world had survived dozens of sermons, books, conversations and arguments, but this 7-year-old girl was disintegrating it as I now stared openly at her picture.

"A tumor?" I paged through a binder with photos of more people beyond my worldview. "Are these … real?"

I don't remember the woman's reply. But I saw a DVD on a table and picked it up.

"What's this?" I asked.

"That's a DVD about our organization. It's our last one … but if you'll show it at your church, you can have it."

"My whole church…? What if I share it with my Bible study group?"

"Okay."

That was my introduction to Mercy Ships. It's a charity that brings free medical care to the poorest of the poor, especially those in West Africa. Mercy Ships does this by building a state-of-the-art hospital in a ship, staffing it with volunteers, and sailing to some of the poorest countries in the world.

Mercy Ships is run almost entirely by volunteers. People come from all over the world to work on the ship, and they pay their own airfare, plus $550 per month to live on-board. Many volunteers stay for at least two years. However, trips of 9–10 days are available in a group: They call these "Mercy Teams." Some Mercy Teams are made of medical professionals: doctors, nurses, dentists, etc. But non-medical teams are also available, and they assist with "everyday tasks onboard."

For several years, part of me wanted to visit this Ship of Mercy. But another part kept saying, "You should wait until you're more ready."

Then one day, I projected backward. I looked back at the recent years of my life, and I realized I could have gone. I could have gone already and still be ready to go again.

So in April 2012, I went with a non-medical Mercy Team to the country of Togo, West Africa. My team was called "Team Alison," since our teammate Alison had served several times before. And … well, I'll save those stories for next time.

I'll close with the story of what happened to Hawa. It's told by the person who photographed her. 

In this life, our stories aren't guaranteed to have a happy ending. But I guarantee this one, so please click here for Hawa's story.

From Mercy Team Alison

For more stories of Mercy Ships patients, click here.

March 19 – April 9: Blue Marble, CostCo, Eric Tang, Easter, Owl

Oops! I didn't update in my normal 3-week cycle. Also, some of you know that I was in Africa for two weeks, but I haven't mentioned it here. I will blog about Africa, probably over several posts.

Also, future posts will not be at regular intervals. You can learn when I've posted by using the "Follow by Email" tool on the left side.

Ok, so what did I do before Africa? =)

From Blue Marble

March 19: I visited the Blue Marble Game Company. They make games that help people. For example, "The Treasure of Bell Island" is a game to rehabilitate people who have suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI).

From CostCo

March 22: I went to CostCo for my vaccine for typhoid. (Tip: You can use the CostCo pharmacy even if not a CostCo member.) Everyone knows CostCo has amazing prices, but this blew me away. Here are teddy bears. These teddy bears are 53" inches tall. And they cost only $29.99! When I was a kid, such giant stuffed animals existed only at carnival games, and the assumption was they cost $200. This is a sign of the times to me, more than the Internet, iPads, or Facebook.

If you were wondering, I needed the typhoid vaccine for Africa. I also got my Tdap, Hep A, Hep B and Yellow Fever vaccines. Vaccines are pretty awesome, when I think about them.

From Eric Tang

April 4: My friend Eric Tang visited! Eric and I met years ago at the GDC (Game Developers Conference). Two things I remember about Eric: 1) For his work, he once made a mouse that looked like a pistol, for gamers. 2) At one GDC, I felt incredibly sick after a large Italian meal, and all I could do for three hours was sit on a bench in the San Jose Conference Center and try not to throw up. Eric sat with me for almost the whole time.


April 8: Easter, and also my birthday! Here I am at sunrise service.

From Easter

At the Easter service, my Bible-study group gave me a care package! It was for Africa, since I was leaving on April 11. The gift was totally unexpected. And practical.

If you look closely at the back of the care package, there's a little basket. It had notes of good wishes from my group. I almost cried.




April 9: What is this hulking monstrosity?! It's a little owl toy. My sister got it for me while in Nicaragua on a mission trip. Thank you!

From Owl

You can open the toy to hide something inside, like jewelry. Or a flash drive.




Next time: AFRICA!!!!!

February 24 – March 15: Church stage, parking ticket, Gas station, Danielle & David, GDC 2012, Bay Area: Visiting

From Church stage

February 24: I spent the night at church! We hosted homeless families as part of Family Promise. Some volunteers make dinner, some do activities and some stay overnight with the families. I slept in a room used for Sunday school. It has a stage! I liked that I could wake up in the middle of the night and perform a monologue.

February 27: I went to court to fight a parking ticket. This was my first time doing that, so I didn't know what to expect. The ticket was for parking overnight in a public park. My argument was that there weren't any relevant signs, so how would I know?

The weekend before my court date, I went to the park to take photos to show there were no relevant signs. But there is one! On the left pole, the middle sign says, "Park Hours: Sunrise to Sunset." I swear that sign hadn't been there! But how could I be sure? And would the judge believe me?

From For parking ticket

The answer: Google Maps! I checked the park using street view. There are two key points in the left image: 1) The left pole has only one sign, not three. 2) The bottom-left of the image says, "Image Date: September 2011," about a month before my ticket. Whew!

I'm still waiting to hear from the arbiter. (There wasn't a judge.) Regardless, I'm grateful to Google Maps!

From Gas station

March 1: A gas station near me closed down. What I found curious was how quickly and thoroughly someone covered up the signs/words. From working with my uncle Al, I've learned that franchises are really assertive about protecting their image: If your business goes bad, the company will send a crew ASAP to remove or hide any identifying signs. It's like kicking a horse when she's down, or abandoning a friend when she needs you the most.

For the record, the gas station was Shell.

From Danielle & David

March 2: I had dinner with some relatives: Uncle David, cousin Danielle, and Auntie Suzy.

March 3: I drove to San Francisco for GDC 2012! That's the Game Developers Conference. It's about video games, but it's also very serious. There are hundreds of lectures, etc.

I often go as a volunteer, also known as a "CA": Conference Associate. There are 400 of us each year. Even though we may see each other only once a year, when we do, it's like no time has passed! That's both amazing and scary.

The photo above is of "Floater training." It shows about 75 of the 400 volunteers.

From GDC 2012

At the GDC, the volunteers always give their best, which can be exhausting. So in the volunteer lounge, it's not uncommon to see us taking a power nap.

I suppose a lot happened at the GDC. Especially the small, wonderful privilege of making a new friend, or learning more about an old one.

After the GDC, I stayed in the Bay Area to visit family and friends.

My old boss, Tim Behrens, and I still have a good relationship. He let me stay at his house. In the morning, we went to Half Moon Bay to play with his dog, Charlie. However, it was both raining and very windy. On the bright side, the beach was totally empty, and Charlie didn't seem to mind.

I caught up with my friend Jonathan Lassila at an Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland. (When I took this photo, Jonathan was washing his hands.) Ethiopian is probably my favorite cuisine; I like the simplicity of it, especially eating a meal together with one's hands.

This is Charlie, Tim's dog. Charlie is part golden retriever, part poodle. Charlie's full of energy, despite this photo =).

In Berkeley, I finally visited "The Cheeseboard." It's a co-op that makes both pizza and bakery goods. The Cheeseboard is very popular. The pizza place is cute: They make only one type of pizza each day, but it's gourmet. It's "$2.50 per slice," but they always give you a big slice and a tiny slice. Very clever!

From Bay Area: Visiting

The bakery side has many different types of cheese. Many. They also make breads, scones, muffins, etc.

I visited The Cheeseboard to catch up with my friend Blisseth. We hadn't seen each other since undergrad, more than ten years ago. I'm glad we could reconnect, in person.

I caught up with several other friends, but I didn't take any photos. I think I need an app where I can leave my camera in position, and it will quietly take nice photos when appropriate. (E.g., when both people are smiling at the camera.)

I'm guessing I won't get to that app for awhile ...

February 1–19: Pancakes, Seta, Super Bowl, Comparison shopping, Visiting Gigi, CostCo w/Peien, SDQ retreat, Lunch group, Babysitting, Jill's park …

February 1: For Christmas, my sister gave me an organic waffle mix. A clever way to make me eat healthier and learn to cook, since my sister knows I won't let food go bad. We don't have a waffle maker, so I decided to use the mix to make pancakes.

I don't think I've made pancakes since I was a kid. I did some quick searching on the Internet to prepare. Is it supposed to bubble like that? And how do I flip it?

Hey, it looks pretty good! They tasted okay, too, but butter etc. definitely helps. And flipping the pancakes in the air was totally fun … until I messed up. (I don't like wasting food.)

Since I was in cooking mode, I decided to keep going. Auntie Valerie had given me a 25¢ bag of salad from Fresh & Easy. I could have eaten it plain, but Auntie Val has a special way of making it tasty: Cook it in olive oil, with some garlic and salt.

From Pancakes

Wow, it looks like a real Chinese dish! Much better than a bag of salad. Taste-wise, I think the key is to add enough salt. But I know we probably have too much sodium in our diets, so I'll have to think about this recipe more.

From Seta

February 3: I had lunch at Seta, a fancy restaurant. I don't usually eat out at fancy places, but this was part of dineLA's Restaurant Week. It's a week or two when restaurants all over town offer special fixed-price menus. It's cheaper for the patrons, and a good way to attract new business. Pictured here is my dessert, "Intense Chocolate." It's "bittersweet chocolate flourless molten cake, Grand Marnier blood orange reduction." It's got molten chocolate inside, which is pretty neat. I should also say that I went with a very nice girl I met at speed dating and … wow, I'm totally out of space!

From Lunch group

February 5: I had lunch with my usual after-church group. The group varies from 4–14 people, but I'm usually one of the younger ones. This time, I was also the only guy, and I think Claire (top-left) thought it was so funny that she took a photo. (Claire, thank you!) Clockwise from Claire, it's Angie, Kathy, Helen, Inez, me, and Dorothy. They're my adoptive aunties, and they take good care of me.

That day was also the Super Bowl. Here's Uncle Al watching it at the end. Once Tebow's team lost, I was really rooting for the Giants. It definitely could have gone either way, but I'm glad the Giants won!

From Super Bowl

Uncle Al then wanted to go grocery shopping. Here we are in Stater Bros. I enjoy grocery shopping with others. I think it's the combination of 1-on-1 time to chat, plus being productive. In the cart, you can see some of what Al likes: Nonfat milk, salisbury steak TV dinners, and beef patties.

February 6: My Bible study group ("sedaqah" group) was planning a retreat for the next weekend, and I was on the food committee. To stay on budget, I did some comparison shopping. Here, I took a serious self-portrait at CostCo.

There's a lot about CostCo (and food), that I never knew! They have pre-cooked bacon, which costs only a little more than uncooked. ($3.36/lb vs $2.92/lb, adjusted.) And it's been "naturally wood smoked," so maybe it also tastes better?!

Quick tips: One can enter CostCo without a membership by asking to visit the pharmacy, or to buy alcohol. One can also shop at CostCo without a membership: Just have a member buy you a $25 Costco Cash Card. That's good for one shopping trip, and if you exceed the $25, you can just pay the rest in cash.

From Comparison shopping

In a previous blog entry, I showed the CostCo employee-performance board. Here it is again: That Nadia girl must be really good. And I'm not sure what the right column is about. I thought it was a percentage, but you can see the top guy got over 100.

By the way, for food prices, CostCo was cheapest for eggs (10¢/ea), ground beef ($2.99/lb), salmon ($6.99/lb), bananas (46¢/lb) and sweet potato fries ($1.65/lb). Trader Joe's was better for orange juice ($1.99/64 oz), milk ($2.89/gal) since we only needed one, and cereal (TJ-brand cheerios for $1.99/15 oz, high-fiber cereal for $2.29/14.5 oz). Groceries like Stater Bros., Food4Less, and Valu+ were better when their fruit was on sale (oranges: 7 lb for $1!).

February 7: I visited my cousin Gigi. Gigi's technically my second cousin (my cousin's kid), and she's a freshman at Cal Poly Pomona. It was my first time there. I really liked this building. But now I'm wondering what it's pointing at?

Gigi treated me to lunch at the dorm cafeteria, which was a big treat for me. The food seemed a lot better than what I had at Cal or Caltech, but Pomona also has a strong hospitality program. But since the food's so good, I'll bet the students have to be even more careful about gaining weight!

From Visiting Gigi

Gigi and I. Gigi introduced me to some of her friends, and one let me wear this super-cute wolf cap. Apparently it's in style now. I felt like I was at Anime Expo.

Other things I learned at Pomona: All girls love Ryan Gosling. And that new movie, "The Vow," is supposed to be the next "The Notebook." I will just go on record now: I did not like "The Notebook." Nor "Sleepless in Seattle." I thought I would, I really tried, but it was just too…. Anyway, Ryan Gosling seems alright.

Gigi, thank you for a great time!

From CostCo w/Peien

February 9: Having finished comparison shopping, my friend Peien and I were ready to actually shop! We bought a lot at CostCo and then had a nice time chatting outside over a polish sausage and soda. Since it was closing time, one of the employees was moving the tables around. They have this really cool tool which allows the tables to be easily moved by just one employee. I remarked to the employee how clever and thoughtful CostCo was, and he said that the tool is really to mitigate lawsuits, etc. from people hurting their backs. I suppose it's still a win-win.

February 10: Retreat time! My small group rented a house near Lake Arrowhead for the weekend.

On the way to the house, I stopped in San Bernardino, right before the mountains. They have a "Mr. Video"! That was the local movie rental shop when I was in elementary school. I particularly remember one weekend, when my parents let me rent a Nintendo from there for the weekend.

I had stopped to get something from Jack-in-the-Box. I stood at the counter for maybe 15 seconds, but there was no one at the counter and no one came up to help me. Then I saw it: An automated ordering machine. It was scary but cool at the same time. Coming soon to a Jack-in-the-Box near you? (By the way, I got an error when I first used it, but there was no one there to report it to….)

The retreat house was nice. It easily fit the 14 of us (well, three bathrooms, but it seemed to work out fine). The house also had a nice view of Lake Gregory (not Lake Arrowhead). In the photo, my friend Rob is practicing for worship.

From SDQ retreat

At the retreat, each person had a bag. People could write notes to someone and put that in their bag. I wasn't sure what to think of this at first, but in the end I really enjoyed the opportunity/excuse to write to everyone. Apparently this is not uncommon at Christian retreats.

So what happened at the retreat? I don't know. We just hung out, read the Bible, and talked about God. But it seemed good. Hopefully many good seeds were planted.

February 17: I babysat for my cousins. There's Caroline, Brandon, and 1-year-old Charlotte. How did I handle a 1-year-old? Actually, Caroline took care of everything, and when we ran into trouble, we called Charlotte's mom back from across the street. =)

Here, Brandon is looking at a picture of his mom … when she was in middle school! Trippy.

The kids playing on an old, electronic organ. I was surprised it still worked!

From Babysitting

Baby Charlotte. She has this way of looking at you that makes you think she's really thinking about you. I wonder if all babies are like that? I know everything's so new to them.

Charlotte is just at that age where she's learning to walk. Caroline and I took a couple of videos. (Viewable here and here.)

From Jill's park

February 18: My friend Jill had a book-reading party. Jill is updating her book, Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models. Jill's house has a lot of character. One thing I really liked is this "park" she carved out in her front yard. There's a bench, table, and even a water fountain for passersby to use. Sadly, I immediately thought of liability issues of having a park in one's front lawn. I guess one needs faith that people won't take advantage of you, or that if they do, God will be there. Maybe that's why it's called, "Faith Park"!

From Uncle Al working

February 19: I visited Uncle Al again. During fall, Al spent Sunday just watching football or sleeping in his chair. But I found him working hard tonight! In some ways, he seems to be getting stronger and stronger. We'll just cross our fingers and continue to take things one day or week at a time.