Onboarding Begins!

It's only a few days into training, but I am so glad to be here.  I chose Mercy Ships because I liked their mission and values and the more I learn about the organization, the more I appreciate what they are doing and how they do it.  I've been most impressed with how much training and capacity building they do in country.  In addition to mentoring and training local medical personnel, they also focus on agriculture and nutrition.

Our Training Center

I live in a dorm and have 2 roommates. Everyone here is incredibly kind and friendly. It's kind of like college except that the age range is from 3 to 70!  I really like living in a community of such diverse ages.  We have folks from all over the US plus Australia, New Zealand, England, Netherlands, South Africa, and Peru.  When I went to college, I had a great experience, but I missed out on some things because I was so shy.  Living here is a second chance to practice being more myself in social situations - more friendly, more silly, more engaged in people's lives...

The campus is beautiful.  It has about 8-10 buildings and a working farm.  All the profit from the farm goes into the ministry of Mercy Ships. There is also some forest area and hiking trails.  For me, this is a welcome break from living in the city. Being so close to nature is good for my soul.

Our days in training are very long. We are in class from 8 to 5 and sometimes have an evening activity.  When we are not in class, it is easy to find people to play games, throw the frisbee around, play ping pong, etc.  Or we just sit around in the dorm lounge and read or do our assignments for class.

My puzzle friends: Saulo from Peru, Dominik from Switzerland, Ivanna from New York, and Lindsey from Australia