A Memorable Birthday

By -
The glamour of comfortable flights is far gone. Seated like sardine in a tin can, I managed to get some sleep, but I arrived onboard the Africa Mercy totally tired. The six hours difference between Texas and Togo was not enough to keep me awake. I lay down around 11PM and slept straight until 7AM. It was raining when I woke up; it is the beginning of the raining season in Togo. It rained for almost four hours.
At breakfast familiar faces welcomed me; most of them received training at the International Operation Center (IOC) in Texas. It was hard to link names to faces in the morning. Ananda Samarawera, the Second Engineer, greeted me and said: Happy Birthday. Yes, it is my birthday and I’m commemorating it in Africa. Then he invited to a Sri Lanka meal in the evening in his cabin. He prepared five different dishes, all very hot, I mean spice hot. Hot enough to give you hiccups and make tears to roll down your face, but it was good.
Ananda invited eight people to celebrate my birthday. They were old and new friends, from Germany, Holland, USA, Canada, England and Sri Lanka. After diner I went to the lounge to watch Brazil play the Ivory Coast in the World Cup. Brazil won 3 to1. This will be a memorable Birthday!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forty Years With Mercy Ships

By -
Image
  Today marks a milestone in my career. Forty years ago, on July 2, 1983, I joined the Organization #MercyShips. Back then, the dream to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor was mainly work, a lot of hard work. But as my parents used to tell me, work doesn’t kill anyone; I’m here to say that they were right. In those forty years, I sailed the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Visited three continents and ministered in 42 countries. Countless volunteers from around the world worked without ceasing on the first Mercy Ships, the Anastasis, and the other ships that followed her, the Good Samaritan, the Pacific Ruby, the Caribbean Mercy, the #AfricaMercy, and now our newest ship, the #GlobalMercy. #Mercy Ships has delivered services to more than 2.86 million beneficiaries during this time. Provided services and materials in developing countries valued at over $1.77 billion, including the following: Performed more than 108,000 life-changing or life-saving surgical procedures
Read more

A Tribute to Pelé

By -
 I was 15 years old at the time of the buzz about Pelé’s 1000th goal. The countdown began on the 910th. Local, national, and international media followed his team, Santos FC, everywhere. The conversation at the offices, factories, bars, street corners, and the no-grass soccer fields was about when, where, and how the historical feat would happen. At the time, the closer goal scorer was four hundred goals behind. We wanted to know who would go into history by association just for being under the crossbar at the wrong time for them but at the right time for the rest of the world. Our imagination wondered what kind of special magic Pelé would use to score a goal that would be in our memories forever. Would he score with his head after rising a foot above his marker? Or would he score after controlling a crossed ball with his chest, looping it over a defender before kicking it to the back of the net? Would the goal happen after a spectacular run from the mid-field leaving behind counte
Read more

Happy Father's Day!

By -
It is a beautiful East Texas Sunday. A perfect day to celebrate Father’s Day. No matter if he is your biological father, an adopted father, a stepfather, or just someone who has the role of a father figure in your life. Today we celebrate fathers. I can’t resist reflecting on my father, Mr. Manoel Barbosa Dos Santos, a hardworking man who was always there present in my life. He brought me to my first day of school, took me to my first soccer game at Maracanã stadium, was with me when I joined Merchant Marine Academy, and helped me to fix my first house. It is hard to remember an important event in my life when he was not present. He was always there. And he did it without saying anything. He was from an era when it was unnecessary to say to those you love; I love you. I know of his love for me not because he said it but because he demonstrated it. I remember one time when I was playing soccer at the local fire station’s futsal court when I glimpsed my father with a grin on his fa
Read more