MaritimeMercy.com

The phone rung just after midnight, “we are at the hospital the baby is coming”, said the voice in the other side of the line. Knowing that babies in our family take a long time to come I went back to bed and went to the hospital in the morning. I was right; Eliza did not come until early next morning.       The waiting room of the delivery ward was a place that provided a unique view of life where apprehensions become joy, anxiety becomes happiness and worries become praises. Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors all come together to witness the gift of new life. Cell phones and smart phone in hand they all waited with expectation a view of the newcomer sent instantaneously to the view of a captive and nervous audience. Life is a special gift from God. King David said: “ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonder...

On the way to Conakry, Guinea, the Africa Mercy is current sailing of the coast of Senegal at 9.2 knots in easy motion skies. After two months in the Canaries Island for dry dock and annual surveys she departed Santa Cruz de Tenerife for Conakry. The Estimated Time of Arrival - ETA in Conakry at current speed is Wednesday morning to begin the 2012-2013 field service in Guinea.

I highly recommend! It can reduce stress, prevent Alzheimer’s, and increase energy, imagination and creativity; at the same time that it will affect your leadership skills. No I’m not speaking of a new pill made from an ancient fruit found in the deepest of the Amazon forest. Nor the new and improved Zumba dance or Brazilian (…) exercises DVD. I’m talking about READING. Yes, the good old habit of reading a book, newspaper, magazine or Kindle version. See in the link below an eye opening article by john Coleman entitled “For Those Who Want to Lead, Read” from the Harvard Business Review about reading and leadership. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/for_those_who_want_to_lead_rea.html

Ask anyone who has done some travel how paralyzing it is not to understand or to be understood. The sense of alienation can be devastating. Like Looking at a menu and pointing at something you are not sure what it is, or thinking you ordered something to get something else totally different. In my first trip to England as Cadet on the M/V Serra Verde, I was in a store with the Chief Steward. I had a coldsore and he tried to help by asking the store attendant for a chap stick for me. Not knowing the word in English he pointed to me and made a motion in front of his lips with his hand. The store attendant looked puzzled thinking that he wanted lipstick for me. Electronic translation is becoming quite popular as it gets more reliable. Word processing programs caries a tab that will translate any text to almost any language. But what happens when an English phrase is translated literally by computer? As my written Spanish is not as good as my spoken Spanish, I send an email to...

There is something magic, figuratively speaking, about training that draw our crew. Our African crew in particular sees in training an opportunity to acquire certification most of the time out of their reach. Whether it’s through our own courses or contracted courses, we are committed to increase knowledge, skill and certification on board. The Africa Mercy being in the Canary Islands provided a unique opportunity to contract a Proficiency in Survival Craft (lifeboat) course for the Deck and Engineer crew. However, there was a catch. The catch was that the course was to be delivered in English in the country that invented Spanish. Nevertheless I was assured that the instructor spoke English.   After overcoming problem numero uno, dos, and tres , post “Tip for dealing with adversities”, the course began on time at three o’clock in the afternoon, Wednesday, just after siesta . The instructors were knowledgeable of the subject, but his English was Spanglish. Despite the diff...

The endless process of preparedness is constant on board the Africa Mercy. Every day the Galley prepares the food breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hospitality prepares the rooms for new crew and guests. The Deck prepares to sail. Engineers prepare the engines to run. The teachers in the Academy prepare lessons for the next day. It is not enough that one person or department to be ready and the other don’t. Everyone needs to ready in its proper time. But what it means to be prepared? To prepare is to make ready for a particular purpose. There is also the act or condition of readiness, being prepared. In one hand the crew is preparing the ship to sail, but in the other hand they need to be in a state of readiness for any emergency. The apostle Paul instructs Timothy to “ be prepared in season and out of season “(2 Timothy 4:2. King Salomon states that there is a season for everything. The docking and shipyard work, the surveys and inspections are part of the season of preparation for ano...