That’s true, we have to admit it: our project has started since some months but our blog has been empty… It sounds maybe strange but even now in the Third Millennium it is not an easy thing to find internet connection, overall in the middle of the sea! So here we are finally to update you over the last months and days!
At the beginning of the summer we left the old cold Germany direction south and leaving behind us miles and miles and visiting several European nations. Maybe you could wonder what it is like to live on a boat… the answer is simple: one emotion after the other!!! The sea and his inhabitants are so fabulous to let you breathless, the heart stops to beat for a moment, just to start to jump fast again as soon as the weaves grow up and the wind blows strong into the sails. Imagine is amazing: our small baby brought us safe till Portugal, sometimes sailing like a princess, sometimes a little bored moving under the noise of her engines, a few times, luckily, jumping and sliding under and over stormy waves. It has been also for us an important test before crossing the Atlantic, but we are a really strong team and we never give up!
After months in Europe the moment to sail till Morocco where our first patients were already waiting for us had finally come. Easy to say, not that easy to do: a low pressure localized on the East Atlantic has decided to travel with us for all the way with wind in our face constantly over 30 kn. Can you imagine a flying Imagine in the middle of the ocean steered by a super Captain Wojtek and with Elena (unluckly with a cast on her leg) jumping around on one foot helping him??? This is exactly the way Morocco welcomed us. Our plan was to land in Safi, but the storm has forced us to head towards the Bay of Mohammedia where a small but really friendly marina offered us a good shelter.
Here we are! Not even the time to settle down that we have started to work. Three days ago our orthopedic mechanic Christoph Ganter, a good friend and working on the side of Wojtek since years, joined us from Germany. Christoph landed in Marrakesch, where an orthopedic center where we can work is located. Two hours after is arrival, our unstoppable Bavarian was already at work. The first two days have passed meeting the patients, interviewing them and doing all the measuring and gips work in order to get a negative copy of their stumps. A long job, if you consider that we meet 15 people with completely different problems, ages and origins. But they all have one thing in common: their smile in front oft he big treasure they are going to receive.
What does it mean to loose a leg in Morocco? The exclusion from the everyday life, the lost of your job and huge difficulties. Starting from the kid who doesn’t anymore go to school because the other kids make fun of him, ending with the father who would like to move again to play with his two small daughters… you can understand how much those smile are true and are filling our hearts!!!
Third day at work: only the strongest can take part to it! The negative copies of the stumps must be filled with gips in order to get their positive: we are completely covered with white podwer…I think we will need to ask our washing machine an extra effort tonight! Christoph is modeling the raw gips as an expert sculptor… if it would not be for his unique bavarian accent, I would be tempted to call him Michelangelo! Tonight we go back to the boat where tomorrow we will start to build up the first prosthetics on board… we are looking forward for it!!!
Stay tuned!
