Meeting The World’s Largest Civilian Hospital Ship
On August 12, the six from the Africa Mercy, after 6 weeks living in a hotel, left for Sri Lanka via a flight to Doha, Qatar just for Seafarers. As a 23-year-old, I can tell you in full confidence, I never imagined myself having a Maltese Seamans book headed to board a ship via pilot boat in Sri Lanka. As I told a friend the other day, “I keep ticking things off my bucket list that I never put on it.”
The plan was to arrive in Doha, and the six of us would be there for 26 hours (24 of which were Dani's birthday)! Slowly, other Mercy Shippers would join us. 48 hours before we left however, we got word we couldn’t be in the airport for longer than 24 hours before the chartered flight, so they had to change our flights last minute to the 13th. The only way through this experience is to laugh because in all honesty, I was exhausted from the changes. I had packed my bags 5 different times. The weight requirements were very strict. Dani, Heather, and I were basically group packing between all our duffels, suitcases, and backpacks. I walked into Heather hand-selecting the best Bobi pins, to reduce weight.
August 13th began. One last set of hugs and farewells, as well as everyone singing happy birthday to Dani. We arrived to the airport and lined up in baggage check in with all 12 bags. I made it under the 40 kilo limit for two bags at 39.5—a massive triumph! We flew to Madrid and after landing RAN to the next gate! I mean RAN to customs, ran from customs, to the wrong gate, and finally to the right gate. We made it on our flight to Doha. Once in Doha, we made our way to the gate, searching for somewhere to get our boarding passes printed. We got a message from another Mercy Shipper on the flight: “Are you guys coming?” It was time to run again. We barely made it. We got our boarding passes printed at the gate and hopped on the last bus to the plane. As we walked down the aisle of our plane, Mercy Shippers waved at us. I sat down and buckled my seat thinking, "THIS IS REAL. IT IS HAPPENING."
Arriving in Sri Lanka, we all exited the plane and were handed two disposable hazmat suits. “One for now, one for tomorrow.” We looked (and felt) like marshmallows. The immigration experience was a case of “hurry up and wait,” but we made it through in a couple of hours. Once at the baggage claim, we found that there were some suitcases missing (including my camera equipment), and after filling out some forms, we all gathered outside and boarded a bus. Still in hazmat suits, gloves, and masks, we drove for two hours. Out the window, Sri Lanka flew by me. I wanted to take it all in, but I was so tired that I kept fading in and out of sleep. Suddenly, the bus stopped, and the bus driver stood up and yelled a word at us. We all stared, clueless to what he was trying to communicate over and over. Finally, we realized he was telling us to get off the bus! We laughed our way through.
I think I can speak for all 20 of us: getting to our hotel rooms was a massive sense of relief. I had a glorious nap. That evening, we were each called down for a PCR test. The next morning, someone messaged our Teams group, “I can see the GLM!! Go outside!” Everyone was out on their balconies wincing into the foggy distance. OH MAN DID THIS FEEL SO REAL. IT WAS HAPPENING. Around 4 PM, we were informed to marshmallow-suit-up, bring all our belongings downstairs, and prepare to leave for the GLM! Onto the bus for half an hour, whizzing by the streets of people, markets, and motorcycles. Once at the port, we handed in our passports and filled out more paperwork. We then began to board the pilot boats. Strangely, they separate the girls and guys (just 5 women). The boat adventure began with a meter jump just to the pilot boat. They loaded allour bags into the seats inside the closed area, so we gathered in our little hazmat suits at the back. I couldn't believe it...it was really happening.
The sun was setting as we rode out. There was a light in the distance they pointed at, telling us that was the Global Mercy. It was small, but it was getting bigger. That little dot kept me going. I had been unable to find my sea-sickness medication before this, so my stomach was all over the place. For about 40 minutes, we laughed, hung onto the rails, and watched as the Global Mercy went from a dot to complete form. There she was all lit up in the pitch-dark ocean and sky. That sight will stick with me forever. Being in that tiny boat next to her, her sheer size was so apparent.
As we approached I spoke out loud exactly what I was thinking… “This looks like the least convincing thing I’ve ever seen.” In reflection, I’m sure it was safe. However, at the moment I was pretty terrified. The pilot boat was riding waves 3-4 meters high as the Shri Lankan pilots yelled up to the GLM officers above. Dani was first up, they put her into the GLM lifejacket that connected to a rope held by someone inside the ship. I was planning to be second to last so that I could film everyone getting on, but I was yelled and rushed to the front of the pilot boat. Again, pretty petrified, the guys pried my hands from the railing behind me. Adam, the officer at the top of the ladder, was yelling down, over the sound of the waves and boat bumping up next to the ship, “AT THE TOP OF THE SWELL, YOU ARE GONNA JUMP ON.” I thought there was more time than apparently, I had, and before I processed the instructions I was being shoved onto the ladder - but quickly heard Adam shouting for them to pull me back, and so they did because I hadn’t gotten a grip on the ladder. I definitely started crying and asked for a couple of waves to go by before a second attempt. Some deep breaths later, I nodded, and at the top of the next swell, I leaped onto the ladder, and climbed up, grabbing onto Adam’s arm and pulled into the Global Mercy. There were some profanities and continued tears.. only from me. Once again, not on my bucket list, but officially ticked off.
We got into an elevator and went to the dining room. Shiny, huge, brand new—the ship was incredible. Dumplings, fries, and ice cream awaited. Best meal ever. Slowly the rest of the “Sri Lanka Joiners” trickled in from below. After dumplings, first laughs, seasickness medication, and a short briefing for the night later, we were all taken to our cabins.
We made it. We were on the Global Mercy.
