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| Firefighter Lena Wilderang on Global Mercy, Cadiz-Freetown, August 2025. Photo: Mercy Ships |
Just came
home from a month on Global Mercy, serving as a Firefighter. We sailed from
Cadiz to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and I got to spend about three weeks there. A
few more posts will follow about Sierra Leone as a whole, but here is a sum-up
of the service itself, and expectations versus what I experienced.
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| Firefighter Lena Wilderang on Global Mercy, Cadiz-Freetown, August 2025. Photo: Mercy Ships |
When I was
leaving, I thought the position would mean only just being a part of deck crew and serve
as a fire fighter – so if there was a fire alarm, I would get the gear, grab a
hose and extinguish it. Now, the ship has four firefighter teams of 7 people
each, plus a Zone Protection team and a few more emergency groups that would
take care of anything from oil spills and damage control to engine and
electricity shutoff, cabin checks, ventilation control, air compressing and
more. There is also a Rapid Response group that becomes the On Scene Command
after inspecting the situation and perhaps doing some initial steps to
extinguish or restrict the fire.
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| Our dear team members - Rapid Response, Fire Control, Fire Team Leaders and EMT representatives gathered on the bridge for a debrief. I got to sit in Captain's Chair <3 |
My position
could better be described as “Fire Fighter Consultant”. I was not part of the
resident firefighting groups, but rather had to train them and carry out
drills, to get them to a better level. I also carried out assessments of fire
hazard areas, helped with testing and maintenance of firefighting appliances
and equipment, worked on layout of the small fire stations on board, and joined
the Rapid Response Team when there was an fire alarm. I would of course extinguish if necessary, but focus more on orchestrating and risk assessment. I joined the fire teams for the training, and the On Scene Command during drills.
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| On the bridge, after the 8 days of sailing - finally in Freetown |
Altogether,
there was about one incident per week, luckily nothing serious. Most of the
work went into documenting fire safety related observations, assessments, and training/drills.
It turned out training was badly needed,
as the level of the firefighters’ knowledge and motivation ranged from
excellent to quite low.
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| Hope Center's facilitators and I. Sofia to my right. |
I also went
to the Hope Center, where the outpatients are waiting for their surgery
assessments or recovering from after surgeries before heading home. It’s a
place to stay for them and their caregivers, and is not really part of the ship,
but is a very important asset for the well-being and comfort of the patients
and their near and dear. |
| Hope Center's Day crew after the fire lecture |
Run by the excellent Sofia Korsgren, together with
other facilitators and day crew which is made up of local people, it requires
hard work and dedication. I held a lecture about basic fire safety and
prevention, and was very happy to discover how informed, aware and
knowledgeable they were. And all the selfies afterwards! I made sure to wear a
firefighter’s outfit and everyone wanted a “snap”. So much warmth and smiles!
Such wonderful people. Not only in Hope Center, but really everywhere I went in
Sierra Leone.
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| Smiles all around! |
I also got
to visit the Sierra Leone National Fire Department HQ, and met up with the
Chief Commander. He told me about their practices and challenges. Heavily dependent
on donations, their gear is often the weak link. Now, they have fire suits from
Scotland and fire trucks from Germany, but some very basic stuff is lacking.
With sorrow in his eyes, the Chief Commander told about catastrophic emergencies
where lack of gear made it very difficult to save lives efficiently.
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| Group photo with the Chief Fire Commander and his staff in front of the Sierra Leone National Fire Force Head Office in Freetown |
Because of living
arrangements in Freetown, most of the firefighting is defensive – people can escape
very easily. Only offices, hotels and the like require offensive firefighting
with SCBA, saving lives of those trapped inside. Water is a dire resource
during dry season, so the fire station keeps 40 tons in reserve. There are only
10 hydrants in the whole of Freetown (over a million residents) so the fire
trucks carry about 10 tons to be able to fight efficiently. The backup plan is
to lay out lots of hose from the hydrant. Some of the areas are not reachable
by big fire trucks and they use rapid response trucks carrying just one ton of
water. This happens in areas close to the water, the slums with narrow streets.
Most of the fires start because of electrical issues with substandard appliances.
This is not helped by the fact that the power supply varies and that the
voltage may change considerably over time. People can be more or less aware of
fire safety, but they do not always have the means to do something about it. Fire
safety is not juridically legislated yet, but they are trying to advocate that –
it’s already in the Cabinet.
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| Future firefighter |
The
training on board was focused on gear-up, hose handling, and casualty handling.
As the field service proceeds, hopefully there will be more training and
drills. Before the sail, there was an intensive Annual Maintenance Period in
dry dock in Cadiz, where maintenance tasks were prioritized in order to finish
everything on time. During the sail, the technical staff were focused on the
actual sail, with frequent watches (and rest in between). So the more serious
training started first a few days after we moored in Freetown.
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| Practicing gearing up |
Altogether,
we were about 200 onboard during the sail. Many were busy with galley and
housekeeping duties, but some were free because their work hasn’t started yet –
both school and hospital started up first upon arriving to Sierra Leone. This
means people could actually enjoy the sail, play games, interact, workout,
sunbathe on the decks and generally hang out.
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| A firefighter sticks to her fireplan |
I was
mostly working. I quickly realized how much needs to be done, and that I only
have a month – so I worked late hours. It’s great, really – there is hot
breakfast, lunch and dinner, there’s ready made coffee, you don’t have to
commute to work, there is a wonderful gym on Deck 2 and a walking track on Deck
10 – everything is gathered in one place and I could just put on my boiler suit
and get working. I did bring books to read, but never opened them (except for
the Sierra Leone guide book, which was worth its weight in gold). I actually
realised that it’s not about workload, it’s more about who I am as a person (a workaholic),
and my patterns of habits (as many projects as I can fit into 24 hours a day, 7
days per week). During my month there, I also wanted to see and learn as much as possible so I also made sure to volunteer for other areas. Like the afternoon in the Galley where I sliced and deep/fryed plantains for dinner but also investigated fire safety, checked out a leaking mist system, watched African red sauce being prepared (eye-watering hot!) and discussed all things cooking with the staff. (And I admit, I was singing aloud to Oasis just like everyone else).
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| A bunch of people from all walks of life. They have different backgrounds - a wine maker, a psychotherapist... but here, we have a receptionist and a galley worker. How cool is that? |
Luckily, I
was surrounded by competent and supportive crew who encouraged me. The officers
shared their knowledge and brought me along on the duties, and I quickly got a
grasp of many systems on board. Really, some of the nav systems are just the
same as on smaller sailing boats. They may have larger screens, but it’s the
same system. And conceptually, the whole ship works in a similar way as a large
sailing yacht. It’s just that on a yacht, you’ll have a skipper (and maybe a
couple core crew) who would do all the work, being a navigator, electrician,
engineer, cook, medical officer, firefighter, plumber and cleaner. Here, it’s
bigger and more complex, so you have a department for each of these things. But
the principal idea is similar.
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| Deck department. |
I’ve
learned a lot about marine operations, work on deck, navigation (including
celestial navigation), and more. I also learned a lot about people, and about
myself.
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| A photo together with Captain (middle), Chief Officer (Captain's left), and second officers. |
One of the
things I had no idea about is how the values of Mercy Ships would materialize
on board. I was very positively surprized. There is a lovely community, with
people authentically aiming to love and serve one another. The ship follows the
model of Jesus, but the crew on board have different directions of their faith.
Some are atheists, some are Muslims or Hindu, some are agnostics. Most are
Christians, but they do belong to all directions of Christianity, and what’s
surprizing – I haven’t seen any arguments over that. Rather, people would have
meaningful discussions and enrich one another’s faith, open up new horizons and
develop their relationship with God through the differences. Frankly, I did not
think that was possible, and I’m so grateful to be proven otherwise.
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| Arriving to Sierra Leone at dawn. The actual sail was great, I never wanted it to end, but here - the next stage starts. Hospital starts up, surgeries will be made, and for the crew this also means opportunities to see the country and meet the people. The objective is to bring hope and healing. |
The
community culture is very welcoming. People say hi, ask you how you are, are genuinely
nice and interested, go out of their way to welcome newcomers and make them
comfortable. It was very wholesome. The morning devotions are meaningful: it’s
a great way to start the day with a well-wishing prayer, a song, and a joyful
moment with your colleagues, instead of lining everyone up and barking orders.
This brings people together better than many trendy team building activities
do. Before arriving, I was a bit worried that the religious aspect would be too
dogmatic or would resemble a sect, but after experiencing the life on board, I’m
a bit ashamed of my prejudice. It worked very well. The mix of
people was also absolutely great. Many countries, cultures, backgrounds create
a diversity that enriches everyone. I’ve learned a lot. Especially, I am happy
that I got to work with West African crew and could learn a lot about this part
of the world.
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| A moonlit night during the sail. Fog everywhere, but we've got the radar, the AIS, the plotters and systems - and the sharp lookout |
There were
people with all personalities and sets of interests possible. Yes, just like in
“real life”. There was a runners’ club (which I promptly joined, and enjoyed
several running sessions in Sierra Leone), a surfers’ club (did not really get
to it this time), people who play mystery games, bake, play pickleball, do
crossfit, learn new languages, do cool stuff and nerd stuff and arrange dance classes.
People decorating their cabins as IKEA one-roomers, people having overly
decorated dens, minimalists keeping it like an anonymous hotel… The quiet ones,
the loud ones, the ones with SWAG, the ones with the crazy scrubs, the heavily tattooed,
kids of all ages, retired folks of all ages, those who just came on board for
the first time and those who dedicated over 30 years of their lives to Mercy
Ships, whose kids are also serving…
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| Going for a run in Freetown. Gotta watch out for those holes, and the gutter, and kekes, and the trucks that mostly do not have breaks (not kidding) |
What else
to say? I’d recommend Mercy Ships to anyone who is interested and shares the
values. You need to read quite a lot of information before you step on board –
make sure you do that, and that you complete all courses and certifications. MS
Teams is the major communication channel on board, so if you’re not already
proficient in it, you better learn fast. Don’t worry too much about the “dangerous”
stuff like bugs, infections etc – the ship is a bubble where you rarely see a
mosquito, all food is safe, things are clean, and the water is safe to drink.
There is a huge choice of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and while they don’t
cater specifically for any food allergies, you will be able to get fed even if
you avoid gluten, lactose, fast carbs, or meat. Vegans might be banished to rice
and veggies, though. But during field service, there is a possibility to cook
in the crew galley, and Freetown has some supermarkets with a big choice of
groceries from Europe, US and Middle East, so you’ll be good. My favourite food
on board were the West African stews, Cassava Leaf being the best. Least
favourite was when they just did fries and burgers… but even in these cases,
there is a choice of fresh veggies, cheese, tuna and chickpeas for a nice protein-packed
salad.
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| The ship's Maltese flag. Here in Algeciras, for bunkering fuel just prior to sailoff |
It’s really
like a tiny floating village, the West away from the West – you’ve got a café,
a shop, a bank, a hairdresser, a pharmacy, a dentist… and a second-hand
boutique where everything is for free. Now during field service, with the
hospital open, there is over 600 people on board so the infrastructure gets
immense. All jobs are important, because they all make this machinery deliver.
No matter if you are a nurse, an IT person, or a firefighter.
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| The boiler suit was the best thing, never want to get out of it |
And it
definitely feels meaningful, no matter what you do. The surgeries that are done
are really changing people’s lives. Kids can go back to school. Adults can make
a living for themselves. In many cases, the surgeries save people from slowly
and painfully dying. In most, they get people back into the local society where
they’ve been ostracized. And in all surgeries, people get healing and hope. All
around them get hope too, which is important in a country with a lot of misery
and hopelessness.
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| There is a CRT on board. It's the only one in Western Africa. The cost of it is immense, but it was sponsored. The whole Mercy Ships organisation is running on sponsorship money and it's fully possible to support and donate. |
One of the specializations
on board is the ophthalmology surgery. In some cases here, adults and children
that are blind can be helped with a 10 minute (!) surgery. Just imagine what it
does to a person, to a little child. But even this tiny intervention requires
the huge logistics behind it. The logistics do need a lot more volunteers with
many different skills, not only nursing and medical. So I truly hope more
people would apply.
My month on
board is finished and I’m back home. I’ll be missing my colleagues dearly. Now
I have a lot more to do – I’m back to work in my fire station, there is a book
release coming up, my studies and research continue, and Ukraine still badly
needs help. So I’m busy as always. But I will try to write more about Sierra
Leone. It’s a beautiful country with wonderful people. May they prosper, and
may that day come soon.
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| Global Mercy in Sierra Leone |
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