With Mercy in the blood
By Ole Gerhard Sørensen - Kristiansand Newspaper
With Mercy in the blood
Harald "Bowie" Buverud from Hellemyr have worked without pay at Mercy Ships hospital ship since 2002, interrupted only by a few breaks in Norway in order to save money. Bowie is one of many who have Mercy Ships in the blood.
Harald Buverud, or Bowie, as he calls himself holds a sheet metal worker and worked previously at Vesta Marin as a welder. In 2002, he traveled for the first time with Mercy Ships, when the ship M / V Anastasis. He signed on, along with the motorcycle, in Germany and went by ship to Togo. After our stay in Togo, drove his motorcycle from the Togo and home to Norway.
But after his return to Norway he noticed right away that he would go out again.
- I did not Mercy Ships out of the blood, says Bowie.
So he drove the bike to London, where he signed on the ship again. This time for one year.
Because he, like the 430 others every time jobs without any payment on the ship, you have to pay for travel, room and board himself, had he returned to work after that.
Back in Norway, he took a job as a bus driver, but after a year he had saved enough money to make themselves available for Mercy Ships again. The plan was to be out for nine months, but the trip lasted two years.
Life on board
After a trip home Bowie traveled to Texas in 2008 where he took various courses run by Mercy Ships, among other things, foreign cultures and dealing with emergencies.
In January 2009 he joined M / S Africa Mercy, who had replaced the M / V Anastasis. Since then he has been on board the ship, with the exception of some summer holidays at home in London.
- I am as long as I can afford. Friends and family sponsor me today, but when the saving from the bus driver job ends, I must return home. If more sponsors then arises, says Bowie
- What motivates you to spend your life in Mercy Ships?
- It is to see thousands of people being treated on the ship, they are people just like us. And to see the distress that is, makes you want to help, he says. On the ship he is working as a sheet metal worker, welder, plumber and he is responsible for the air conditioning system on the ship. In addition, he install equipment in the hospital.
- What do you do in your free time on the ship then?
- I am often in the country, when I visit the orphanage and help them build stuff or just playing with the kids. Otherwise, I'm at the markets, I have a lot on Facebook and write on my blog, says Bowie. He also enjoying themselves at the little pool they have on the deck of the ship.
- So I play backgammon every day and strength train or jogging on the quay, he said. In addition to the desire to help those who need it the most, there are other things keeping Bowie consistently.
- I drink two liters of coffee every day! Life on the boat may not be the most family-friendly, at least not if the family lives in Norway. Bowie is a bachelor, for now.
- There are many potential wives on board (70 percent of the people working on the ship are women, editor.), But I'm still singl.
Summer holidays at home
Summer holidays at home
Bowie hope people in London and the rest of Norway will continue to support Mercy Ships work, so he and others can have the opportunity to help more people in need in Africa.
- When you see how people get their sight back to the minute after an operation for cataracts so it is easy to encourage people to give, he said.
- We have everything in Norway, they have nothing, so I encourage people to give. How long he will be on the ship at this time is uncertain, it depends on whether he has enough money to eat and stay.
- I have a set of clothes and food for the day. I take one month at a time so we'll see how long I will, says Bowie, who clearly has found his second home on board the M / V Africa Mercy. Yet he can not stay completely away from his hometown.
- I try to get home to Kristiansand on summer vacation. There is something special about summer in Kristiansand.
Want to keep up with Bowie's Life on board the M / V Africa Mercy, you can read his blog "Bowie in Africa".
Harald "Bowie" Buverud worked aboard Mercy Ships ships since 2002, and hopes he can continue with it. When he's not on the ship also visits orphanage on the land to help or just play with the kids. Photo: Mercy Ships.
Google translation.
posted by Bowie at 3:45 p.m.
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