Cooking for the Nations

Martha Ashu grew up in Cameroon, one of seven children. Upon finishing her university degree, political unrest broke out in her country, forcing her to go live with her sister who owned and operated a restaurant. During that time, Martha helped her sister in the restaurant and this season laid the groundwork for the culinary journey Martha would embark upon. 

When she heard of a ship coming to Cameroon, Martha decided to apply to work on board in the galley and some might say, “the rest is history.” Martha has now been on board for over five years and has grown in more ways that she could have ever asked or imagined. With all of her experience and training, Martha is now seeking to go to culinary school to make her passion her profession. 

Through a beautiful story of trusting God, taking risks, and relying on the kindness of others, Martha will inspire you through her Mercy Ships journey.

Looking for a way to join our mission of bringing hope and healing? Partner with us through a gift, volunteering with us, or by joining us in prayer.

New Mercies Podcast Transcript

Welcome to the New Mercies, a podcast by Mercy Ships, where we’ll take you behind the scenes and on board our incredible hospital ships that are transforming lives all over the world. We invite you to join us each week as we sit down with our crew, patients, volunteers, and partners to hear their stories of life-changing hope and healing.

Martha first got on board five years ago at her home country of Cameroon. And currently she is working on board the Global Mercy serving in the galley to make sure that everyone is well fed and gets to taste a little bit of home as they volunteer. Martha has been on an incredible culinary journey. And she’s here to tell us all about it. Here’s my interview with Martha Ashu.

Raeanne Newquist:

Martha, my friend, I am so excited to get to speak with you. It has been several years since I’ve seen you in person. But I’m so happy to have you on the podcast today. So welcome to New Mercies.

Martha Ashu:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Raeanne:

Tell us where you’re out. What are you doing right now?

Martha:

Currently, I’m on the Global Mercy in Dakar, Senegal, working in the galley as galley team leader.

Raeanne:

That is awesome. So you are one of the amazing people that helped create all the incredible meals. A couple of weeks ago, we did get to hear from Morgan, our chef from Oregon, who’s on board right now, I know you get to work with her. But before we hear more about what you’re doing on board, I guess take us back to the beginning. Tell us where you’re from, and a little bit about your background.

Martha:

So of course, I’m from Cameroon and from the English part of Cameroon because Cameroon is bilingual, we have English and French. But I’m also from the English part because we have Cameroonians who speak French. I’m the sixth child from a family of seven. Oh, I had the opportunity to go to college. I have five brothers and just one sister. Cameroon is a very beautiful country, those who have been there with Mercy Ships will tell you what I mean by it’s really beautiful. We have good weather; we have a rainy and dry season but then it’s always very nice. Not so hot. And we can say a lot in Cameroon really a lot. But we are very popular with fish, like people eat a lot of fish in Cameroon. Like what I said, people speak French and English. So, you can find people speaking both languages, you can find people just speaking English, and some just speaking French. But it’s a really good country. We have a lot of small ethnic groups we have I think about 247 of them. It’s sometimes really difficult to find two people speaking the same language, which may be fun and interesting.

Raeanne:

Well, Martha, tell us about living in Cameroon and growing up there with all these brothers and sisters. How did you hear about Mercy Ships, and then what prompted you to want to go and serve?

Martha:

I finished college in 2015, December, I graduated and I decided to just be home with family for a year and then prepare before I go into masters. So just before I was to do masters, then we had the political instability in Cameroon. And then there was a strike between the English part and the French part of Cameroon. So we couldn’t go to school, the school year just stopped because schools were closed and everything. So I couldn’t do masters anymore. So I had to join my eldest sister at the time, she lives in the capital city of Cameroon, and it’s a French part of Cameroon. So there wasn’t any fighting and anything because actually, that’s where the President lives and comes from. And at that time, she had a small restaurant she was running. So I just helped her in cooking and serving and collecting money from customers. One day there was a friend of mine I went to college with and she sent me a message and said, Oh, we heard about the ship that’s coming to Cameroon 2017. And I’m like, No, I didn’t know and she said it was announced in her church that there was a ship coming to Cameroon to come and perform free surgeries for all those who need it. And at that point in time, with the situation of Cameroon, nobody actually believed that something like that was going to happen in Cameroon. Because we don’t want to come in a country where it’s not politically stable. So people were really afraid and thought it might not come to pass. It’s not true. But yeah, she told me about it. And she said, Well, we can try. There’s no harm in trying. So that’s how I heard from my friend and we decided to apply.

Raeanne:

Wow. And did your friend go as well.

Martha:

Unfortunately, she didn’t. We decided to apply. But at that time she was in the English part of Cameroon. So she was in Boyer and I was in Yungay. So yeah, it was safe and you could move, you can go wherever you wanted to. So I was able to go there to get the form. But she was in Boyer, she wasn’t able to travel to get the form. So I took mine because you can’t take a form for someone else. And even when I tried, I wasn’t able to get a form for her. So I was the only one who applied even though she told me about it.

Raeanne:

So that was in 2017. And you got on board the Africa Mercy at the time in Cameroon. Now, were you crew, or were you serving as local day crew?

Martha:

I got the job as a day crew, I actually applied to be in the galley, because I had the experience from my sister’s restaurant. And I have passion in cooking and just serving people so I decided to actually go to the galley. So, I actually applied for the galley and I was accepted to work as the crew in the gallery.

Raeanne:

So, you did that for about 10 months. And what was the experience like for you on board?

Martha:

The Africa Mercy was actually the first ship I have been on like, I’ve never been on the ship before I got to Mercy Ships. And it was really, really exciting. The first day, I actually climbed the gangway. It was so nice. And I was like wow. And then seeing a lot of white people, a lot of other people in the same place. I mean, we used to see white people, but not all of them together in the same place. It’s like a group of people in the same place it was it was really nice. And working on board the Africa Mercy at the time as a day crew was really nice. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed that I was part of such goodness that was being brought to my country at that point in time. And I was so proud because I took the step to do it. Most of my friends, after getting the message I tried to tell other people she was going to apply but no, everyone was thinking it was a lie. And so once I got there, and I was able to be on the ship, and I’m working and they started seeing that it was not a lie, it actually happened. So I really felt important. And working there, I had the opportunity to cook for the patients. So, I really had like the direct contact with whatever was happening in my country at the time with the patients. It was really fun. And I was really happy about it.

Raeanne:

And were you surprised when you got to cook for patients and interact with them? See them? Were you surprised that there were conditions like that in your own country? Or did you know that some of those needs existed where you grew up?

Martha:

I was surprised at a lot of cases I found. But I also know there were a lot of people that have I mean, I haven’t seen them often because most of them were for the from the interior villages, but I knew that there were people like that in Cameroon, but they’re just not in the city. So it was really hard for me to see them. But I was happy that I could come see them. And I was happy that they could get the surgeries that are needed.

Raeanne:

So then what happened, you served in Cameroon, your own country as a crew, which means you don’t live on the ship, you go work and then go back home. Now the ship’s about to leave Cameroon, what were you thinking? How did you end up where you are now?

Martha:

I mean, I was not happy because I was losing my job. And I was also losing a family I’ve made over 10 months, I was losing friends. I mean, I knew we’re going to communicate on phone and things like that. But I also felt like a part of me was leaving. It took me awhile, like a week or two, to finally realize no, I had to do something about going back to the ship. And I made some calls with my friends on board that I was going to make this very great decision that I wanted to join the ship. The ship was at the time going to Tenerife for some repairs, but then they have plans of going back to Guinea Conakry, but I’ve never heard of where Guinea Conakry is, where it is on the map, I’ve never heard before. I’ve never traveled out of Cameroon before. Okay, so I called my mom and dad and was like, I need to follow the ship because I realized I want to be there. I want to be part of that organization in the flesh, I want to be part of it. So I made some calls and I tried to raise money. My other sister at the time got my flight to Guinea Conakry. None of us have heard of it before. She was able to get the flight and they kept asking me, Are you sure you want to do this? Because you’ve never been to that place, if the ship was there, you know, you have people that you can go to if there was a problem, but the ship is not there, you’re going on your own and things like that. And I already made up my mind, I was like, I was going to survive. God was going to go with me. I hadn’t applied to the crew or anything. I just wanted to be there and try to work again as a day crew from Guinea. So I just booked my flight packed my bag and left. My other brother’s wife actually had a colleague who, they went to school together, and all of a sudden, she called me and said, Oh, I have this friend. I heard he leaves in Guinea, I’ll give you his number. You can just try to contact him. I just believe God planned everything. So I got to him and he picked me up at the airport. He made arrangements for my stay that night. And then the next day, we started looking for a place for me to stay. The ship wasn’t there. I was there staying there living there, like a Ghanaian and waiting for the ship. It was really, really interesting.

Raeanne:

Oh, my goodness. Now was that your first time you said you hadn’t really heard of Guinea? You didn’t know where it was? Was that also your first time being on an airplane?

Martha:

Yeah, it was actually my first time flying.

Raeanne:

How was that experience for you?

Martha:

It wasn’t bad at all. I was so excited that I didn’t have the time to even think about if I was scared or not. I was just like, I’m going, I’m flying as my first flight. I just want to have all the fun I can get and all the memories I can gather. I was just so excited. I didn’t think for one moment, Are you sure you want to do this? No. It was just it was so exciting when I was leaving.

Raeanne:

So you’re in Guinea, and the ship isn’t even there yet. But you’re living there. Now what happened when the ship came? How did you get on board and in what capacity were you on board?

Martha:

Before the ship came, like I said, I was in contact with some friends that worked on the ship. But once the ship was in Guinea, I started trying to let people know in my department. I started trying to get to people to tell them I was in Guinea. So if there was still space for me to work as day crew, then I’m available. So yeah, it took a while, but I eventually I was accepted to work on the ship again as a crew, but this time not in the galley. I went to the dining room.

Raeanne:

Okay, now it’s been five years since you first got on board. After Cameroon, you went to Guinea. Now at some point you became crew tell us that story. When did that take place?

Martha:

When the opportunity came for me to work again on board in Guinea, it was because a crew at the time got sick, and she had to go home for treatment. So they were like, oh, Martha has experience. And because when I was in Cameroon, I used to do dining room and galley just simultaneously and so he was like, she has experience she can replace her until she returns. And they were like, well, you cannot replace a crew with the day crew at that time. Well, I was also a very good fit to be a crew so I went in as a crew, but my paperwork was already been processed as crew. Like, at the time I went on board. So before the end of the field service, I was really already signing the contract to be crew, but I just had to wait and then at least pay all my house rent and all the expenses that I had out of the ship before I could come on board. But yeah, I became crew.

Raeanne:

Oh my goodness. Well, I know the first time that I really interacted with you and met you — our family had just recently got on board the Africa Mercy maybe we had only been there about a week or so. And it was so crazy because we were going through the dining room to get breakfast I think it was and you were working in the dining room and you greeted my children and you called them by name. And I remember thinking how in the world do people know your names when we just got here, and they were so excited. You made such a huge impact on my children’s lives because being in a new place where they didn’t know anybody, it was overwhelming for them. But within the first week people like yourself were smiling at them saying good morning and greeting them by name — they are known. And I just thank you so much for that. And I know you’ve done that for so so many people. So thank you, Martha. I mean, what you do is so important. And I know you were in the dining room, but are now currently on the Global Mercy. So now you’ve changed ships, even. You’re working in the galley. So you are actually cooking. Tell us a little bit about what you’re doing now.

Martha:

Well, right now, like I said, the galley team leader, you know, we work in shifts. So we have two team leaders, Morgan stimulated all the team and I am in my team. So what practically we’ll do is get food ready, and then try to work as a team to make sure the crew can eat good food and, of course, healthy food. My role is more to just organize the team and actually make sure the crew gets good food. And yeah, I cook most times.

Raeanne:

What are some of your favorite dishes to cook?

Martha:

Well, I think I just cook whatever is on the menu. But I really love to do lasagna. And a lot of African dishes like Wednesday night is like African night and Africans are excited because it’s one day that they get a local food. It could be Accra sauce, it could be fish, like they’re always excited. So I’m really excited about the day because I love to make them happy. They feel at home, like when they eat the dishes on Wednesday. So I try my best to make them happy on Wednesdays.

Raeanne:

I love that. You know, we talked a little bit about that with Morgan, just how important it is to give our international crew a taste of home. And we have so many people from the continent of Africa, that work on board in almost every department, right? And it is so neat that there is intentionally at least one day a week that is designated for African cuisine. And I know that I loved tasting the food on Wednesdays it was always something different and unique. And I absolutely loved it. But that is so special to be intentional about caring for the crew, giving them a little taste of home.

Martha:

Yeah, I mean, I think everyone on board really feels at home because we try to be diverse. We try to go to every part of the country. We do Mexican food, we do Korean food, we do American dishes like mac and cheese. We do a lot of other things that yeah, we do Indian food, like we just go around just so people don’t miss home that much. We keep it really good. So people don’t go off ship. It’s a lot of money. Yeah, it’s true.

Raeanne:

The food was excellent. We were always so surprised, especially when we first got on board, we didn’t really know what to expect. And our whole family was so impressed like the food is so good here, which is awesome. And it’s a good thing that you have to walk up and down a lot of stairs because you eat a lot of food, but you don’t gain weight because you’re walking, getting your 10,000 steps in is not hard to do when you’re living onboard a ship. Martha, tell us what has been a highlight for you over the past five years of serving on board.

Martha:

It’s been a lot. But I really enjoy the fact that I was able to leave the Global Mercy and sail with Africa Mercy to Durban, it was so much fun. And to see both ships sailing together. That was like the biggest highlight Mercy Ships history. And I was part of it. I could just look through my window and see the Africa Mercy on the other side, I could see the Global Mercy on the other side. And I was just like, wow, this is like a dream come true. And I think I didn’t expect to ever see something like that in history, but I was so excited to be part of it.

Raeanne:

After five years, currently, our Global Mercy, the new ship is in its first field service in Dakar, Senegal and our other ship the Africa Mercy is down in South Africa, which is a very big distance apart from Senegal. People don’t realize how huge the continent of Africa is, but it’s very big. And the Africa Mercy is down getting completely refit a total overhaul for several months before she can go back into field service. Hopefully next year. Martha you were on the Global Mercy and then you said you got off the Global Mercy got onto the Africa Mercy to make the sale down to Durban. Yeah, okay. You’ve got to tell me about this and tell us how long that sail is? And tell us how did that even come about?

Martha:

On the Africa Mercy they had a senior chef and I think he was supposed to write an exam but if he had to sail the ship, he was he wasn’t going to make the exam. So I got approached by my boss, if I could go to the Africa Mercy and take Greg’s place and sail, and I was like, Oh, I had to think about it, because I heard it was going to be a very long sail. And I haven’t done that very long. But then something kept telling me you should do it. It’s going to be a different experience. And you need that experience. So I said, Yeah, I’m going to go. So I was on the Global Mercy in Tenerife, so just before the sail, I moved, like, I transferred to the Africa Mercy and then the ship sailed. So I sailed with the Africa Mercy, it was a three week sail, three weeks, yeah, 21 days, actually 22 days. So it was really long, it was pretty smooth. From the beginning, we were very surprised at how the sea was calm and how things were just going smoothly until the last week, where we had, like, a lot of movement. And you could feel the ship really sailing at that time. Because I worked in the galley, so the things were just falling off. It was it was so much fun. We had a lot of activities, so we got to know each other more and got to spend time with people. We had a lot of activities. We had a beach party on board. Like it was so much fun. We had the activities that just helped people not to think about the fact that we were in water for so long.

Raeanne:

That’s such a neat experience, because people don’t really realize even though we’re Mercy Ships, and we live on ships, the ships don’t sail all that often, you know, we just sail maybe a couple of days to get to a new port, and we stay there for 10 months. So you’re not moving around a lot. So for there to be a three week sail on one of our vessels, that’s unusual. That’s kind of a big deal. What a special opportunity. And now once you got to Durban did you fly back to Senegal or what did you do?

Martha:

Yeah. So once I got to Durban, I stayed a couple of days just to see some places and I mean, say proper goodbye to all those who made it to Durban. And then I had to sail back to the jail, which was in Dhaka at the time. So you flew? I flew back from Durban to Dakar. It was it was like a 24 hours flight.

Raeanne:

Yeah, it’s very far. Like I said, I didn’t realize how massive the continent of Africa is. But yeah, it’s, that’s going to be along the way.

Martha:

When I was flying, I’m just like, so this is actually the distance I did for three weeks. And I’m doing it for one day. Like, I will see all the countries we passed when we sailed. And then I was like, Oh, this is serious. This is another level like you get 21 days in water. And now you’re doing 24 hours on a plane just to get back to where you’re from, but like the same.

Raeanne:

Martha, since you’ve been there for five years, what is it that keeps you there? Why do you keep staying year after year?

Martha:

The people the community, it’s a blessing just to work with people you can relate with. So over the years, I’ve been blessed to have good management, good policies and it just helps make work easier and look just beautiful. Then you get to meet new people and then they leave and the new people come which is not a good thing to always say goodbye. But then you have these other crew that stay long term with you. So you have this bond with them that you’re sure like this is home for me this is where I want to be this makes work is easy. Just you’re going home with your family and your brothers and sisters you’re playing and I mean you’re working and also the fact that I love the idea behind what I’m doing. I love to be part of the organization and I love to see the smile on those patients faces, especially for those that have been rejected before and then they tell you how nicely people treatment them now because of the surgery, like just the aim of what we do, or the goal we achieve after what we do, it’s really it’s really worth it.

Raeanne:

Wow. Well, I know because we chatted a little bit before we started this interview, that you are on the cusp of doing something new for yourself and your life. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what the future holds for you, and how Mercy Ships has kind of made an impact on you.

Martha:

I’m pursuing my education and skills in culinary arts, I want to become professional. I am by experience, but I want to do it by to like by school. So I wish to continue and go to a culinary school for a year training, which will be in Oregon, USA. You know, I have an interview for the visa process and everything sometime in June. So after that interview, if I have the visa, then I’m going to fly to the states to do culinary arts.

Raeanne:

I love that. Well, we will all be praying for you and the process of getting your visa and going to culinary school in Oregon. I think that is absolutely incredible. So, so excited for you. Well, Martha, as we wrap up our time together, why don’t you tell us how you are different because of Mercy Ships? How has your life been changed because of the last five years,

Martha:

Mercy Ships feels like my starting point, I can say, because after school, I had no job and then Mercy Ships just came into picture. And then I was able to get a job. I was able to get some money, I was able to do a lot of things for myself. So Mercy Ships was my starting point. And I’m really grateful that I was able to apply and I was able to work just like what I said in the beginning because of Mercy Ships. I had to take my first plane to go to Conakry to work with Mercy Ships. So mostly she changed my life. And not just from the first day I came like I applied to work on Mercer ship. I’ve met a lot of people because of Mercy Ships. I’ve met you because of Mercy Ships. I’ve met a lot of friends. I’ve met a lot of family like Mercy Ships is my family. And I’m really grateful for my social life. I have learned a lot about cultural differences. I’ve learned to work with other people from different cultures. I’ve actually cooked a lot of intercontinental dishes and a lot of other things I’ve never had before because of Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships message has really changed my life a lot. And I really, really, really appreciate it.

Raeanne:

Since you’ve been on board, how do you see yourself growing and developing in the culinary arts but also as a person? How have you grown?

Martha:

I think I’ve grown over time being in Mercy Ships because like I said I started as a crew, and then came to Guinea and worked as a crew again before becoming crew and just working and just been able to gain experience. Over time, I was able to step up from just being a crew member in the dining room to becoming a dynamic team leader. And it pushes me to become better each time that I feel like I’m appreciated for what I do. People need to see your potential before they’re able to step you up or they’re able to give you a responsibility I think so I became dynamic team leader after just working in the dining room for a while. I just was there at the time and did what I could did my best and work hard. I love to be in the background I love to be where I actually make the magic happen, I like to make the food. So I believe if you work hard if you just stay focused on what you do, then you’re going to have growth over time.

Raeanne:

I love that you’ve had awesome opportunities to grow and to learn. And I know that you also had an opportunity to compete, I think, didn’t you compete in the African cooking competition that we had onboard?

Martha:

Everyone was expecting me to compete and are like, No, I do like competitions. But then I was a judge.

Raeanne:

Okay, that’s right. Yeah. You were one of our judges. Perfect. Well, that’s a perfect role for you. Well, we are so grateful that God made a way for you to go from Cameroon to Guinea, and then to carry on for the past five years. And who knows, I think you’ve got a lot of great things ahead of you, Martha, thank you so much for what you do. Thank you for just your work ethic. And the way that you make people feel seen and loved by learning their names and greeting them in the dining room. I know you’ve made our family feel so welcome. And I know you continue to do that. So thank you so much.

Martha:

Thank you.

For more information about Mercy Ships, go to mercyships.org, and to keep up with the guests on New Mercies, follow us on Instagram at NewMerciesPodcast.