My Mercy Box

This morning at Community Meeting we were shown a pretty amazing video.

There is a family living on the ship from Norway---the Tvedts. Dag, the father, is a dentist and works at the Mercy Ships dental clinic in Lomé. The mother, Jorid, works in Crew Care. They have three very cute kids--Fride, Linde and Bendik, who all attend school at the Academy here in the ship.

I know no one reading this has ever heard of this family, but in Norway they have become pretty famous!!! A Television Producer in Norway has turned the Tvedt's life living on the Africa Mercy into a television show in Norway. It's called My Mercy Box and it follows little Fride Tvedt (a beautful blond 7-year-old girl) around and shows what life is like living on a Hospital Ship in Africa.

From what I hear, it is one of the most popular shows in Norway. 80% of children between the age 5 and 10 know about this show. And, during its time slot, its the most watched tv show. It is a very simple concept and shows Fride going to school, eating with her family in the cafeteria, and spending time in the African towns with her parents.

The episode we watched this morning was on her 7th Birthday and she got to go to work with her dad that day. She watched her dad remove teeth from a few patients, and she even got to help out a little! A small boy came in and had to get a tooth pulled so Fride drew him a picture to cheer him up a bit :) Then, when she got back to the ship, she had a birthday party with all her friends.

The show is called My Mercy Box and its hugely addicting---I want to see the other 10 episodes right now! Rumor has it that they will be selling them on DVD soon. Also, other countries have bought the rights to the show in their country and it will start airing in other languages soon.

Here is a link to a page that has better pictures of Fride and some more info on the show:
My Mercy Box: Info

I think these TV producers have hit the jackpot---and Mercy Shipers are HOPING that the show catches on in countires other than Norway. Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll be watching My Mercy Box on our TVs in Texas :)

What a GREAT idea!! I hope it catches on !!

Here is Dag, the dad, and dentist:

Below is Fride (second from the left) with her 3rd grade class at the Academy on the ship.