Entries by globalbranding

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How Matron Betsy Deen is Transforming Healthcare at Freetown’s Largest Hospital

Running a hospital isn’t an easy task — it takes leaders carefully orchestrating a sea of moving parts to keep operations running smoothly. Matron Betsy Deen is that person at Connaught Hospital’s surgical department in Freetown, Sierra Leone. 

During Mercy Ships’ 2023-24 field service in Freetown, several training opportunities were offered through Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) programs, which helped strengthen the ties between Mercy Ships and Sierra Leone’s healthcare network. 

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Free Fistula Surgeries on Land: A Successful Collaboration Story

In anticipation of welcoming her eighth child, a heavily pregnant Ernestine had to make a two-day journey to the nearest hospital in the district of Mandritsara, Madagascar. She sat in a canoe and then walked for miles, eager to see her baby, but her joy was short-lived. Ernestine lost her baby during labor and had to travel back home in pain, walking with a health condition she had never heard of – obstetric fistula. Caused by prolonged and obstructed labor, obstetric fistula is a hole between the genital tract and the urinary tract or rectum, resulting in the leaking of urine, feces, or both.

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Returning to His Calling: Auguste’s Story

For 51 years, Auguste lived a healthy, active life. He trained in the Senegalese military, moved north to the capital city of Dakar, raised a family, and found his passion as a schoolteacher. 

Then, one day, Auguste noticed a spot on his face. Three years later, this spot started to grow. Over the next five years, it ballooned into a massive tumor protruding from his cheek and mouth. 

Back to school: Headteacher returns after melon-sized tumor that forced him to quit removed by surgical charity

A headteacher who had to quit his job after a melon-size tumor grew on his face was greeted with open arms as he returned to the classroom after receiving transformational surgery from charity Mercy Ships. 

Grandfather Auguste, 64, spent six long years away from his school in Senegal after the tumor forced to him to leave as it expanded from a spot to the large growth over 13 years. 

Regaining Confidence and Reclaiming a Dream: Lucy’s Story

Born into a family of six children in Sierra Leone, 14-year-old Lucy loves science and wants to be a medical doctor. According to her mother, Isatu, “Lucy loves school. Even when she is not in school, she loves to study. After school, she eats and then goes and studies and does homework.” 

At home, she is a joy to her family.  

Hospital ship returns to Sierra Leone to deliver life-changing surgeries over the next ten months

Freetown, Sierra Leone – August 15, 2024: The world’s largest civilian hospital ship, the Global Mercy™, was welcomed back to Freetown yesterday in a partnership between international charity Mercy Ships and the Government of Sierra Leone to deliver more than 1,400 life-transforming surgeries and continued training opportunities for Sierra Leonean healthcare workers.