Servir avec Mercy Ships est plus qu’un simple travail ; c’est un périple qui transforme non seulement la vie des patients, mais aussi celle des bénévoles et de l’équipage de jour qui se consacrent à cette cause. Pour Josoa Mino, un jeune homme de Madagascar, rejoindre l’ONG a ouvert des portes à des opportunités qu’il n’aurait jamais crues possibles.
Without volunteers like Trent Yoder, Mercy Ships couldn’t provide surgeries for patients efficiently. As the team lead in the preoperative department, Trent coordinates the intake of patients seeking free surgical care on the Global Mercy™.
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, 30 JANUARY: The Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone and international charity Mercy Ships have reaffirmed their partnership, announcing that the Global Mercy™ hospital ship will remain in Freetown through June 2026.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – During the 2024 World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi in December, the African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and Mercy Ships announced a transformative partnership aimed at improving surgical care across Africa.
In 2024, Mercy Ships delivered life-changing healthcare and training across sub-Saharan Africa, marking significant milestones in its mission to provide free surgical care and build capacity in local healthcare systems. Through its two hospital ships, the Global Mercy™ and the Africa Mercy®, the organization impacted thousands of lives by combining direct medical services with education, training, and advocacy programs by partnering with governments for lasting impact.
A young man from Sierra Leone who was forced to leave school due to relentless mockery over a life-threatening facial tumor has had it successfully removed by international charity, Mercy Ships.
Alex, now 23, first noticed a swelling on his jaw in 2016 as a teenager. Over the years, the tumor grew significantly, making it difficult for him to eat, speak, and swallow. It left him increasingly isolated and raised fears that it could eventually impair his breathing.
Manteneh was a nearly defeated woman when she brought her 3-year-old son, Emmanuel, to Mercy Ships in January. She told doctors on the Global Mercy™ that several local hospitals in Freetown simply did not know what they could do to treat Emmanuel’s rare disorder, lymphangioma, so they turned her away. For Manteneh, Mercy Ships was their last chance.
She explained how this all began. Shortly after her son was born, she noticed a white-colored swelling around his ear. Unsure of what to do, she compressed the area with warm water, but things began to worsen.
Mercy Ships’ Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) department is supporting a new program aimed at reducing surgical infection rates at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. As a component of its Safer Surgery program, 20 nurses are attending a two-week, hands-on training about sterilization processes.
Mercy Ships has partnered with the Sterile Processing Education Charitable Trust (SPECT) to administer the training. SPECT is a nonprofit organization founded in 2013 to address a critical gap in healthcare: the lack of effective sterile processing education and training in resource-constrained settings.
It’s been almost two decades since Merryl Mackenzie, now 65 years old, began her journey with Mercy Ships. In 2007, Merryl left her home in Australia and came to Ghana, West Africa – arriving on New Year’s Eve to serve as an operating room nurse on the Anastasis, just before it was retired. She worked alongside volunteer surgeon, Dr. Gary Parker, doing maxillofacial surgeries. Having taken a temporary leave of absence from the hospital where she worked, the mother of three stayed aboard the ship for three weeks in pursuit of a childhood dream.