Just days away from the opening of a new training facility at Guinea’s only dental school on September 25th that will more than double its capacity, Dr. David Ugai reflects on the transformative journey he and the Université Gamal Abdel Nasser of Conakry have embarked upon together, and the power of collaboration
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.
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.
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.
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, SEPTEMBER 4, 2024: A 32-year-old police officer became the first patient to receive life-transforming surgery on board Mercy Ships’ hospital ship yesterday as the vessel returned to Sierra Leone to deliver a further 1,400-plus surgeries over the next 10 months.
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.
A 14-year-old girl from Sierra Leone is free to follow her dreams of becoming a doctor after having a facial tumor removed by international health charity Mercy Ships.
Without the timely surgery, the tumor would likely have continued to grow to the point of causing airway obstructions, and ultimately, death by suffocation.
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.
The tumor on 38-year-old Fidisoa’s back started out just like a tiny pimple… then it turned into a lump… and eventually grew to the size of a fist. Before long, the tumor had grown to such a size that when Fidisoa wore a shirt, any onlooker would have assumed he carried a backpack underneath.
Now 53, Fidisoa has come a long way, having spent the last 15 years of his life shadowed by the massive tumor on his back – but he’s always remained determined to find a solution.
A father of three can sleep comfortably on his back for the first time in 15 years after having a massive tumor – weighing 11lbs (5kgs) – removed by surgical charity Mercy Ships.
Malagasy builder and rice farmer Fidisoa was 38 when what appeared to be a tiny pimple on his back started to grow, first into a lump and then into the size of a fist. It continued to grow until Fidisoa looked as if he carried a backpack underneath his shirt.