Entries by shawnthompson

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Mercy Ships Partners with Hope Ignited to Launch Guinea’s First Pediatric Center of Excellence

In a brightly decorated hospital room in Dubréka, Guinea, baby Mory is being examined by a pediatric surgeon. The surgeon gives Mory’s anxious parents a big smile and a thumbs up – all is well. 

When the surgeon first saw Mory a few months ago, he was severely malnourished and dangerously underweight. Now, after regular treatment and several follow-up appointments, he’s reached a healthy weight and is being sent home, much to the relief of his parents.

July 20, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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Sierra Leone’s Journey for Better Health: Overcoming Obstacles and Embracing Partnerships

For those of us on the ground in Sierra Leone, the challenges we face daily in providing healthcare services underscore the grave disparities present across the various corners of our planet when it comes to our ability, or lack thereof, to heal.

In Sierra Leone, the most dramatic example of the challenges we face is the severe lack of qualified professionals equipped to handle our nation’s diverse and growing healthcare needs, particularly in relation to surgical care.

July 18, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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‘The Gifts Within’: Hamadou Finds Hope

Hamadou was 4 years old when he came to the Africa Mercy® in Senegal.

By then, he had learned to cope with the physical limitations of his cleft lip, a gap in his upper lip that impacted his ability to swallow and eat, as well as how his teeth were growing. But the cleft lip continued to hold him back socially, even within his own family.

People in Hamadou’s community drink their water from a large pot that they share with other members of their household, as well as any guests.

“People would not want to drink from the same water pot as him,” said his mother Hawa.

While Hamadou was isolated in some ways, his mother was always by his side providing constant support.

July 13, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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The Journey to Becoming Senegal’s First Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon

In Senegal, a nation of over 16 million people, there is currently not a single children’s orthopedic surgeon.
It’s a need that’s immense – and immediate. Without a local specialist, children with lower limb conditions in Senegal must wait for a doctor from another country to visit.
The lack of in-country children’s orthopedic surgeons means that bone conditions can take a long time to be treated, if at all. These conditions can lead to severe disability and drastically affect a child’s quality of life. Such bone conditions include clubfoot.

July 11, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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45 Years of Mercy Ships: Looking Back and Dreaming of the Future

Forty-five years ago, Don and Deyon Stephens had a dream. They wanted to convert a ship into a floating hospital, to bring safe, free surgical care to those who needed it most.

They left their home in the United States, setting out into unfamiliar waters. There were six of them: Don, Deyon, and their four children. A small team of people who shared their vision began to grow around them.

Today, four and a half decades later, Mercy Ships has impacted more than 1.2 million medical and programmatic beneficiaries and performed more than 110,000 life-changing surgeries. In the first half of 2023, more than 1,100 volunteers served on board the brand-new Global Mercy®.

“What started as a vision or a dream with Deyon and me, now it belongs to hundreds, thousands of people,” Don said.

July 7, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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Bridging the Gap of Anesthesia Care in Guinea

For Marthe Lamah, becoming an anesthetist was a life-long dream. 

“Since I was little, I always liked to help vulnerable people,” she says – and she believed patients receiving surgery in the operating room were among the most vulnerable of all. “I understood immediately that there is a specialty where you could take care of this type of vulnerable people with proper training in place.” 

Right now, Marthe is one of more than 20 students studying to become a nurse anesthetist in Guinea’s Gamal Abdel Nasser University. At the front of the classroom is Professor Joseph Donamou, the catalyst behind the program.  

July 3, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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One Port Visited, Two Nations Served: Mercy Ships Ends an Impactful Season in Senegal

On June 20, the Global Mercy™ held one last event before preparing to leave Senegal, welcoming partners from across Senegal and The Gambia to thank them for their support throughout this field service. 

After years of planning, prayer, and partnership, the Global Mercy has been serving patients in Senegal. It all started in one special moment, as 4-year-old Amadou walked up the gangway of the hospital ship on his way to healing. Weeks later, Amadou departed down the same gangway. This time, he was walking on straight legs for the first time in his life. Now, he’ll be free to grow up healthy and tall, able to attend school and become independent one day. 

June 26, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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On the Frontlines of Healing: A Nurse Mentee’s Story

In any profession, mentorship and knowledge sharing are at the heart of empowering good workers to become great ones. This is especially true in the medical field, where skilled practitioners are responsible for providing exceptional care to those who need it most. In 2022, when the Africa Mercy® visited Senegal for a 10-month field service, over 50 medical professionals participated in training and mentorship programs to hone their skills and improve patient care. The very last of these professionals was Sawdiatou Mbodji, who joined the ship’s nursing team for one month of mentorship.

June 21, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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Daouda, 13, who struggled to eat or speak due to tumour receives transformational surgery in Senegal

A teenage boy who spent years seeking surgery for an expanding facial tumour that left him struggling to eat or talk has received successful surgery, thanks to a surgical charity.

Dauoda was only four when a tiny node emerged on his upper jaw. The condition would be picked up earlier by a dentist in other countries but was much harder in his home country of Senegal where there are only just over eight dentists per 1 million people.

June 6, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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Partnerships are vital building blocks of effective universal healthcare systems

Sub-Saharan Africa has an especially urgent need to strengthen surgical care systems. Surgery has long been a neglected component of health care for people on the African continent, and equitable integration of surgical and anaesthetic care remains the key challenge to strengthening health systems and achieving universal health coverage in Africa. If we get this right, we can greatly reduce the rate of mortality and morbidity from surgically preventable and treatable conditions on the continent.

May 22, 2023 /0 Comments/by
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© 2025 – Mercy Ships

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Contact Us
News
Press
Videos

Africa Service Center (ASC)

Rue Thann, Immeuble Sea View,

Appartement 3ème étage à droite,

Dakar, SENEGAL

Africa Service Center (ASC)

Rue Thann, Immeuble Sea View,

Appartement 3ème étage à droite,

Dakar, SENEGAL

Tel: +221782967104 /776447017
africa@mercyships.org

© 2023 – Mercy Ships

Terms and conditions