Entries by shawnthompson

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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.

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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.

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Returning to Serve His People: Talla’s Story

Twenty-nine-year-old Talla Gueye, from Senegal, ventured into entrepreneurship hoping to find solutions to youth unemployment in his community. He has always been a take-things-into-your-own-hands kind of person: “Taking charge and seeking change to problems motivates me,” he says. 

So, he started a clothing brand that would inspire and empower young people in Senegal. He named it Sigui Doxx, a term in his native Wolof language that translates to “keep your head up.” 

His mother inspired the deep care for community that drove him to social entrepreneurship, as he grew up watching her exemplify compassion.  

“Whenever she cooked, she put out a huge plate of food for anyone in the neighborhood. She also invited relatives who were struggling to stay with us.”  

Now, Talla brings that empathetic approach and entrepreneurial attitude to his work with Mercy Ships, where he started off translating for volunteer medical crew providing free surgical care in Senegal.  

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Raising the bar of expectation while accelerating access to safe surgical care in Africa

We celebrate World Health Day on April 7th, 2023, and I thought it is a good time to reflect on what “Health for All” means on the African continent. 

In 2015 and 2017, the World Health Assembly (WHA) passed Resolution 68.15, and decision 70(22) respectively. Resolutions which recognised surgical and anaesthesia care as essential for universal health coverage and required the director-general to report on the progress of its implementation. 

While much progress has been made to document and elevate the status of surgical and anaesthesia care internationally, things have unfortunately not progressed equally on the African continent. Life-transforming surgery has a massive impact, not just on the patient, but on their caregivers, direct family, their community, and beyond.  

It is now more important than ever to ask, how we can we improve this? How do we do this better?  

Khoudia’s Story: A Long-Awaited Successful Surgery

When a person has spent years living with a medical condition that they are told is inoperable, it is easy to lose any expectation of healing.  

For Khoudia, after eight years with a growing facial tumor, a referral to Mercy Ships stirred a long-awaited glimmer of hope. 

“I never thought that this tumor would be removed from my cheek,” the 18-year-old said. “So when they told me they were going to do it, I said, OK,’ but I never imagined that they would remove it all.” 

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Mariama, six, starts school after life-changing surgery

As Awa grew up in her village, she encountered the hardships of living with a cleft lip. “People in my village did not cast her out, but they laughed at her, and she was ashamed. They would say ‘look at how your mouth and lip are’, which made her embarrassed. She used to hide her mouth with her hand,” said Rougui.

Both Awa’s parents and her uncle kept looking for an answer to their prayers, but they couldn’t see any solution in their future.

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One Port, Two Nations: The Global Mercy™ Arrives in Dakar

On February 14, a special day of celebration took place in the Port of Dakar, Senegal. A long-awaited sight was on the horizon as the newly built Mercy Ship, the Global Mercy™, sailed into view.

Designed to deliver hope and healing to nations with limited surgical capacity, the Global Mercy is now ready to live her purpose. This year marks the first in an expected 50-year lifespan of specialized free surgeries taking place on board.

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‘Giving Back’: Senegalese Mercy Ships Volunteers Ready to Meet the Need at Home

“Serving my own country, it’s a blessing for me,” David said. “When I’m giving back to my own people, it boosts my happiness, my health, and my sense of wellbeing.”

In February, as the Africa Mercy heads to South Africa for a period of maintenance, David and the crew of the new Global Mercy will set sail for Dakar. This time they’ll be serving not only the people of Senegal, but their neighbors in The Gambia as well. For Senegalese crewmembers, this field service is a powerful opportunity to make an impact not abroad, but at home.

After all, home is where they’ve seen the need firsthand.

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Mercy Ships’ Newest Hospital Ship Prepares to Serve First Patients

On board the Global Mercy, docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, there is an atmosphere of expectation.

Ever since the new ship’s construction was completed in mid-2021, she’s been getting ready to serve her very first patients. Day after day, her crew has been patiently preparing for a moment that’s finally about to arrive.

Soon, the newest ship in the Mercy Ships fleet will lower her gangway in Dakar, Senegal, and welcome patients on board to receive life-changing surgery.