
Mercy Ships Africa Blog


An Electrician’s Journey to Finding Purpose and Professional Growth
Blog, BlogWhen Jean Jacques Diouf climbed the gangway of the Africa Mercy® for the first time in his home country of Senegal, he’d packed his suitcase with enough supplies for just one week. He figured he wasn’t going to be on board for long. He’d only come to volunteer because he couldn’t say no to his father, who felt confident Mercy Ships would turn his son’s life around personally and professionally and advised him to just “go and see what happens.”

A father’s love: Aissatou’s story
Blog, Blog2022 was not the first time that Ousmane had sought medical help for his daughter Aissatou. Since his little girl was born with a cleft lip four years earlier, he had been in pursuit of her healing. The family had visited multiple hospitals in Senegal, but none could provide the help they needed.
Others in his village started to lose hope, telling Ousmane that his daughter’s cleft lip was beyond repair.

Bringing a Crew Together on the World’s Largest Civilian Hospital Ships
Blog, BlogIt takes hundreds of volunteers to power Mercy Ships’ mission of following the model of Jesus to deliver safe and free surgeries via hospital ships.
Those volunteers need to be equipped with professional skills in medicine, seafaring, accounting, cooking, and many other fields.
They hail from countries around the world, and they must navigate long journeys, language barriers, visa procurement, and more logistics before they board the ship and begin serving.
Through it all, the Mercy Ships People & Culture (P&C) team is beside them, offering crewmembers the support and expertise they need to succeed.

A Double Portion of Blessings for Emmanuel
StoryOf all the birthdays he’d celebrated in his life, Emmanuel’s 43rd would turn out to be something truly extraordinary.
Just a few days after turning the page to a new year of life, a new chapter began. Emmanuel was wheeled into an operating room on board the Global Mercy™ hospital ship, where he became the very first patient to receive surgery during the field service in Freetown, Sierra Leone. There, in a surgery that took just 48 minutes, Emmanuel was freed from the tumor that had been growing on his neck for 4 years.

Guinean Eye Surgeon Shares Valuable Training to Empower Others
Blog, BlogA talented surgeon who is always seeking to learn, Dr. Thierno Bah has traveled to cities around the world for trainings and conferences.
His experience and skill as an ophthalmic surgeon have already made him a vital part of Guinea’s surgical ecosystem.

The Woman Who Forged Her Way Through Walls: Florence Bangura’s Story
Blog, BlogFlorence Bangura’s history with Mercy Ships spans 20 years, covering two countries, three ships, and four field services. At the age of 29, Florence worked as a welder on board the very first Mercy Ships hospital ship, the Anastasis, just a week after becoming officially certified in her trade. She later came on board the Africa Mercy® as a national day crewmember when it visited her home country of Sierra Leone in 2011, and in 2018 returned to the ship during its field service in the neighboring nation of Guinea.

Two Dentists Find a Powerful Shared Purpose on the Global Mercy™
Blog, BlogDr. Marijke Westerduin and Dr. Salematou Camara met face-to-face as dentists on board the world’s largest civilian hospital ship – but their first encounter took place years earlier through a screen. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Dr. Westerduin logged onto Zoom calls from her home in the Netherlands to help train Dr. Camara, then a dental student at the Universite Gamal Abdel Nasser of Conakry (UGANC) in Guinea. These regular calls became a bridge, connecting Dr. Westerduin’s wealth of experience as a dental professional with Dr. Camara’s growing aspirations.

Finding New Freedom: Unlocking Ramatulai’s Voice
Blog, BlogFor the last 20 years, Ramatulai’s voice had been locked inside, as she was completely unable to open her mouth.
The rare condition, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis, affected Ramatulai from early infancy when she experienced trauma to her jaw as a newborn.