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Safe Surgery

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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™.

Hospital Ship Global Mercy™ to Stay in Sierra Leone until June 2026

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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.

Mercy Ships 2024: A Year of Transformative Impact

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.

From the Brink of Death to New Life: How One Act of Kindness Changed Everything

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For Catherine Conteh, there’s a moment from the birth of her daughter that still plays over and over in her mind, 30 years later. She had been lying in her hospital bed in Sierra Leone, in labor, writhing in untreated pain, for four days straight. The doctors told her that due to complications with her labor, she needed a Caesarean section surgery – one that 18-year-old Catherine and her husband, Augustine, couldn’t afford. Without payment up front, she would not be given the surgery.

‘The Gifts Within’: Hamadou Finds Hope

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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.