Mercyships's blog

Many crew members of the Africa Mercy hold positions that involve little or no interaction with the local community.  Thus, in every field service, Mercy Ministries provides opportunities for crew members to work within the local community through partnerships with longstanding, land-based ministry projects.  read more »

Mercy Ships received a high honour given by the President of the Republic of Benin, H.E. Dr Thomas Yayi Boni, for bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor.

At a special State Dinner, H.E. President Boni conveyed the gratitude of his government and the people of Benin to those who serve on the Africa Mercy.

All the Cabinet members from President Boni’s administration was in attendance. Busses carried 350 crew members, representing over 30 different nations, to the Governmental Palace in Contonou for the formal dinner.  read more »

The 5th Edition of the West Africa Project Fair was recently held in Cotonou, Benin.  The conference provided a valuable opportunity for West African Rotarians to form international partnerships with Rotarians from Europe and North America.

Participating West African Rotary Clubs sponsored booths in which they presented service projects to the international attendees.

Mercy Ships participated in the conference, spreading the vision of hope and healing, while providing Rotarians an opportunity to partner in the transforming work of the Africa Mercy.  read more »

A 100–year–old lady is among a group of islanders on the tiny island of Sanday in Orkney that has knitted over 200 teddy bears for patients on board the world’s largest charity hospital ship, the Africa Mercy.

As part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, Lena Alice (15) organised the knitting drive on behalf of Mercy Ships, the international charity that provides free medical and humanitarian care to some of the world poorest people.  read more »

Following a highly successful inaugural Ball in January of this year, Mercy Ships is set to hold its next Ball on 16th January 2010.

The Ball will have an African theme and will celebrate our work in Benin in 2009, as well as the charity’s return to Togo in February, where the previous ship has been a number of times.  read more »

Laurence Biggs, Vicar at St Giles Church in Codicote and his wife Alison, have raised over £3000, for Mercy Ships, by successfully reaching the summit of Mount Kenya at 17,057ft, on September 17th 2009.

Climbing Mount Kenya was an opportunity for keen adventures’ Laurence and Alison to both support Mercy Ships, and celebrate their Silver Wedding Anniversary in a truly memorial way.  read more »

Mercy Ships Health Care Development team has begun the renovation and construction of a paediatric orthopaedic centre in Seme Kpodji, Benin.  Upon completion, the centre will be used to provide rehabilitative and surgical care to disabled children.   read more »

In order to keep the machinery onboard the Africa Mercy running effectively, divers must plunge into murky, polluted water every week to prevent obstructions from blocking the ship’s seawater intake valves. 

The Africa Mercy’s machinery is cooled by seawater pumped in via intake valves on the sides of the ship. Without a continuous intake of cool water, the generators that power the ship and the various facilities onboard, including the hospital, would all cease to function.  read more »

There are many mediums through which we communicate, but our most frequent, and arguably most powerful, channel of communication is speech.  Some patients onboard the Africa Mercy are discovering this power for the first time. 

Maxillofacial operations are an integral part of the Mercy Ships 2009 Field Service in Benin.  Many maxillofacial patients, particularly those with cleft lips/palates, have spent their lives communicating with impeded speech.   read more »

Mercy Ships recently partnered with Bethesda, a Benin-based NGO (non-governmental organisation), in the construction of the Bethesda Community Development Agriculture Training Centre in Hévié, Benin. 

Now completed, the facility is serving as the venue for a Mercy Ships agriculture training programme, “Food for Life”, which teaches farmers organic agriculture skills in nutrition and crop production.   read more »