Mercyships's blog

During March of this year, a team from South Africa visited the Africa Mercy to assess the feasibility of creating an eye training programme for South African eye surgeons. The visit was a great success.

The first trainee of Mercy Vision South Africa, Dr. Gcobane Tuswa, is currently nearing the completion of his training programme.

Dr. Tuswa, who has been working with the South African Department of Ophthalmology since 2005, has undergone an intense but enlightening six weeks, working alongside and learning from eye surgeon Dr. Glenn Strauss.  read more »

Amitatau was extremely underweight when she came to the Africa Mercy.  At four weeks old, she weighed only 2.3 kg, just half the average weight of babies her age.  Amitatau’s cleft lip and palate had made nursing difficult for her.  As a result, she was starving.      read more »

Mercy Ships has received a valuable donation worth over £30,000 from Beauty Express, leading suppliers of professional beauty products and equipment.

The donation includes a variety of brand new uniforms and shoes that will be used on board the Africa Mercy and in a variety of local clinics and hospitals that partner with Mercy Ships in Africa.

There are more than 450 volunteers on board the Africa Mercy, ranging from surgeons, nurses, cooks, cleaners and engineers, who all share the same goal – to help improve the lives of the poorest of the poor.   read more »

Friends and colleagues, Andrew Curran (32), Chris Williamson (32) and brothers Jerome (32) and Jeremie (23) Vittoz, successfully swam the English Channel this week in a challenge of a lifetime to raise money for Mercy Ships to help provide free medical care to the world’s poorest people.   read more »

The sensational sounds of the Beechcroft Chapel Choir will be heard at the Battersea Arts Centre on the 5th September at a Black and White fundraising ball in aid of Mercy Ships.

Guests attending ‘A night to remember’ will be entertained by the renowned Beechcroft Chapel Choir and will enjoy a fashion show, international gospel dancers, prizes, auctions and a four course meal.   read more »

Dr. Faya Yaradouno, a general surgical resident at a hospital in rural Gabon, has completed his surgical rotation onboard the Africa Mercy. Mercy Ships surgeons mentored him in general and maxillo-facial surgery, and Dr. Yaradouno called the experience “very beneficial.”

“I learned so much from the experienced surgeons,” Dr. Yaradouno said. “They have taught me very good skills.”  read more »

Even though Mercy Ships will provide free life-changing surgeries for thousands of people during this year’s outreach in Benin, there are cases where a person cannot be helped medically by Mercy Ships because of cancer or other terminal illnesses. However, there are still ways that Mercy Ships helps these suffering individuals.  read more »

At the beginning of June, Mercy Ships volunteer surgeons screened dozens of women for obstetric fistula repair. Twenty-seven of them were selected as fit to receive free operations to restore them to new hope and new life.

Obstetric fistula is a condition that results from obstructed childbirth, often causing the death of the baby being born. The women then become incontinent and are often shunned by their communities and families. An all-too-common occurrence in countries with inadequate medical care, the women face unparalleled isolation and shame.  read more »

The community of Ifangni consists of 71 small villages, located a few miles north of the capital of Benin. The community has suffered from a severely high infant mortality rate due to sickness and disease caused by poor hygiene and malnutrition. Mercy Ships became of aware of these problems during its 1997 outreach to Benin.

When Mercy Ships made contact with the community, a nutrition programme was established to monitor children’s weights and educate their mothers on healthy living and eating.  read more »

Cotonou, Benin, 14th June 2009.  Millions of people around the world owe their lives to individuals they will never meet — people who donate their blood to help others. 

But crew members on a Mercy Ship live and work just minutes away from the patients who receive their “gift of life” every day in West Africa.

The blood bank onboard the Africa Mercy is not stored in a refrigerator in neatly labelled packages for days or weeks.  read more »