Mercyships's blog

On the 6th June at Welwyn Garden City’s picturesque Stanborough Lake, families, businesses and spectators will see teams of  local companies  from across Hertfordshire battle it out in a race across the lake to raise money for Mercy Ships.

The Mercy Ships boat race is in its third year and has proved a popular and fun family day out.

The all important awards ceremony after the race to crown the winners of the 2009 Dragon Boat Race will be presented by Councillor, Kim Langley, Borough mayor for Welwyn and Hatfield.  read more »

Mercy Ships is celebrating International Nurses Day today (12th May) to honour volunteer nurses who serve with the charity. 

Over the last 30 years, nurses from all over the UK have given up their time and volunteered with Mercy Ships to help people less fortunate than themselves, bringing hope and healing to thousands of patients suffering at the hands of poverty.

International Nurses Day recognises the remarkable work that nurses do around the globe and the comfort they bring to patients undergoing surgeries and medical care.   read more »

The founders of Mercy Ships were honoured with a humanitarian award at a glittering ceremony in London last night (5th May) 

The annual Variety Club International Humanitarian Award, whose previous winners include Sir Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn, was given to Don and Deyon Stephens who founded Mercy Ships in 1978. 

It was in that year the couple had a dream to find a ship, equip it as a hospital, fill it with volunteer crew and sail round the world providing life saving medical care to the poorest of the poor.  read more »

It was a bright spring morning in late April when three athletes took on the challenge of finishing this year’s Flora London Marathon, while raising sponsorships for Mercy Ships.

Despite the rising temperature during the early afternoon, all three British runners completed the 26.2 mile course successfully.

The first runner, Dr Emmanuel Gye from Oldham, has been a regular supporter of Mercy Ships since 2004 and feels so inspired that he hopes to volunteer on the ship in the future.  read more »

Along with providing thousands of surgeries to the people of Benin during the 2009 Field Service, Mercy Ships is also offering medical training to health care workers and surgeons to build the capacity of Benin’s medical sector for years to come. 

Dr Steve Arrowsmith is training surgeons in vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) repair, while general surgeons Dr. Jose Uroz Tristan and Dr. Bruce Steffes are training surgeons from Benin and other parts of West Africa to increase the capacity for surgical care.  read more »

The Mercy Ships Biomedical Technician Training (BTT) programme has begun in Benin; overseen by Carlos Amaral, a Biomedical Instructor onboard the Africa Mercy.

Although Benin is one of the least developed nations in the world, several investments have been made in the area of health care development, there are only three qualified biomechanical engineers working in the entire country.  read more »

Approximately two blocks from the port of Cotonou, where the Africa Mercy is currently docked, is a warehouse.  In the past five weeks, it has undergone a tremendous transformation. 

Now referred to as the Hospitality Centre (HC), it functions primarily as a non-medical, temporary housing unit for pre-and-post-op patients and their caregivers. It consists of two air-conditioned wards with room for 76 beds, as well as bathroom facilities containing showers and flush-toilets.  read more »

The beginning of Spring marks new life for Justine and Parra - the first women healed from Vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) during the 2009 Field Service. 

Those with VVF leak urine constantly, and as a result, are shunned by their communities and often their families, living in hiding and suffering from overwhelming shame and trauma.  read more »

Mercy Ships has begun performing free operations and critical health care training to medical professionals in Benin.

At the Hospital of the Mother and Child in Cotonou, Mercy Ships doctors. Uroz Tristan and Keith Thomson performed two successful oesophageal atresia repairs, which correct malformations or small holes in the oesophagus. This complex procedure had never before been performed in Benin.

During the first operation, Dr Tristan operated while Dr Thomson anesthetised as a local surgeon and a local anaesthetist observed to learn the technique.  read more »

Mercy Ships urgently needs runners to participate in the following events to raise vital funds for our life-changing work in Africa:  read more »