From the Field

Hundreds of well-wishers lined up to welcome the Africa Mercy hospital ship and her crew into the Port City of Lomé, Togo, to begin a six-month assignment in the country.

This is the fourth visit by a Mercy Ship to Togo in the past twenty years. The West African nation of Togo ranks among the world's poorest countries – currently 159th out of 182 nations tracked by the 2009 Human Development Index.  read more »

Faith-based volunteers who have served onboard the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest charity hospital ship, are celebrating World Religion Day today ahead of the ship’s impending outreach to Togo.

Mercy Ships is preparing for a seven month outreach to the country of Togo,  following a very successful 10 months in Benin last year. 

In 2009 volunteers on board the Africa Mercy performed 5,000 free surgeries, over 33,000 eye treatments and 10,000 dental procedures for the people of Benin who had no other access to these types of healthcare.  read more »

Mercy Ships medical volunteers are on their way to Port-au-Prince where thousands of people are still buried among the rubble following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti last Tuesday.

The first of a number of Mercy Ships teams left the United States yesterday to join the international relief effort, bringing with them vital medical equipment.  read more »

The most powerful earthquake to strike Haiti in more than 200 years has left parts of the impoverished Caribbean nation in ruins, destroying buildings and burying people in the rubble.

The earthquake measured 7.0 and buildings all across the capital of Port-au-Prince have collapsed, including the presidential palace and the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

Our Disaster Response Team is mobilising to address both medical and non-medical relief.

Your gift will go to help those in greatest need. 

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December marked the end of the 2009 Mercy Ships Field Service in Benin.  Ten months of patient screening, back to back surgeries, and non-stop capacity building efforts resulted in record results.

Due to the combined efforts of 454 crew members from over 40 nations and the support of our state-of-the-art hospital ship, 97,625 total procedures were performed and 67,219 lives were impacted as direct beneficiaries.  read more »

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 »

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 »