Practicing Hospitality

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.

Once patients have been screened and approved, they are generally admitted onto the ship the day before their surgery.  However, sometimes patients are not healthy enough to undergo a complex medical procedure.  If this is the case, patients are admitted to the Hospitality Centre to stay until deemed fit for surgery.  During this time, they will be given three healthy meals a day, clean drinking water, and a comfortable bed.

Likewise, once patients are stabilized after surgery and no longer need immediate care, they are moved to the Hospitality Centre, freeing up beds in the ship’s hospital wards.  This means that surgeons can perform more surgeries – and, ultimately, more people are helped. 

Brandon Winebark, HC Coordinator, oversaw the construction process that got the warehouse to its current state.  Walls were erected, roofs were constructed, and plumbing for bathrooms and toilets was installed.  Electrical wiring was also laid for lights and air-conditioning.  Because of regular power cuts in Cotonou, it was imperative to install a generator as a backup power supply.

The Hospitality Centre is already proving extremely valuable by accommodating 20 women suffering with VVF who travelled from the north of Benin.  Also, a 10-week-old baby is gaining weight before he undergoes corrective surgery on his cleft lip.