Record Results in Benin

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.

As the Africa Mercy prepares for its 2010 Field Service in Togo, it leaves behind permanent footprints in Benin – footprints in the form of trained eye surgeons that are now fully trained in eye screening, cataract removal, and eye health. 

Not only can these physicians treat their communities but they are trained to teach other physicians long after the Africa Mercy is gone.

The country of Benin will have healthier children, due to the Mercy Ships partnerships with IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) programme that educates families on wound tending and cleaning.

The Biomedical Training programme trained individuals to keep equipment fine-tuned and updated in each hospital so it runs as efficiently as it can.

We also provided more access to health care with the opening of the OSAREH Orthopaedic Clinic.

The Food for Life programme will enable communities to grow crops, and the dormitory constructed in the Hévié area outside of Cotonou, will now be the base for agricultural trainers, trained by Mercy Ships, to train others long into the future.

These footprints will leave a lasting impact, but perhaps the most valuable measure of success can be found in the hope and healing provided one life at a time.

Don Stephens, Founder and President of Mercy Ships said.  “The ship has departed, but our hearts will always have room for the wonderful people of Benin and their President who extended Mercy Ships an invitation to come and help.”