The Global Mercy™ Returns to Sierra Leone for a Second Field Service
In August, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, the Global Mercy™, was welcomed back to Freetown in a partnership between international charity Mercy Ships and the Ministry of Health. In this field service, Mercy Ships will continue to provide long-awaited, often lifesaving surgical care as well as educational opportunities for the nation’s healthcare professionals. The NGO will serve the residents of this beautiful country until the second quarter of 2025. Stay tuned!
Current Activities
Madagascar & Sierra Leone in 2024 & Planning for Ghana in 2025
Meet some of our Canadian volunteers serving onboard our hospital ships:
Madagascar
The Africa Mercy is currently docked in Toamasina, Madagascar. The amazing crew on board have been hard at work by providing high quality medical and surgical care to the needy. From disposing of expired medications and tablets, to clearing out a giant warehouse, and painting the operating room, the crew is doing what they can to help our partners on the ground.
While there is so much work to be done to continue surgeries, our crew members don’t stop – they are still finding time to dedicate to other causes on the ground, like the Bethany Project! (more details to come)
We can’t wait to welcome new patients to the Hope Center on September 23 and bring patients aboard the Africa Mercy again on September 30!
Sierra Leone
The newest and largest vessel in the Mercy Ships fleet departed Sierra Leone in June after spending the previous 10 months performing 1,979 life-changing surgeries and training 145 healthcare professionals on board.
This year, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Mercy Ships selected patients in 12 locations across Sierra Leone for the upcoming field service, ensuring that people from diverse regions of the country can access the care they need on board. In the next ten months, the Global Mercy will perform over 1,400 free surgeries.
Darryl Anderson, commented from Mercy Ships Canada’s national office in Victoria, BC. “I am extremely proud of the role that Canadian volunteers play as part of an international team from over 60 countries worldwide.” Anderson continued “The wide range of skills from our volunteers speaks to the generosity of spirit that characterizes Mercy Ships Canada volunteers.”
Mercy Ships’ Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) teams will also continue collaborating with the Ministry of Health to support ongoing training for staff at Connaught Hospital and students at the University of Sierra Leone, in line with the nation’s strategic healthcare plan. During this extended stay, training opportunities will be created on the ship for at least 130 of the nation’s healthcare professionals.
Mercy Ships is so pleased that an agreement has been reached with the President of Sierra Leone for a second field service in Freetown starting in August of 2024 and continuing into the second quarter of 2025. Standby for more information on this exciting development.
Ghana
Mercy Ships is also continuing to formalize plans for a 2025-2026 field service in Ghana. A meeting was held between our international programs team which included Dr. Juliette Tuakli and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and government officials in Ghana in September of 2023. This meeting is part of our 5-year planning strategy of allowing time to effectively ramp up, assess the needs of the host country, establish diplomatic relationships, select patients, and plan effective surgery schedules.
With the help of our volunteers and donors, Mercy Ships Canada remains committed to our mission: following the 2000-year-old model of Jesus to bring Hope and Healing. We live out this mission to serve African people by efficiently using the two-ship platform providing direct surgical care and partnering with the African healthcare community by building sustainable medical capacity in the countries we serve.
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