{"id":9971,"date":"2024-10-29T07:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/?post_type=patient&#038;p=9971"},"modified":"2024-12-05T00:26:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T08:26:02","slug":"mardi-je-donne-2024-transformez-le-monde-par-la-generosite","status":"publish","type":"patient","link":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/patient\/giving-tuesday-2024-lets-make-a-difference-with-generosity-and-gratitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaque acte de g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9 compte"},"content":{"rendered":"<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/wp-content\/plugins\/bb-plugin\/img\/pixel.png\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n<h3>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/chirurgie-maxillofaciale\/\" title=\"Chirurgie gyn\u00e9cologique\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\tWomen&#8217;s Health\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/faire-un-don\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFaire un don\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<p>La derni\u00e8re fois que Catherine Conteh a vu ce visage familier qui lui souriait \u00e0 Freetown, c\u2019\u00e9tait dans des circonstances radicalement diff\u00e9rentes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">Fra\u00eechement d\u00e9barqu\u00e9e d\u2019Australie, Catherine est arriv\u00e9e sur le quai \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 du <em>Global Mercy\u2122<\/em> o\u00f9 elle a \u00e9t\u00e9 accueillie par Aly Hogarth-Hall \u2013 un visage qu\u2019elle n\u2019avait pas vu depuis 30 ans. Sans Aly, ses 30 derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es \u2013 ainsi que la vie de sa fille et de son petit-fils \u2013 n\u2019auraient sans doute pas \u00e9t\u00e9 possibles.<\/p>\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O6TMnFpFvA4?si=TPwKK9BxJ1iSLG5f\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a4YKiTDwZv0?si=KL3F4yoaUiez3uHe\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<h2>\n\t\tGarder espoir\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Leur premi\u00e8re rencontre a eu lieu dans un h\u00f4pital de Sierra Leone, o\u00f9 Catherine, \u00e2g\u00e9e de 18 ans, vivait un accouchement tr\u00e8s difficile depuis quatre jours. Catherine et son mari, Augustine, comptaient les jours qui les s\u00e9paraient de la naissance de leur premier enfant, mais les choses ont pris une tournure terrifiante lorsque le b\u00e9b\u00e9 est rest\u00e9 bloqu\u00e9 pendant l\u2019accouchement. N\u2019ayant pas les moyens de s\u2019offrir une c\u00e9sarienne, Catherine n\u2019a eu d\u2019autre choix que d\u2019attendre.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, Catherine&#8217;s plight wasn&#8217;t one of a kind. In Sierra Leone, as of 2019, 717 mothers die annually for every 100,000 live births. This is among the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n<p>Catherine felt helpless, like all the strength was draining from her body. She knew deep down she was facing impending death: &#8220;I will lose my life. If nothing happens, I will lose my life. That kept on playing right in my heart, in my mind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mais elle a gard\u00e9 espoir...<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\tUn acte de g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9 venant d'inconnus\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>This is where Aly, a Kiwi nurse who was volunteering with Mercy Ships, first crossed her path. After hearing Catherine&#8217;s cries of pain, Aly went to investigate. She was astounded at what she learned.<\/p>\n\t<p>Aly recalled: &#8220;With Catherine being in labor for four days, the nurse told me that she would die and the baby would die. It was communicated in a very matter of fact way, which shocked me &#8211; that this was going to be the outcome without any intervention. I&#8217;d never encountered anything like that. I didn&#8217;t know what to do, so I thought, I&#8217;ll pray for this woman and hand it over to God.&#8221;<\/p>\n\t<p>After Aly&#8217;s prayer ended, fellow Mercy Ships volunteer anesthetist Dr. Keith Thomson from the U.K., who was touring the hospital with Aly, joined her in the room. On hearing Catherine&#8217;s unique story, he unexpectedly felt God&#8217;s calling to pay for her surgery in full with his own money.<\/p>\n<p>Catherine a \u00e9t\u00e9 rapidement emmen\u00e9e en salle d\u2019op\u00e9ration pour sa c\u00e9sarienne. Malgr\u00e9 le stress des quatre jours de travail, Catherine et son b\u00e9b\u00e9, une fille nomm\u00e9e Regina, \u00e9taient en parfaite sant\u00e9.<\/p>\n\t<p>&#8220;All she did was to pray for me, at that moment. She prayed for me,&#8221; reflected Catherine. &#8220;Which I valued and I&#8217;m grateful to God for that, you know? Because praying for someone, for me, is like a currency that you can buy anything with.&#8221;<\/p>\n\t<p>After the delivery, Aly, along with another Mercy Ships volunteer, Gina, stayed in close contact with Catherine. They visited her in the hospital wards while she recovered. They brought her food and made her laugh and admired her newborn daughter. While they&#8217;d been strangers just days before, Catherine and Aly quickly formed the type of bond that comes through a life-changing encounter.<\/p>\n\t<p>&#8220;I call her sister and she calls me sister,&#8221; said Catherine, &#8220;because it takes a pure heart and someone with pure love, meeting someone and instantly loving them unconditionally, you know?&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\tUne reprise de contact apr\u00e8s des ann\u00e9es de s\u00e9paration\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>They parted ways as Aly returned to New Zealand while Catherine gained asylum in Australia in the wake of growing conflict in her home country of Sierra Leone. The two women lost touch through the years, but Catherine held Aly close in her heart. The knowledge that the kind acts of these volunteers had saved not only her life, but her daughter&#8217;s, pressed on her &#8211; leaving an impact that rippled long after the surgery itself.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, Catherine unexpectedly received a message from Dr. Thomson asking if she&#8217;d like Aly&#8217;s contact information, Catherine didn&#8217;t hesitate &#8211; and before long, she was holding her phone, greeted by a familiar voice from long ago on the other end.<\/p>\n\t<p>&#8220;Hearing her voice again, after almost three decades, was a bit emotional for me&#8230; My hope for me and Aly is to physically see ourselves and give ourselves that sisterly hug. And get to praise God together, you know?&#8221;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/SLF231001_CATHERINE_ALY_REUNION_TT015_HI-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Aly Hall and Catherine Conteh hugging after not seeing each other for 30 years.\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"1707\" width=\"2560\" title=\"Aly Hall and Catherine Conteh hugging after not seeing each other for 30 years.\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n<h2>\n\t\tDes retrouvailles apr\u00e8s 30 ann\u00e9es\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p class=\"translation-block\">Quelque 30 ans plus tard, le 1er octobre 2023, cet espoir s\u2019est enfin concr\u00e9tis\u00e9. C\u2019\u00e9tait la premi\u00e8re fois qu\u2019elles se voyaient depuis la chambre d\u2019h\u00f4pital de Freetown o\u00f9 Catherine s\u2019\u00e9tait r\u00e9tablie. Aly est b\u00e9n\u00e9vole \u00e0 bord du <em>Global Mercy<\/em> pendant sa mission de 10 mois en Sierra Leone. Pour Catherine, \u00e9galement b\u00e9n\u00e9vole dans la salle \u00e0 manger du navire-h\u00f4pital, ce moment avait une signification encore plus profonde : \u00ab Je rentre \u00e0 la maison pour servir, non seulement Mercy Ships, mais aussi mon pays.\u202f\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Et pour Catherine, bien que sa rencontre avec Mercy Ships ait chang\u00e9 le cours de sa vie il y a longtemps, c\u2019\u00e9tait la premi\u00e8re fois qu\u2019elle montait \u00e0 bord de l\u2019un des navires-h\u00f4pitaux.<\/p>\n<p>Elle a expliqu\u00e9 qu\u2019elle avait fait le voyage depuis l\u2019Australie, encourag\u00e9e par sa fille Regina, aujourd\u2019hui \u00e2g\u00e9e de 30 ans et m\u00e8re d\u2019un gar\u00e7on. Regina, inspir\u00e9e par l\u2019histoire de sa naissance, est \u00e9galement devenue infirmi\u00e8re et a m\u00eame fait du b\u00e9n\u00e9volat pour Mercy Ships dans le pass\u00e9.<\/p>\n\t<p>When she turned the corner to the dock and the hospital ship came into view, Catherine was stunned. Then, Aly&#8217;s face came into focus, waiting on the dock to greet her. It was a moment she&#8217;d dreamed of for years but didn&#8217;t know if it would ever truly happen. For both volunteers, the reunion brought a flood of joy &#8211; and old memories.<\/p>\n\t<p>&#8220;To see her in person again, I couldn&#8217;t believe it,&#8221; said Catherine. &#8220;We just sobbed. We cried and cried.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During their time together, they thought fondly of Dr. Thomson, who since passed away. &#8220;This is his legacy in a way. This is a tribute to him in a lot of ways because his dream was for us to come together here, and he realized that before he passed away,&#8221; shared Aly.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/SLF231010_CATHERINE_ALY_HOSPITAL_VISIT_AB009_HI-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Catherine et Aly visitent la maternit\u00e9 o\u00f9 elles se sont rencontr\u00e9es pour la premi\u00e8re fois il y a 30 ans.\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"1707\" width=\"2560\" title=\"SLF231010_CATHERINE_ALY_HOSPITAL_VISIT_AB009_HI\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n\t\tCatherine et Aly visitent la maternit\u00e9 o\u00f9 elles se sont rencontr\u00e9es pour la premi\u00e8re fois il y a 30 ans.\n\t<p>One act of kindness changed her own life immeasurably &#8211; and now, she hopes sharing their story will have a ripple effect of its own.<\/p>\n\t<p>&#8220;One person will hear the story, and they will make a change,&#8221; said Catherine. &#8220;I see it as the power of helping.&#8221;<\/p>\n\t<h3><strong>Comme Catherine et Aly, tout le monde a quelque chose \u00e0 donner et chaque acte de g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9 compte!<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/faire-un-don\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFaire un don\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class= \"uabb-ss-grid-button-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmercyships.ca%2Fen%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dpatient%26p%3D9971%26fl_builder\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'social-share','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');return false;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class= \"uabb-ss-grid-button-link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmercyships.ca%2Fen%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dpatient%26p%3D9971%26fl_builder\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'social-share','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');return false;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/X-SQ300.png\" alt=\"3618\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class= \"uabb-ss-grid-button-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmercyships.ca%2Fen%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dpatient%26p%3D9971%26fl_builder\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'social-share','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');return false;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedin\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class= \"uabb-ss-grid-button-link\" href=\"mailto:?body=https%3A%2F%2Fmercyships.ca%2Fen%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dpatient%26p%3D9971%26fl_builder\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'social-share','left=20,top=20,width=500,height=500,toolbar=1,resizable=0');return false;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourriel\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/histoires-impactantes\/histoires-de-patients\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tD\u00e9couvrir d\u2019autres histoires de patients\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Women&#8217;s Health Donate Now The last time Catherine Conteh saw the deeply familiar smile in front of her in Freetown, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9980,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Everyone has something to give and every act of generosity counts. Learn more about how one act of kindness changed everything.","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"disabled","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9971","patient","type-patient","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/patient\/9971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/patient"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/patient"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/patient\/9971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10461,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/patient\/9971\/revisions\/10461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}