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Australian/Ghanian nurse gives something back to her ‘motherland’
“I have always wanted to use my nursing skills in charity work for as long as I can remember,” says Aseye Badu, a nurse from Mt Waverley in Melbourne, home after three months of voluntary work on the world’s largest charity hospital ship in Togo, West Africa. But the time was more special than that for Aseye.
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Categories: Alumni
Free Electronics Class for Day - Workers
It never occurred to Michiel that he would have the opportunity to directly change people's lives . “I had this thought about a year ago that I was going to come to Africa and teach. But I'm not a teacher at all. It wasn't until I got here that I realized how that idea would materialize.” Health care may be the main purpose of Mercy Ships, but Michiel is a superb example of how Mercy Ships makes a difference in people's lives outside of the hospital – through capacity building.
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Reflections from our Alumni…
We ask a few of our Alumni how serving with Mercy Ships have impacted their lives and/or their career choices upon their return home. Here are some of the responses we got.
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Nurses Makes Mercy Dash To Africa
Four Hutt Valley nurses recently swapped the comforts of home for the confines of a hospital ship, bringing emergency care to some of the world’s poorest people. Rhona JasonSmith, Pat Sarginson, Becky Martin and Julie-Ann Vengua travelled at their own expense to West Africa to volunteer their skills and time. In Togo they met another Hutt nurse, Alison Brieseman, who for the past three years has managed the Mercy Ships operating theatres, delivering free surgeries on the world’s largest nongovernmental hospital ship.
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Shipbuilding Software Firm Dunks Their Bosses for Mercy Ships
As part of their celebration of 20 years of shipbuilding and offshore software innovation, ShipConstructors Software Inc. (SSI) of Victoria, BC, dunked their managers at a staff and family day in mid-July, giving the proceeds to Mercy Ships.
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August 2010 Alumni Newsletter
Click here to read the August 2010 edition of the Mercy Ships Alumni newsletter.
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Health for Life Bibles
A recent gift to Mercy Ships will go a long way in providing information to the people of West Africa about battling malnutrition and reducing the occurrence of HIV/AIDS. Health for Life Bibles have previously been printed in English, but the new Guide de la Vie (Life Guide) represents the very first French language health Bible to be published.
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VVF Dress Ceremony
Twice a week or so the sounds of African drums and joyful singing waft up the stairwells from the hospital on third deck...
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WE SWAPPED OUR HOME FOR A MERCY MISSION AT SEA
BRENDA Cole, 46, swapped Britain for the experience of a lifetime when she and her family moved on board a hospital ship off the coast of Africa.
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Irish Teenagers Go Offshore on Mercy Mission
A group of nine teenagers from the Kinsale area is embarking on a Round Ireland Challenge in aid of the world's largest charity hospital ship.
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Abel Dalome
Abel had a normal childhood until a problem arose following an injection. His parents noticed he was having difficulty learning to crawl. His muscles had stopped growing, but his bones had not. As a result, his legs were not growing correctly because there was so little musculature to direct them. They began to bend backward at the knee, forcing his upper thighs out behind him. His parents took him to three different doctors, but none of them knew what to do for him. Despite this condition, the resolute Abel learned to lean forward, correcting his balance enough to walk, climb and do just about anything any other active boy can do. He even became the goalkeeper on his football (soccer) team. The only thing he couldn’t do was ride a bicycle, since it requires sitting straight on the seat and pushing down on the pedals.
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New Report: Komlavi doing well!
We’re so happy to report that Komlavi showed up for his YAG surgery, and that his prognosis for continued vision is good! We wanted to share with you not just the celebration we threw for our vision patients, but also what it looked like from the eyes of someone who can now see after years of blindness.
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Komlavi’s Story
Imagine feeling the blistering heat of the sun's rays without ever actually seeing the sun. For so many Africans suffering from cataracts, that is the reality they live with every day.
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Australian resident doctor fulfills long-term dream in Mercy Ships
Nerida, of Mona Vale in Sydney, is in her second year out of medical school and working as a resident doctor in the region from Taree to Belmont. She took a month’s leave to join more than 450 volunteers from around the world on Mercy Ships Africa Mercy, providing free medical and development services to people in the poorest countries of the world.
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Cleaning Up
“We could cry all day because we go back to the same misery. We have no more hope .” These are the heart-wrenching words of a few despairing women, who came to the Africa Mercy for vaginal vesicular fistula (VVF) surgery. Not all surgeries are successful. At times, several procedures may be required to repair the injury, and sometimes there is nothing else that can be done. These women were preparing to return to their homes as they came, with no money, no hope, and constant urine leakage.
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Bringing the gift of sight to the poor
It has been said that if a person truly loves his job, he would be willing to do it for free. If this is true, Tom Elmer loves his job 600 times over.
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Joel Somerville and Gladys
The sun dips below the horizon, and darkness covers the narrow dirt road deep in rural Mali. Gladys, an ‘86 Volkswagen Caravelle, is almost out of gas, and she has been acting up during the last leg of the drive. There is no village in sight. Looks like Joel will be sleeping in the van tonight. Such is life when you're driving “cross-continent” from Ireland to Togo.
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