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Rotary Global Grant Supports Mercy Ships Health Care Training

Posted by Mercy Ships staff on Sep 15, 2011 at 01:39 pm

Rotary Global Grant Supports Mercy Ships Health Care Training

Garden Valley, Texas, September 14, 2011 – The Rotary Clubs of Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Lexington, North Carolina (U.S.A.), in partnership with several other U.S.-based Rotary clubs, have been awarded a grant from The Rotary Foundation to work with Mercy Ships, an international health care development agency. Through this grant award, health care capacity training is being provided to approximately 50 Sierra Leonean

health care providers, along with health care services for 1000 people.

Mercy Ships is a global charity that uses hospital ships for surgical interventions and health care training in West Africa. The Rotary Global Grant has supported training Sierra Leoneans in mental health counseling, general surgical care, and Ponseti casting. A unique orthopedic treatment, Ponseti casting is a non-surgical method to correct clubfeet. This method is especially useful in developing countries that have limited access to surgical equipment.

On Sunday, September 11, the Rotary Club of Freetown toured the Mercy Ships hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, to see their global grant dollars in action. Rotary Club President Sanpha Koroma, along with 10 members of the Rotary Club of Freetown, was welcomed onboard the Africa Mercy for a Rotarian flag exchange between the participating clubs and a tour of the ship. A letter from the Lexington Club was read, expressing sincere appreciation for the Freetown Club’s participation in facilitating the grant. The essence of Rotary is its global impact and its ability to facilitate relationships between Rotarian Clubs around the world.

“We are very happy to be here,” says Rotary Club of Freetown President Sanpha Koroma. “Mercy Ships and Rotary have the same vision. We want to continue working together to serve humanity.”

The money for the grant was raised by 29 Rotary Clubs, 28 of which were in the United States. Clubs near Lexington, North Carolina (District 7690), raised one-third of the funds before they were matched at the District level and by the Rotary Foundation. In total, $103,825 was provided to Mercy Ships for the purpose of training local

health care workers and building health care capacity in Sierra Leone.

“District 7690 maintains a proud legacy of big-hearted support for Rotary grants with Mercy Ships,” says Rotary Club of Lexington President-Elect Pam Harvey. “The Rotary Club of Lexington (North Carolina) and Rotary District 7690 Rotarians realize that better conditions for anyone make for a better world.”

President-Elect Harvey concluded, “Wherever we live, we all want similar things in life for ourselves and our children – health, safety and hope of their sustainment for future generations. Together, Rotary and Mercy Ships help answer this call.”

To learn more about surgical opportunities with Mercy Ships, go to www.mercyships.org. For more information about Rotary, visit www.rotary.org.

ABOUT MERCY SHIPS: Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class health care services, capacity building and sustainable development to those without access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries providing services valued at more than $834 million, impacting more than 2.9 million direct beneficiaries. Each year Mercy Ships has more than 1,200 volunteers from over 40 nations. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort. Mercy Ships seeks to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and healing to the poor. For more information click on www.mercyships.org

ABOUT ROTARY: Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary clubs have been serving communities worldwide for more than a century. The first Rotary club was founded in Chicago in 1905.