Think back to your childhood. Was there a tree you loved to climb? Do you remember racing your friends across the playground or riding your bike through the neighborhood?
Chances are that movement was something you rarely had to think about. But for millions of children living with untreated orthopedic conditions, every step can be painful. Running, jumping, and playing — the simple joys of childhood — can feel out of reach.
That’s why we have an orthopedics program at Mercy Ships.
Aboard our hospital ships, the Global Mercy and the Africa Mercy, our volunteer medical professionals bring free, life-changing orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation to help children stand, walk, and look toward the future with hope… one step at a time!
What orthopedic conditions can Mercy Ships treat?
Orthopedics is the branch of medicine that focuses on the body’s musculoskeletal system — bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and the nerves that help the body move. Sometimes, bodies develop conditions that affect how this system grows or works. Some of these conditions are present at birth, while others result from injury, infection, or malnutrition.
In many of the countries Mercy Ships serves, access to specialized orthopedic care is extremely limited. Conditions that could often be treated early may go unaddressed for years. Over time, this can lead to pain and limited movement, making everyday life harder — things like walking to school, playing with friends, or helping at home.
Conditions that Mercy Ships treats include:
For more than 30 years, Mercy Ships has focused on helping children struggling with orthopedic conditions. Every child’s care is planned for their specific needs. Treatment typically includes surgery aboard one of Mercy Ships’ hospital ships, followed by casting or bracing, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. Each step is meant to help restore strength, movement, and independence.
Healing that Lasts
But healing doesn’t end with surgery. Mercy Ships also partners with local surgeons, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals, sharing skills and strengthening surgical care so more children can receive treatment long after the hospital ship has sailed. Sometimes, that impact can even be seen within the same family, across generations.
One Path, Two Chapters: Fanirisoa and Vonjy’s Story
At Hôpital Analakininina in Toamasina, two brothers sat side by side, their legs wrapped in white casts. Born with the same condition, they shared a journey shaped by two different moments in time.
Both boys were born with clubfoot, a congenital condition that causes a child’s feet to twist inward and downward. Without treatment, walking is often painful and limited. When Fanirisoa was born, his parents couldn’t access specialized care, so they tried traditional massage and bandaging. While there was some improvement, walking remained a struggle.
When Vonjy was born with the same condition, the family’s worries grew.
“Before, walking was painful for them,” their father said. “They used to cry and say, ‘It hurts.’” In their community, the boys were sometimes given cruel nicknames because of how they walked. Their parents stayed silent: “That was just how things were.”
Hope came through a radio announcement. After hearing about Mercy Ships, the family traveled from their home near Antananarivo to a screening in Toamasina — over 200 miles — where their story became part of a much bigger legacy.
Mercy Ships began supporting clubfoot care in Madagascar in 2015, mentoring local teams in the Ponseti method, a gentle, evidence-based approach using weekly casting, careful bone manipulation, and, when needed, a small surgical procedure. The first mentoring program focused on babies and young children, training Malagasy health professionals to provide long-term care.
Dr. Saholy Razafindranaly, a Malagasy general practitioner and Ponseti trainer, remembers the beginning clearly. “2015 marked the start of clubfoot treatment using the Ponseti method here in Madagascar, with support from Mercy Ships,” she said. Since then, she estimated that more than 3,000 children had been treated and healed.
When Mercy Ships left in 2016, the work continued. Through partnerships with the Ministry of Health and organizations like MiracleFeet, clubfoot clinics spread across the country. Despite challenges like long travel distances and too few specialists, Malagasy clinicians continued providing care year after year.
Vonjy’s treatment reflected that success. He was treated entirely by Malagasy health professionals at a Ponseti clinic established through that original training. His care was the outcome of a program that prioritized sustainability from the start.
Fanirisoa’s care, however, represented a new chapter. While Madagascar had a strong national clubfoot program, many children missed early treatment. As they grew older, untreated clubfoot became more complex to manage.
When Mercy Ships returned in 2025, the organization launched a new Clubfoot Mentoring Project under the leadership of Nick Veltjens, the physiotherapist who led the 2015–2016 efforts. The focus was on strengthening care, especially for older children, and mentoring clinicians who could carry this work forward for the next generation.
“When you see a child improving, and at the same time you see a local team gaining confidence…that’s sustainability. The treatment will finish, but the knowledge will stay,” said Veltjens.
The principles of the Ponseti method remained the same, but treatment took longer and needed greater expertise. Weeks of casting gradually stretched stiff feet, reducing the need for invasive surgery and improving outcomes.
For Fanirisoa, that meant careful correction, a small but crucial procedure, and close follow-up. For the clinicians, it meant hands-on mentoring to gain skills and build confidence.
For the boys’ father, the impact was already clear. “Now their feet are straight, and they can walk normally,” he said. “They can do everything the others can do.”
Two brothers, treated side by side, carried the impact of two moments in time: one shaped by training planted ten years earlier, and the other helping to train what came next. Their story reflects what’s possible when care is locally led, knowledge is passed on, and hope is built to last.
How You Can Help
Give
Every child deserves the chance to stand, walk, run, and experience the joys of childhood without pain.
Your generosity helps make every step of healing possible — from diagnosis and surgery to rehabilitation and recovery. Together, we can help more children receive the life-changing orthopedic care they need.
If you’d like to support orthopedic surgery specifically, you can help provide life-changing care for children waiting for treatment.
Go
Mercy Ships’ orthopedic surgery program depends on volunteers from around the world. Surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, physical therapists, biomedical technicians, and many other professionals. Whether you serve on board or support from shore, your expertise helps more children overcome conditions like clubfoot, bowed legs, and windswept legs — and step into a brighter future.
Pray
Every child who walks without pain, every successful surgery, and every restored life is evidence of God’s faithfulness at work through His people.
Pray for children waiting for orthopedic care: that they would be reached with hope and healing. Pray for the volunteer medical teams serving on board, asking God to give them wisdom, skill, strength, and compassion as they care for each patient. And pray for the healthcare professionals Mercy Ships trains, that they would continue providing excellent orthopedic care in their own communities long after our hospital ships have sailed.
Together, through prayer, we can help more children stand tall and embrace the future God has prepared for them.