Dr. Marijke Westerduin and Dr. Salematou Camara met face-to-face as dentists on board the world’s largest civilian hospital ship – but their first encounter took place years earlier through a screen. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Dr....
Volunteers
Videos
It takes skills of all kinds to bring hope and healing. See how our volunteer crew makes a difference on board.
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Volunteers
Posts
A Decade of Giving Back: One Maritime Volunteer’s Story
As a member of the international community living and working on board the Global Mercy™, volunteer assistant bosun Ishaka Sesay is conscious that he has become an ambassador for his home country of Sierra Leone. “That is why… people never see me with a frowning face,...
Bringing Life Into Their Days: A Spotlight on the Mercy Ships Palliative Care Team
Mercy Ships strives to make safe surgical care accessible for as many as possible on board its fleet of floating hospitals, providing more than 114,000 life-changing or lifesaving surgical procedures since 1978. However, the sad reality is that not every single...
Madagascar’s Teaching Surgeon Passes on Her Skills, Her Dream
In the often male-dominated field of medicine, Professor Fanjandrainy Rasoaherinomejanahary is part of a legacy of female healers. “I am the daughter of a nurse,” said the Malagasy surgeon and professor of visceral surgery, who goes by Prof. Fanja. As a young girl,...
In the Middle of the Action: How a Ward Nurse Found Connection
“I always tell people,” confides Kevin So, ward nurse on the Global Mercy, “That this is the best hospital I’ve worked for. It’s a special place to serve here on Mercy Ships because everyone here wants to be here, you know? We’re all volunteers, so there’s a special...
Adapted to a Vision: The Story of Maria Kuo’s Dedication
For Maria Kuo, an interest in Mercy Ships and the free surgical care it offers has always been a part of her life. At the age of nine, her parents took her to a Mercy Ships tour in Gisbon, New Zealand, where she learned about the urgent need for direct surgical care...





