by Mel | Aug 3, 2022 | Blogs, Stories, Volunteers
Donna Makoboka’s story with Mercy Ships began in 1993. At the time, Donna was working as a teacher in her home country of South Africa. One day, while travelling by taxi, disaster struck. One of the taxi wheels broke off. Within moments, Donna found herself in a...
by Mel | Jul 6, 2022 | Blogs, Medical, Stories, Volunteers
Achi Kushnir had a revelation while taking some time off to volunteer with Mercy Ships. “I was contemplating a lot about my path so far, and where I want to go from here,” he said. “I don’t want this to be a sabbatical year; I want this to be my real path from now...
by Kaylee | Jul 14, 2021 | Blogs, Stories
Recently thirty-three health care professionals, including pharmacists, nurses, doctors and social workers, attended the second Palliative Care Medical Capacity Building Program presented by Mercy Ships in Senegal. Here they learned how to better comfort, care for,...
by Kaylee | Jul 14, 2021 | Patients, Stories, Women
Despite working in the medical field in Cameroon for over 17 years, Fanta was too frightened to seek treatment for a tumour under her right arm. For nearly 10 years, she learned to strategically hide the tumour under draped shawls while she worked, refusing to have it...
by Kaylee | Jul 14, 2021 | Children, Patients, Stories
If not for his surgery this morning, Elodie’s son, Emmanoel, would have died by suffocation before his third birthday. A tumor in his mouth cut off his airway to the point that he was passing out three times a day. Emmanoel’s shallow and labored breathing sounded like...
by Kaylee | Jul 14, 2021 | Children, Patients, Stories
There is an imaginary line that goes down the middle of Delamou’s face. It is the line between his “good side” and his “bad side,” between beauty and stigma. On the right is a sweet seven-year-old-boy-smile, and on the left is an area of tissue between his eye, nose...
by Kaylee | Jul 13, 2021 | Children, Patients, Stories
Four years ago, a little girl named Jaka was spinning around in circles with some other children while her mother was at the market. Around and around, arms out, chin up, her face full of smiles. Tragically, when Jaka lost her balance, she plummeted into her aunt’s...
by Kaylee | Jul 13, 2021 | Children, Patients, Stories
Cyrus was 18 months old and suffered from a cystic hygroma. When local medical people said they could do nothing for Cyrus, his parents travelled to a Mercy Ships screening to see if they could remove the tumour protruding from the infant’s neck. “When I first saw the...
by Kaylee | Jul 13, 2021 | Patients, Stories, Women
Awa has lived with her cleft lip for over forty years. Many people could not see past her disfigured mouth, to see the loving wife, mother, and daughter who thrives on making others smile. With no means to pay for an operation, Awa had accepted living with her...
by Kaylee | Jul 13, 2021 | Patients, Stories, Women
At sixteen, Akissi was so excited as she went into labour with her first child. Excitement led to devastation as she struggled for several days and eventually her baby died. Akissi discovered that she now had loss of bladder control and the prospect of not being able...
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