North coast volunteers meet on Mercy Ship in West Africa
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Two volunteers with a north Sutherland connection were amazed when they found themselves on the same ship delivering emergency aid to West Africa.
Mercy Ships is a faith based international development organisation which deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world where they deliver vital free healthcare to people in desperate need.
One of the ships is Africa Mercy, the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, currently finishing a ten month period of field service in Conakry, capital of Guinea in West Africa
On board are two young far north volunteers, Martha Henderson from Thurso and Andrew Sutton from Tongue. Martha, whose parents hail from Skerray, is nearing the end of a two year commitment as senior radiographer and is responsible for CT scans and X-rays on board.
Andrew has taken leave from his job as a commanding officer with Marine Scotland to serve as navigation officer and is preparing to sail the Africa Mercy to the Canary Islands for a period of maintenance on the conclusion of of its present project.
Martha, who first served on the Africa Mercy for six months when it was stationed in Togo in 2013, and has also worked in Benin, Congo and Cameroon, was delighted to find another North Coast native among the 450 crew.
She said: "It was really remarkable to meet Andrew on board. I didn’t expect to run in to someone from Tongue in West Africa of all places! We both care very much for the work of the organisation but have never worked together until now."
Andrew is also a veteran volunteer. He said: "I’ve previously served for three short-term placements of up to eight weeks and was delighted to be able to respond to the present request to take up the vacancy for a deck officer. The purpose of Mercy Ships is to bring hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor and it’s good to be part of that."
Africa Mercy provides free medical, surgical and dental care for those who would otherwise not have access to treatment. Procedures performed include removing benign facial tumours, cleft lip and palate repair, cataract removal, clubfoot correction, plastic reconstructive surgery, paediatric orthopaedics and treatment for women suffering from injuries caused by childbirth complications.
As well as medical professionals, Mercy Ships rely on volunteers to fill positions such as teachers, cooks, engineers, machinists, welders, plumbers, videographers, writers, electricians, deckhands, carpenters, human resources, finance, supply coordinators and even as hairdressers for the crew.
Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries, providing services valued at more than £1 billion. By improving healthcare delivery in every country it visits, Mercy Ships is working to eradicate the diseases of poverty and effectively do itself out of a job.
The next 10 month field service will start in Senegal in August 2019 and further information, including how to volunteer, may be found at www.mercyships.or.uk
