COURTESY OF MERCY SHIPS
WHAT ARE MERCY SHIPS ?
Floating hospitals that bring free healthcare to impoverished coastal communities around the globe .
HOW CAN ADVISORS GET INVOLVED ?
Advisors can email Corporate . partnerships @ mercyships . org for more information on how to get involved .
Dr . Wodome performs a cataract surgery .
greatly from destination to destination ,” said Villa . To help meet the demands of specific communities , critical surgical needs are determined around two years in advance to give the team time to prepare . Villa cited cleft lip and palate , cataracts , bowed legs , burns and scars , dental issues and obstetric fistula repair for injuries sustained during childbirth as common medical problems treated by personnel aboard the African Mercy .
“ Many of these ailments are extremely severe because patients have had little prior access to medical care ,” said Villa . “ In addition , people with disfiguring medical conditions have often been shunned by their communities , so medical treatment from Mercy Ships can also help relieve the stigma and isolation that they have experienced .”
In addition to providing life-saving surgeries while docked , Mercy Ships invests in local surgical infrastructure to ensure residents can continue to receive care long after a ship leaves the port . To achieve this , development teams associated with the non-profit work alongside local leaders , governments and national ministries of
health to determine surgical infrastructure needs and create projects that will support the surgical ecosystem in a partner hospital . Additionally , Mercy Ships offers medical professional monitoring and training courses both on the ship and in-country to help improve the quality of services across each hospital .
While medical professionals like surgeons , dentists and nurses are always a hot commodity , there are so many ways for people to get involved with Mercy Ships , including travel advisors .
“ We have like-minded affiliate organizations who assist our travelers globally with the process of getting to and from field service ,” said Villa . “ These partners fill our specific niche in being able to move hundreds of travelers from international origins to where we serve patients — often in commercially underserved regions .”
As for those hoping to roll up their sleeves and help , Villa noted there are several volunteer opportunities where knowledge of travel is beneficial , such as administration or reception . When asked if there was anything she
Mercy Ships ’ Cecilia Villa .
wanted advisors to know , Villa pointed out that the logistics of these types of trips are far different from the average vacation , but the trouble is well worth it in the end .
“ When people sign up to serve with Mercy Ships , getting them from place to place is a different process than the leisure travel sphere . We ’ re sending our travelers to be of service in locations many people would not choose to go on vacation , so there are often more logistics that go into booking that travel ,” said Villa . “ Despite it sometimes requiring more research and consultation on the agency ’ s end — and flight time on the traveler ’ s end — it ’ s an incredibly worthwhile endeavor to be able to help people get to where they can do the most good .”
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