Mercy Ships. Teaching about malaria. Would you volunteer?

As mentioned in a previous post, on 25th October Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, visited the world’s largest charity hospital ship in Sierra Leone as part of her tour of the country.  The 16,000 tonne Africa Mercy is in its eighth month of a 10-month field service in Sierra Leone, a country the charity has visited seven times over the last 19 years providing free medical care and humanitarian aid.  

Since February, Mercy Ships volunteer medical teams in Sierra Leone have performed more than 2,700 surgeries and 28,700 dental procedures and worked extensively with the Ministry of Health and local hospitals to focus on capacity building and the training of local doctors, anaesthetists, nurses and other health professionals.

5 year old Emmanuel who had surgery for a cleft lip.



I noticed this video because the teaching they are doing on malaria is very similar to the way we do it and it emphasises the importance of mosquito nets (with a small boy acting as the insect!). The government has begun to distribute nets for free and many of the community we serve have them. The teaching is important because people do not always use them correctly. Some wrap the net around them, which allows the insects to reach their skin. Some have used the nets for fishing!

Much of the video invites people to volunteer to work with Mercy Ships. This blog is read in many countries and some of my readers may want to do this.  The volunteer crew pay their own airfare and crew fees to cover the cost of their time on board.

Water Filters up and running!

It has taken some time to see the pictures of these filters in operation, but they have been up and running for a while. The school needed to buy some locally available plastic containers. Untreated water is poured in at the top and clean drinking water comes out of the tap. The children in the school are drinking safe and good tasting water in greater quantities which will prevent sickness and dehydration.

The system as it was before. Hard work and not very clean water!

But now -



Freetown Children's Hospital gets important visitors

When we visited earlier in the year we were very pleased to be welcomed as a team to the Children's Hospital in Freetown. But the important visitors I am writing about were not us! 

Since April 2010 when the free health initiative was introduced, the results have been amazing. It is reported that in the first month, antenatal clinics in Freetown saw seven times more women than they had before and 179 per cent more children visited health centres.


A hospital doctor, Dr David Baion, has said that since health care was free the number of children dying on the wards has actually halved. This was because people were presenting themselves quicker. They were coming to the hospital when still treatable. In our Community Healthcare teaching we were asked to emphasise the importance of taking children early for treatment.

We were welcomed and shown around by Dr. Fred Martineau, who works at the hospital as part of the Welbodi Partnership team.  Welbodi is the Krio word for Health and the Partnership, which has its base in England, supports the provision of paediatric care in Sierra Leone and helps the Ola During Children's Hospital deliver quality services to its patients.


They do this by working in collaboration with the hospital management and staff and with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to identify priorities and develop solutions. The work began in Sierra Leone in 2007.

Fred is a trainee paediatrician from the UK who is volunteering in Sierra Leone from 2010-2011. In addition to clinical work in multi-ethnic communities in Bristol and East London, he has worked with organisations supporting the health needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. He trained at Bristol University, has a BSc in International Health from UCL and a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from Liverpool. He is a Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

A home-made Triage sign in the entrance to the hospital. Triage  is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. In spite of the benefits of free health care, it is still impossible to treat everyone efficiently due to shortage of materials and of staff.

We were invited to give blood. There was not enough time for everyone to do so, and we were assured that the needles were sterile! Sarah and Sam volunteered.

And now the really important visitors. Princess Anne, the Princess Royal and her husband visited the hospital a couple of days ago and met some of the patients.   I understand her visit has been prompted by the 50th Anniversary of Independence for the country.

Unlike us, she has also managed to visit the Mercy Ship which is still anchored in Freetown.

Ali, a volunteer nurse on the ship, has said "When she did arrive, Princess Anne was lovely. She met the two patients we had picked out for her, and then just kept right on going around that side of the ward and met all the rest of them, too. I got trapped in a corner, and so when she got around to the lady in Bed Twelve, I was the one the princess turned to when she asked about the patient's surgery.

I got to talk to the princess, bright blue scrubs and all. I've done come crazy things here on this ship, but explaining oro-nasal fistula surgery to the daughter of the Queen of England? That's right up there with the rest of them."

Looking to add more clients to our Micro-Enterprise group!

Really glad that through the generosity of supporters we are able to send £600 to Freetown today, which will set up a further four people in their own business. The administrator of the scheme,  Albert  Lebbie will have more to do but I am sure he will be delighted to help more of his countrymen into self-sufficiency.

Albert Lebbie, given the name Barnabas at his baptism. Barnabas has the meaning "Son of Encouragement" and he has the job of encouraging his clients in their business ventures.

Micro-enterprise is up and running. Meet our first five clients.

I am delighted to introduce the first clients in our micro-enterprise scheme. They have each been awarded One Million Leones (£140) to get their own businesses off the ground.  This will help them to serve their communities and be able to provide for their families in a sustainable way.

Abu Sesay

Abu is a 57 year old man, who describes himself as a petty trader. He is married to Nyamday and together they support six children and dependents. He lives in Looking Town and is selling basic domestic items which will save people from having to walk long distances to purchase them. Finance generated will help to educate his children.

Fatamata Conteh

Fatamata (30) lives in Wellington and is married with two children, Hassan and David. She has been in business for the last eight years and has used the loan to purchase equipment to aid in keeping produce cool until needed for her small food outlet.

Emmanuel Conteh

Emmanuel (45) is by trade a Mason who for eight months has run a small cafe, mainly selling cold drinks, in Lunar Street, Kissy. He already had a freezer and crates for storing the drinks, but needed extra tables and chairs to expand the business. Married to Margaret, a seamstress, they have three children, Francis, Jane and Samuela. He hopes that the business will help him to take care of his family and "help some of the immediate needs of the community".

Ramatu Bangura

Ramatu lives in Beccle Street Wellington and describes herself as a petty trader selling items from her home for the local community. She has been doing this for six years and hopes that the loan will enable her to better serve the people by carrying a wider selection of stock and also enable her to meet the basic needs of her family. She has a husband, James, and  five children.

Sama Williams

Sama (60) has been in business for eight months selling basic food condiments. She has some equipment - a table, measuring bottles, pans and cups - but needs a better stock of condiments. Asked how the loan will benefit her she said, "It will help me as bread winner of the family to pay fees for my children and take care of my home. My community will no longer have to walk half a mile to the market."  She supports her husband, three children and a nephew.

It is really good to hear these stories and to know that our generous benefactors are changing lives so dramatically through their giving.  Our grateful thanks go to them.