Mercy’s On the Way

July 17, 2007: Our program was a true Rotary service topic: bringing medical assistance to the needed, particularly in Africa. Rick and Linda Snider, Resource Development Officers of Mercy Ships gave us a heartwarming and encouraging picture of the work of this organization. Mercy Ships is a private, non-denominational group that was established in 1978 and sending hospital ships to the forgotten poor of the world since then. Their newest ship Africa Mercy was commissioned a year ago. A 25 year old vessel, it spent 8 years in dry-dock being rebuilt from a drive-on ferry ship to a state-of-the-art hospital with 450 cabins and 80 hospital beds. Manned almost totally by a volunteer crew of seaman, doctors, and nurses it can in short order be docked where the greatest need exists and operate for 10 months of the year. The group has had 4 ships since its inception, but 3 have been retired. The Snyder’s lived for 5 years on one of the earlier ships as part of the support team.

In Africa there is one doctor for 30,000 people and one surgeon for 2 million. On board, the staff regularly performs operations. Among the most common are eye surgery, birth defects such as cleft palate, and major facial tumors and disfigurations, all common to persons in that part of the globe. Other medical procedures include prosthetics, repair of club foot, and help for polio victims, a major Rotary project. Forty-five percent of the population in Sierra Leone is under the age of 15 and huge numbers need medical care.

Rick Snider, president of the Lexington, NC Rotary Club, urged our club and individual members to give support to this humanitarian project. He may be contacted by email: [email protected]; by phone: 336-249-4502. The web site is: www.mercyships.org.

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee