More than 1, volunteers from 40 nations serve on the faith-based Mercy Ships each year. Volunteers pay their own airfare to and from the ship, plus fund their own room and board while working on the vessel.
Medical workers are not the only volunteers on the floating hospital — there are also cooks, teachers, office workers, etc.
The real story of Mercy Ships is the thousands of volunteers and supporters who are now a part of this journey. You initially lived on the first Mercy Ship, Anastasis , with your wife Deyon and your family for 10 years. How did that impact you as a family?
We moved on board the first hospital ship with our three young children soon after it was purchased in and settled into our square feet of living space. A fourth child was born to us a few years later, and we enjoyed 10 years of living as a family on board ship, before moving to the US to focus on growing the administrative support for Mercy Ships.
Don Stephens talking to a volunteer nurse as he holds a young patient aboard the Africa Mercy. Over the 40 years, what, for you personally, have been the greatest successes of the organisation and its work? There were a few bumps along the road, but together we have overcome them all. I am so thankful and humbled by what we have achieved.
We have seen , life-changing surgical procedures, over 42, local healthcare professionals trained, and over , dental procedures - and we are so grateful for the countless lives who have been impacted. So many people suffer from preventable diseases and lack of safe, surgical care around the globe. We can and will do more to help. We have become more and more effective at what we do. And what about the greatest challenges?
What advantage do you think using ships to deliver aid has as opposed to other means? PIC1 More and more Australians are among as many as serving each year as volunteers short-term or long-term, all paying their own way and raising financial support to do so.
One of the charity's 14 national offices has operated at Caloundra, on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, for eight years. The emphasis now is on the needs of the world's poorest nations in West Africa, where the hospital ship Africa Mercy provides the platform for services extending up to ten months at a time. The Africa Mercy is the world's largest private hospital ship, with 6 operating theatres, a bed hospital, and a crew of A permanent land-based program operates in Sierra Leone, while teams also work in several nations of Central America and the Caribbean.
Mercy Ships offers a range of health and community development services free of charge. Highly skilled surgeons on board the ships perform thousands of operations each year to correct disability, disfigurement and blindness.
Medical and dental teams travel the countries and establish clinics to provide vaccination programs, dental treatment and basic health care for those with no access to these facilities.
Local community health workers receive training in hygiene, nutrition and disease prevention. His wife graduated in from the nursing program at the college. The couple were among the winners of distinguished alumni awards presented by CMU in Stephens said he was inspired to found Mercy Ships by the work of the s-era hospital ship S. In answering the questions Mother Theresa posed, Stephens decided his purpose in life was to launch a hospital ship that would provide medical services to the poor.
Shortly after visiting with Mother Theresa, he began looking for a ship that could be converted into a floating hospital. The Stephens were among the crew of volunteers aboard the ship and lived there with their four children for 10 years.
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