by Brenda van Straten | May 19, 2020 | Patient Stories, Volunteer Stories
South African Physical Therapist Michelle White says that working for Mercy Ships has been on her radar since graduation. Now a reoccurring volunteer, Michelle shares that, “on the ship we are able to offer high quality treatment to patients – it is probably the...
by Brenda van Straten | Apr 7, 2020 | Patient Stories
Marie Madeleine is incredibly smart. In addition to speaking Wolof and French, this 13-year-old is learning English on top of her studies. She loves school, but there is one class she cannot participate in—physical education. As her classmates run around the yard,...
by Brenda van Straten | Jan 28, 2020 | Patient Stories
“When I was 12, I saw a woman on TV … her suitor had burned her with acid. Her face had become fused to her neck, so she could never look a person in the eye.” Dr. Odry Agbessi mimics the condition, tucking her chin in close to her throat. “There was not one plastic...
by Brenda van Straten | Jan 10, 2020 | Patient Stories
Before her tumor, Seny was studying economics at the University of Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. With goals to graduate and get a job in finance, the future looked bright for this highly intelligent young woman. Then, suddenly, a small bump appeared on the inside of...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 27, 2019 | Patient Stories
Sometimes the biggest change we see in our patients has nothing to do with the medical condition our volunteers treated. After free surgery onboard the Africa Mercy, Isatu is healing on the inside and the outside. No “thank you” could ever mean as much as...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 27, 2019 | Patient Stories
At 3 years old, cataracts caused Monique’s world to fade. Now 10, she is shy & timid, staying at home with her grandmother instead of going to school. Monique, eye patient, at her home before surgery. At 6 years old, she had almost lost her sight completely. She...
