by Brenda van Straten | Jun 17, 2021 | Patient Stories
On the day he came to Mercy Ships, 12-year-old Sekouba held a weathered picture in his hands. The photograph, with frayed edges and faded color, was of a young boy with an unblemished face smiling brightly at the camera. “This used to be me,” Sekouba said. Only two...
by Brenda van Straten | May 24, 2021 | Patient Stories
Welcoming a new baby into the family should be a time of pure joy and celebration. But for an estimated 100,000 women around the world each year, childbirth instead ended in a devastating injury. Obstetric fistula is a condition that often occurs during prolonged and...
by Brenda van Straten | Mar 10, 2021 | News, Patient Stories
Ly Cheick, a 24-year-old Guinean student, was in the prime of life with plenty of dreams for the future. However, he had a problem — one that was only getting worse over time. He had noticed a bump growing in his mouth that was becoming more and more visible. In 2020,...
by Brenda van Straten | Mar 2, 2021 | Patient Stories, Uncategorized, Video
When 4-year-old Tresor first opened his eyes after the surgery that removed his bilateral cataracts, his anxiety was soon replaced by a beaming smile. After months of slowly losing his eyesight – and facing a future of blindness – Tresor’s wide-eyed...
by Brenda van Straten | Oct 20, 2020 | Patient Stories
When Diacko was about three years old, his legs began to bow. Other kids made fun of him, and soon, even his own friends called him “the bowlegged boy.” It wasn’t until the arrival of the #AfricaMercy in Senegal that Diacko’s mom, Youma,...
by Brenda van Straten | Sep 2, 2020 | Patient Stories
Upon first glance, one might mistake two-year-old Fatou (right) and her four-month-old brother (left) for twins. Born with a cleft palate, Fatou has had difficulty feeding and has not received the proper nutrition a growing baby needs. “I worried about what her...
