Noma is a terrible flesh-eating bacteria that destroys soft tissue, leaving its few survivors terribly deformed.  Listen to a crewmember’s account of the emotional transformation of seven-year-old Aissa.

Denise Gregory’s dad was an excellent mechanic and handyman.  When she was only four years old, he taught her a lesson in mercy.

Five-year-old Jaka was spinning – around and around, smiling face, arms out.  Suddenly, she stumbled into the cooking fire.  Boiling water spilled over her shoulders, arms and back.

Seventeen-year-old McKenzie Morgan left Laurel, Montana, in a Cessna 172 for her first solo flight with three stops along the way.  But, on the last leg, she accidentally transposed the zero in the GPS heading. 

Mercy Ships volunteers have a passion to serve the poorest of the poor.  Nurse Missy Brown tells why she serves onboard our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy

Dr. Richard Hipp developed a database called SQLite [S-Q-L Lite].  It’s used by some of the biggest names in the computer industry, including Apple.  But he receives no royalty for the millions of copies used.  Why?  He placed it in the public domain. He says, “I never expected to make one penny.  I just wanted to make it available to other people to solve their problem.”

In Africa, cataracts are the leading cause of reversible blindness due to lack of healthcare.  Mercy Ships writer Catherine Murphy describes a Congolese patient named Marcel. 

Volunteer Laurin deals with the mechanical side of our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy.  But he was asked to be part of a team to escort a patient named Sambany back home after a free surgery to remove a 16-pound tumor.  It was quite an experience!

There’s an amazing multi-generational community located in the heart of Easthampton, Massachusetts.  It’s called Treehouse, and it’s the brainchild of Judy Cockerton. 

Our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, returned to Benin in 2016 – seven years after its previous visit.  Former patients were invited to come back to meet with us.  Kirstie Randall, our Medical Capacity-Building Director, described her expectations for the reunion