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This isn't a photo from the same event, but gives you a feel for our beloved International Lounge. (Photo credit: Lara Arkinstall) |
It starts with a memory from working as one of the ship's Media Liaisons in Cameroon. I was helping coordinate the local media at an on-ship meeting in the International Lounge with the Cameroonian Minister of Health, and I got to listen to a presentation by members of the OR team on board as he affirmed the skill he sees in the Cameroonian surgeons he works with, performing surgeries side-by-side.
The healthcare professionals we encounter are talented, capable, and dedicated, and they are able to do everything our "western" surgeons do in far from optimal conditions.
If Mercy Ships want to do its work with excellence, that means they are constantly on a mission to work themselves out of a job. The goal is not just to help individuals who cannot access safe, affordable medical care, but also to leave a country's leadership better equipped to serve the health of its people than when we arrived...
To this end, Mercy Ships doctors and surgeons partner with local healthcare professionals as part of Mercy Ships' mentoring programs in the operating theaters and at the Ponseti Clinic. Many others have participated in "Train the Trainer" courses, which cover everything from "Essential Surgical Skills" and the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist, to farming techniques that will nourish communities using readily available resources.
These course participants were here before us, and they will stay around after the ship leaves. We're proud to work alongside them for the short time we are there, and you can join us in praying that these programs will have a positive impact on their effectiveness as healthcare professionals.
Below are two videos on Mercy Ships' Medical Capacity Building programs. The first is about a Beninese plastic surgeon who was mentored on the ship. The second follows the WHO Checklist team as they run a training program in a Cameroonian Hospital.
A Beninese volunteer named Eliphaz has been working with Mercy Ships for seven years developing, experimenting, and training others in organic, sustainable farming techniques designed to bolster the health of communities using ready available resources. One Friday, I had the chance to go with a small group from the ship to visit and explore the projects going on. The site was nestled in the backyard of the Archdiocese in a village about an hour outside of Douala called Edéa. Eliphaz greeted his students with the Latin phrase Coram Deo--"In the presence of God".
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(Photo: Shawn Thompson) |
Under one shady structure were neat piles of compost. They then opened up the barn-style doors of a nearby shed to reveal a forest of fast-growing, nutritious mushrooms, planted in bags that hung from the ceiling to protect them from insects.
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The aquaponics setup at the Ag Site. The underground fish tank is to the right of the photographer. (Photo: Shawn Thompson) |
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The Ag Site Students presenting AFM Managing Director, Warrie Blackburn, with a lovely bouquet made entirely of lettuce. Have you ever seen a more genuine gift! (Photo: Shawn Thompson) |
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Agriculture Program Manager Eliphaz Essah (Photo: Shawn Thompson) |
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Inside one of the greenhouses |
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Photo op with the Agriculture Project students (Photo: Shawn Thompson) |