AFRICA MERCY

Megan Ellis is a nurse, currently employed on the orthopaedic operating ward of a local private hospital.

When she applied for a volunteer position with Mercy Ships in 2018, she never imagined she’d be stepping onto the deck of the Africa Mercy less than a year later.

She had initially planned on joining the Mercy crew for three weeks, but this quickly turned into a longer stay.

After applying, and being accepted, for the position of operating room nurse on the ship, Megan said she was asked to join the Africa Mercy a week earlier than she’d planned.

With her leave approved, she agreed to leave early and found herself at Brisbane International Departures on January 5, heading for Guinea, Africa.

“I arrived after approximately 38 hours of travel,” Megan said.

A week after her arrival, she was asked to fill the spot of someone who’d cancelled and her Mercy trip turned into six weeks.

“My sister joked and said next time I’ll tell them I’ll be there for two years,” she said.

The Africa Mercy has a crew of about 400 people from roughly 46 nations serving on board at any given time, but Megan said she shared the ship with about 34 other Aussies.

“I’d never been on a ship before, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Megan admitted, adding that she had the impression of a hostel dormitory when she first arrived.

The vessel has 481 rooms and can accommodate families and couples, as well as individuals in either shared or single cabins.

“There are lots of areas to lounge or spend time in, including the top deck and the pool.

“Many families on board have open cabins and will host afternoon teas once or twice a month, so everyone can get together,” Megan said.

The crew is provided with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and can have filtered water, tea, coffee and milk 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Living so closely with so many people, the potential for making new friends and building professional relationships is enormous.

“I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people and I’ve made quite a few friends who I know will be friends for life,” Megan said.

Some of the surgeons she worked with have even offered to act as referees in any job opportunities that may come Megan’s way.

Another benefit to meeting new people from all over the world, Megan said, is that she can learn about the health systems of other countries.

She is also picking up new skills, like learning French and working in new medical disciplines.

“I’ve been working in areas I’ve never worked in at home, let alone seen,” she said, listing craniofacial, plastics, and maxillo–facial as some of the new job experiences she’s had.

The Africa Mercy docked at Guinea in August last year, and is providing free surgical and dental care for thousands of people, training local healthcare workers, renovating local facilities, and more.

According to Megan, the Mercy Ships model is based on the 2000–year–old teachings of Jesus, to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor of the world.

“As many as five billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia services worldwide, and

The poor don’t need our pity; they need our love and compassion.

— MOTHER TERESA

less than six per cent of all operations are delivered to the world’s poorest countries,” she said.

Since 1978, Mercy Ships have delivered services to more than 2.71 million people, with volunteers like Megan providing free surgical procedures, like cataract removal, lens implants, tumour removal, facial reconstruction, cleft lip and palate reconstruction, orthopaedics, obstetric fistula repairs, dental care, and more.

But, sadly, the Mercy Ships cannot always help everyone.

“In the first few weeks after the ship arrives, there is a screening process where thousands of people are seen by a handful of nurses, who often have about 30 seconds to a couple of minutes to decide whether these people can be treated,” Megan said.

She explained that the patients are accepted based on whether or not there is a surgeon or team on board capable of operating on the particular ailment and whether or not the ship has reached its capacity on that particular operating list.

“Often, people are turned away. “The hardest ones are those that can be helped but can’t be fit into the schedule (the ship docks for only 10 months), or could have been helped, had there been a specialist on board.

“Some people wait years, visiting the ports the ship may dock in, in the hope that they’ll be saved.”

In the event a patient cannot be treated, due to the advanced stage of their disease or affliction, the ship provides a chaplain and palliative team to make their last days as comfortable as possible.

“For many people, the Africa Mercy is their last hope,” Megan said. Referring to the TV show The

Surgery Ship, which follows the medical staff and patients of the Africa

Mercy and tells their stories, Megan believes the show will be an eye–opener for many.

“On board, a crew of world–class medical volunteers from across the globe face the biggest challenges of their lives, working to provide lifesaving surgeries to those with nowhere else to turn.

“I’ve never seen diseases and tumours like the ones I’ve seen on my field service, while volunteering. “You see lives transformed. “You can see the difference in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos and in their eyes; the happiness and acceptance.”

Megan returned to Australia in mid–February, a changed person.

“I can’t comment on what the influence of the ship will have on me, but I know being back at work won’t be the same,” she said.

She will be completing a university course in clinical nursing and teaching and said she will be back on the Africa

Mercy for nine weeks in 2020, when it docks in Senegal.

“Mother Teresa said ‘the poor don’t need our pity; they need our love and compassion’,” Megan quoted.