Dancing Again

A couple of months ago I wrote about the VVF surgeries performed on board while the ship was in Benin. You can read that story here and here.

Now we're in Liberia and there's a whole new group of women receiving surgery during our 3 month period here, 32 in all. These surgeries not only help the women with their physical problem but for many it restores dignity to their life.

"On Tuesday morning, the ward onboard the Anastasis resounded with drumbeat, song, and dance. Five Liberian women in bright new dresses with matching headscarves, surrounded by nurses and newly-made friends from the ship’s crew, prepared to return home. They are among the 32 women receiving treatment onboard the Mercy Ship for vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF), a condition of incontinence caused by obstructed childbirth. "

"Mercy Ships is also partnering with a Liberian surgeon to help women living with VVF in northern Liberia. Dr. Willacor, surgeon at Ganta United Methodist Hospital near the border with Guinea, repairs fistulas but performs relatively few operations because many women cannot afford $150 US to pay for surgery. At the recent Mercy Ships screening at Ganta Hospital in March, HealthCare Services Administrator Norma Forrest promised to find funding for 15 women to receive surgery – a total of $2250 US."

"Each week, the crew of the Anastasis makes a donation to a specific cause and, on April 7, Forrest nominated the Ganta VVF surgeries. Crewmembers – despite being unpaid volunteers supported by the donations of others – gave $5,461."

"Visiting surgeons from around the world are completing six weeks of VVF surgery onboard the Mercy Ship during the present three-month field service phase. More surgeries will be scheduled when the ship returns to Liberia in November for seven months. "

You can read the whole story from our communications department here.