Mercy Ship experience in Africa was inspirational for its US Chief Officer

Virgil Elkinton recently returned to the United States after serving as chief officer on the Africa Mercy. The hospital ship recently completed a tour in Cameroon where doctors and nurses performed 2,743 different operations on West African patients while the hospital ship was docked in Cameroon.

Elkinton, a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, recently volunteered his time for three months to work on the ship and oversee vessel operations.

He is a semi-retired, deep-sea master, maritime consultant presently serving as a ferry captain with HMS Global on the Pierce County Ferries in the state of Washington. HMS Global provided time off and was one of his sponsors for this mission, as all who serve aboard the vessel must pay to be aboard.

Elkinton told AJOT: “This was one of the greatest experiences of my life seeing how this dedicated group of people do so much to help the people of Africa.”

The Africa Mercy is the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship and is dedicated to the continent of Africa. Mercy Ships has an average staff of 450 volunteer crew, from up to 40 nations, serving onboard the Africa Mercy each year. Part of this staff is a full maritime crew.

Mercy Ships works with host nations to strengthen the local healthcare delivery system while serving the surgical needs of the host country. Mercy Ships provides a variety of training opportunities for medical professionals (surgeons, nurses, anesthesia providers, administrators and community health workers). Collaborating with qualified local and international partners, Mercy Ships programs offer holistic support to developing nations.

By 2018, Mercy Ships had provided services and materials in developing nations valued at over $1.43 billion, including the following:

Performed more than 89,000 life-changing or life-saving operations such as cleft lip and palate repair, cataract removal, orthopedic procedures, facial reconstruction and obstetric fistula repair

• Treated over 163,000 dental patients including over 423,000 dental procedures
  
• Trained more than 6,150 local professionals (including surgeons) who have in turn trained many others
  
• Trained over 40,800 local professionals in their area of expertise (anesthesiology, midwifery, sterilization, orthopedic and reconstructive surgery, leadership)
  
• Taught over 223,000 local people in basic healthcare
  
• Completed over 1,100 infrastructure development and agriculture projects
  

Elkinton said: “Mercy Ships is an opportunity to love and to give fully of oneself. It can be quite strenuous. However, in return you fall in love with the mission and the people you work with, and those you serve. Miracles happen daily. You meet and work with some of the finest people from all over the world. Mercy Ships is a community where the presence of the Christ’s Spirit is felt. This is where the energy and healing come from. I encourage any and all mariners, who wish to give back and make a difference, to carve out a small part of your life and consider a 90-day tour aboard a Mercy Ship. Engine room staff and electricians are highly sought after as well as deck officers and ratings.”

Don Stephens formed and led a team that surveyed suitable ocean liners for the dream of a hospital ship to serve the world’s poor. In 1978, the dream became a reality with the purchase of the first ship, the Anastasis. Another milestone was reached in 2007 with the launching of the Africa Mercy, the largest of the four hospital ships operated by Mercy Ships in its 40-year history.

Elkinton said that he was most impressed “by the number of successful fistula operations performed on women whose urinary tract was damaged in child birth and who are treated as pariahs by their families and villages. The operations performed on these women on the Africa Mercy changes their lives and sends them back into their communities as physically and spiritually reborn people. It is a really moving experience. Mercy Ships provides a ‘dress ceremony for these beautiful women when they return to their communities. What a wonderful experience.”

According to Mercy Ships: “Obstetric fistula is a preventable and mostly treatable condition that primarily affects young women from poor backgrounds. Fistula is one of the most devastating of all pregnancy related disabilities. Usually the result of obstructed labor coupled with a lack of skilled medical care, obstetric fistula most often leads to permanent incontinence – a continuous leakage of urine and loss of control over bowel movements.”

Mercy Ships performs free fistula repair operations for affected women. The healed patients are given new dresses and headdresses as symbols of their restored life.

During the 2017-2018 tour doctors on the Africa Mercy performed 278 fistula operations on 246 patients, according to a Mercy Ships spokeswoman.