Mercy Ships Projects

Hi there! I thought I would let you know a bit about the other projects that Mercy Ships are involved with, although the medical focus is strong, there is plenty more going on off the ship!

One of the Mercy Ships projects is the construction of a maternity hospital here in Tema. A team of very hard working guys are spending their buisness hours in the hot sun digging holes, pouring cement and generally constructing a ward along side local labourers. It is a big job, especially in the heat and will hopefully be finished later in the year.



The water team are aiming to drill 30 wells, and construct hundreds of latrines during our time in Ghana, working alongside the government and community members to ensure the skills are passed on. The team also includes an educator, who goes into the local communities and schools to teach and encourage better sanitation and hygiene practices. I was lucky enough on one of my days off to go with the Water and Sanitation team to a village 2 hours north of Tema where they are in the process of constructing a well. It was great to get out and see what the other departments are up to.

The village is really neat, and will benefit greatly from having a clean water supply within walking distance. We certainly take for granted the fact we have drinking water come out of our taps at the turn of a knob! It is estimated that having latrines within a village can reduce disease within a community by around 70%, so It is certainly a worthwhile project.

Another project Mercy Ships is working on is a bee keeping programme. The Community Development team has trained about 52 women in bee keeping, and on Weds 30 August, a friend and I will be heading out with CDS to help with some community teaching around bee safety. This will be great - and the project will give a number of women greater earning capacity. I will post some more info about the bee keeping programme after my trip in August.

So as you can see, the ward and the medical work is just a part of the work Mercy Ships does here in West Africa. Thanks again for your interest, hope you are all well, Soph!