Africa Mercy
Blogs
The long drive home
Ever been on holiday at the other end of the country, and then driven home to Gauteng, all in one go? It’s like the trip just never ends, and as you drive through the different landscapes, the mood and alertness levels vary. When you’re driving up or down a mountain pass, and it’s rainy and […]
Week 36 random recap: rabbit feet and a cat burglar
There’s a lot of animal action around the neighbourhood at the moment. In particular in the wee hours of the night. It seems that the creatures have also emerged from lockdown and are using the property’s borders as a highway to move between appointments. Or perhaps it’s just that time of year, and I haven’t […]
Writing Samples
All Aissatou hoped for
When shy and reserved 45-year-old Aissatou heard a radio broadcast about Mercy Ships pending arrival in Senegal, she immediately told her husband Samba. She knew a surgery to mend her cleft lip would change many things in her life. “If they fix my lips, I will have health. With my mouth like this, dust and […]
Double the trouble, twice the joy
It’s easy to tell the five-year-old twin’s apart once you have the opportunity to get to know their personalities – Ousseynou is outgoing and cheeky, while Assane is quiet and reserved. If you were seeing them for the very first time though, and you didn’t know that Ousseynou has a little scar on his forehead, […]
At the beginning of 2020 I decided to take a little time out from my ‘normal’ life and volunteer my time and writing skills to an incredible humanitarian healthcare initiative, Mercy Ships, that operates in West Africa. My purpose onboard was to capture the stories of patients, volunteers, medical capacity building (MCB) programs and MCB participants.
I boarded Africa Mercy (in the Port of Dakar, Senegal) on 17 January 2020 expecting to spend months and months with the ship. Unfortunately two short months later COVID-19, and its impact on most of the world, meant that Mercy Ships had to wind down its field service in Senegal. As a result, I have returned to South Africa and will work remotely, until I can rejoin the ship once it is able to resumes its field service.
In the meantime, I’ll work on non ship-related writing and editing assignments, fundraising activities, and continue to share my thoughts and experiences here on this site.
Everything communicated here reflects my own personal opinion and is neither reviewed nor endorsed by Mercy Ships.
