"When I was in medical school I had what I thought was a crazy dream of having a small boat with an operating theatre, sailing to small islands and performing surgery for people who had no way of accessing health care. Then one day I was having one of those conversations and was asked what I would do if I could anything. I shared my secret dream, only to be told there actually was a ship with multiple operating theatres sailing to the poorest nations and providing free surgery," she says.
"I was stunned. I could not believe that someone else had that same dream. I started to do some investigation into this hospital ship and almost fell off my chair when I saw what an incredible thing this was."
"Then it just flowed from there. Everywhere I turned I would come across the Mercy Ship. I even found it in a book I was reading called Is that really you God. There was the whole story about how Mercy Ships was formed and about the founder, Don Stephens. On the last day before my final medical school examination, I was listening to the radio while studying and heard that Don Stephens was actually in Australia at the time and was to speak the Golf Club down the road from where I was. Call that God's timing!
"So, on the last day of my exams I went and heard him speak about the work of Mercy Ships. I went up to him and said hello, and told him that one day he would see me on the ship. I had a feeling that God really was behind this."
Nerida had assisted in a number of operations as part of her work throughout the area health network from Taree to Belmont, and sought more opportunities in surgery before heading to Togo via Paris. As with all of the volunteers, she paid her own way to get there and crew fees while onboard to help offset the ship's running costs. She now hopes to receive further training in Plastic Surgery and gain solid qualifications that will enable her to use the skills to show mercy to others.
Mercy Ships is a global charity that has operated hospital ships in developing nations since 1978 providing free health care and community development services to the forgotten poor. Following the example of Jesus, Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the poor. Working in partnership with local people, Mercy Ships empowers communities to help themselves. The result is a way out of poverty.
Since 1978, volunteers serving with Mercy Ships have had an impact on the lives of millions of people in the world's poorest nation. Mercy Ships has provided services valued at more than $800 million.
- Performed more than 47,000 operations such as cleft lip and palate, cataract removal, orthopaedic reconstruction and obstetric fistula repair.
- Treated more than 485,000 people in village medical clinics.
- Performed more than 205,000 dental treatments.
- Taught over 16,000 local health care and professional workers, who have in turn trained many thousands in primary health care.
- Trained local medical professionals in modern health care techniques.
- Completed more than 1,100 community development projects focusing on water and sanitation, education, infrastructure development and agriculture.
- Demonstrated the love of God to people in 70 different nations.
- More than 1,200 volunteers from more than 40 nations serve with Mercy Ships each year.
The emphasis is on the needs of the world's poorest nations in West Africa, where the world's largest charity hospital ship Africa Mercy provides the platform for services extending up to ten months at a time. Mercy Ships works on land-based projects in Sierra Leone in partnership with other organisations, while teams also work in several nations of Central America and the Caribbean. Mercy Ships Australia, one of 14 international support offices is based on the Queensland Sunshine Coast.
On the web: www.mercyships.org.au