To see modern miracles that take place on the Africa Mercy everyday, click here.
Experience the amazing 3-part story of Aminata and her lifelong friendship with Sandy, a Mercy Ships crew member.
Part I: The Witch of Freetown
Part II: Hope Arrives
Part III: Unconditional Friendship
Watch the Transformation
“Before and after” visuals of patients tell their stories without words. When you see the dramatic changes shown in this video, you will understand how powerful the holistic transformation is in the life of the Africans we serve. In Mercy Ships, we see these transformations every day and want to share the experience with you. To witness the life-changing work of Mercy Ships, click HERE. (Warning: viewer discretion advised)
Richard
Teenage outcast since birth, Richard learns of Mercy Ships who repairs both his cleft lip and self worth. Watch his transformation HERE.
Abel
Young Abel grew up with an unimaginable deformity that resulted in his legs growing backward. Watch his story unfold HERE.
Osman
He sat in the shadows. Nineteen year old Osman had perfected the art of sitting in corners and hiding in shadows. As a baby, he contracted noma, a disease which devours bone and flesh. Noma had eaten away his top lip and left his gums and teeth exposed.
The taunts and perpetual mockery of school-mates made school insufferable for the shy eight year old. After three years he refused to attend any longer. He began a tailoring apprenticeship at his uncle’s shop. There, in the shadows, he felt safe — no one would tease him. There he could hide, face down at his sewing machine.
The years passed and the shy boy became an embarrassed teenager. His parents died and he moved in with his uncle’s family. Ashamed of his appearance, one hand perpetually covered his nose and mouth. Many had never seen the lower part of his face. He never learned to read or write, had few friends, and rarely ventured out. Tucked into the recesses of his tailor shop, with little money and no hope of help, Osman hid from life.
“Osman, Osman!” His aunt Ramatu came running into the shop. “A ship is coming with doctors who can fix your mouth – in two weeks.” Osman blinked, and looked up. “I was nervous…scared.” he remembered. But from that moment, he counted the days.
Two weeks later, Osman stood silently in the long line outside Freetown’s main hospital. “I lost hope because there were so many people.” he recalls. “But then, someone came and took me out of the line to see the doctor.” Dr. Gary Parker, Anastasis Chief Maxillo-facial surgeon remembered Osman. “He was withdrawn, sad, his face a mix of hopelessness and anticipation. He’d had a difficult life and the noma destruction was significant. His entire top lip was gone, yet there was enough remaining tissue in the corners to repair the damage.”
Osman needed three surgeries to recreate a normal mouth. He remembers the joy of returning home. “My aunt started dancing up and down when she saw me. She was so happy…everyone is happy for me. I am not ashamed to go out anymore.” His black eyes shine as he boldly looks up. “I am so thankful to Dr. Gary, to the nurses, to you all, for what you have done for me. I know I am healed – at no charge – because you follow the example of Jesus.”
After years of sitting in the shadows, Osman now ventures out…to the market, to visit friends, to the many places he previously avoided. On his way to work, both hands swing relaxed at his side – no need to hide his face anymore. He smiles and laughs freely. “Here in Sierra Leone, I knew no one could help me. I just hoped in God, that one day He would provide for me — and now he has.”
Story written by: Paula Kirby, February, 1993, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Postscript/October 12, 2011
Alba
Ankosua was outside carefully mixing herbs and water to create a concoction prescribed by a traditional doctor in her village. It was mid-afternoon, and her daughter, eight-year-old Alba, was sitting alone in their home. “She should be at school right now,” she thought. Struggling to hold back tears, she poured boiling water over the crushed herbs and sieved the mixture into a cup.
Two years earlier, an outgoing and vivacious Alba was attending school with her friends. Now, she spent her days hiding in a dark room, too insecure to look people in the eyes.
When the drink had cooled, Ankosua walked inside the home and handed Alba the cup. Taking the cup, Alba tilted her head back, creating a small gap between her cheek and the large tumor that filled her mouth. Slowly, she poured the liquid into the small gap and swallowed in intervals.
While she watched her daughter struggle, Ankosua thought back to the day she first spotted the small bulge on Alba’s gum line. Never could she have imagined the fear and discouragement it would cause her heart.
After Alba had drunk the entire cup, she began crying.
Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into the tear-stained eyes of her daughter. Slowly, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong.
But Ankosua was depressed. Alba had performed this routine hundreds of times, but the tumor hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was growing. At times, it felt like it was shooting out of her mouth, causing her great pain. Ankosua realized the traditional herbs were not working. There were no other options. All she could do was keep trying and pray the herbs would begin to work.
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“When the tumor first appeared, my husband and I took Alba to the hospital, but we didn’t have money to pay for it, so they wouldn’t treat her. We had to use traditional medicine,” said Ankosua. Alba was taken out of school so her mother could give her the traditional medicine daily.
When asked how the community treated Alba, Ankosua stared at the floor and remained silent. After a 10-second pause, she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and she painfully replied, “Some people received Alba with good hands. They prayed for her and encouraged me. But others shunned her. They said, ‘Go away, we don’t want to see you.’”
Whenever it was time to eat or drink, Alba hid herself from other people. If she went out in public, she kept the tumor covered with a rag. It served as a disguise and caught the foul-smelling and constant drainage.
After two years of watching her daughter struggle, a woman in her village told Ankosua of a hospital in Benin that was performing free surgery. Finally – a glimmer of hope! They scrounged to get enough money for transportation and traveled to the hospital, which was hours away.
However, Ankosua’s new-found hope quickly morphed into deep disappointment.
“We were there for two days, and nobody attended to us. I asked a woman who worked there why we weren’t being helped. She said, ‘They don’t do surgery for free, you have to deposit money.’ I trembled when she told me that. I had come with nothing,” said Ankosua sadly.
After Ankosua explained that she had no money for treatment, the woman told her about Mercy Ships. “This woman had heard Mercy Ships was in town, helping people and healing people for free. She gave me directions to the Africa Mercy, and I immediately went,” Ankosua added.
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Still attached to noisy monitors and IV fluids, Alba had been dozing in and out of sleep since returning to the Africa Mercy ward. Finally, a few hours after surgery, she opened her eyes and sat up. Seeing she was awake, Becca, her nurse, came to Alba’s bedside and handed her a small mirror.
Alba looked down, paused in a state of bewilderment, and began touching the empty space on her mouth. The tumor was gone. After 20 seconds of staring, a single tear rolled down her cheek. With great determination, she tried not to cry. But another and then another tear soon followed. Finally, she gave up trying to hold them back and cried freely. Alba’s tears were earned through years of heartache and rejection. They were mature and raw – heavy tears for an eight-year-old to cry.
Ankosua stood next to her bed the entire time, carefully observing her daughter. When Alba began crying, she turned away. Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into her tear-stained eyes. After two hopeless years of discouragement and depression, healing had finally come. The mixture of joy and pain in that moment expressed itself in tears.
When Alba regained her composure, Ankosua returned to the bedside. Carefully, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong. But her heart was too overwhelmed with joy. Tears of relief and joy flooded her eyes as well.
They sat and cried together, each tear serving as a testimony to the transforming power of God’s mercy.