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Mercy Ships

Crew a hospital ship

Hospital ships dock in West and Central African ports for months at a time providing free surgery — cleft lip, cataract, tumour, obstetric fistula, orthopaedic — and training local surgeons and anaesthetists while alongside. Crew includes cooks, deckhands, teachers, and engineers, not only clinicians.

ProvisionalMedical & public healthInterdenominational
Visit organizationmercyships.org ↗

Why this is listed

Roughly half the roles on board are non-medical, so a welder or a schoolteacher can serve inside a surgical programme — and the surgeon training means the capacity stays after the ship sails. Crew cover their own travel and monthly fees, so check the costs before you apply.

How to start

  1. Open volunteer.mercyships.org (opens an external site) and read what Mercy Ships says about itself before you read anything else.
  2. Check the time it asks for: months.
  3. Look at the filings below, then decide. Numbers are context, not a verdict.
  4. Tell your church. Going out is rarely meant to be done alone.

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Something to read, watch or listen to before you show up. From Ripened Harvest; the picks change each day.

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