What is left behind

As a part of serving with Mercy Ships, we are learning about sustainability, or capacity building.

The Africa Mercy will leave Guinea in June.  What will we leave behind?

Capacity building is important, and Mercy Ships is involved in lots of different areas.
The Food for Life program trains people in agriculture at a site about four hours upcountry from the ship.  There is a lot of education and training here.

One program that I've learned about is how they treat club foot.  Club foot is a treatable birth defect where one or both feet are twisted inward and down, making it very painful or impossible to walk.  In developing countries, people are unable to work or have a normal life.

One patient in casts

Physical therapists from the ship work with children with club feet using the Ponseti treatment.  They use a series of casts, physical therapy and a special brace.

This is pretty exciting itself, seeing the lives that are changed.  But they are also training local people to be able to treat future patients with this same technique.

After they are finished straightening the feet with the series of casts, the kids have to wear a brace.
They first wear the brace all the time, and gradually need to wear it only when they are sleeping.

One of these braces costs about 200 US dollars.  That is an impossible amount for most people here.
One of the Africa Mercy Deck crew workers started making braces out of scrap metal for about $20.
He has taught local people how to make these braces. That's creative, practical sustainability!

The doll with a brace- one of the favorite toys!

Now the people of Guinea have their own trained therapists and a small business for making affordable  braces!


Debbie