Almost 5 years and 5 countries: Togo, Guinea, Congo-Brazzaville, Madagascar and next up Benin........

January 2012 I gave up my job as an NHS consultant to work as an anaesthetist with Mercy Ships in West Africa. Now almost 5 years later - THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has donated time and money to make this possible.

In the last three years Mercy Ships has transformed from primarily just doing surgeries to now doing training. We aim to train the 'surgical ecosystem' and leave a lasting impact. 

You can follow my public blog each month www.drmichelleonboard.blogspot.com or contact me directly for a more personal newsletter

So I am looking to raise support for another 6 months until January 2017.

Mercy Ships aims to use hospital ships to transform individuals (surgery and healthcare education) and serve nations one at a time. So we only enter a country at the invitation of the President and work closely with the Ministry’s of Health and Social Affairs to bring hope and healing to some of the poorest people on earth.

We perform surgeries for facial disfigurement, maxilla-facial and orthopaedic conditions, reconstructive plastic surgery for injuries such as burns or congenital malformations, general surgical problems, eye diseases, dental problems, and for women with child birth injuries (fistula surgery).  

Our medical capacity building program (training) aims to train the whole ‘surgical ecosystem’.  By this we mean all those involved in the care of the surgical patient from Surgeons, Anesthesia, Nursing, Sterile Processing, to Radiology and Medical Leadership. We provide mentoring programs, educational courses and observational opportunities. We work with Lifebox to promote the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and are pioneering new ways of implementing this tool in low income countries.

I am not paid a salary. I have to raise my own sponsorship to cover my living costs and maintain my professional UK medical qualifications. If you give to Mercy Ships using this Justgiving page it will be processed by Mercy Ships to pay my Africa Mercy Crew Fees, insurance, flights etc (ie my living costs).  Every penny counts. I am grateful for everything. Thank you for helping me to help the people of West & Central Africa.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.