Sinclair and Cathy Carter will fly to China in the next couple of weeks to volunteer on the Global Mercy hospital ship. Photo / Supplied
The thought of being in Africa on the brink of a global pandemic outbreak is enough to give many the shivers.
But one Whangamatā couple who found themselves in that exact situation are getting ready to go back.
In February last year, semi-retired Kathy and Sinclair Carter decided it was time to "give back" and use the skills they had picked up over their lives for good.
They boarded the Africa Mercy, along with 450 other volunteer crew, on route to Senegal in West Africa to help roll out medical care to vulnerable villages in the country.
Each year, about 40 Kiwis set sail as cooks, engineers, nurses, tradies and surgeons.
Cathy, who came from a nursing and administration background, and Sinclair with decades of engineering experience, were both crucial assets to the ship.
Mercy ships are volunteer-based hospital ships that offer life-saving surgeries and essential healthcare to the world's poorest and most marginalised.
Since the charity started in 1978, more than 2.8 million people have been helped with close to 500,000 dental procedures and more than 100,000 essential surgeries performed in Africa.
They have also trained about 42,000 local professionals in the vulnerable communities to provide healthcare while Mercy Ships are not in the area.
"Words can't even describe it," Kathy told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend about the things she saw on the ground in Senegal last year.
"I'd never seen anything like it before."
In sub-Saharan Africa, only 7 per cent of the population had access to essential surgery.
Volunteers saw first-hand the impact small deformities - that were normally corrected from birth back home - could have on those who had never received treatment.
Africa was a highly superstitious continent and some health conditions meant they were "shunned from their communities", she said.
Untreated conditions were far-reaching in African populations with many waiting years for Mercy Ships to pull up in a dock nearby to receive treatment.
From removing benign tumours and severe hernias to giving people their eyesight back with the help of ophthalmic surgeons - the work of medical volunteers was significant for thousands.
Kathy said she met many in the sub-Saharan continent who had suffered such severe cleft lip and cleft palate that they had been "malnourished" their entire lives.
She had even seen people who had been born with severely bowed legs treated and put through rehabilitation to walk for the first time, she said.
"It's truly life-changing."
The crew had "just got into the rhythm of things" when Covid-19 began sweeping across the globe last year.
Kathy said it had been "a crazy time" with the crew quickly deciding to pack up and leave to Tenerife as word spread of how devastating the virus could be for vulnerable African communities.
She said it was an "anxious time" because they were worried about the risk of Covid-19 to those in the villages.
"No one knew where we'd end up. But we knew we were in the safest place we could be as no one was coming onboard."
As borders started shutting, about 200 crew ended up leaving the ship - leaving only 200 to run the massive vessel.
The devastation of what was happening back home still hit for many, with crew losing family members and friends to the virus while stuck on the ship, she said.
"We were just thankful we were okay."
The couple kept in close contact with their three adult children back home and made the decision not to rush back.
She said they knew there was "essential" work to be done so they extended their three-month stay on the ship to nine months before returning to New Zealand in late October.
They returned to "a different place than the one we left" but weeks after being home, the couple were already planning their next volunteer voyage.
The Africa Mercy was returning to Senegal in April to finish the surgical schedules that were paused last year, however, an opportunity arose for the Carters to join the "maiden voyage" of the Mercy Ship's newest hospital ship the Global Mercy.
The 37,000-ton vessel had just been built in China and required a crew of about 600 to complete its services in Africa.
It would double the charity's capacity in providing healthcare in developing nations and will be the world's largest civilian hospital ship and the only one to be purpose-built with designated donations.
The Carters would fly to China in the next few weeks and complete three weeks of isolation before joining the ship on its trip to Belgium for six months.
Hospital decks and operating theatres would be outfitted there with specialised equipment before heading to West Africa early next year.
Although the Carters would not be on the ship for its Africa Voyage, Cathy said they planned to join a vessel to get back there when they could.
When asked how they felt about heading out into the world again after last year's tumultuous experience, Kathy said they were "really pragmatic" about it.
"We have learned so much about the virus as a crew and know the precautions in keeping the ship safe. China's case numbers have dropped a lot and the risk is low."
She said it was a case of the "right place and the right time" that led the duo to get into volunteering and they were "ready to serve again".
Mercy Ships needed volunteers from "all walks of life" now more than ever before.
Mercy Ships New Zealand volunteer recruiter Sharon Walls said it was "inspiring" to meet people like the Carters with a "Kiwi can-do attitude and compassion for people in need".
"Our hospital ships need more than medics to provide essential healthcare. Mariners, tradies, IT professionals and others volunteer for months or even years at a time. People from all walks of life play important roles onboard the Mercy Ships, it's all hands on deck really."
She said without compassionate volunteers, they could not provide the services needed for Africa's "most vulnerable".
"The backlog of people waiting for surgery everywhere has escalated since Covid-19, not just in New Zealand, but globally.
"The greatest impact of this backlog in a post-Covid world will be in developing nations where access to essential surgery is already extremely limited. Imagine if your child's only chance for eye surgery, or to have their cleft lip and palate reconstructed, or their bowed legs corrected, was indefinitely postponed.
"That is a lot of additional pain and the need to do what we can to alleviate this suffering has never been greater. That is why Mercy Ships has doubled our capacity with the second hospital ship Global Mercy, to provide more surgery and increase training on the ground. So now we need twice as many huge-hearted volunteers to join us to double the hope we can offer."
The airport is built on land confiscated by the Crown in 1866.