The Kuo family are raising funds to pay their own airfares and living costs as they join the recently deployed mercy ship Global Mercy — a 36,000 gross tonne floating surgical hospital. Maria will serve as the ward clinical supervisor.
As primary caregiver, Fred will cover family responsibilities and is flexible to work in various ship departments that need extra help. With his background in sales, Fred has his eye on the ship shop and café. Lily, Connor and Asher will attend international Christian School for the crew children on board.
After July’s month-long orientation in one of Mercy Ships’ international operational centres, the Kuo family joins the Global Mercy in the Canary Islands — just in time to sail to Sierra Leone.
The hospital ships spend 10 months at each port of service in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Mercy Ship’s crew will be providing free essential surgery that is not usually accessible to people in low-income countries. The operations will include paediatric orthopaedic surgery, benign tumour removal, burns and plastic reconstruction, obstetric fistula and women’s health, cleft lip and palate reconstruction and ophthalmic care. Alongside providing direct surgical services, there is a twin focus of strengthening the host nation’s surgical system through education, training and advocacy.
“For most of Africa the biggest obstacle to getting surgery is a lack of surgeons. Sometimes there are only a handful of surgeons, especially specialists like paediatric orthopaedic or plastic surgeons, in a country of millions,” Maria said.
The family has recently moved to Palmerston North for work, but have strong roots in Gisborne as Maria grew up in Muriwai.
They are supported by Gisborne AOG Church, where they attended for 12 years.
Lily, Connor and Asher attended Mangapapa school.
Fred worked in real estate for Bronwyn Kay Agency, and Maria in the hospital’s Emergency Department for 11 years, as well as at De Lautour Medical Centre until recently.
According to the World Health Organisation, in sub-Saharan Africa 93 percent of the population cannot access essential surgical services due to the extreme lack of healthcare workers, combined with personal poverty making what basic medical care is available simply out of the reach of most.
Mercy Ships volunteers take the hospital ships to serve sub-Saharan nations at the lowest end of the 2019 UN Human Development Index (UNHDI), which ranks 191 countries according to quality of life.
The Kuos will be serving with Mercy Ships initially in Sierra Leone, ranked 181/191, where there is one physician for every 10,000 people, and five nurses or midwives per 10,000.
Using the same UNHDI reference, NZ is 13/191 with 35 physicians per 10,000 and 112 nurses per 10,000.
“Even if the surgery can be done in the local hospital it is very costly, and most people cannot afford the care they need,” Maria says.
“We saw a lot of cultural stigmas for people with treatable conditions,“ explains Maria.
“People are frequently ostracised by their community. When patients come to the ship, they are often very withdrawn and not used to being loved and cared for. Being in that environment of unconditional acceptance can change their mental wellbeing. Patients are transformed inside and out.”
The Kuos are looking forward to joining the international crew of 640 on board the Global Mercy.
“We will be opening the view our children have of the world we live in. It will be great to live in a multicultural community, where every person who comes onto the ship is a cog in the wheel providing love, care and medical attention through God’s grace.”
“We love what Mercy ships do and the difference they make in the lives of the people of West Africa. Seeing the transformations is really rewarding.
“After going onto the ship as a single woman and then as newly weds, we always dreamed about returning to the ship to live with the kids for a few years. I’m really passionate about the work that Mercy Ships do and have always wanted to go back.
“We think that the age the kids are now is a good age to expose them to the world and then be settled again in NZ when they are teenagers.
“The kids are really looking forward to new adventures. They quite like going to new places and meeting new people. They are a little nervous to make new friends, but as long as there is somewhere and someone to kick a soccer ball with or read a book with they will be happy.
“Fred and I are really looking forward to making new friends and seeing the changes to people after having surgery.
“The ship is quite a social place so we look forward to games and movie nights and being able to explore the local countries.
“We are both a little apprehensive about having a more limited space for the children to play — they are used to having a lot of freedom in NZ.
“Sometimes living in a community can be quite overwhelming as there are so many different cultures, you need to find somewhere to have a little space or break — usually a quiet spot on the top deck works.
“I’m really looking forward to living onboard as I love being around a lot of people. Not everyone in my family is like that so hopefully they will be OK and find the space they need.”
The children will be in school five days a week and Maria said she was looking forward to not having to cook for another two years.
Mercy Ships aids African nations
Approximately twice the size of an inter-island ferry, the Global Mercy hospital facilities cover two decks — 7000 square metres — with six operating theatres and 102 acute care beds. The seven-bed intensive care unit (ICU) was sponsored by New Zealand donors. All pre-operative and post-operative treatment and auxiliary services are delivered on board the Mercy Ships’ vessels.
Mercy Ships operate hospital ships that deliver free surgeries and other healthcare services to those with little access to safe medical care. An international faith-based organisation Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with African nations for the past three decades. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to national healthcare professionals and supports the construction of in-country medical infrastructure to leave a lasting impact.
Each year, more than 3000 volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, Africa Mercy, and Global Mercy. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, tradies and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical, obstetric and anaesthesia care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has offices in 16 countries including New Zealand, and an Africa Service Centre in Dakar, Senegal.
