“Each Life Transformed, Is A Cause For Celebration”

Warrie Blackburn, Managing Director of Africa Mercy.

The Mercy Ships organisation is leaving Cameroon after nearly a year of nonstop operations at the port city of Douala; what assessment can be made of this trip?

We are very proud of the work that has been accomplished in this country during our stay here, in collaboration with the Government, medical professionals, NGOs and other local Cameroonians. We have been warmly received in the Littoral Region as a whole and at the Port of Douala in particular. In this hospitable and convivial environment, we successfully provided surgery to over 2,500 people from every region of Cameroon, dental care to over 10,000 people and reinforced the capacities of over 1,500 medical personnel. We renovated some buildings at some local hospitals, completed a “Food for life” program in agriculture… as well as many other accomplishments.

How challenging were the surgeries and were you able to meet your objectives?

Every mission has its challenges and difficulties. That notwithstanding, we are very happy with how the ones we had to deal with were handled and overcome, especially with the input of our local partners. In effect, we were privileged to work hand-in-glove with over 270 local Cameroonians and the support they brought to us was quite priceless. As a result of this close collaboration with the Cameroonian Government and the local medics, we gained a lot in terms of knowledge and diverse experiences. And for these, we are truly thankful. In the course of our operations, we found ourselves confronted with six main pathologies, in the domains of Maxillo-facial surgery (some of which include: facial tumours, cleft lips, cleft palates, noma…), Paediatric– Orthopaedic surgery (to correct club feet, windswept legs, bowed legs), Eye Cataract surgery (to restore eyesight), Women’s Health surgery (mainly in dealing with fistulas), Plastic reconstructive surgery (to restore function to those who have suffered severe burns) and General surgery (relating largely to goiters and hernias).

So were there any particular cases that overwhelmed you, or are you leaving Cameroon with the impression that all your clients have been fully satisfied?

We are a hospital and just like any other hospital, we go through ups and downs. Some of our cases may deliver an outcome that is much better than we expected, and others may not turn out well enough. However, we can say with confidence that for the vast majority of the cases we handled, our patients have gone back in much better shape than that in which they came. We are a specialized surgical unit so we only perform specific surgeries (as cited above). We do not treat conditions that require long term care, given that we will not be able to provide the follow up. For example, conditions such as cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and their likes, are beyond our scope of intervention. Here in Cameroon (as was the case in other countries where we have been prior to coming here) we saw some very large tumours, the removal of which can prove extremely difficult. It is quite frustrating to see that something which could have been easily extricated at an early stage, when it was very small, was allowed to grow into such a large malignant mass, because the patients lacked access to safe, affordable and timely surgical care. On board the “Africa Mercy”, our medical team is committed to ensuring that every pat...