Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in 55 countries, providing healthcare services to those in poverty. They are working to eradicate poverty diseases and follow the model of Jesus by bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor. They help people of all faiths or none. On board their ships the ‘Africa Mercy and Global Mercy’, they have carried out thousands of operations to improve peoples lives. The help does not stop there as they work closely with the countries governments to try and improve general health care by training and mentoring local medical staff and renovating hospitals and clinics. 

Binti and Ibrahima, two devoted parents in Senegal, have always been proud of their daughter Sira. But as she grew, something began to trouble them. She struggled to walk and stand. When Sira was six, her legs had bowed outwards.

“Sira was always so friendly, but when people started staring, she became so shy,” her mother, Binti, remembers. “She wasn’t happy. I was always worried, because at school her friends used to laugh at her. I am supposed to protect her from those things.”

After various hospital and clinic visits no one could help. Then the Mercy ship came along. They saw Sira and knew they could help her. She came on to the ship and had her free operation, then had to learn to walk again with casts on her legs and then a walking frame. Her family were overjoyed when they saw the change.

Now, Sira smiles as she plays football with her friends in the sunshine. She loves going to school. It makes her heart soar to do everything she always dreamed of. This is the dawn of a new life for Sira, full of hope and possibility.

If you want help other children and adults like Sira lead a normal life please donate via their website https://www.mercyships.org.uk/who-we-serve/patient-stories/sira/?form=donate

Or leave a cheque payable to ‘Hornchurch PCC’ with the Parish Office who will collate donations and send on to the charity after the end of February.

Arlene Trump