MONROVIA – The Rotary Club of Monrovia has praised Mercy Ships and the Rotary Foundation on the approval of the largest Rotary Foundation Global Grant of US$1,125,000.
The Global Grant was led by Rotary International District 1260 and involved over 300 clubs from the UK and Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and 13 states in the USA.
The Rotary Club of Monrovia is the host club in West Africa and with Rotarians from Rotary Club of Sinkor contributed US$10,000 to this landmark Global Grant, making Liberia the only African country to contribute to the grant.
The Rotary Club of Monrovia is the host club and contributed US$10,000. Together with the contribution of Rotary Club of Sinkor, Liberia the only African country to contribute to the grant.
This record-breaking Rotary Foundation Global Grant will fund vital medical equipment on the world’s largest purpose-built charitable hospital ship, The Global Mercy . The grant will enable Rotary and Mercy Ships to fund a brand new, state of the art CT scanner, and other vital equipment onboard the Global Mercy, which launches next year.
The money will provide a range of sophisticated medical equipment for Decks 3 & 4: the ship’s hospital decks with six operating theatres, three infection isolation rooms, 147 ward beds, six post-operative recovery beds and four intensive care beds. It will also provide training and education for local healthcare workers.
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to respond to global surgery crisis by reducing the surgical backlog in developing countries while providing training and mentoring to increase local medical skills and renovating local facilities in each of the countries the hospital ships visit.
Over the Global Mercy’s expected lifespan of 50 years, it is estimated that more than 150,000 lives will be transformed through free surgery.
At a special Rotary Club of Monrovia meeting held via Zoom on Friday, September 11, 2020, officers and members of the club celebrated with Rotarians from the UK, USA, a number of West African countries as well as Rotarians in Liberia.
At the Rotary Club of Monrovia Zoom meeting presided over by the President of the Club, Francis Karpeh, the Marketing Director of Mercy Ships, Bryony Doughty and Debbie Hodge, President of Rotary Clubs in Great Britain & Ireland, 2018-19 made a joint presentation on Mercy Ships and the historic grant and participated in a Q&A session as well. Also in attendance at the meeting were the District Governor Elect for District 9101 of Rotary International (made up of ten countries in West Africa including Liberia) Christopher Forster from Sierra Leone as well as the District Governor Nominee for District 9101 Sunny Akoupha from Mali.
The Global Mercy is undergoing the final stages of construction with the aim of sailing into active service by the end of 2021. The ship’s first port of call will be Monrovia, Liberia and the ship will be in port, providing medical services and training for medical personnel for over nine months. An MOU has already been signed between Mercy Ships and Liberia’s Ministry of Health to facilitate the ship’s visit to Liberia.