Our Positioning

Mercy Ships is the world’s leading non-governmental ship-based medical organization.

Our Purpose

Mercy Ships delivers medical excellence with integrity and compassion to the world’s forgotten poor.

Mission

We follow the 2000-year-old example of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor.

How We Make a Difference

Our goal is to transform the lives of the world’s forgotten poor. One by one. Providing primary health care, relief aid and community support to the most impoverished people on earth, free of charge.

Our state-of-the-art hospital ships and partnership with other NGOs and local organizations are filled with volunteers dedicated to this quest. For the past 30 years, we have proudly delivered this medical excellence with integrity and compassion.

Values

Desiring to follow the example of Jesus, we seek to:

1. Love God.
2. Love and serve others.
3. Be people of integrity.
4. Be people of excellence in all we say and do.

Website: www.mercyships.org
Location: International

To hear more about the founding of Mercy Ships try this article: www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09030158.htm

News from Mercy Ships

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sources: mercyships.org, mercyships.ca, assistnews.net

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Today, MSF provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, negligence, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need. MSF reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, to challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.

In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Humanitarian Action

MSF’s work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas. Medical teams conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population’s medical needs before opening programs. The key to MSF’s ability to act independently in response to a crisis is its independent funding. Eighty-nine percent of MSF’s overall funding (and 100 percent of MSF-USA’s funding) comes from private sources, not governments. In 2006, MSF had more than three million individual donors and private funders worldwide.

MSF is neutral. The organization does not take sides in armed conflicts, provides care on the basis of need alone, and pushes for increased independent access to victims of conflict as required under international humanitarian law.

Who is MSF?

On any one day, more than 27,000 committed individuals representing dozens of nationalities can be found providing assistance to people caught in crises around the world. They are doctors, nurses, logistics experts, administrators, epidemiologists, laboratory technicians, mental health professionals, and others who work together in accordance with MSF’s guiding principles of humanitarian action and medical ethics.

MSF field staff are supported by their colleagues in 19 offices around the world, including one in New York. The vast majority of MSF’s aid workers are from the communities where the crises are occurring, with ten percent of teams made up of international staff, including more than 200 aid workers from the US in 2007.

For information on how to apply to join MSF in the field click here.

Quality Medical Care

MSF rejects the idea that poor countries deserve third-rate medical care and strives to provide high-quality care to patients and to improve the organization’s practices. Through the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines and, in recent years, in partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, this work has helped lower the price of HIV/AIDS treatment and has stimulated research and development for medicines to treat malaria and neglected diseases like sleeping sickness and kala azar.

For more information about Doctors Without Borders visit their website:
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

News from MSF

• [Press Release] EU-India Trade Deal Could Cut Medicines Lifeline for People in Developing Countries
• MSF Brings Medical Assistance to Malian Refugees in Niger
• [Press Release] Syria: Medicine as a Weapon of Persecution
• [Special Report] Special Report: In Syria, Medicine as a Weapon of Persecution
• Lebanon: Healing Those Deeply Affected

Sources:
doctorswithoutborders.org

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Why Donate Blood?

According to the American Red Cross every two seconds someone in the Unites States needs blood. However, only 5% of the eligible US population donates blood in any given year.

A blood donation truly is a “gift of life” that a healthy individual can give to others in their community who are sick or injured. In one hour’s time, a person can donate one unit of blood that can be separated into four individual components that could help save multiple lives.

From one unit of blood, red blood cells can be extracted for use in trauma or surgical patients. Plasma, the liquid part of blood, is administered to patients with clotting problems. The third component of blood, platelets, clot the blood when cuts or other open wounds occur, and are often used in cancer and transplant patients. Cryoprecipitated anti-hemophilic factor (AHF) is also used for clotting factors.

In a recent study supported by the National Blood Foundation (TRANSFUSION 2002;42:122S), more than 5,000 individuals who were current blood donors at the time or who had given blood in the past were asked why they donate blood. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents said that they give blood to help others. Respondents also said that giving blood makes them feel good about themselves; supports their local communities and hospitals; supports their community culture; and “pays back” society for the times when they or their families have needed blood transfusions in the past.

For all of these reasons and more, donating blood is a good idea.

Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Will donating blood hurt?
You may feel a slight sting in the beginning lasting only a couple of seconds, but there should be no discomfort during the donation.

How long will it take?
An average visit to give blood takes around one hour.

Do I have enough blood in my body to donate?
Yes. The body contains 10 to 12 pints of blood. Your whole blood donation is approximately one pint.

How long until my blood is used?
Most blood donations are processed and available for use within 48 hours.

Is there anything I should do before I donate?
Be sure to eat well at your regular mealtimes and drink plenty of fluids.

If I have a cold or the flu, can I donate blood?
In order to donate, blood centers require that you be in generally good health (symptom-free) and recommend that you are feeling well.

What can you do if you aren’t eligible to donate?
While a given individual may be unable to donate, he or she may be able to recruit a suitable donor. Blood banks are always in need of volunteers to assist at blood draws or to organize mobile blood drives. In addition, monetary donations are always welcome to help ensure that blood banks can continue to provide safe blood to those in need.

More Information

Most of the information above was taken from:

American Association of Blood Banks

- Helpful sections: Donation Process | Complete FAQs

Other Resources:
Wikipedia — Blood Donation

If you country isn’t listed here try this list — click here

Sources:
American Association of Blood Banks — aabb.org
American Red Cross — givelife.org
Wikipedia — Blood Donation — wikipedia.org

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