Who are Mercy Ships? What will I be doing?

So I realise that in the first post I didn't explain much about what I am doing, so for those of you who I haven't already told starting in November I will be spending 21 months volunteering with Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships is a global Christian charity that looks to share God’s love by giving hope and healing to the forgotten poor through the mobilisation people and resources worldwide. They serve all people without regard for race, gender, or religion. In 1978, the first hospital ship set sail and since then its fleet has brought free healthcare to people in some of the poorest countries of the world, visiting over 150 ports and treating over 400 000 people. The crew both provide medical care and do developmental and training projects which ensures that the Mercy Ships provides both initial physical healing and also a lasting legacy which should help the country to develop even after the ship has left port. 

(See www.mercyships.com for more information)

I will be volunteering on the Africa Mercy which serves people around the coast of West Africa. I will join the ship in Benin and then will move onto Togo in January/February 2010. 

For my first year on the ship I will be working as a Biomedical Technician. This position oversees the maintenance and management of medical devices, including arranging for scheduled maintenance and calibration of equipment, performing preventative maintenance and repair of medical equipment, and communicating the status of equipment to the end users. 

In my second year on the ship I hope to work as a Biomedical Trainer. This position involves going around the host country’s hospitals refurbishing equipment and training the locals to maintain and use the machines to their full capacity and also to be able to pass on their knowledge to other users of the equipment. 
 

Hopefully this gives you more of an idea of what all my training over the next 8 weeks is for!