Ilfracombe dentist swaps the seaside for the high seas
A dentist from Ilfracombe has swapped the seaside for the high seas; Maureen Richards has volunteered to work on a charity ship, which will visit Guinea to provide dental care to some of the world’s poorest people.
Maureen, from Torrs Park Dental Surgery, will spend a month on board the Africa Mercy ship, which is operated by Mercy Ships, an international charity. The ship is due to be stationed in Guinea for ten months.
This will be the second time Maureen has volunteered for the charity; she said that it is a great cause and an opportunity for her to use her skills to help people who will benefit hugely from the care provided by the charity. In poorer countries, dental care is so basic and so difficult to access that infections and abscesses can result in death, so the work the charity is doing is literally saving lives. Maureen added that the work is hard and the hours are long, but the experience is hugely rewarding and very satisfying.
The Africa Mercy is a huge ship, which is staffed by up to 400 volunteers from around 40 different countries; in addition to dentists, this includes dental nurses, cooks, engineers and general volunteers. The ship was converted from a Danish rail ferry and boasts six operating theatres, a small intensive care unit, a CT scanner and X-ray facilities. The ship has capacity for 78 patients in addition to the volunteers living on board the ship.
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