Marion nurse volunteers on floating hospital in West Africa

MARION - As a nurse, Melisa Fitch thought she had seen most everything.

But the 26-year-old's eyes were opened to another world when she volunteered for Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone, in West Africa.

“It's nursing, but everything's different,” she says.

Mercy Ships is a Christian global charity serving those in need of health care and relief in the world's poorest countries. The hospitals are retired ocean liners transformed into floating hospitals, which are docked for 10 months at a time.

Fitch, a nurse at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, studied in South Africa for a semester while a student at Luther College in Decorah.

“It got me thinking I wanted to go back,” she says.

This spring she joined the crew of the “Africa Mercy,” a 16,500-ton vessel that serves the nations of Africa. The lower decks of the ship have been converted into a hospital with a 78-bed hospital ward and an Intensive Care Unit. The crew, which averages 450 volunteers, including not only medical professionals, but mechanics, accountants and others who keep the operation running smoothly, has rooms in the upper decks.

“It's literally a small town on the ship,” Fitch says.

The “Africa Mercy” docked at the port of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital city. All surgeries and medical supplies are donated so the patients are not charged.

Because there is no health insurance in Africa, the need for free medical care is great, Fitch says. In Africa, patients have to pay upfront for medical treatment, something many people can't afford to do.

In Sierra Leone, there are four hospital beds for every 10,000 people, Fitch says. Only 95 doctors are available in the West African country with a population of more than 5 million people.

The “Africa Mercy” crew only performs surgical procedures. More than 1,000 people were screened for ailments such as goiters, cleft lips and palates, hernias, bowed legs and head and neck tumors. Most of these ailments were profound because people can't afford to get them regularly checked.

Many people waited in line for days to be screened by the “Africa Mercy” crew.

“I knew there was a large need, but it still shocks you,” Fitch says. “It was really hard to see people you couldn't help.”

During her two-and-a-half month duty, Fitch was involved in pre- and postoperative care.

With the help of a translator, she educated patients and their families about the procedures.

“Many people hadn't even seen a doctor before,” she says. “Everything was new to them.”

The living conditions and lack of medical care in Sierra Leone was new to Fitch.

“I didn't realize how much we take for granted, even at work,” she says. “There, you make do with what you have.”

On her days off, she walked around Freetown with fellow crew members. The city is poor, overcrowded and still suffering from the Civil War, which ended in 2002, she says.

“I'm a small-town girl from Iowa and it was a little overwhelming,” says the McGregor native.

She never felt unsafe but realized there are few opportunities for residents.

“It's not a place to thrive,” she says. “It has very few entertainment options.”

She hopes to serve on another Mercy Ship within the next few years.

St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 8300 C Ave., Marion, helped sponsor her trip, which cost about $4,000. As a volunteer, she was responsible for airfare and room and board.

“It's expensive, but worth it,” she says. “It's something I wanted to do for a long time.”

Above all else, the African people made the greatest impression on her.

“The things they have seen in their lifetime is amazing,” she says. “The resilience of their spirits is incredible. They showed so much love and compassion.”