 |
| Toothbrushes and lessons provided during a dental rotation |
Fiji, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Palau, Tonga, Samoa… Just hearing the
names of those islands conjures up travel brochure images of a warm tropical
sun setting in the distance over blue turquoise waters, palm trees, secluded
white sandy beaches, and air conditioned hotels calling to your inner most
desires. As real and appealing as those images may be, there is another calling
in the South Pacific that few hear or know about. It's an urgent call for help.
Answering
the call
Having
sailed in the South Pacific, Rotarians Richard and Stephanie Hackett, the
original founders of a non-profit organization called Sea Mercy www.seamercy.org, witnessed both the
incredible beauty and hardships faced by those living on the remote islands.
Seeing the need, they began reaching out to the island nations to learn more about
the initiatives they had for their remote island citizens. The feedback they
received moved them to take action. Richard said this about what they had
learned:
"Although
the islands nations were striving to build a modern infrastructure on their larger,
more populated primary islands, there was no service delivery mechanism in
place, or funds available to try and connect their hundreds of remote islands
to even the most basic services. That was when we learned the reality of the
situation there."
Richard
and Stephanie understood that the need was urgent and knew that with the right
relationships in place with the government ministries, an organization could
stand in the gap to meet those remote island needs.
In
2012, they launched a non-profit organization called Sea Mercy, a fleet of
"free" Floating Health Care Clinics staffed by international
based health care volunteers who were willing to answer that call for help.
Working under Memorandum of Understandings with their island nation partners
(currently Tonga and Fiji), since 2013 they have visited over 150 remote
islands, evaluated and treated over 11,500 medical patients, tested and
provided over 4,500 reading glasses, and treated over 1,500 dental patients.
Sea Mercy thinks creatively
with achieving the end goal in mind. https://www.facebook.com/447842518601871/videos/968738943178890/
shows that when you really need something, there is always a way to get
it. When two desperately needed
water tanks were loaded and offloaded onto Lil Explorers during disaster relief
work in Vanuatu, the remote islanders were very excited to have their new water
tanks.
In 2014 following Cyclone Ian in Tonga, and in 2015
following Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, Sea Mercy sent eight vessels to deliver aid
and medical care to the devastated remote islands there. In October 2015, they
launched their First Response Fleet program to better serve those in
need on the remote islands following a natural disaster.
In April 2016, they plan to send out their Global
Mercy Armada www.seamercy.org/armada
to the remote Lau Group in Fiji. A program designed to train and assist the
remote islands not only to be self-sustaining and survive, but to thrive
economically.
With nine more island nations on their target list for
these programs (and 1,800 remote islands), they are looking for Rotarians and
Rotary clubs who have the same heart for the people in the South Pacific and
willing to answer their call for help. Whether it is to join a medical mission
rotation, assisting with disaster response needs, or offering your talents and
abilities for the Global Mercy Armada, we encourage you to contact Sea
Mercy: Sailing with a greater purpose and help make a difference.
For more information, contact Richard via email info@seamercy.org.
Words
and photos: Richard Hackett President of Sea
Mercy and President Elect of the Rotary Club of Fern Ridge, Oregon, USA www.fernridgerotary.org
Note that this is not a Rotary project or specifically endorsed by Rotary.
