Driven by a desire to help others, two Federal Way nurses decided to pack up, leave their homes for a month and board a ship docked off the coast of Madagascar, Africa.

They spent one month there before returning home on Jan. 25.

Theresa Cheung and Anne Turner were among 400 volunteers from 45 countries onboard the largest private hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, a vessel with Mercy Ships. 

“I saw the ‘60 Minutes’ presentation of what Mercy Ships did and I’m No. 1 a Christian and No. 2 a nurse,” Turner said. “It seemed to be a perfect match for me.”

At age 63, her most recent trip marks her second voyage on Mercy Ships.

“It was something I could do and be of service to people who don’t have access to health care,” she said. “I loved it so much and decided to go back.”

This time around, she brought former colleague Cheung. The two had worked together at St. Francis Hospital as nurses for more than 20 years before Cheung, 66, retired. Cheung had also seen the “60 Minutes” episode.

“I was a little bit anxious because I didn’t know what to expect, but the desire was strong,” Cheung said. “I felt I had to do it.”

Cheung and Turner were both operating room nurses who worked on cleft lips, facial or neck tumors and burn victims who were suffering from contractures, a condition where scar tissue and muscle becomes stiff and can lead to deformities.

“One of the big things is people cook on open fire there, small children get bumped and fall into the fire and the way that burns heal, without having help from medical people, is the skin contracts,” Turner said.

Turner recalled a 6-year-old girl whose ear touched her shoulder from a contracture. She had arrived at Africa Mercy after being turned away from a local hospital because she didn’t have the funds to pay for treatment. Not only was she disfigured, but she had an infection.

The girl’s treatment involved grafting skin from her thigh, releasing the scarring and covering the gap with the skin graft.

Another 40-year-old man sought help for a contracture that left his leg at a 90-degree angle. Turner said the burn had originated on his calf and he had to use a cane, or stick, because of his deformity, which rendered him unable to work.

“It didn’t always look beautiful but the whole point of our doing it is function,” Turner said. “That was the thing that was amazing was these people weren’t looking for something beautiful. They just wanted to work and play…”

Cheung said the concept that moved her most was something she heard from a plastic surgeon on the ship.

“We can’t change the whole world but the Mercy Ship changed the whole world for that one person,” Cheung said, adding that they would work each case one-by-one. “I thought that was pretty profound.”

Cheung said the trip caused her to think about why some people are so lucky to be born in the United States while others are born in places like Africa.

“Here in the U.S., if you have something little that starts out on the skin, you go to the doctor, but these people don’t have answers or the money so that’s why they get these huge tumors on their face,” Cheung said, adding that she saw a man with a tumor that extended from his earlobe down to his collarbone.

The Africa Mercy was acquired in 1999 from a Balcraig Foundation donation. Initially the Dronning Ingrid, the ship was renamed the Africa Mercy in 2000 and underwent a £30 million refit that was completed in 2007. It has five operating rooms with an 82-bed ward.

Hospital volunteers provide free medical services, which include cataract removal/lens implants, tumor removal, cleft lip and palate reconstruction, orthopedics and obstetric fistula repair surgeries. There’s a CT scanner, X-ray and several other tools in the lab.

Several health programs have also helped local villages by providing dental and medical clinics, health education, HIV/AIDS intervention, clean water projects and agriculture, among others.

Cheung and Turner said making the decision to leave their families for a month, pay cruise fees and live in a claustrophobic room with no privacy was all worth the work they did for Mercy Ships.

Mercy Ships isn’t just looking for volunteers in the medical field. Cheung said they need people in IT, engineering, housekeeping, kitchen and office staff, and even pastors for their chaplain service, which provides support for patients and their families who are going through hard times.

For more information about Mercy Ships or Africa Mercy, visit www.mercyships.org.

From left, Theresa Cheung assists surgeon Dr. Kurt Butow during an operation on a patient in Madagascar, Africa. Courtesy of Katie Keegan, ©2016 Mercy Ships