Mercy Ships in Madagascar
Care That Reaches Further
Across Madagascar, distance and access can stand between people and the surgery they need. Since 1996, patients, healthcare professionals and partners have worked alongside Mercy Ships to bring specialized care closer while strengthening expertise that can continue reaching people long into the future. Today, the Africa Mercy® is back in Toamasina for a third consecutive year of service.
Impact in Madagascar
Behind Every Number Is a Story
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20,630+ medical beneficiaries
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7,510+ life-changing surgical procedures
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56,860+ dental procedures
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2,050+ professionals trained in their area of expertise
Behind the Impact Are People
Every number represents a person, a family and a future that can look different.
Seeing Her Family Again: Meet Delphine
When cataracts took Delphine's sight, everyday life changed. She could no longer work in the fields, care for her grandchildren or move independently, and her daughter increasingly had to care for her. In 2026, the 69-year-old became the first surgical patient of the Africa Mercy®'s new field service in Madagascar. After surgery, Delphine could see her daughter's face again and began looking forward to returning to church, her family and the life she had missed.
From Learning to Teaching: Meet Professor Fanja
When Professor Fanja first took part in Mercy Ships surgical simulation training in Madagascar in 2015, she was already an experienced Malagasy surgeon and educator. She later trained to become a trainer herself. In 2016, she began teaching other Malagasy students and went on to teach surgical simulation not only in Madagascar, but also in Benin, Cameroon, Guinea and Senegal. Years after the ship left, she and her colleagues continued the training locally. What Fanja learned did not stay with one person. She passed it on to the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The treatment will finish, but the knowledge will stay.
A Partnership Through the Years
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1996
Mercy Ships' first field service in Madagascar.
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2015
Africa Mercy® Surgery, dental care and healthcare education, including the training in which Professor Fanja participated.
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2016
Africa Mercy® The partnership continues, including training Malagasy professionals who would go on to teach others.
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2024
Africa Mercy® | Toamasina Mercy Ships returns to Madagascar. During the year, 1,096 surgical procedures were performed and 49 healthcare professionals participated in Education, Training and Advocacy programs.
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2025
Africa Mercy® | Toamasina A second consecutive field service continues surgery, dental care and healthcare education. The partnership also included more than 170 obstetric fistula surgeries with Freedom From Fistula.
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2026
Africa Mercy® | Toamasina The ship returns for a third consecutive year, making this Mercy Ships' sixth visit to Madagascar since 1996. The current field service runs from May through December 2026.
What Continues After the Ship Sails?
Knowledge Passed From One Professional to Another
Madagascar gives us unusually strong proof that training can continue after a field service ends.
After taking part in Mercy Ships surgical simulation training in 2015, Professor Fanja became a trainer herself and helped teach Malagasy students the following year. She and her colleagues at Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona Hospital (HJRA) continued the teaching after Mercy Ships left.
And that story continues in other areas of care.
Mercy Ships began supporting clubfoot care in Madagascar in 2015, helping local teams use the Ponseti method. Mercy Ships reports that more than 3,000 children have since been treated and healed from clubfoot in Madagascar, while current mentoring continues to strengthen the expertise of Malagasy professionals treating children locally.
The training may begin with one professional. Its impact can reach thousands of children and patients.
Help the Impact Reach Further
For someone waiting for surgery, your support can help make care possible today. For a healthcare professional strengthening their expertise, that same impact can continue with the next patient, the next colleague and the next generation.
