Helping patients take the next step
Born in Kenya and raised between Kenya and the UK, occupational therapist Becky Chaplin brought her rehabilitation experience aboard Mercy Ships. What began as a three-month sabbatical led her back to serve as Rehabilitation Team Leader.
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Bringing her skills back to Africa
After working in UK hospitals, including burn and hand therapy, Becky wanted to use her professional skills in a different setting.
In 2023, she joined Mercy Ships for a three-month placement in Senegal. The experience connected her profession with a part of the world that had always been part of her own story.
I absolutely loved it. I loved being back in an African country with people that look like me.
From three months to leading a team
What began as a three-month sabbatical became something more. Becky returned to Mercy Ships and now leads rehabilitation aboard the Global Mercy™, supporting patients recovering from life-changing procedures.
You’re not just giving, you also learn a lot and receive a lot.
Could your rehabilitation skills help someone move forward?
Surgery can change what's possible. Rehabilitation helps patients take the next step.
Occupational therapists, physiotherapists and other rehabilitation professionals use their expertise aboard to support patients through recovery.
For Becky, taking three months away from her career opened the door to something she hadn't expected.
“If you want something that's enriching, pushes you, and grows you, then it's for you.”
Meet the Crew Behind the Ship
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An african surgeon, not an african beneficiary
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The hospital can’t get there without the ship
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He came for one week. Then everything changed.
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Bringing her skills home
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A front-row seat to healing
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The hospital needs engineers too
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The ship that inspired his career became his mission
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Two weeks of annual leave, spent operating
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Her skills keep surgery working
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The teacher behind the volunteers
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She grew up on board. Then came back as a nurse.
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She came on board as an electrician. It changed where her career could go.
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Helping patients take the next step
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A few weeks. For more than 20 years.
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Her engineering career started somewhere unexpected
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He almost didn't apply
