After 10 years of civil war, Sierra Leone, West Africa –- recently ranked the poorest country in the world - was selected for long-term assistance by Mercy Ships. Over years of repeated port visits, Mercy Ships established permanent land-based programmes.

New Steps Centre
Through holistic personal and community development, the Mercy Ships Sierra Leone land base New Steps works to support disabled and displaced persons in their everyday lives as they struggle to meet the basic human needs of food and shelter, and addresses deeper issues of personal development. Operational since January 2000, Mercy Ships New Steps currently facilitates comprehensive community development programmes in more than 30 communities in Freetown, Sierra Leone and the surrounding area. [more]

Aberdeen Clinic and Fistula Centre
In addition to offering free fistula operations onboard ships, in 2005 Mercy Ships opened a permanent women's fistula centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Dedicated to women's obstetric health in the surrounding region, the Aberdeen Hospital & Fistula Clinic is one of only a few locations on the African continent offering women's vesico-vaginal fistula repair. [more]