At Bread and Water for Africa® among our most generous and loyal partners is the Medical Equipment Recovery of Clean Inventory (MERCI) program operated by the University of Virginia.
Through this partnership, we are able to ship millions of dollars’ worth of medical equipment and hospital supplies to our partners in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, who operate free and low-cost hospitals and clinics for the most needy in the poorest countries on Earth.
In July alone, we shipped a 40-foot container full of equipment and supplies to our partner, Hope Services in Cameroon, and have since traveled to MERCI in Charlottesville, Virginia and filled up a truck with dozens of boxes of equipment and supplies in preparation for our next shipment to Sierra Leone in the fall.
When we arrive at MERCI, we never know exactly what we’re going to get. This time around, as always there were dozens of boxes of bandages, gauze, surgical packs, catheters, scrubs, prep trays, x-ray viewers and even a LTV 1150 ventilator allowing patients the freedom of portable advanced care ventilation in the home or at a post-acute care facility.
We are proud to play a role in having these brand-new, still-in-the-original packaging supplies and gently used equipment, being repurposed to help save lives in Africa, rather than being wasted and ending up in a landfill.
