NEC NEC020513 Applications

Applications at the forefront of technology
Mercy Ships Global Charity
Mercy Ships,
a global charity, has operated a growing fleet of hospital ships in
developing nations since 1978. Mercy Ships has performed more than 18,000
operations such as cleft lip and palate reconstruction, cataract removal and facial
reconstruction. The charity has also treated more than 300,000 people in village
medical clinics, performed 110,000 dental treatments, trained over 5,500 community
health workers and completed more than 300 construction and agriculture projects.
Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the poor, mobilizing 2,400 volunteer career
and short-term crew from more than 40 nations. Mercy Ships also has a long-term
commitment to South Asia tsunami aid and development.
the challenge
The Mercy Ships fleet of floating hospitals needed an effective tool for communicating
with visiting diplomats, dignitaries, donors and new crew. For example, volunteer
short-term crew rotate onboard and off again as frequently as every two weeks. Each
time a new group arrives a crucial safety and security orientation briefing must be
given. Mercy Ships also was looking for a communications tool that would make
social events and devotional services more interesting.
Aboard the Caribbean Mercy, most of this communication takes place in the
International Lounge, the largest meeting space on the ship. The room was originally
equipped with a simple whiteboard, but according to Don Golden, IT Manager for
Mercy Ships, "We needed a more visually impactful, effective and universal way to
share our work while communicating our message. The language barrier is our
biggest challenge and we risked getting our message lost in translation."