It might be the world's largest hospital ship, one of the quintessential medical charities to ever ply the high seas, but the Africa Mercy is still affectionately called The Love Boat for a reason.
The floating philanthropy vessel moves from port to port in the developing world, bringing medical professionals of the highest order plus all the support staff needed to keep their mission on an even keel. They have recently docked in places like Benin and Madagascar where they provide surgeries and other medical interventions for some of the world's poorest populations.
Right now, the ship is anchored in Douala Harbour in Cameroon. That is where Vanderhoof's Erica Schmidt spent her first Christmas as a newlywed.
She works in the engineering department on board the Africa Mercy - or rather, she's a volunteer, as are all on board - and that is where she met Philip M'Bayoh from Sierra Leone.
They met in 2014 but they didn't experience the fairy tale of love at first sight. It was a much more substantial tale of love that developed over a couple of hardworking years sharing the spaces and missions of the ship on its ongoing aid expedition.
"Philip and I first met when I joined the Mercy Ships Advance Team in Tamatave, Madagascar," said Schmidt, 32. "I was asked to join the team on short notice due to another team member needing to leave early. I joined the team that was hiring the day crew and took over the team finances while Philip was in charge of port negotiations and assisted with translation. Before I left the ship to join the advance team, a friend asked me to deliver some sunglasses to Philip and constantly talked about how funny and nice he was, so I was rather curious to meet him. I wasn't overly impressed when I met him. I received a polite 'Nice to meet you' and an equally polite 'Thank you' for the sunglasses before he walked away. I was left wondering what my friend had been talking about when she said he was funny and nice."
M'Bayoh, 29, also remembers that first encounter, but his recollections were more visceral.
"When I first saw Erica standing in front of our door saying hello and handing me two pairs of sunglasses, my first impression of her was a combination of beauty and kindness," he said. "I guess I must have walked away because of the fear of being intimidated by the latter. Now having beauty, kindness and unfamiliarity combined, my brain couldn't process any accurate information using those three to make a very simple first conversation and that was where the 'ignore' side of me kicked in and asked me to simply say thank you and walk away. Thank you, me!"
There is a lot to do every day on a 500-foot floating hospital. There are more than 400 people living and working on board at any given time, plus they tend to make friends with the patients and local support people in each of their ports of call. Schmidt has been on board the Africa Mercy for many tours of duty, while M'Bayoh left the team for awhile for his home region but came back to the ship and those friendship connections between the two continued to develop.
It is easy to believe in each other when each is there for reasons of deep commitment to those less fortunate. The Africa Mercy houses five operating theatres and a 78-bed patient ward. The ship specializes in free maxillofacial, reconstructive, plastics, orthopedic, ophthalmic, dental and obstetric fistula surgeries. In addition to Schmidt, 19 other Canadians are also currently on board (including Larry and Sandy Hewitt of Prince George).
"I love knowing that what I am doing is making a difference," Schmidt said. "It doesn't always feel like it in the day to day, but when I keep my focus on the field service as a whole it is easier to remember the importance of what we are doing and why I am here."
"I hope to be able to make a difference in the very little things I do here on the ship because those little differences are what, when put together, give us a bigger picture of our collaborative success in the mission," M'Bayoh said. "There is always something new to learn even if you are doing the same thing over and over again and those new things we learn settle down as experiences. I am therefore hoping to explore new challenges and learn from them."
The new challenge of marriage began in March when they were wed at a ceremony in Conakry, Guinea, not far from where M'Bayoh was born.
The charitable organization that operates the Africa Mercy (Mercy Ships, launched in 1978 and has now aided more than 70 countries) keeps track of their crew's fully fledged relationships. According to Mercy Ships spokesperson Jojo Beattie, also an expatriate of Prince George now based in Victoria, "the M'Bayoh's are the 330th couple to tie the knot," from the ships' crew history.
Schmidt encouraged others to consider volunteering for the orgnization. Those from the medical professions and also from support professions have a place on the ship, so visiting their website for a tour of their charity mission is a good start.
"One piece of advice we can give to new volunteers preparing to come to the Africa Mercy is for them to be aware of the need to be flexible and proactive," Schmidt said. "Be ready for change and be prepared to meet and be met by mercy shippers from all over the world. And oh, do not hold on to your plans too tightly. The saying on the ship is 'change is the only constant' and it really, truly is the only constant."
You might even meet the love of your life.
