Hospitality Centre

The Mercy Ship hospital treats patients from all over Benin. Many of these patients travel long distances to come to the city of Cotonou, where the Africa Mercy is docked. Often these patients need somewhere to stay in the days leading up to their admission into the hospital. Most of the time, the patients need to visit the hospital for post-op care. They cannot stay in the hospital though, as the bed space is needed for new patients.

The hospitality centre is Mercy Ships solution to this logistical problem. This centre is a large warehouse that is about a fifteen minute walk from the ship and it houses all those patients that need to remain close to the hospital for post-op care. While the patients and their families stay there, they receive meals and have a warm bed. The adults also receive basic education (reading, spelling, etc.) from one of the crew who has been assigned to develop a daily programme for them. Crew are free to visit the centre any time to play with kids or provide comfort to the families.

The hospitality centre from outside

The patients' beds

Last week a few of us went to visit the children at the hospitality centre. We took tattoo's, balloons, colouring books, etc. along for entertainment.