A New Zealand non-profit providing lifesaving treatment to isolated Fijian communities has issued an urgent plea for donations to repair its stranded medical ship.
Youth With A Mission Ships Aotearoa (YWAM) offers essential healthcare, such as dentistry and optometry, from its medical vessel the YWAM Koha; the ship and the organisation's volunteer team have delivered medical services to more than 5000 Fijians in the past two years.
The vessel is currently stranded in Fiji due to a tail shaft issue, with the charity facing $200,000 worth of repairs: a bill that has already been shaved by $100,000 due to a donation by its partner, Trinity Lands.
It's hoped donations from the public will help cover the remaining $200,000, YWAM managing director Marty Emmett told AM on Monday morning.
"The mission is to empower a healthy future for the Pacific. We have dental clinics on the ship, we take basic primary health services - such as optometry - to the maritime regions in Fiji with the ship's volunteer medical team, providing services right there in their villages where they can't access them," he explained.
"We've got dates on dry dock in Fiji at the end of this month, around November 29, for two weeks. We're hoping that two-week window gives us enough time to get it fixed and get home before more cyclones come through the Pacific."
Until November 28, every donation will be matched by Trinity Lands, the charity said in an update to its Facebook.
YWAM has already served over 3800 people this year, delivering 13,500 medical services at no cost, Emmett added.
If you're in a position to donate, you can do so at saveourship.nz.
