Film about Unique Christian Charity Wins Award for Best Human Interest Documentary

Last night at the International Broadcasting Awards, held in London, a film about the work of Christian charity Mercy Ships won the award for Best Human Interest Documentary.

Mercy Ships’ website describes the work they do this way: “Many people in Africa have little or no access to healthcare. There are only 2.5 physicians per 10,000 people in Africa, compared to 25 physicians per 10,000 in the U.S. So the Africa Mercy brings volunteer medical teams and sterile operating rooms directly to people who would otherwise go without care.

It’s the world’s largest civilian hospital ship providing state-of-the-art care to those in desperate need—free of charge.”

The documentary, titled The Surgery Ship, chronicles how patients are helped aboard the hospital ships. It is comprised of eight episodes.

“'I'm delighted to receive this award -– we are immensely proud of the series. Documenting the extraordinary work of Mercy Ships has been a privilege and we hope it continues to be seen widely,” said the producer of the documentary, Madeleine Hetherton.

'”We are hugely excited that The Surgery Ship has won this award. We would like to thank National Geographic for commissioning the series, and Media Stockade for doing such a fantastic job at capturing the work of the heroic volunteers on our hospital ship. I am confident that this will lead to The Surgery Ship being aired more widely, and that it will help us to expand our family of Mercy Ships supporters who make our work possible,” added Mercy Ships UK executive director Lea Milligan.

Photo courtesy: Mercyships.org

Publication date: November 2, 2017