Olivia Guerra’s excited about becoming a general steward.
“It’s helping to run the ship for the people who are doing the actual medical work,” she explained with a smile.
The ship she’ll board more than makes up for the unimpressive title — Africa Mercy. Guerra will volunteer for two months on board the world’s largest charity hospital ship. She’ll be among the 450 volunteer crew members from around the world. She loves their goal to “transform the lives of the world’s forgotten poor. One by one.”
“We all deserve the best life possible,” Guerra said. “Just because we have the fortune to live in a place that’s safe … we have a duty to share the wealth.”
She’s shared the wealth from peer counseling as an elementary student to participating in the 30 Hour Famine in high school.
“I had less hair than I was born with,” Guerra said of shaving her head in 2006 to raise money for cancer research.
“I’ve always been involved with volunteering,” Guerra said.
She’s worked many a Sidney by the Sea Rotary fundraiser (her dad’s a member) and earned a rotary exchange to Austria after graduation from Parkland in 2008.
Guerra majors in sociology at the University of Victoria, while filling in her electives with pre-med courses; she’s planning a medical career. When Tim Maloney, national director for Mercy Ships Canada, made a presentation at rotary, Guerra’s dad felt it would be a good fit for her. They went to see Maloney speak in Victoria, and Guerra was hooked by “seeing the good work they do and they try to make a lasting impact wherever they go.”
“We each have a part to play,” she said.
Guerra boards Africa Mercy in Freetown, Sierra Leone on May 12.
Learn more about Mercy Ships online at www.mercyships.ca.