Urgent Help Needed to Save YWAM Koha Medical Ship Stranded in Fiji

The YWAM Koha, a New Zealand medical ship providing vital healthcare to isolated Pacific communities, has become stranded in Fiji and needs urgent repairs to avoid being destroyed by an approaching tropical cyclone. The ship, operated by Youth With a Mission, requires dry docking and repairs, which will cost $300,000. With 160 Kiwi medical volunteers and an eight-man crew, the organization is facing a funding shortfall of $200,000, with Trinity Lands, a philanthropic agricultural trust, offering to donate $100,000.

The situation has become more urgent with the forecast of a tropical cyclone moving southeast between Vanuatu and Fiji in the next two days. YWAM Ships Managing Director, Marty Emmett, is appealing to the public for help in saving the ship, which has provided healthcare services to more than 5000 people in Fiji in just two years. The ship, equipped with two dental clinics and pop-up clinic equipment, is based in Tauranga and plays a crucial role in delivering medical attention to those in need in the Pacific.

Emmett emphasizes the importance of the ship’s work in reaching isolated communities where access to healthcare is limited, and urges New Zealanders to chip in to help get the ship fixed and back on its mission to provide medical assistance to those in need across the Pacific.

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