The Ship

The LTFHC is ready to take a giant step forward by building a state-of-the-art hospital ship that provides education, information and medicine to the communities and growing international work force bordering the lake. In effect, this will create a regional referral hospital serving four countries.

The ship will travel to otherwise inaccessible communities on Lake Tanganyika and anchor offshore to provide health services, working in collaboration with all shore-based community health centers around the lake. Spending one or two weeks in each community, we will provide medical and surgical services including emergency response and trauma care, specialty care, and medical transport/transfer. At the same time, we can provide training and logistical support to local healthcare centers.

With its sophisticated satellite communications and computers, the ship will also help us:

• Transform the reach and effectiveness of our vital work in education, communications, data gathering and advocacy
• Make us an even more effective partner for those who want to engage in this rich and complex region
• Leverage our capabilities and relationships to create powerful networks for positive change and local empowerment
• Extend our data gathering and research to multiple programs crossing sectoral boundaries, including implementation of water security and long-term environmental protection.

We now have the completed concept designs, as well as the construction and running-cost estimates for the ship and are preparing to launch a major effort to mobilize resources for its implementation. Stay tuned for further updates.