Mada 2025 Clubfoot Program Update 1

An evening view of the local hospital here in Toamasina

Hello from our family, and a quick update from the clubfoot program (will post a second part in the next week or so). Nick's team wrote these updates to share within Mercy Ships and also to some partner organisations, and we thought we'd share them here.   

Our family is otherwise well! The kids are really thriving here and we are so grateful.  Each week is quite full - the pace of life on the ship has always been fast but we love living in this community.  

Here's a couple more recent photos, followed by the program update:

Clubfoot patients at the HOPE centre (off-ship patient housing)

Taking a cast off after surgery at the local clinic within the hospital

The team checks the progess of healing post surgery

Mercy Ships Clubfoot Mentoring Program Update 

Bridging the Gap: Mercy Ships Clubfoot Mentoring Program returns to Madagascar to enhance skills in treating older children with clubfoot. 

After a 5-year hiatus, the Mercy Ships Clubfoot Mentoring Program has returned with renewed excitement and anticipation. The innovative mentoring program brings together international experts and local clinicians to enhance skills for treating more severe clubfoot cases and older children with clubfoot, building on foundations laid almost 10 years prior. 

Mercy Ships Clubfoot Mentoring Participants from CHU Analankininina (Hopitaly be) 2015

A Decade of Progress and New Challenges

Ten years after Nick Veltjens, Clubfoot Program Manager, initially ran a mentoring program in Madagascar, the program’s return marks a significant milestone in the country’s clubfoot care journey. During the intervening decade, local healthcare providers have continued to develop strong foundational skills in treating clubfoot cases using the Ponseti Method which is the Gold-standard treatment recommended globally. 

However, more severe cases and children with delayed presenting clubfoot have continued to pose a challenge. This is where the new mentoring program aims to make an impact. 

“What makes the program special is the ability to come alongside local clinicians on a weekly basis and reinforce and strengthen their skills in treating these much older and challenging cases” Nick Veltjens- Clubfoot Program Manager.

Building on Early Success

The program has already completed an intensive two-day course covering advanced approaches for assessment and treatment for delayed presenting clubfoot. The training combined theoretical sessions with hands on practice, creating a foundation for ongoing mentoring relationships. 

"It was truly encouraging to see participants appreciate the value of having a more conservative approach in treating delayed-presenting clubfoot, and how this can lead to better outcomes." Nick Veltjens- Clubfoot Program Manager.

Mercy Ships Clubfoot Course 2025

Looking Forward: Sustainable Impact

As the project continues, the focus will shift towards supervised clinical practice and joint treatment sessions. Working in partnership to achieve the best clinical outcomes for children with delayed presenting clubfoot and providing opportunities for sharing clinical experience and knowledge. 

 Mercy Ships Clubfoot Course 2025 

In parallel, the project will focus on fostering strong professional networks among Malagasy clinicians, key stakeholders—including AMPR, MiracleFeet, and the Ministry of Health. This collaborative approach aims to strengthen the national clubfoot program and ensure the long-term sustainability of clubfoot clinics and the continued delivery of high-quality treatment and care. 

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If you'd like to support our time here in Madagascar, we are still fundraising through Mercy Ships:

 Click here for our Australia fundraising page, or find the details on the "giving info" page at the top of the screen. 

 Click here for the link to the USA fundraising page (also linked on the giving info page). 

We'd always love to hear from you - either via social media message or email! (suzanneveltjens@gmail.com, nickveltjens@gmail.com)

We're back!

2025 has been off to a whirlwind start for our family - we've packed down our Australia home in Toowoomba, Queensland and we've rejoined Mercy Ships for the year along with our kids!

It's been almost exactly 5 years since we ended our service with Mercy Ships.  We knew in our hearts that it was time to build a life for ourselves somewhere "on land" and God has been so very gracious to us!  Toowoomba has quickly become a place that really feels like a home for our family.  Both our children are born there, and we have a house of our own now too.  Sometime at the end of 2023 after our daughter Alette was born God began to move in our hearts and we thought it might be time to consider what serving internationally along with our children could look like.  We began taking steps in 2024 to investigate if this was a possibility, and the pieces slowly came into place.  

Once we had a "green light" that we are really doing this, we spent a busy January and February packing down our house and doing the necessary medical/documentation preparations.   We boarded the Africa Mercy the last week of Feb and have since been settling into a very different life for our family!  It has been pretty surreal, I (Suzanne) don't think I could have dreamed this up when I first boarded the ship in 2012.

Here's a few bullet points from our first 8 weeks here:

-Nick is back to doing what he loves - mentoring others in the techniques needed to treat kids with clubfeet!  This program is a follow-up to the initial training he did here in Madagascar in 2015/2016, the focus is on management of older children.  He did a lot of work before we left Australia to get this program set up (lots of planning/coordination calls with local partners, various Mercy Ships departments and also the Ministry of Health), and he really hit the ground running.  

-The kids are adjusting very well!  I won't lie, those first 4-5 weeks were tough.  Hats off to all the families who have gone before us.  There are so many new things for the kids to take in every time they set foot outside of the cabin, and it was pretty overwhelming at first.  We all also got hit with a few viruses since being here, it's kind of just part of the community living.  We seem to be through some of the toughest parts of the adjustment to being here.  The kids seem much more relaxed.

-Jonas is in preschool with three other children from the USA, Switzerland and the Netherlands.  He attends each weekday morning from 9 till lunch, and it's honestly been one of the easiest parts of this transition, he's loved it from the first day and been quite comfortable in his classroom thanks to a wonderful teacher.

-Alette is the youngest crew member on the Africa Mercy.  She is very fond of waving at people and seeing them smile back at her.  She loves going places and often goes and gets her shoes and brings them to me.  She's nearly 17 months now, and has started saying some words.

I try to get the kids outside in the afternoon as much as I can.  We have a playground on the uppermost deck of the ship, and there's also a few places in town that I enjoy taking the kids.  They both love drinking a fresh coconut with a straw.  The ladies at the market laughed when Alette didn't want to share with me.  

More updates to follow, this one is just to say "hi" and let people know what we're up to.  Prayers appreciated while we re-learn how to do this and lead our children too.  Nick and the team are casting patients each week together at the local hospital, we'd also love prayer that the patients and participants thrive!  

If you feel led to help our family financially in this endeavour, click here for our Australia fundraising page, or find the details on the "giving info" page at the top of the screen.  Click here for the link to the USA fundraising page (also linked on the giving info page). 

We'd always love to hear from you - either via social media message or email! (suzanneveltjens@gmail.com, nickveltjens@gmail.com)