"Eight years ago a lady spoke at my church about her experiences with a medical ship in Africa and from that moment on I knew that was what I wanted to do."

Becky grew up in Wauchope and went to Huntingdon Public School and Wauchope High School.

When she graduated from high school in 2007 she embarked on a nursing degree at the University of New England, gaining her qualification in 2011.

Mercy Ships is "an amazing organisation" and her time on the ship was very worthwhile, she said, while crediting her background in Wauchope for her preparedness to be different.

"If you can kick on from a small town you can go anywhere," she told the Gazette.

The ship Becky worked on, the Africa Mercy, arrived in Pointe Noire, Republic of the Congo, in August 2013 and is scheduled to provide over 3300 free surgeries on board, to treat more than 20,000 people at land-based dental and eye clinics, and to provide health care education to Congolese health care professionals during its 10-month stay in port.

"I guess like any first time traveller you will always have fears," Becky said.

"When you hear that your host country will be the Republic of the Congo your stomach starts to fill with butterflies, but knowing that you are going to be working with a well-regarded organisation such as Mercy Ships there really isn't much to be worried about."

With experience in medical and surgical nursing, as well as paediatrics, Becky said her family and friends were encouraging of her decision to volunteer her skills.

"I have been supported by everyone I have talked to about joining Mercy Ships; I have been called a blessing, a treasure and a hero for offering myself up to volunteer and go but I don't think of myself as any of those things. I just had this placed on my heart and off I went.

"I am very fond of the saying 'I needed Africa, Africa didn't need me'. And that saying couldn't be more apt with this situation.

"Each child I met, each mother or father I interacted with, impacted me in a way that words cannot explain. A little girl that has captured my heart is little Benjamine who had suffered terrible burn contractures.

"She went through extensive burn contracture releases causing her to be in a cast that kept both her arms straight out to both sides, which caused her a great deal of pain.

"Through this all she was a brave little girl and would at times sing joyfully with her mum. It looked to be a long road ahead but just 14 days post-op, she was up out of bed and even dancing.

"Every day is a new and exciting adventure and there are new things to find. Living in a community can be difficult at the best of times, but when you have a ship full of people here for the right reasons there rarely ever seems to be a problem. Each person has a story and each person God planned and put together in the one place at the one time."

Now back home in Australia, Becky is set to start work as a community nurse in Bourke.

"I will work there and save up some money till I can go back and serve with Mercy Ships again," she said.

For more information, visit www.mercyships.org.au