Spreading hope isn’t specifically in Stephanie Duncan’s job description, but it’s an essential part of her workday.

As hospital ward supervisor aboard a large hospital ship docked in Tamatave, a seaport on the coast of Madagascar, Duncan works alongside other medical professionals to offer hope to people in need—and to save lives. The patients they treat often have debilitating tumors and hernias that need expert surgical attention.

“Patients come to us desperate for an answer, for new life,” the 2006 nursing graduate says. “And the awesome thing is that we get to provide that for them.”

The vessel is part of Mercy Ships, a charity that provides free health care, community development education, health education, and more. Doctors and nurses aboard the ship donate their time and often spend their own money to work in service there.

The ship will be docked in Tamatave until June 2016. After that, Duncan will go wherever Mercy Ships takes her.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people in need, and when I think about it, it’s overwhelming,” she says. “But working together with other like-minded people, we can really change the world, one patient at a time.”