plates? we don’t need no stinkin’ plates…

Riding up to Fort Collins with my friend Kristin yesterday, we had a chance to catch up on the happenings of the last couple of weeks and talk about expectations for the upcoming Op Smile fundraiser we would be meeting to discuss that night.  We met on a mission in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and like a couple of true Denver-ites, we hit it off famously.  We had a few free days in Teguc after the mission that gave us a chance to go for a great hike.  We talked the entire way.  The big news, of course, was that she would be getting married only a few weeks after returning to the states.  As if that wasn’t exciting enough, she and her husband had decided to forego the traditional wedding registry and use the opportunity to raise awareness and money for something they both felt strongly about, water.  They partnered with an organization called charity: water and asked their friends and family to donate the money they would have otherwise spent on plates, wine glasses and picture frame.

people doing good

One of my favorite benefits of traveling is getting to meet new people. Traveling with Operation Smile makes this even better because of the people who are involved with the organization. Even though they come from all parts of the world, they all share certain characteristics. They all love to travel, they are all genuinely interested in people and they are all motivated to make a difference. Whether it was sitting on the patio of a pub after a 14 hour day at the hospital or reclining on equipment crates in the OR between surgeries, I had the great pleasure of listening to my new friends tell stories of previous missions and other philanthropic endeavors they were part of. Fed up with the constant stream of depressing news in the traditional media, I have decided to start writing down some of these stories so they could be shared with my family and friends. I met some amazing people last year and here are just a few of their stories.

the great escape

After two weeks of visiting with friends, searching for a job, hanging out at coffee houses and the library (my interim office) and moving from couch to couch every night, enough became enough.  The mountains had been beaconing since my thoughts drifted to unexplored wilderness in the Rockies on the return trip from Rome.

For just such an urge, I keep all of my camping gear stored in large rubbermaid tubs so that they can be thrown in the trunk of a car along with a backpack and water for quick escapes to the backcountry.  Stopping only at the Tattered Cover for a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I made my way south on HWY285 out of Denver and into the foothills.  On the outskirts of Silver Springs I turned south onto Pine Valley Rd/CO RD 126, a road which could only have been fully experienced in a Porsche.  I decide to park along the highway at the entrance to an abandoned logging road and explore the hills to the east.  Over the first crest…Ha!  Perfect…the trees gave way to a fading single track trail through a meadow made possible by logging years ago.  In the foreground a few mule dear paused their grazing to check me out.  In the background…words fail me here…

the eternal city

the easter vigil saga

I spent all day today trying to get to and into St. Peter’s Basilica for Easter Vigil.  From a busted motobike to a busted ankle, everything went wrong.  But, before we get into that, lets back up a bit.

first shots in rome

For the last few days, I have been lounging around Rome.  Waking up late, taking the scooter into the city, reading by the Colosseum and eating all over town.  I stood huddled with hundreds of people from all over the world last night to see the Pope.  After the candle light procession, the way of the cross, he stood on a hill above the Colosseum to address the eagerly waiting crowd.  He spoke about the Easter Season and the meaning of Good Friday.  At least that is the gist of things I understood from the bits of translation I got from the Italian man standing next to me.

That little red dot in the little red tent on the hill is the Pope.

Today, I am off to meet up with a friend of a friend at the Vatican for a ticket to the Easter Vigil tonight.

highlight reel #3

1. A brother of one of our patients
2. Volunteers watch silently as Bruce repairs a cleft lip
3. Patient with a previously repaired bilateral cleft lip waits to have his palate operated on
4. Highschool students from Colorado
5. George
6. Local Highschool Volunteer carries a patient back to the OR
7. Surgery team on table two toil over one of the more than 100 patients we saw in the week
8. PIT!!!!  Me and Ibrahim hanging out between surgeries
9. Cory and Ahmed concentrating on the surgery at hand

My last mission with Operation Smile as an Outcomes Data fellow is finally over.  Hard to believe it has been a year already.

After a week in Aswan, we were able to screen 200 patients and operate on over 100.

The final day of surgery consisted entirely of patients over the age of 15.  It is difficult to imagine what it would be like to be born with a severe facial deformity.  Try to imagine living with all the way though high school.

highlight reel #2

a few of my favorite pics from the last couple of days here on mission in Aswan, Egypt.

screening is completed with 150+ candidates and 110 on the surgery schedule for next week.

summary from the last couple of days: egyptian kids are adorable

1. Cute Kid
2. Meghan (Operation Smile Country Director for Egypt) with Cute Kid
3. Cute Kid
4. Cute Kid

highlight reel #1

after arriving in Aswan, we had a day to relax and see the sites.  the weather was beautiful

1. Water taxis on the Nile
2. The city beyond the unfinished obelisk downtown
3. Temple of Isis
4. Temple of Isis
5. Our Egyptologist and tour guide for the day
6. The view from the lunchtable

observations

Tegucigalpa is a city that, even for the locals, in only seen from the inside of a car.  This is not a safe place to walk around lackadaisicaly on a Sunday afternoon or even during the busy work week.  All of the locals will discourage you from walking, especially alone, very far from the hotel.  People have been mugged and killed for nothing more than a cell phone.  One of my students relayed a story of his own personal experience.  He was riding in a car with his father in the middle of the day.  When they pulled up to a stoplight in the city, a man walking by broke the passenger window and and tried to take the watch right off of my student’s wrist.  It wasn’t until his father stepped on the gas and slammed into the car in front of them that the mugger was scared off.  I can’t imaging living my days in fear of being kidnapped or mugged.  Yet in spite of the difficulties this country faces, it’s people remain fiercely patriotic and devoted to improving their home.  From the removal of the recently exiled president to the daily efforts of organizations like Operation Smile, Honduras is taking great steps in making itself a better place to live.