We meet at 7:30 in the San Francisco airport. Paul Conrado has beat us there with a mountain of boxes of medical and other supplies needed for the journey. Ron Gemberling shows great class by offering champagne and orange juice. The mood brightens immediately. Deb Rice gratefully receives a shoulder rub and her mood does likewise. This promises to be a wonderful trip.
The level of expertise and commitment of the medical volunteers is impressive. Some have been on numerous trips; one person on 17 of them. Many are on the teaching staffs of major hospitals. It is frankly a privilege for the Saratoga Rotary to be in partnership with them.
Three hours later we arrive in Dallas and enjoy a Texas Barbecue to sustain us for the next leg.
In the airport we meet a woman from a group SAFE PASSAGE, Emily Wolfe, whose mission is to help feed and educate children who make their meager living by searching through the city dump; another inspiring story.
I asked one of our doctors, Bill Feaster, what motivates him to continue his many trips, now 6. “I have the opportunity to change a life, and if we didn't no one else would. It is a transforming experience. I have been given much and I want to give back. You cannot do this trip and come back the same person."
We finally arrive in Guatemala, to a police escort no less, in a bus that was clearly on its last leg. Bella Maloney poses with the local law and we all fall into bed.
