Wednesday July 17

This is a special edition of my blog because of it being a different kind of trip to Liberia. I'm not here to do the usual surgical work at JFK, but rather I am here to join the celebrations of Liberian Independence Day on July 26. As part of those celebrations, each year The President chooses to honor certain individuals, and this year I am one of them. On Friday, in a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she will confer on me the distinction of Knight Grand Commander, Humane Order of African Redemption; I really have no idea what it means, other than that it is a great honor and I am proud to be so recognized. It goes without saying that the honor is shared by all of my fellow travelers over the past 4 years (Robert Numoo, Colleen Pietras, Santiago Arruffat, Jenn Malsbury, Eric Lucero, Yuk Ming Liu, Ly Heng, Diego Holguin, John Dussel, Jonathan Laryea, and Nathan Lafayette) as well as all of the people who have helped our work with donations and encouragement. A particularly loud shout out in that regard to Mary, Tanya, and Donna at Waterbury Hospital who have been amazing in finding opportunities to help our work ! As part of the Independence Day celebrations, The President will be bringing the festivities to 3 northern counties in Liberia next week, and I have been invited to join her entourage. I particularly excited about this, since I have been outside if Monrovia for one afternoon only in the 7 trips I have made here. For the most part we come, we work at JFK Hospital, and we go home; I am looking forward to this opportunity to see some of the rest of the country.