Preparations

As we prepare for another trip to Liberia, I want say a special thanks to the following:

* Brussels Airlines : they have provided us with discounted tickets, and have allowed each of us an extra bag of checked luggage! There are 7 of us on this trip, so we can check 21 bags without an extra fee!! That will allow us to bring a lot more supplies, and that's a wonderful thing !
* Clarine Vaughn : Clarine is the Executive Director of HEARTT, and she was able to get us the excellent deal with the airline. Big thank you for that, Clarine !
* Alyssa Redmon and Cook Medical: Without going into great detail now, since I will be telling the story in the blog later, we have a patient waiting in Liberia who needs a special item that is quite expensive. Alyssa listened to my stories of Liberia, and then put me in touch with the right people at Cook Medical, who have donated this item for us to use.
*Jenn Imerini and Rose Esposito and Ethicon: Through their efforts and generosity, we will be bringing a large duffel bag weighing 45 pounds which contains just sutures!
*Ann Sawyer and Americares : Americares does wonderful relief work delivering medical supplies and people to disaster areas. The have set up a program, directed by Ann Sawyer, to provide supply assistance to medical missions such as ours. The have an on-line inventory, and they make it simple to browse the inventory and ask for needed supplies. It's very organized, very easy, and very generous.
*The OR Staff at Waterbury Hospital: About a month ago I asked if they could start saving supplies that would otherwise be discarded for us to take to Liberia. I put a large container in the OR for this purpose; within days it was filled, and I have emptied it several times since. It feels good to be able to make use of supplies which would otherwise be thrown away.
*Mary and Tanya are in charge of maintaining the OR Supply system at WH. They are always thinking of our work in Liberia, and what they can do to help. Their aid is invaluable, and their encouragement is priceless. And the cookies they baked for us were awesome!!
*Donna is the OR Supply buyer in the Purchasing Department at WH. Like Mary and Tanya, she is constantly looking for ways to help our work and the people of Liberia.
*The staff of the Department of Surgery at Waterbury Hospital, the staff at Alliance Medical Group, Dr. Scott Kurtzman and my surgical colleagues : all of them contribute in so many ways to our success in Liberia. My gratitude for your support is immense.

There are many others who have helped in innumerable ways; some of them know the material and financial support they have provided, and others only know that they have offered encouragement, but they don't realize how much that encouragement has meant to all of us who have the honor and pleasure of doing this work in Liberia.