Recognition and Celebration

The mission has come to an end, too quickly if you ask me. We worked for 17.5 straight days with only 1 day off. That day was spent visiting the church as previously mentioned. 2014 was an overwhelming success. We treated 2500 registered medical patients (another 500 plus non-registered), fit 465 prosthetics, donated books and supplied for 180 school children, and provided both monetary and gift packages to all our amputees!  These numbers exceeded previous years and this years projected expectations!!
I asked our team, "How much longer could you keep up this pace, 12-13 hours a day, 100+ degrees, no days off etc....."  Answers: 1. May be another week, 2.Not a day longer. When my team asked me: Answer: "11 months per year with 1 month regrouping and rejuvenation".
Amazing how I can derive so much energy and enthusiasm for giving back to the impoverished patients in this country. I dedicate 100% of my strength, energy and passion every single day to every single patient. You learn a lot about yourself during a mission like this, and each year I grow more and more as an individual. Our contribution to this years mission was overwhelmingly successful. All the days, weeks and months of preparing and training paid off.
In my traditional final speech to our team I said:
"I must give thanks to certain people tonight. First, to Bac Si Ha. Every year and every day I work with him I gain a better appreciation of what it means to be a practitioner, a teacher and most importantly a human being. Its not only the amount of compassion that he treats the patients with, its the amount of time he spends and all with a smile on his face!!! I Thank Dr. Sumner, who I have grown to appreciate and learned a great deal of patience from. I Thank Thao, who without her administrative support, this mission would not be possible. I Thank Chi, who has been with me since the beginning of my Vietnam mission work, and has been such trust-worthy partner who volunteered 100% this year and I am very proud of!  I would like to recognize 2 teams of virtual strangers that have come together to become ONE team. One team with One Goal, similar passions, and the desire to do GOOD!!!! I am proud of everyone who dedicated all their hard work in making this mission a success"