Monday, October 11, 2010

COTA Prepares for Team 2011

Children of the Americas board members have been busy since June working on the details of our upcoming team. In January of 2011, over 100 volunteers will depart the U.S. for Guatemala.
This past summer, several COTA board members drove throughout Guatemala searching for the best Team 2011 site. Many things have to come together in order to create a successful team experience, and Salama had the right combination. Since the scouting trip, supplies have been gathered from several locations, inventoried, boxed and shipped to Guatemala. All team applications have been received and approved by a team committee. Professional CV's are ready to submit to the Guatemalan Ministry of Health. Hundreds of clinic and OR forms have been printed and packed, COTA is networking with other NGO's for prospective surgical candidates, and plane reservations are being made by our volunteers.
All of the above is done by board members who work full-time and volunteer in their "spare time" for our organization.

Twenty Years of COTA: Perspective and Memories from Warren Brandwine

         My first COTA mission to Peten was in January, 2000. We flew up to San Benito in a surplus C-130 with the door held on with ...