This
is Bobby. He lives in Western Kentucky, he is a retired educator,
husband to an amazing woman and he has a heart of gold. If he were asked
to describe himself, Bobby would be at a loss for words, because he is
also modest and quiet in nature. Guided by principles and integrity,
Bobby feels better when he is allowed to do his good works on the
sidelines, driven by the need to do things correctly rather than for acknowledgement.
All
of the above may explain why, in the year 2000, Bobby found the courage
to board this plane in Guatemala City, which was as you can see in the
photo, literally held together by tape. Flying on this particular plane
was the only way that Bobby could continue to travel with and volunteer
for the medical mission trip he had signed up for. We had to get from
one end of Guatemala to the other, there were hundreds of patients
waiting for us at our destination and working on his first Children of
the Americas team was what he had agreed to do.
Bobby is a man of his word.
He got on the plane.
I
wish I could report that the ride was uneventful, and that the tape on
the door had nothing to do with the integrity of the airplane but I
would be wrong.
Twenty
minutes into the flight the plane warning lights and sirens went off,
indicating that there was a problem with either the instruments or the
engines. Since he didn't speak Spanish, he wasn't sure what the problem
was, but Bobby did participate in the group prayer; volunteers
strapped into their cargo seats on the perimeter of the metal interior
of the plane, holding hands, sweating profusely and praying.
One
tense aircraft landing later Bobby and 35 other COTA volunteers had
safely arrived in northern Guatemala, and the rest, as they say, is
history.
But
in this case, the story goes on. Bobby and his wife Lisa will be
wearing our team t-shirts again this January when our organization
arrives in Guatemala once again to do what we do best; caring for the
medical, surgical, dental and prosthetic needs of rural women and
children. I've lost count of how many team t-shirts Bobby has worn but I
know it is over a dozen. His trips in between teams to attend to the
needs of former foster children in Guatemala have lead to quite a few
more airline landings in Central America. He and Lisa have packed
medical supplies, loaded trucks, escorted foster children
internationally and provided medically fragile foster care to many of
our Guatemalan patients.
Bobby
would be the first person to tell you that our entire organization is
made up of people just like him. People who give up time, money,
vacation leave and resources to make sure that our patients in Guatemala
get quality medical care. And he would be right. A donation of any size helps us restore health to some of the most medically
fragile people in Guatemala, because people like Bobby make sure we don't have to use financial donations to cover administrative costs. Our participation in the GoodGiving Challenge this year is ending in two days.
Thankfully, our time with volunteers like Bobby continues.
To learn more about how you can help, click the link below.
