With just a week before the trip, I sent forth a call to friends who might want to contribute to our medical supplies. The Water for Children Africa team had 15 suitcases to fill, and were meeting twice a week by phone to coordinate the last of our contributions. We had 8 boxes of surgical gloves and various pain relievers, but little in the way of childrens' meds. The Black Faculty and Staff Association (click the title of this post for our homepage) at my school had already embraced the cause of sending supplies and funds for the water tanks, and were quick to sign on to sharing the trip with the campus at Dominguez Hills. We set up two drop-off centers on Tuesday, June 12, and by Friday had received the generous outpouring of support from various personnel, including the entire College of Business. There were bags and boxes of everything from flip-flops and ear drops, to diapers and baby tylenol.
By Saturday, (a day away to San Diego) my friends, Evelyn, Dana & her daughter Camille, and Adrian, had come to say farewell, loaded my suitcases and several additional boxes and bags of yo-yos decorated as lady bugs, playdo, and many different over-the-counter meds into the car. There was no room for more. I stared in amazement at the cartons of gauze, the vitamins, motrin, antiseptic wipes, cough syrup, ointments, hydrocortizone, cotton balls, crayons and colorful markers, chapstick, and hand sanitizers... and thought this project might just make a difference to little ones in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
No comments:
Post a Comment