This past weekend we were fortunate enough to get those suitcases back out and head for Kansas City... (I want to sing it and upload to You Tube, but not gonna happen).
In any normal year, I might be going to Kansas City on the second weekend of March for the Big XII basketball tournament. Glad those weren't my plans this year. :)
We went to a fundraising gala for next year's medical mission trip. I plan to go next year, and I really wanted the rancher to dress up and come meet the new friends I had been talking about for the last 6 weeks. Surely to goodness by now, you know that I spent a couple of weeks in the Philippines in January on a medical mission trip. This trip is sponsored by a well established organization called the Philippine Medical Society of Greater Kansas City (PMSGKC). They receive assistance from the Philippine Nurses Association of Greater Kansas City (PNAGKC).
The event was held at the Westin in downtown Kansas City, and the country girl doesn't need much of an excuse to visit the big city. So, using the rancher's mantra, "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," I sent in the money, made the reservation, and told him we were going. Not really. That's a long drive, and I probably wouldn't have made the trip by myself. I had him check his calendar, he balked a little when I said he needed to wear a tux, but he manned up and did it, and he had the team at home in place to cover for him. He was Mr. Cooperation.
With the physicians group and the nurses group working together, they almost have these trips, although to different locations every year, down to a science. Maybe it is because they have so many repeat participants, but they have wonderful leadership and the trip was highly organized. Since I am not Filipino and I am not a medical student or practitioner of any kind, I was really lucky to be allowed to accompany the group and be a member. They gave me jobs, but when those tasks were completed, I would float and try to find somewhere else to be involved. It was such a great experience. Yes, I have considered medical school. My age and home location are the determining factors. Probably not gonna happen.
In order for these medical missions to take place, money is raised year-round. Starting right after everyone gets home from the mission. Every bit of it goes for supplies and medicines. Missioners pay their own way. Above, this is Luz and Liz -- it would have been more confusing if I was an RN like she is, but since I was "just Liz," it was easy. She and her daughter were my roommates for part of the trip,
and I would now consider them very close friends.
Sticking with the 3-letter name theme, here is Luz's daughter, Sam (Samantha). Now I call her Dr. Sam because she was just this week admitted to medical school.
She's going to rock that.
Samantha's dad, Cesar, (of course, Luz's husband) joined us as well, and it was nice to finally meet someone I had heard so many nice things about. We sat at the same table, and it was such a fun time.
Then I asked the photographer to take a picture of me and Dr. Sharma, one of the M.D.'s that went on the mission. I wanted a picture of all the Indians in the group.
(I crack myself up.)
Oh! There's a photo booth!? C'mon, Sam!
(She's early 20's, and I am early something.)
When I am with her, I pretend to be younger...than I really am.
Everyone looked so nice! We looked a bit different working in the Philippines.
Beth, an RN who attended the mission, and her husband, Ernie, looked extremely elegant.
It's kind of ridiculous that I am in all these pictures, but I love these people! This is Del, and we are being slightly photobombed by Joel, Dr. Christine's husband. Del's husband was one of the surgeons who was EXTREMELY kind to let me watch any surgery he was doing, and would pull the instruments away and to the side so I could get a clearer view or angle of his procedures. She is a nurse, and the two of them working as a team, she assisted him on every surgery. Dr. Fred seems to have avoided my camera this weekend. These two were so generous to include me in their operating room.
And here is Dr. Christine, looking so beautiful. We had the lizard experience together in Angono, we laughed, we probably cried, and we roomed together for part of the trip. I found her to be such a caring and wonderful physician. She always went the extra mile to see another patient, or an extra patient, and when she wasn't seeing patients, she was handling the organizational aspects of the mission trip. She was in charge. She is one of those people with kids, extra responsibilities here and there, a big-time full-time job, and she gets up early to go running. Those kind of people amaze me. I find myself lacking words to describe all that these folks do.
We had to get a picture with Dr. Yvonne. She will be the President again next year of the PMSGKC, and she has served in that capacity this year. She was all over the place at the gala. I saw her at an entry table, getting things ready, I saw her greeting and welcoming people, she was part of a dance troupe that performed during the slide show of the mission work that was done, she swore in new officers -- we were lucky to get this one picture with her. These two sisters (and committee) worked so hard to get all the arrangements taken care of for this celebration, and I wish their parents could have been there to see how perfectly it all came together. They currently live out of state and could not make the trip this year. They have to be so proud.
Great weekend. Great people. Great event.
