Voyage 6, to Columbia
February 1967-December 1967

"There have been, of course, some daily little crises like nonfunctioning air conditioners, leaking pipes, flat tires, missed buses, unconfirmed airline reservations. But all of these things keep us from getting set in our ways. Honestly, we are all becoming so flexible that we may never fit back into the routines when we come home."

Gail Petre, R.N.

"Children are much the same everywhere. At home they used to bring me bunches of daisies--here they bring handfuls of orchids."

Mary Anna Morris,
Speech and Hearing Therapist

"Thursday was a very busy day in the OR. Five of the six operations scheduled in the 3 operating rooms made for much activity. At 8:00 am, in Room 1, little Sabir Bentlassen, age 7, had a delicate brain operation by Dr. W. James Gardner and his Tunisian counterpart, Dr. Bettaieb. . . . The operation was to correct insensitivity in the left side of his body. At the same time in Room 2, a young woman underwent plastic surgery. Though only 34, she seemed twice that age due to past extensive burns."

Ship's Report

"The bright white HOPE van bumps along narrow twisting roads to isolated communities like Barking Lodge and Hampton Court. There in the tin roofed shed behind Mr. Smith's store the HOPE team administers polio and tetanus vaccine. The clients are mothers and babies."

Father Daniel P. Tormey,
Catholic Chaplain, Jamaica

"So much is preventable; so much could have been ameliorated had these people been brought to some sort of medical facilities. And I think what is really needed is a way to overcome the feeling of inevitability of a disease taking its toll."

Dr. Wassermann