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Raised$30000
Goal
Dear UTMB Classmates & Friends,
It is an honor to have shared my adventure in Medical School and 20 years later at our reunion. So many have asked me to share of my involvement with Comfort the Children International, a non-profit organization creating sustainable community development in Kenya.
We all had a passion and vision that led us to medicine. Mine was to gift my talents to organizations that inspired me. During my 15 volunteer trips around the world, I was honored to have cared for so many needing children. Last year, I had the opportunity to experience the profound work CTC International is creating in the realm of sustainable development. Going to Kenya, opened my eyes to the opportunity and gifts I had to offer. Last year, I experienced amazing connections with the families, children, and staff of CTC. I vowed to return the following year, but this time, with a whole medical team.
My first year, I remember touring the programs, seeing the purity of hope in these people who have so little in the way of form, but boundless depths of spirit. I remember touring the Malaika kids program, and being touched by their warmth, as these children with special needs greeted me with loving, soulful smiles and the biggest of hugs- I was touched to tears.
The visit to the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps, where families, displaced from Nairobi, welcomed me into their 8X10 mud-shack homes to share their stories of hope and possibility.
The beauty of connection with a sweet grandmother who shared her story of survival with gratitude. How her home and all possessions were destroyed in the violence after the elections. Then, looking straight into my eyes, with confidence and grace, shared that even though they had taken all her possessions, they could not take her soul. I remember how time stood still--I was profoundly touched.
Returning this year poised with a medical team collaborating Dell Children's Hospital, we created a new path for medical care, treating over 750 patients, visiting local hospitals, and creating a path for future surgical care.
I remember a sweet 85 year old African woman we tended to, thanking us for caring and sharing our gifts, then breaking out into a sweet song of gratitude, while holding my hand, and looking into my eyes.
Our oldest patient, a 95 year old gentleman, with the kindest of eyes, who was so gently tended to by our family physician, with grace and honor.
The Maasai children, dancing, jumping and singing with us in honor and joy at our presence while we tended to them in a makeshift school-house clinic.
The grace of the team, as they carried a dying man from the backseat of a dilapidated cab, to the clinic, to tend to his emergent medical needs with dignity. The man cried as he praised us for treating him with honor.
These are just some of the powerful, yet simple stories that have profoundly changed my life and world view this past year. As a board member of CTC I am pledging $10,000 per year for the next 3 years to bring a solid foundation and to secure funding for CTC's Health Program.
Many of you expressed an interest to get involved and/or to donate when I shared about CTC at the reunion. I invite you to be a part of this amazing community and to share in your talent and gifts by matching my financial commitment or giving how you feel led so we can reach our $30,000 goal to build the Health Program and bring sustainable healthcare to the people of Maai Mahiu, Kenya. I guarantee you by volunteering your time, or donating to CTC International, you will be gifted in ways you can only imagine.
Thank you for being part of my life,
Sandy Garcia MD