2011 Continuing Promise

Give A Kid a Backpack Volunteer Coordinator boarded on April 9 the USS Comfort.
The ship departed from Norfolk , VA on a five month humanitarian mission. The members will be visiting 9 countries throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Updates on the mission


Onboard Training and Partner-
ship

The coalition’s activities began
during the transit to Jamaica as
representative, Kari Williams,
cross-trained with health and hy-
giene partner, EDGE Outreach,
on the organization’s water sanita-
tion and hygiene techniques. Af-
ter arriving in Jamaica, she visited
the main medical site which was
at the National Arena to volunteer
as a member of the EDGE Out-
reach team. For three days, Kari
taught hygiene techniques with
EDGE members to children and
adults passing through the medi-
cal site and handed out water to
patients waiting in line.

Edge Outreach purified and dis-
tributed over 1,000 gallons of
water over the course of the mis-
sion in Jamaica. Their water assis-
tance helped to prevent dehydra-
tion, allowing many Jamaicans to
stay hydrated while waiting for
their medical care. The organiza-
tion provided a tremendous need
to those visiting the American
medical clinic.

International Collaboration and
Capacity Building

Thanks to the wonderful support

of partner organizations, Samari-
tan’s Feet International and the
Dictionary Project, much needed
donations of shoes and dictionar-
ies were distributed to children at
Alpha Boys School, Northstreet
Primary, Mustard Seed Communi-
ties, August Town Primary, and
Harbour View Primary in and
around Kingston, Jamaica.

The Rotary Club of Kingston, the
coalition’s host nation partner,
prioritized these targeted schools
and orphanages to leverage cur-
rent initiatives already in progress
in their community. Once the
partner Rotarians had identified
locations for aid support, mem-
bers of the USNS COMFORT
and US embassy worked to organ-
ize and approve logistical support
for the distribution. Local Rotari-
ans provided feet washing materi-
als, transportation and storage for
donations as well as in-country
coordination assistance. This host
nation NGO support enabled the
US military to allocate its re-
sources for other mission-related
activities, saving both cost and
time for the project’s execution.

Volunteers were recruited from
several areas aboard the USNS
COMFORT. US Air Force, Navy,
Military Sealift Command, and

even the Commodore, Ship’s
Master and Executive Officer
participated in the project as well
as NGO representatives from the
Latter Day Saints. During the two
day project, 230 children’s feet
were washed and 275 dictionaries
were distributed while interacting
with the children, parents, school
staff, Rotary partners, and local
community members. Additional
donations were given to the Ro-
tary Club of Kingston to allocate,
since more time was needed for a
personalized distribution and the
Rotarians will provide long-term
support and follow through.

The coalition had a great start for
CP11 and is looking toward an-
other amazing experience with our
host nation partners, the Rotary
Club of Paita Centro in Peru.

Thank you all for your support
and encouragement!

Kari Williams

Editor’s note: For CP11, the Edu-
cation Coalition represents several
organizations including The Dic-
tionary Project, Loving Hugs, Give
a Kid a Backpack and Samaritan’s
Feet.