Ken Funk, our mission director proclaimed upon our arrival in Tacna that this had to be one of his smoothest trips and check-ins in his career as Mission Director with Rotaplast. With six stints as Mission Director under his belt that must be a good omen.
Although Clayton Lee, Assistant Mission Director and his wife Lorrie might not agree, they were the only team members to miss our flight to Tacna due to a flight delay in Sacramento. In the end it all worked out, there just happened to be another flight out of LAX to Lima twenty minutes later,. We were able to meet up in customs in Lima. Just in time for their much needed helping hands in transporting our 32 boxes that made it seamlessly through customs.
A member of the Rotary Club of Lima meet us at the Lima airport at midnight and helped us through customs. How impressive the bond of Rotary Club throughout the world.
Upon our arrival in Tacna, again another outpouring of comradeship of the Rotarians. Their must have been over 20 Rotarians from the local Tacna Rotary Club at the airport at 6:00 a.m. waiting for our arrival. The Rotarians were there with a truck to haul our boxes and equipment and a beautiful bus to transport us to our lovely lodgings, The Meson Hotel.
After our team who comes from Spokane, Philadelphia, Boston, Phoenix, California, Texas and Atlanta and even as far away as New Zealand got a few hours of sleep we walked just a few blocks to the Tacna Hospital. We were treated to lunch and a tour of the hospital and developed a strategic plan for the following clinic day. What a group; the local medical team, headed by Dr. Hugo Sanchez; the local Tacna Rotarians and of course our wonderful, enthusastic and loving Rotaplast team with dozens and dozens of mission trips worth of experience under their belt.
I think Ken Funk’s prophecy might be right this just might be a real smooth trip.