On December 17 ISHI volunteers and supporters gathered at L'Affaire in Mountainside NJ for a festive celebration of the year's accomplishments. We wanted to show the ISHI volunteers our appreciation for their generous contributions of time, skills and funds to support ISHI's missions this past year. It was like a family reunion to see past, present (and future!) volunteers in one room, reminiscing and telling stories of their ISHI volunteer experiences! The wine flowed and once everyone got a plate of food, the stories and visual documentary of the missions began!
Volunteers gathering at the begining of the party. From writers, lawyers, nurses, surgeons or anesthesiologists over 50 people have actively volunteered with ISHI since its inception in 2009.
Dr. Ziad Sifri introduced ISHI and detailed our accomplishments over the last two years. Dr. Devashish Anjaria spoke about the Philippines Mission in February 2011 from his perspective as a first time ISHI volunteer described the patients he treated, as well as those the team could not treat due to lack of equipment, resources, or specialists required. Next, RN Jhoselyn Thomas detailed the accomplishments as well as the challenges of ISHI's first Nurses Mission, to the Rio Dulce region in Guatemala. For one week in October, ISHI's team of 9 saw and treated 1074 patients all the while traveling in a mobile clinic! Third was speaker Dr. Benjamin Chandler, a fourth year surgery resident, who participated in his first surgery mission with the Sierra Leone Team in December. Dr. Chandler gave a heartfelt speech about how this mission changed his perspective on healthcare in the third world and detailed the positive impact this mission made both on him, as well as on the patients the team saw and treated. Last but not least, artist Debbie Livingston spoke about the art component she helped to develop during ISHI missions, and showed the mural she created in the maternity ward of the Hospital in Kabala, Sierra Leone.
Dr. Asha Bale during the welcome note. The event included a retrospective of the year and a recognition for all the volunteers that participated with ISHI.
Debbie Livingston, Artist, displaying and presentng some of the artwork she did during her missions to the Philippines and Sierra Leone.
Asha Bale MD and Ziad Sifri MD during the event prizes distribution.
Sue Walsh CRNA winner of two statuette brought by ISHI from a mission. Sue has volunteered in two separate missions with ISHI.
The evening continued with presentation of certificates to the Sierra Leone team volunteers, recognition and distribution of giftbags to all the 2011 volunteers, and then announcement of the lucky raffle and 50/50 prize winners! To finish off the evening, a short video produced by Charlie Khoury showing the warmth, character and beauty of the people in Kabala, Sierra Leone, was shown, bringing tears to the eyes of many in the audience.
The event had a great turnout and we at ISHI were thrilled at all of the positive remarks made by guests. Special thanks to Derek for DJ'ing at the event, and to all who helped sell tickets. Thank you everyone for attending and helping this event to be successful and enjoyable! Best wishes for 2012!
Friends, colleagues and families among the audience.
Fundraising items: Mission photos, sketchings donated by Debbie Livingston and paintings donated by New York artist Kevork Mourad.
