Countdown to Honduras

We're three days away from boarding our flight to Honduras, and I'm sitting here at home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, imagining that the other 63 members of the team are, like me, scrambling to complete last-minute preparations. This evening we're assembling at the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a "packing party"--cramming suitcases with thousands of items from bandages and prescription medicines to medical instruments and toothbrushes. These are the supplies that will enable the mission to do its work.

On the team roster are pediatricians, dentists, surgeons, physicians, pharmacists, EMTs, nurses, dental hygienists and assistants, physical therapists, maintenance specialists, and a long list of dental students, teenagers and general helpers. All volunteers. All paying their own ways to give people they have never met -- mostly women and children -- desperately needed help.

There's also me. I'm a writer and photographer, and I'm along to document the mission's work and give everyone back here at home a window into this remarkable event and the organization behind it. I hope you'll check back here often and follow our progress over the next two-and-a-half weeks.