HUMP DAY
For many years, over hundreds of Operation Smile missions, we have noticed a rhythm which develops during the conduct of each experience. While each site brings unique challenges, the demanding work, long hours, and long distance from home begins to take a bit of a toll on our volunteers’ energy and morale. We call Wednesday Hump Day as it is the farthest out on each of our trajectories towards the journey back home. It is each mission Wednesday when we are most alert towards the emotional health of our volunteers, patient safety issues, attention to detail, and providing a glimpse over the wall towards the finish line. Hump Day takes its name from a little known place where some 65 years ago valiant allied aviators performed remarkable feats in hostile circumstances to keep the supply lines open to the Chinese thus saving thousands of lives, not too dissimilar to what our volunteers are doing daily during the World Journey of Smiles. An abstract from Wikipedia tells us,
“The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in World War II to the eastern end of the Mountains over which they flew from India to China to resupply the Flying Tigers and the Chinese Government of Chiang Kai-shek. The pilots started flying The Hump in April 1942 when the Japanese blocked the Burma Road, and they continued to do so until 1945 when the Ledo Road opened. Flying over the Hump was a risky endeavor. The air route led first over the Himalayan foothills and finally to the mountains, between north Burma and west China, where violent turbulence and terrible weather was standard. Transport planes flew around the clock from any of thirteen bases in northeastern India, landing about 800 kilometers away at one of six Chinese airfields. Some crews flew as many as three round trips every day.”
Most of our mission sites have completed their Hump Day and our kids continue to do well. Over 2000 children have had successful surgery as of this morning’s cumulative regional reports. All surgical teams are bending over backwards to make certain that our margin of error remains very wide and that we stay well within our safety zones. Waters have subsided nicely in Hue, strikes are over in Kolkatta though Richard VanderBurg, our Asia VP, has alerted us to a new tropical cyclone named Sidr bearing down on that region over the next 24-48 hours. All eyes are focused on the safe and successful completion of each mission.
- Dr. Randy Sherman