Erm….so you know how I said in my last post that Vietnam work was going to have to be shelved for a bit due to the key contacts I was working with disappearing? Yes, well, forget all that. I had a final push at trying to get the Vietnam door open and….ta-daaaaah! Doors flinging open all over the place. But most importantly, these doors were being opened by the right people. So in the past couple of weeks I’ve possibly made more progress than I had done in the last six months.
Looking back, it almost makes me laugh. Because really, the key to achieving your goals is so simple. You need passion about what you are doing. You need to be doing it for the right reasons. You need to be able to dream big. And the people you decide to work with on the way need to be just as passionate, just as motivated for the right reasons and must be dreaming just as big. As the new neurosurgeon I was put in touch with (Martin Corbally) who opened a whacking majorly big door said to me regarding my project, ‘Jordan, doors are just waiting to open’. And now they have, it feels great. I won’t go into all of it because there’s shedloads of work ahead but I will say that it feels very positive, very exciting and very possible. But I will mention Hillary Browne of Helping Orphans Worldwide…the biggest heart I’ve encountered in a long time and a big door-opener as well. She does amazing work with her foundation (check out the link before) and is soon to be moving to Vietnam permanently so it’ll be fantastic to have so involved a contact actually out there, seeing as I can’t get on a plane due to my flipping noggin’. So all good and now all moving forwards once again! Stay tooned for news on this one.
I also had a very productive and lovely meeting with a major hospital in a major city, who are being majorly helpful. I very frustratingly can’t name them because they, like many who want to help in the donation of expired-but-absolutely-perfect medical equipment, are bound by internal rules which prohibit them donating; as a result, it’s all sent to landfill or for scrap metal. MADDENING! So they’re doing it very secretly. I panic slightly about this on a weekly basis but their determination to join this cause overrides their fear of a possible firing and they’ve said they are more than happy to risk it. Such determination of spirit is what fuels my belief that this will work. Indeed, they’ve donated lots already to me (I sent out a goodie-bag of neurosurgical bits to Ethiopia last month from them) and now they’ve come up with major full kits for neurosurgery and shunt insertion which are literally like gold-dust. They’ll be ready for me in July. Very ‘cited about that!
So many people have been offering donations for this recently…it’s so kind. They range from money to fax machines to offers of help carrying all the heavier stuff to London so I can pass them onto the volunteers taking the equipment out to whatever country it is (that offer is probably the one that got the most effusive thanks!). I’m in the process of setting up a charitable foundation with a website in production so that if folk do want to get involved in any way, it’ll make it a lot easier for them to do so. So far I’ve not accepted money from anyone as I didn’t want anybody but myself to be out of pocket in any way. But now the project is getting bigger and spreading its wings, I can see that if I carry on this way, I’ll end up bankrupt! Posting heavy equipment across the world is not cheap, nor are the UK rail fares to go and pick it up (I’m not able to drive for two years following excessive burr-holes-in-da-head). The hardest thing is choosing a name for the charity. What the bejeezus am I going to call it? It could be something safe and descriptive but I personally want it to be catchy, something which will get attention. Not just another ‘Society For…’ or ‘Association For…’ because the charity world is saturated with those (no offence to Societies and Associations; it’s just that I don’t want us to get lost). So late-night brainstorming sessions looking for a name are the current order of my day.
My, what a helpful post that was! I have great news on the development of the project but I can’t tell you what it is, I’ve received some amazing donations but I can’t tell you who they’re from and I’m soon to be a charitable organisation but I can’t tell you what it will be called. Aren’t you glad you read this?
Before I go, here’s a picture of true happiness….apparently all that’s needed to achieve this state is a warm lap, some sunshine and someone tickling the top of your head. Who knew?
This is da life.
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