Our sixth mission to Haiti – with an even larger load of supplies

Mission 6 Chapter 1

If anyone had told me on January 16th that after the initial flight to Haiti we would make 5 more for a total of 6; well, I would never have believed it.

This flight is the 6th and probably the last humanitarian flight run by Air Canada. They have delivered close to 500,000 lbs of which 70 percent was ONEXONE aid for Partners in Health; medicine, medical equipment, tents, food and water.

The dedication and commitment by Air Canada is 100 percent the reason we are here today for another flight. From the top management to the flight attendants to the folks who pack and load, this has been a labor of love.

The plane is more loaded than the last, the whole back end is full and water is on this one again.

We are all proud, every single person and organization who has taken part in this is bursting with pride. What was achieved was amazing, but our ability to truly help in such a way remains humbling and a true privilege.

As we are ready to leave, I look around and see the same group, Gilles, handsome Carl security, Anup and Brian from in flight service; Doug and his guys, Julie from systems, we are missing our Doctor Guy and Nurse Jocelyn. This time we have a doctor and nurse from Toronto. Jude is here, he has worked harder than anyone and he gets it; he is truly an angel for the people of Haiti. Then we are missing our fearless leader Duncan who is the spark plug of these missions, he is on the way to Vancouver as Air Canada is the official airline of our games and the workload is heavy. Duncan ( COO of Air Canada ) and Calin (CEO of Air Canada), have shown tremendous leadership and vision. They deserve maximum respect for these flights. They did the right thing and maximized the initiatives to a level rarely imagined let alone seen. I’ve said it over and over again. In the background we must never forget PIH from Paul Farmer to Ali to Megan to Ted to Kathryn to Loune and Lody and the whole team. We know that every pound of help is being utilized by an organization with the most integrity possible and whose need to do the right thing in Haiti began 25 years ago.

Unfortunately millions of humans have been profoundly affected by this tragedy and hopefully from this incredible tragedy the Haitian people will once and for all know that the world cares and is there for them for the long haul.

Flight 6 is about to take off this isn’t the end; it’s just the beginning of chapter 2.

“Together we can save the World”