Thank you Katerina

Last night "super volunteer" for HBI Katerina de Metz hosted a "Connect Event" to raise money for our organization. The event was fantastic. With an interesting, engaging and very compassionate group of people in attendance.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Katerina and to everyone who attended. We had a great selection of beer from Belgium, wine from the Pacific Northwest, and food from Peru. Talk about an international evening. Music was provided by the local phenomenon and mega-talented musician Jonathan Brinkley - thank you Jonathan.

A special thank you goes out to Deb who alerted me to a poem by Mother Teresa. So with that, I will end this Blog post with Mother Teresa's "Anyway" poem:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.

May Fundraiser

Join us for a fantastic night of food, fun and entertainment at the highly regarded Andina Restaurant in downtown Portland. HBI will be holding a two-night spring fundraiser on

May 3 and 4 from 6 - 9 p.m.

For more details about this exciting event - please see the invitation below.

Please join us to "Build a Bridge and Make a Difference!"

HBI: A full Spring and Summer

I will be the first to admit it - the "park" has been closed for too long. Meaning - I have been very remiss in updating the HBI BlogSpot. Well - the park is open again!

We have a huge spring (yes, spring has sprung) in store, and a fantastic summer planned. A few of our upcoming events include:

• The Third Annual Arequipa Medical Conference and Healthcare Training Symposium (April 23 and 24 in Arequipa, Peru; we have a great group of speakers from around the United States and a team of Peruvian physicians and nurses who are true experts in their fields)
• The First Annual HBI and Andina Fundraiser Dinner and Auction (May 3 and 4 are the dates set for our first collaborative fundraiser event with the famous Portland premiere eatery Andina; we are looking to fill the event with stakeholders and new friends of HBI; stay tuned to the HBI website and BlogSpot for updates)
• The International Medical Volunteerism Conference at Emory University (April 16-18, Dr. Bob Gehringer and I will be presenting at this prestigious conference; the conference is designed to bring together medical and healthcare professionals from around the world to talk about international volunteerism and ways to collaborate services and talents; updates will follow on our BlogSpot)
• The 15th Annual Team Peru Outreach Trip (June 19 - July 03 marks our continued partnership with Union Biblica del Peru and the Mission of Alto Cayma to bring desperately needed services to some of the poorest communities in Latin America; we will be posting updates and pictures throughout the campaign)

These are just a few of the activities we have planned for 2010. I will be posting updates regularly to keep you "in the know" about HBI and our mission to "build bridges" around the globe. As always - thank you so much for your support!