05-N0V-14
A WONDERFUL COINCIDENCE OF A NEW JOINER
FROM SOMALILAND FOR THE RWANDA MISSION
From: Glenn Geelhoed
To: bevcroskery@juno.com
Date: 11/22/2005 11:38:14 AM
Subject: FWD: medical mission trips
Dear Bev:
Thank you so much and Happy Thanksgiving to the whole
family in the Happy Assembly in Florida!
I would echo Mindy's wish that we might all meet some day!
I am forwarding Gin's quick one line response to the
visit, with more by phone at some future date.
I have just received an amazing phone call from a
Columbus Ohio Internist named Mustafa Ahmed, born a Somali boy in‑‑of
all places, Hargeisa Group Hospital in post‑war Somaliland where I had
worked last year. As a political refugee
from Siyad Barre, (one of his relics is attached to my posterior in the
"portrait" attached) the family escaped the day of their Barre‑ordered
imprisonment, tipped off by the chief who was supposed to arrest the father
(who turned out to be his fourth cousin.)
They fled first to the Washington DC area and then to
Canada, having put Africa behind them twenty four years ago. Mustafa worked hard at several jobs, went to
night school and community colleges then East Oregon as his parents moved from
a northern Virginia DC area failing grocery store to Canada leaving him to fend
for himself.
He was at rock
bottom, ten years ago and was giving up when he found three books‑‑
two of them discarded: Catch 22, Out of Assa, and from that he
found my web site and bought "The Study of Surgery." "That is who I will be" he decided,
and told his love interest who was not so thrilled at the prospect and there
was a struggle as he started out on his dream alone. His exam scores suffered as a result of
trying to shuttle to patch up the romance.
But he bootstrapped himself (this may be sounding like a now‑familiar
story) throwing himself into multiple jobs to not only make money but to
channel toward his eventual interest in patterning a similar future as he had
read about in the books and web. He
worked as an orderly in Fairfax hospital trying to find me by phone on the year
I was on the African Fulbright, where the cardiac transplant surgeon Ed LeFrac
did not laugh at this African boy who tugged on his sleeve and stopped him
enroute to the OR and said he hoped to be a mission surgeon and invited him to
witness a heart transplant across the river from me nearby. Working hard against a gradient he got into
medical school and is practicing medicine in Columbus, making over a quarter of
a million dollars a year but is dis‑satisfied that he had not yet become
who he said he would be. He finally
found me and we talked, as he was between patients in a busy practice in
Columbus, which no one there (sotto voce) knows he will be closing in
June. So, he applied for a conditional Morehouse non‑categorical
residency post which he is getting for July '06 as his make or break one time
chance to get to be a missionary surgeon equipped so far only with the
downloaded "Surgery and Healing in the Developing World." Guess who is going to be going to Rwanda
(with Gin and Elaine) for his own hope for a tutorial that will get him prepped
for Morehouse in March and will return with us to Toledo for the MMHOF and is
looking forward to meeting you?
And, on that subject, I have everything but Elaine's
address! Gin had said something about a
"knicely@something.something" but I could find it nowhere in
the attached messages. Could you forward
that to me from Mindy or whoever has it so I can get started on setting up the
experience to enhance each one of us participating?
I envy you your festive board‑‑and came to
work this morning singing the Thanksgiving Carol Gin had taught us all!
Blessings!
GWG
>>> croskery
<croskery@storm.simpson.edu> 11/22/2005 9:02 AM >>>
G. ‑ Here is the info on Melinda's friend. Could
you respond?
Thanks so much for your unending love. Probably the
best medicine an old
prickly pear like myself culd have!
Love, V
>===== Original Message From "bevcroskery@juno.com"
<bevcroskery@juno.com>
=====
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Forwarded Message ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Hi, Bev
and Ginny,
This is Mindy, using Rob's e‑mail address here in
Tampa. I
haven't found a way to easily use my croskerylaw.com address
from down here.
I am copying my Bay Pointe friend, Elaine Feegel
Horgan. Elaine
is a R.N. and has had a long and successful career in
nursing. She is
currently teaching nursing at a local college, and is
planning to retire in December. Elaine is energetic and used to being
very busy, and is looking for interesting retirement
opportunities.
Elaine's husband, Jack, is retired from the CIA and
has very interesting
stories. When
Elaine told me that she is looking for new opportunities,
I thought she would be perfect for the medical mission
trips that your
doctor friend Glen organizes. He sounds like such a neat guy that I
hope Rob and I have the opportunity to meet him
sometime. Elaine, Bev
is Rob's mother and Ginny is his sister. Ginny is a good friend of
Glen's and she has gone on several of the medical
missions with him.
Bev and Ginny, I would appreciate it if you would
introduce Elaine to
Glen via e‑mail, so Elaine can get more
information about upcoming trips..
Thanks! Mindy
Dr. Virginia Croskery
Asst. Professor of Music
Simpson College
701 N. C Street
Indianola, IA
50125
(515)961‑1599
croskery@storm.simpson.edu
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