Distinquished Guests Visit Volunteers

On Saturday (June 13), Colombian president Alvaro Uribe visited the Comfort.

Ambassadors from the United States and from Continuing Promise 2009 partner nations Canada, Chile and the Netherlands joined him for a tour of the Comfort's medical facilities. Along the way, President Uribe took time to stop and thank HOPE volunteers Tracy Kunkel, Tauna Ainslie and Kristen Wilson for their efforts to help his countrymen. He was visibly touched, when visiting patients in the post-op wards, by the good work they and all the Comfort's medical personnel are doing.


President Uribe is the latest in a long line of distinguished visitors to the Comfort that includes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, and Latin rock star Juanes. The Comfort's dedicated doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff would do what they do regardless of whether they received recognition and praise, but these high-level visits underscore for all of us aboard that Continuing Promise 2009 is making a huge difference in the lives of people throughout the Americas, and that the Comfort--the big white ship visible from miles away--is a powerful symbol of American friendship.

-Daniel