I made it to Santa Marta from Tampa, Florida and have been immediately immersed in the work of Project HOPE. This project is part of the US government's mission called Continuing Promise 2008, a humanitarian mission to Central American and Caribbean countries April through November 2008. In addition to the medical teams with primary care and surgical components, there are dentists, hygenists, optometrists and veterinarians. The engineers are building schools, clinics and playgrounds. The USS Kearsarge has ~1500 personnel aboard, with US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps staff, as well as personnel from other countries including Canada, the Netherlands and others. We're providing services to thousands of local people (over 11,000 during the 2 weeks in Nicaragua before the ship came to Colombia). Operation Smile also assisted in Nicaragua with repairs of cleft lips
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