Speaker for August 25 - Dr. Benjamin LaBrot

            Dr. Benjamin LaBrot gave a very inspiring presentation about the organization known as Floating Doctors.  Floating Doctors is an all volunteer, non-profit medical relief team dedicated to reducing present and future burden of disease in the developing world.  The team sails around the world on medical missions providing much needed medical assistance to remote coastal areas.

             Dr. LaBrot, who started his career as a marine biologist and later trained in Ireland to become a medical doctor, created Floating Doctors.  After going on medical missions to Thailand, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, Dr. LaBrot learned firsthand the great need for medical care in developing countries.  The experience touched him so deeply that he wracked his brain for ways to get medical care to the people in developing countries.  He ultimately decided to combine his love of the sea with his medical training and created Floating Doctors.

             In 2009, a couple donated a boat to the organization.  After a year of repairs and renovations, the Southern Wind made its first Floating Doctors mission to Haiti while carrying eleven tons of relief supplies. 

             Dr. LaBrot has learned that Floating Doctors can provide the most relief when it stays in one location for several months and works closely with local authorities.  Floating Doctors strives to establish some level of consistent medical care in the areas that it visits.  For example, it was able to open a medical clinic in Honduras in an area that had no other medical services.  It also created a pipeline to allow for the consistent importing of medical supplies.

             Dr. LaBrot believes that providing people with some education on preventative measures is extremely effective.  For example, explaining to parents that sugar decays teeth and that giving children a glass of sugary milk after they brush their teeth is not helpful. 

             Floating Doctors will soon be taking on students for interns.  Floating Doctors offers an opportunity for a doctor-in-training to work with literally thousands more patients in a short period of time as compared to working or training in a traditional setting.

             Since most of the supplies are donated to Floating Doctors, it is able to keep expenses low.  For the entire year of 2010, expenses were only $105,000.  If you are interested in donating to Floating Doctors, you may go to its website at www.floatingdoctors.com and sign up to donate $5 to $10 per month. 

             Dr. LaBrot recognized Rotary as an organization that has been very supportive of Floating Doctors and expressed his sincere gratitude.

             Thank you Dr. LaBrot for all of the great work you do!

 Deborah A. Perkins