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Editor's note updated, 7:35 a.m., Feb. 17: All those inquiring how to help, please visit the Web site of Airline Ambassadors International.
Nancy Rivard is the president and founder of Airline Ambassadors International and the subject of tonight's story, which you've already read about from correspondent Kerry Sanders and producer Mario Garcia. We invited her to blog about her organization for viewers who may interested in helping her make a difference.
In 1993, I delivered my first bag of aid to a refugee camp in Croatia. From this singular act spawned Airline Ambassadors International (AAI). Over the last decade, our members have been at the forefront of a growing movement called "voluntourism." Voluntourism offers a way for caring individuals to become positively involved in the global community by traveling To make a difference. Our members have traveled the globe, helping to lift children and communities out of poverty and, in the process, create lasting bonds of friendship and kindness throughout the world.
It was great to have Kerry and the NBC team join us on this trip to visit orphanages and projects we support in El Salvador ...as usual, everyone fell in love with the kids! Besides the hygiene, school and newborn kits, shoes and soccer balls, we also delivered the complete priority wish list requested by the CIPI orphanage director -- a new TV and DVD player, and furniture for the facility... and by the time we left... we had transformed the place with artwork!
Our team included artists, singers, corporate managers, airline personnel, a nurse, and caring individuals, each of whom contributed something special in his or her own way. Even 7-year-old Adam Mogilnicki brought cards and pictures from his first grade class. When asked what he thought of the experience, little Adam exclaimed, “I’m ready to go again and help more children!”
Going on an Airline Ambassadors trip can teach you a lot about yourself and, especially, about the differences that exist amongst the peoples of the world. Most importantly, however, is this lesson: although we might come from different cultures, we all share in the human condition and we all can help each other in ways we had never imagined. uth Matranga tied all our feelings together when she shared, "We are not only here to serve others, but it is in the self-forgetting that one finds contentment."
A couple of weeks before the trip, I met a burn victim who had fallen into a pot of boiling water. AAI had arranged for Jose to be flown to the U.S. for medical treatment. However, on the last day of the trip, we discovered that Jose’s situation had become critical. Over the next 24 hours, we were able to work some magic – Shriners Hospital in Boston would take Jose, the Ministry of Foreign Relations expedited his passport and visa, American Airlines offered tickets, and USAirways and JetBlue each offered an airplane. When the planes didn’t pan out due to FAA regulations and Jose’s condition, Shriner’s helped manifest $32,000 to provide an air ambulance and the Chief of the National Police offered a helicopter from the hospital to the airport. Sadly, after everything had suddenly come together, Jose passed away before he could be transported. However, Jose’s legacy will live on, as Airline Ambassadors is now creating a Children’s Emergency fund and has called upon airlines to contribute augment mileage programs (like AA's Miles for Kids in Need) to help children like Jose in the future.
From AAI’s staff of international travel experts to our local in-country contacts, we are dedicated to serving the less fortunate amongst us while maintaining a safe and rewarding trip for our members. We handle the logistics of the trip so that you are free to interact with the local community, helping the children and learning about the culture and about humanity. In addition to these AAI branded trips, which range in style and comfort, we also provide aid and logistics for individual AAI member-led trips so you can have the widest possible range of choices. So we urge you to find what is right for you and join us on personal mission of "Turning Compassion Into Action."
Photo captions: Top, Nancy shares a smile with orphans in Croatia. Bottom, Nancy joins Jose Rivas' family at the hospital.
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The aftermath
Dear Ms.Rivard,
Thank you, thank you!!! - For helping my people!
I am a university Spanish instructor at Indiana University South east. Please contact me at your eariliest convience. I would love to be a part of your opperation. I believe it is possiblle to combine resources somewhat.
marie cogswel, l louisville, ky (Sent Feb 16, 2007 9:54:12 PM)
Hi how can an average person help? I work with kids at a middle school and would like to know more about your efforts
Jodi Jensen, Post Falls, Idaho (Sent Feb 16, 2007 9:28:28 PM)
Iam an "old" x American Airline "Stewardess" living in Sun City, Georgetown, Texas. Love to help with your great program. Have more time than money. Anything I can do from Austin?
(Sent Feb 16, 2007 9:16:40 PM)
How can I help?
Betty Franklin, Brownsburg, IN (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:56:00 PM)
I want to be a volunteer with Nancy's organization but you have listed no way to get in touch with her. Could you please help me connect with her? Thank you.
Patti James R.N.
Patricia James, Greenwood Village, CO. (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:43:25 PM)
Nancy - I am very interested in finding out how I can participate - how I can make a difference. Please contact me! Tamara Davis, tjdavis200@yahoo.com
Tamara Davis, Minneapolis MN (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:38:23 PM)
My wife and I would like to help. We've been doing volunteer work traveling around here in the U.S. for years and are looking for some new experiences where we can help children throughout the world.
Howard Bonnell 306 Cedar, Dixon, Illinois 61021 (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:23:51 PM)
I watched this story tonight and knew the moment Nancy pointed to the empty space she was on to something good. I'm beginning to travel more and more on business and often elect to only take my carry-on, or stow only 1 bag, when often I am entitled to two. I'm inclined to think even if one person was going to one place and could take one box with the one bag, or two boxes and their carry-on, the exponential impact could be worth figuring out the logistics, if it hasn't yet been considered.
Jim, Ormond Beach FL (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:09:09 PM)
Nancy,
I am a teacher who would love to spend my Spring Break helping out on one of AAI's trips...I teach English as a Second Language, I speak Spanish, but can also give hugs to orphans in ANY language! Are there any trips to suit a teacher's very small travel budget? Thanks!
Bridget, Naples, FL (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:07:14 PM)
I watched the segment tonight about AAI and would like to know how to become involved. I am a nurse who took early retirment after spending 2 years working as a volunteer in Belize. I have seen the other side and am looking for ways to help. Please contact me about how to become involved with AAI. Thanks.
Mary Jane Willke, Fairfield, Ohio (Sent Feb 16, 2007 8:02:46 PM)
The message here is to never underestimate the power of one with a dream and a goal. What an uplifting story of compassion and love.
Terry Wagner, Kittery, Me. (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:51:51 PM)
I just want to bless that group of people who came to my country, El Salvador, to help the orphans. What a privilege to have a group to be interested in others´needs and that they chose my country! Thanks so much and may the Lord bless you abundantly!
Yany, San Salvador, El Salvador (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:42:47 PM)
My wife and I are want to help. I am a Board Certified Physician Assistant with twenty years experience and my wife is a Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Educator with twenty plus years of experience. We would seriously consider providing medical care to those in need in foreign contries on a volunteer basis. We are both gainfully employed but would offer our services as work load permits.
Paul Hagood, Palm City, Florida (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:40:27 PM)
I'm so full of emotion and inspiration I really don't know where to start! Bottom Line: I WOULD LOVE TO HELP AND AM AVAILABLE. My name is Sally Azurmendi, 46 yrs old, unfortunately, no children, but, so much love and attention and motherly insticts and just want to give it to children who need it. PLEASE,contact me to discuss whether I can be a part of this wonderful organization. Thank you for what you are doing and thank you for considering my contribution. Mrs. Sally Azurmendi, Atlanta, GA 770- 978-6394 or cell 770-331-1714. Please contact me anytime.
Mrs. Sally Azurmendi, Atlanta, GA (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:36:42 PM)
Im from the Philippines and is now living here in Madison<,Wi for 12 years..I saw the news and i was very much interested in getting involve in your organization. Let me know how can i start into doing that.Thanks!
Caryl, Madison, Wisconsin (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:30:44 PM)
I wish that I could be there to help. So nice to see the possibilities and give hope to those in true need!
Steven deCastellane Harwich, Ma 02645 (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:28:47 PM)
I am interested in helping the airline ambassadors. can you give me some information. I am a grandmother of 7 an I have recently retired from the airline industry.
Charlotte Zinsky Plainfield Il (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:18:27 PM)
Would love to hear how I can become a part of this. Am a former Eastern Airlines Flight Attendant.
Thanks. 954-261-7942
Lee Ann Ropes, Ft Lauderdale, Florida (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:17:12 PM)
How do I find out more informatioj on the AAI branded trips? I think nothing could be more rewarding than doing things like this.
Janice Crooker, Mendon, MA (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:17:04 PM)
Impressive how can I become a part of this program?
Marcia kay (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:14:01 PM)
I loved your story, and one's like this, because they prove how much one person can do, and how many can join the movement. I would love to know how I could get involved and go on one of these trips? Nancy, can you let me know if a private citizen could go? I am a retired nurse with some time on my hands and would love to participate. Thanks.
Rhonda Wilson, Portland, Maine (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:13:56 PM)
Nancy,
I watched your story on NBC News this evening with tears in my eyes. It's just so wonderful to see what you have done, and how you never gave up! When the Airlines told you NO, you kept pushing for the greater good. It makes me even more proud to be an American knowing that you, and others like you are participating in this selfless cause. I would like to shake your hand through this blog, and give you a blog hug! What you have done has touched my heart, and I am going to share this with others. If there were more people like you in this world, our world would be a much nicer place. Thank you for giving me a warm heart, and compeling me to write this, and to know that I will think of things that I can do here in New Jersey to help others. "PAY IT FORWARD"
God Bless you and all those that participate in your mission.
Stephanie Shilale, Robbinsville, NJ (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:13:37 PM)
I would like some info about how to help with the Airline Ambassadors trips.
Thank you,
Liz Landrum Kokomo, In (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:10:50 PM)
How can i get involved?
(Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:07:33 PM)
How can one get involved as a volunteer who has some time in Summer months to hold a child or tutor through this program (Airline Ambassadors!
Summer Bost, Clemmons,NC (Sent Feb 16, 2007 7:07:32 PM)
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