The airlift shipment arrived this morning at the Manas Airport outside of Bishkek. The shipment arrived on a Boeing 747 cargo plane leased for the Physicians With Heart project by the U.S. State Department. After an outdoor news conference near the plane, more than hundred pallets of donated pharmaceuticals and medical supplies were unloaded and moved to a nearby warehouse. The shipment was then transferred to trucks bound for medical institutions and orphanages throughout Kyrgyzstan.
On Saturday afternoon, the airlift delegation divided into groups to purchase items such as coats and shoes for the Physicians With Heart children's project. Volunteers from the delegation also prepared gift bags for the orphans they would be visiting next week
Saturday, October 11, 2003
The Physicians With Heart delegation and others pose for a photograph in front of the cargo plane in Bishkek.
U.S. Ambassador Steven Young welcomes the airlift delegation and speaks to Kyrgyzstan news media during a plane-side ceremony on Saturday morning.
Local workers load a truck with medical aid donated by U.S. pharmaceutical companies. The pallets were assembled by Heart to Heart International, co-sponsor of the airlift along with the AAFP and AAFP Foundation.
