Thursday, October 24 -- Friday, October 25

It was big in many ways – the kickoff of the 10th anniversary Physicians With Heart humanitarian airlift to a former Soviet republic.

Nearly 50 volunteer airlift delegation members, including many family physicians, converged on Hangar 3 at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland Oct. 24 for the celebration of the 10th anniversary airlift, which benefits Uzbekistan. The venue was big enough to accommodate a stage, rows of chairs, a refreshment line – and a UH-1 chopper, two small jets, and a loader with several pallets of medicines and medical supplies donated for the airlift, draped with a Physicians With Heart banner.

Unusual program, unique people

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage keynoted the event. "I must admit that an airplane hangar is an unusual venue for a ceremony," he told the audience, which consisted of delegation members, representatives of donor companies, State Department and Air Force personnel, and news media. "But then again, we're here to commemorate an unusual program and some unique people. It is my distinct pleasure to be able to join you today to salute the team about to depart on this important humanitarian mission to Uzbekistan – and also to celebrate the 10th year of the partnership which makes this mission possible."

Armitage noted that Physicians With Heart has some personal meaning for him. "More than 10 years ago, when Physicians With Heart and Heart to Heart International first started these airlifts, I was serving as coordinator for assistance to the commonwealth of independent states," he said. "So in a sense, I guess you could say I've come full circle. Indeed, perhaps we all have. This exact day marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Support Act into law. That was the legislation that provided much of the initial framework as well as the funding for U.S. relations with Uzbekistan and all of the other new republics after the fall of the Soviet Union."

After Armitage spoke, the ambassador of Uzbekistan, His Excellency Shivkat Khamrakulov, expressed his nation's gratitude for Physicians With Heart, which over the years has delivered more than $60 million of aid to former Soviet republics and Vietnam. The 10th anniversary airlift is the second one to benefit Uzbekistan. He thanked Physicians With Heart's leaders on the stage with him – AAFP Past President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis.; AAFP Foundation President Kenneth Evans, M.D., of Stillwater, Okla.; and family physician Gary Morsch, M.D., of Olathe, Kan., president and founder of Heart to Heart International.

"Today is another special day for American-Uzbek people's diplomacy," the ambassador said. "I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the humanitarian assistance provided by the American people. This action once again reflects the generosity of this great nation and confirms the old saying, 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.'"

Project leaders also spoke on behalf of their organizations. "In a world where poverty and prejudice separate us, in a time when scourges like terrorism and HIV/AIDS darken our days, Physicians With Heart lights a path toward a common ground – a place where we all share a future of healthy, fulfilled lives with our families and our children," said Roberts on AAFP's behalf. He spoke of the airlift's educational component – presentations by FPs in the delegation that are designed to help Uzbek physicians learn more about family medicine. "As the Uzbek government builds a new health system, they're looking to family medicine to help them do that," he noted.

And then, when the ceremony concluded, delegation members left the hangar, boarded a bus – and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.

C-5 awaits

In another big "first" for Physicians With Heart, most delegation members flew with the donated products aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy, the largest cargo jet in the United States, provided by the State Department. Delegates ascended the giant airliner's rear cargo ramp, climbed up to the small passenger cabin (no overhead bins and few windows here), and settled in for a long nonstop flight to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Below the delegation, donated pharmaceutical and other medical supplies worth nearly $10 million in U.S. dollars filled the vast cargo hold.

The next day – after midair refueling over Scotland – the C-5 touched down in Tashkent. On the tarmac, a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the project's official start in Uzbekistan. Then Uzbek film crews and reporters crowded around U.S. Ambassador John Herbst, Physicians With Heart leaders, Uzbekistan Minister of Health Feruz Nazirov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Safiev to learn more about the airlift.

Pallets of cargo then were transferred to smaller jets and whisked off to several locations across Uzbekistan; delegation members would visit the intended destinations to document receipt of the product and conduct educational sessions in the coming days. But for now, delegation members checked into the project's headquarters hotel for some much-needed rest and refreshment – preparing for the continuing adventure ahead.