Welcome to the home of the Corn Huskers…Omaha, Nebraska! Who would have thought that people from Nebraska would be such good listeners? You would be, too, if you had as many ears as they have…of corn that is!

         My adventure begins after having to spend the night in Atlanta, due to what was once Tropical Storm Fay. We finally became a complete team in Omaha, Nebraska, yesterday morning. We were all very excited to see each other and eager for the experience that we were going to embark on. We certainly have a great team for this leg of Team Hemophilia on Tour. Let me introduce you all to this golden team…

 Shelly: A Wisconsinite with von Willebrand disease whose jokes are cheesier than the dairy state she lives in.

 Julia: A Utah resident with von Willebrand disease whose smile is so warm that it could melt the snow off the tops of the Rocky Mountains.

 Rich: A Rhode Islander with hemophilia whose blog has more to report than the Providence Journal.

 Gary: A New Yorker who works at the National Hemophilia Foundation and is sweeter than the Big Apple, but unfortunately, a Gary a day will not keep the doctor away.

         Unfortunately, the Nebraska Hemophilia Foundation had to cancel the program that we were going to run yesterday. We were all bummed, but Carl and Sharon Clark, directors of the chapter, told us in the morning that they were going to see if they could get some families together for dinner. This now left the entire day open for us to check out Omaha, Nebraska. Since nobody has ever been here, your guess was as good as ours. We asked the clerk at the front desk the all important question of what there is to do in Omaha. We were answered with an overwhelming response that the Omaha zoo was ranked as the 2^nd bestzoo in the country. Go figure!  Of course, the San Diego Zoo will probably always remain number 1. All in all, we spent about four hours as we saw everything from Siberian tigers to naked mole rats. Looking at the animals in awe reminded me of the excitement similar to kids opening up gifts on Christmas morning. We all agreed that the zoo did live up to the reputation that the locals gave it.

          After we left the zoo, we came back to the hotel, where we met up with Carl and Sharon Clark for dinner. As we sat together in the hotel lobby, they immediately began telling us some of the challenges that their chapter has faced over the years. In the short time that we spoke with them, it was instantly obvious how resilient this chapter was in response to the adversities that it faced. According to Sharon there are about 300 families in the local area with bleeding disorders. One of the biggest problems that they face is community members not taking initiative to be involved with the chapter. This is due partly to the fact that the state is large and community members are spread out.

          This seems like a challenge that most chapters are facing, no matter where they are located. During our conversation, Shelly, Julia and I offered ideas to help the chapter with youth programming, advocacy training, insurance education, life transitions and fundraising. We invited the youth community of Nebraska to attend the NYLI Teen Retreat and offered to help them start their own youth group. We talked about the importance of how planting a seed in the teens’ minds on taking initiative and ownership of their bleeding disorder will help immensely in the future. For example, if they are able to order their own product and begin to think about career choices, they will be taking the next step to effectively manage their bleeding disorder as an independent young adult. 

             The conversation last night with Carl and Sharon has definitely been the highlight of the trip thus far. Their philosophy is not about getting the job done, but taking care of the people they serve. We were all inspired by the dedication that both Carl and Sharon have put forth to make the chapter what it is today. We exchanged contact information and told them that NYLI will do whatever it can to help them implement a successful youth program.

              Each one of us who is on this bus has a passion to do whatever it takes to help give our community something it does not have already. Living with a bleeding disorder affects us in so many ways and has helped to mold us into the young adults that we are today. Just like the tradition of the Olympic torch, it is our mission to continue to pass on the lessons we have learned through creating programs for the next generation of those living with a bleeding disorder.

             We have been on the road for about six hours and will reach our destination of Jackson, MI, this evening. Tomorrow morning, our plan is to leave at the crack of dawn and continue the trip across the state of Michigan to our final destination city of Detroit, MI. In the upcoming days we will be running a youth panel discussion and programs for the local chapter on Friday and Saturday. See you in Michigan!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 9:18 am and is filed under 08/31 - Belle Isle Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.