Main photo: USNS COMFORT, an 894-foot U.S.Navy Hosptial Ship, underway in the Caribbean Sea. Onboard USNS COMFORT during the CONTINUING PROMISE 2009 mission, insets left to right: Tumaco, Colombia: LT Cely helps Luis Eduardo, who was severely burned at the age of 10 months, recover after his surgery on the ship (read the full story from LT Cely on the COMFORT blog at: http://comfort2009.blogspot.com/2009/06/luis-eduardo-and-andres.html; Corinto, Nicaragua: U.S. Navy Anesthetist Cmdr. Paul Cornett briefs U.S. Air Force Senior Airmen Robert Wright and U.S. Army Sgt. Dustin Turvild in the COMFORT's post-anesthetic care unit; La Union, El Salvador: Navy Capt. Kristen Zeller, USNS COMFORT ophthalmologist, with the help of Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Michael Peterson, correct an eight-month-old Salvadoran boy’s crossed eyes in one of the operating rooms of COMFORT.

After we sailed back to New England that summer, by chance we met Judge Charles Curless and his wife, Nancy, who were visiting Newport, Rhode Island. Charles had attended an

Facts about USNS COMFORT USNS COMFORT is the second of two Mercy-class hospital ships. A converted San Clemente-class supertanker, COMFORT was delivered to the Navy’s Military Sealift Command on December 1, 1987. COMFORT is the third ship to bear the name. Previous Comforts served during World War I and World War II Length: 894' / Beam: 106' / Draft: 33' Displacement: 69,360 long tons Navy medical personnel on board: 1,215 COMFORT's hospital has a full spectrum of surgical and medical services including: Four X-rays and one CAT scan unit; A dental suite and an optometry and lens laboratory; A physical therapy center, a pharmacy, an invasive angiography suite and two oxygen-producing plants; COMFORT also maintains up to 5,000 units of blood; COMFORT's Medical Treatment Facility has 12 operating rooms and a total bed capacity of up to 1,000. COMFORT's desalinating capability can convert 300,000 gallons of seawater to freshwater every day. For an in-depth fact sheet (PDF) on the Comfort, compiled by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, please click here: ComfortFactSheet.pdf

event at the nearby Naval War College. We mentioned our interest in USNS COMFORT, and after an introduction from Judge Curless, we soon met Capt. Al Shimkus, the former medical director of a COMFORT mission. Capt. Shimkus explained the history of COMFORT (Atlantic waters), MERCY (Pacific waters), and the Navy's partnerships with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and aid groups. After the Christmas 2004 Pacific tsunami, MERCY assisted thousands of people in Indonesia, and in just a few weeks turned around local public perception of the U.S. government in this populous Muslim nation. The military and the State Department are "sold" on the ability of humanitarian work to change hearts and minds.

We were fortunate to visit COMFORT in late October at her home port of Baltimore, Maryland. Our reaction was Wow! And Wow! again during a four-hour tour, courtesy of Capt. James Ware, the current medical director. We learned from Capt. Ware about the tremendous capabilities of COMFORT: over 1,200 Navy medical personnel, a 1,000-bed hospital, 12 operating rooms, x-ray and CAT scan equipment, dental, optometry, and veterinary units, physician-, nurse-, and EMT-training programs, shore side construction crews (the Seabees), and much, much more. (For a detailed look at USNS COMFORT, including where she has served, please click here: ComfortFactSheet.pdf). You'll find more information on COMFORT's website and at the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) webpage on COMFORT.

Two things struck us most during our shipboard tour with Capt. Ware: the high degree of

Capt. James Ware explains the workings of one of COMFORT's recovery wings

professionalism of COMFORT's medical personnel, and everyone's 110% commitment to helping people in need during COMFORT's humanitarian and civic assistance deployments. Most recently, during the four-month CONTINUING PROMISE '09 mission to Antigua, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Panama (click here for COMFORT's route), COMFORT treated over 100,000 patients (including 15,003 dental patients), performed 1,657 surgeries, filled 135,000 prescriptions, completed 13 construction projects in local communities, and treated over 13,000 animals. (To read a PowerPoint report on COMFORT's 11-day visit to Antigua and Barbuda during the CONTINUING PROMISE '09 mission, please click here: Continuing Promise '09 Antigua-Barbuda Report.ppt.) In terms of rendering aid and creating goodwill, USNS COMFORT is indeed "the most powerful ship in the Navy."

Where Will COMFORT Sail Next?
So why did the Hands crew visit COMFORT? Our dream is to become one of the NGOs that partner with COMFORT on a future humanitarian mission to the Caribbean. The decision about COMFORT's route is made at senior levels, and while places like Haiti and countries in Central America are always on the list, we are hoping that Dominica, St. Vincent, St. Kitts and/or Nevis, the Eastern Caribbean islands where Hands Across the Sea works, might be included in a future mission. We'll do what we can to be on the COMFORT's list in her upcoming CONTINUING PROMISE 2011 mission — or any mission! Remember, when we dream, we dream BIG!

On Dominica, Kids Are Excited About Reading!
After a November ocean passage from Rhode Island, the Hands crew has returned to the Caribbean and Dominica. Our first hands-on project was helping create "reading corners," which are quiet, special places in the classroom where students can discover the magic of books. The reading corners initiative was developed by Shermaine Bardouille of Dominica's Ministry of Education, and it's a success: the kids love it. To see the reading room photos, please click here: HandsPhotoAlbum3. And as always, we thank you for supporting Hands Across the Sea and our non-profit work. —T.L. and Harriet