The purpose of this article is to provide new LMV members with an understanding of how we plan and organize trips, specifically to northern Mexico, as well as to document recent improvements to the process.
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LMV has been successfully conducting trips to northern Mexico for over 35 years. This success has been driven by the dedication and get-it-done attitude of our pilots, healthcare professionals, translators and volunteers. The bulk of responsibility for planning and organizing an LMV trip falls on:
- the "Trip Leader" as the person who steps up to "put together" a trip. He/she will be traveling on the trip and is often either a translator or a pilot (if the latter is Spanish-capable or if the Local Liaison is English-speaking).
- and, the "Local Liaison" living in the village to be served and the person who coordinates all logistics from the village side.
This Trip Leader/Local Liaison pairing comes into existence 4-to-8 weeks before trip departure, carries through the conduct of the clinic, completes post-trip reporting, and then disbands.
To provide continuity, consistency and coordination beyond this 4-to-8 week window... and to facilitate a growing, positive trend for cross-chapter, multi-plane trips... LMV also assists trip planning and organization with the following supporting roles:
- Chapter Trip Coordinator: with a 1-to-2 year perspective, works (along with chapter officers) to maximize the number and strength of LMV trips and maximize the involvement of chapter members. He/she also assures that traveling teams adhere to LMV standards for membership status, expense payments, pilot certification, and post-clinic reporting.
- Corporate Trip Coordinator: leads 1-to-2 year planning and tracking efforts in order to optimize our clinic coverage in northern Mexico, the USA, and Central/South America. He/she is responsible for publishing and keeping current our 6-to-12 month trip schedule. Also assists in cross-chapter recruiting to fill critical slots on planned trips. Recent annual plans are available at the Members tab, Planning subsection. Current Trip Schedule is available on the homepage, left menu area, Upcoming LMV Trips.
- Mx State Official: the states that we serve in northern Mexico have identified agencies to assist LMV in connecting with villages that we serve or are considering serving. These entities are the Health Ministry of Baja California Sur and the Fundación Eduardo Bours in Sonora.
- Stateside Liaison: at the request of our villages and the Mexican states for improved mid-range coordination, we have recently added this role, with one stateside LMV member responsible for 6-to-12 month communication with BCS and one LMV member responsible for Sonora. He/she is responsible for on-going communication with the state agency and the local liaisons for LMV villages in that state, to keep the local liaisons up-to-date on the LMV trip schedule, and to smoothly handoff to the Trip Leader as a given trip kicks off.