Dr. Benjamin La Brot - The Dedicated “Floating Doctors”

Receipt from Dr. Benjamin La Brot for the US$10,000 contribution by Master.

On October 26, Golden Year 5 (2008), our Association members were honored to present Dr. Benjamin La Brot the Shining World Compassion Award on behalf of Supreme Master Ching Hai. He, along with his team of six men and women, set up a non-profit organization, the “Floating Doctors,” to bring advanced health care to some of the most remote places on Earth. Traveling by boat, they visited Mexico, Central America and Africa. While providing much-needed medical relief, their courageous and noble efforts have also brought a lasting sense of love, care and hope to needy individuals and even to whole communities. Dr. La Brot said, “You don’t have to spend lots and lots of money to leave a permanent improvement in people’s health. You just have to be willing to go and do it. Stop and help.”

Dr. La Brot believes that though his mission is small in scale, the difference that the Floating Doctors will be making could be extensive, for each individual matters greatly. Dr. La Brot said with a touch of sentiment, “If all of my efforts on this next voyage only result in one woman so that her baby is born healthy and normal, and that her baby and her family aren’t saddled with that horrible tragedy of a birth defect or miscarriage, even if I could just help that one person, to me that would be one person, and to everybody else that would be one person. But to her, she is an entire universe, and the people that depend on her, the people that love her, the people that she affects. So since we’ll hopefully be treating over 14,000, I hope to leave a really lasting impact. I really do.”

The Award presentation took place by Dr. La Brot’s eco-friendly sailing vessel, the “Blue Norther.” For his outstanding selfless devotion to bringing health and happiness to isolated areas of the world, he received a personal letter from Supreme Master Ching Hai, a beautiful crystal Award plaque and a monetary fund of US$10,000 in support of his life-saving work. Dr. La Brot said in gratitude, “I just want to extend my deepest personal thanks to Supreme Master Ching Hai. It really means a lot to us and to me personally, that there are people who are also committed to the same ideals that we are: to service, to love, to peace, and to improving people’s health worldwide. Thank you so much.”

We wish Dr. Benjamin La Brot and his team all the best with safe and successful voyages at sea, bringing God’s love to far-off places.

For more information about Floating Doctors, please visit:
www.floatingdoctors.com