attorney Walter Cavanaugh came to my
child at home he had a briefcase full of
big pens and pencils I was so impressed
all I had was crayons I told my mother
that I want to be a lawyer too well that
this age these things are fleeting and
later that evening when she had dinner
company and invited all of her friends
over to tell them that I had made my
career choice the poor woman didn’t know
the garbage-truck had passed by that
morning if you could hang on the back of
a truck and not get yelled at how cool
is that she soon learned not asking me
anymore what my career choices would be
today I’m going to take you on my
personal journey and share with you what
is inspired my passion and life’s work
President Kennedy said once one person
can make a difference and everyone
should try that is resonated with me
throughout my life to want to make a
difference to want to volunteer to want
to go out and help others many of you
may say I’m so busy do I really have the
time for this and what will I do will it
really make an impact and I’m here to
share with you that one person can make
a difference and why you should take
this journey with me today
I travel to third world countries places
that have never seen the Internet TV I
want to take you away from your
neighborhoods from your computer and
your comfort take you to worlds that
don’t have access to clean water or safe
food to eat I take I take students with
me to villages that have never seen a
doctor but if ever in the history of
their village we travel to give care and
comfort to others sometimes my clinics
are bade right where I’m standing in the
middle of nowhere in 2007 I took college
students with me from global medical
brigades we went to Central American
country called Honduras and we set up
clinics we’d go from village to village
greeting people being celebrated we were
the first medical care they ever had one
evening outside my Hut people at
villages had come a woman was injured
she had a terrible machete wound
and life was running out of her they
couldn’t do anything to stop this my son
who’s now a doctor at the Cleveland
Clinic James helped me and guided with
students holding flashlights over us in
the darkness of the night the sounds of
the jungle around us we able to close
that wound and save her life and cheat
death one more time in 2010 a horrible
earthquake hit the poor country Haiti
one of the poorest nations in the
Western Hemisphere
my daughter Alexis and I traveled there
with a group called heart to heart from
Kansas
we worked tirelessly walking among the
dead and the broken the UN had come and
sent troops to protect us all the
prisons had collapsed within five
minutes a third of their government was
lost we work tirelessly and went back a
second time my wife Irene a nurse came
and helped mentor students they would
help work with me and run the medical
clinics I worked we fix broken bones
without x-rays we did surgeries in the
balcony of a church on the only building
that was standing on that block one day
a young woman and a family came and
spoke to my wife and asked if we can
help her her daughter had a curse I had
taken care of all kinds of injuries I’ve
never taken care of a curse they believe
in voodoo and this young woman was born
with a birth defect and because of this
you could never go to school should not
be allowed to be out with others she
lived in the shadows with careful
planning is able to restore her ear and
now this woman can have a life start now
because of this earthquake she met an
American doctor that she would never
have access to before every April first
my wife doesn’t even Fool’s joke on me
these jokes are epic this year she
decided to have my family come Sunday
for April first dinner and we were food
shopping the day before
and she’d insisted on buying a lottery
ticket now I didn’t know that she was
using yesterday’s numbers so we had
dinner that night she had a ticket and a
newspaper that matched well she tells
everybody at the dinner table somebody
on the block won a lottery she said but
we don’t borrow those tickets and I said
no we bought that ticket just the other
day he said I’ll call a lottery office
and I’ll see if we want I said no no no
check the newspaper
got to think of everything mm-hmm of
course the hook was set she reeled us in
we thought we had won the lottery and
again she got me
April Fool’s in 2013 patch Adams called
me it was April 1st patch Adams is a
compassionate doctor who gives free
medical care and tries to cheer up
people dress as a clown around the world
going to disasters to help people in the
darkest moments and he called me the
answer I go with him to Russia
well after I hung up on him the first
time nice try buddy he called me back
and convinced me that we had met before
in 2007 he gave a lecture talking about
his passion his mission in life to start
a free hospital called the gesundheit
Institute in West Virginia Robert
Williams did the movie patch Adams in
1998 and patch was going to Russia to
children’s orphanages President Putin
had closed adoptions to the world that
year and he wanted to go to cheer the
children in the orphanages and visit the
cancer hospitals dressed as clowns to
cheer up the children I had never been a
clown I wasn’t sure I was going to be up
for this so I didn’t say yes right away
but Pat’s convinced me saying the
children really just needed a warm smile
and a hug
and I said I’ll come this is one of the
hardest missions I’ve ever done I had
never been a clown before but more
importantly than that I wasn’t sleeping
in a tent I was in hotel I was eating on
the ground we were in restaurants it was
very painful was the girl the children’s
orphanages and see the children and
cancer hospitals and be with them well
my attempts to try and learn how to
speak Russian were going poorly I did
some research and I found out that
psychologists sometimes use puppet
therapy to help children to connect with
them in ways that children have been
traumatized I said I’m going to make
puppets now all of you are probably
wearing socks today very simple if you
take a sock and you put a few beady eyes
on him and a fuzzy nose you’ve now made
a puppet now I knew I couldn’t be funny
but he could so my plan was to make
puppets for the children and play with
them and when we left this would be
their parting gift I made about four
the sock puppets I got my daughter
Ashley it Alexis to help me make them my
mom patience students I got to the
airport my bad wait so much there was no
way they’re gonna let it on the plane
but when they knew what I was carrying
they said you passed well we’re done
playing with the children this would be
their toy we knew a child in an
orphanage you don’t have a friend you’re
alone when I got to the orphanages they
were horrendous the children just sit
there rocking waiting for the data end
there’s not a picture on a wall now the
curtain in the window when we came with
the puppets dressed as clowns we were a
big hit when I was in Africa I took
students with me from England and Canada
with global medical brigades we went to
a village in sub-saharan Africa far away
from any roads and I really had not seen
much of the 20th century there I met the
elders in the witch doctor and I was
given a special cloth called the kenta
to wear and this is given from the tribe
to show that I was accepted and was able
to treat the people I would wear this to
help them they had a big ceremony for us
because we were the first doctors ever
in their village and during the ceremony
people kept coming over and tapping me
on the head yes my interpreter why have
people keep tapping me on the head he
said well it’s good luck to touch you I
said why is because I’m the doctor he
said no because you have gray hair he
said look around nobody here lives that
long we set up a little clinic in our
village in the centre and no one came
and I asked my interpreter again why
isn’t anybody coming he says what we
have a witch doctor or we need this
doctor for but I told the students be
patient someone will come in the heat of
the African Sun and it was hot a young
woman came holding a toddler in her
hands there’s no calendars here there’s
no ages we don’t know how old people
were but she said can you help me I
can’t wake my baby I examine this baby
this is the sickest baby I’ve ever seen
in my life I said this baby’s comatose I
hear some interpreter what are these
marks on the face and she said the witch
doctor marked this baby for death it has
a shaking disease so I knew what that
meant this baby had malaria it had been
comatose for three days I said I can
help this baby I’m going to do morgue
medicine
things you’ve never seen before can you
trust me she didn’t say yes by the way
but she looked at you so I had the Kent
that she said yes I will trust you so we
gave the baby medicines and hydration
and the next day that baby was alive it
was well we all had tears of joy in our
eyes I was telling the students who will
be for complaining I have no Facebook I
have no cellphone no boys and he doesn’t
think this mission wasn’t worth it you
came all this distance to save a life
yes you can’t make a difference but you
have to travel around the world to do
these things mmm
six years ago I helped start based on
patch Adams ideal of free medical care
in bedford-stuyvesant SUNY Downstate
Medical School has college students and
we run a free clinic mented by senior
physicians like myself over ten years
ago I started opening my office on a
Sunday although I work six days a week I
now work seven and on Sunday we have a
free clinic for farm workers these are
migrant workers who toil in the fields
and vineyards and do the charge that
make New York run it’s been my privilege
to help with these people they have no
voice they have no help no health care
my children come home on the weekends
they help run my clinic I have college
and high school students run it to be
interpreters transporters and the like
some of my friends in positions
sometimes say to me why do you do this
why do you go so hard to get our free
medical care the people don’t even know
your name why do you travel you can’t
make such a difference in the world why
do you bother and there’s a story
written by Lauren Iceland that I’m
reminded of and it talks about a young
man standing on the beach one morning
and the night before was a terrible
storm and then the distance he’s he’s an
older man walking along the beach every
stuffing stooping down picking up a
starfish dusting it off tossing it back
into the ocean and as he approached
young man remarks to himself he seen
many collectors seashells and rocks but
not one like this and they asked the old
man what are you doing
he says the sawfish throw well I can
help them young man crossed his arms he
said do you collect he says no only of
the living you know man looks at him and
says I give up collecting a long time
ago no though not the living nor the
dead only death is a successful
collector the older man smiled
look back at him picked up another
starfish and threw it over his head in
the way way out into the waves as it
disappeared the water rushed up to the
feet the wind was blowing at their
clothes the young man looked at him and
said there are thousands of starfish
along this Beach
you can’t possibly make a difference the
older man smiled and looked at him again
as he picked up another starfish tossed
it back into the sea and said I made a
difference to that one President Kennedy
said before he died one person can make
a difference patch Adams lives his life
knowing he’s trying to make that
difference I have shared with you today
that is one person I have made that
difference won’t you come with me
together we’ll save one more life thank you