Tis the season for giving…Profile of a giver: Dr. Geoff Tabin
Lots of you may have guessed that I am a wannabe mountaineer, and have secretly lusted after being an Everest base camp doctor, just so I can look up at the highest mountain in the world at least once in my life. I also harbor visions of helping others and leaving a legacy, and I try to convince myself that being a Girl Scout leader may be sufficient.
Meet Dr. Geoff Tabin, National Geographic Hall of Fame Member. He has stood on the top of the so called seven summits–the highest peak on each continent, is a practicing physician, and goes on missions to remove cataracts from the near blind in countries like Ethiopia, Nepal, Tibet and North Korea. He is married, and has 5 kids. I’m exhausted thinking about it.
He ain’t no Girl Scout leader. Instead, he travels to places with abject poverty, operates on over 82 patients in one day, drinks tons of coffee, and apparently, does it all quite cheerfully. And in his spare time, he plays tennis (he arranged a match with one of Ethiopia’s top players while he was there), and meets with the Dalai Lama. Dr. Tabin organized and runs the Himalayan Cataract Project. And oh by the way, when he met with the Dalai Lama, Dr. Tabin was given the 2009 Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award.
I challenge all of you: what are you doing to make the world a better place? We can’t all be Dr. Tabin, but we all can climb our own summits and support our own causes. What’s yours?
To start the karma flowing, here is the link for Himalayan Cataract Project.
If you are interested in Girl Scouts, here is the Girl Scout website.
Tags: Dr. Geoff Tabin, Girl Scouts, giving back, Himalayan Cataract Project
Makes me feel guilty just reading about it! Really, though, I find him to be inspiring as a doctor and a humanitarian. I wonder, however, if he could do this with 5 kids if he was a woman. Or if he was the mom, what kind of flack he would get for doing the same work but leaving his family so much. Just a thought…
I don’t know that I have a cause yet, but I do hope that when my kids are a bit older we can take “volunteer-holidays” abroad and do things here as a family to help those in need.
I agree. I think I would have a tough time leaving my family. I love the volunteer holiday idea!
That is a good point Sajbat. The nice thing about Dr. Tabin and his family is that his wife is also an ophthalmologist and enjoys being with the kids and being in practice in Salt Lake City. She is also an assistant professor. The two of them have very flexible schedules so they can spend a lot of time with the kids, which does seem amazing to me too. But you’re right, even in today’s world, mom’s sometimes still tend to get flack for leaving the family for long periods of time and dad’s usually still get a pass.