Floating Doctors are Real Lifesavers

Benjamin LaBrot is a doctor with a dream. That dream doesn't involve a summer home and an exclusive country club membership, it involves helping those in need around the world get access to the health care they deserve.

To realize this dream, LaBrot, 33, founded Floating Doctors, an organization that travels the world by boat delivering medical supplies and care to people who need it most.

LaBrot's ship, The Southern Wind, will depart Sunday from St. Augustine, Fla. He says traveling by 76-foot sailboat is one of the most eco-friendly ways to go. "Delivering health care from a green platform is our way of demonstrating that it's not really a question of more resources but a question of utilizing the resources we have as efficiently as possible to try and improve the delivery of health care," LaBrot told CNN.

He and his 15-person crew plan to travel south and hit 15 countries in Latin America, including Haiti, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and several Pacific Islands.

At each destination, the group will dole out some of the 20,000 pounds of medical supplies they are bringing with them, including anti-diarrheal drugs, anti-fungal medications and vitamins.

What motivated LaBrot and his crew to set off on this year-long journey? We think his father, George LaBrot, also a doctor, put it best.

"All of these projects that are successful are overly idealistic. The number one defense mechanism of highly successful people is cognitive dissonance. They just refuse to believe it won't work."

And with that attitude, we have no doubt Floating Doctors will succeed.

Photo courtesy of voodoo4u2n via stock.xchang.