Person of Interest #2: Ken Gibson

The Leprosy Mission Ireland is a worthy cause to support. They work with educating, curing and facilitating reintegration of those affected by Leprosy.

Leprosy is a disease close to my heart, not just because I live and work at a Leprosy Hospital, but because my husband had his own personal experience with this disease 5 years ago (If you are interested in reading of his experience click here). His approach to processing his diagnosis was to write about it in his blog. The post in his blog made its rounds among others who work with similar ministries as our own and eventually resulted in an invitation for him to attend a workshop in Ireland among peers & partners. To say the least, we were honored by the invitation.

In my first entry of this series on people of interest, I briefly touched on my naïve close-mindedness. In the first entry I unintentionally defined a person´s personality based on a preconceived cultural idea I had concerning this person´s Indian heritage. I was about to make a similar mistake with Ken Gibson.

My husband and I are so relieved to finally make it to the hotel where the workshops will be held. These meetings are the main purpose for our transcontinental trip. Since before even purchasing our tickets we have been wowed by TLMs organizational skills and attention to minute details. I (with my preconceived notions) am imagining this efficiency is due to super serious, industrious, incredibly focused office mice who rarely breathe anything that doesn't have to do with the world of Leprosy. I am imagining that the leader of TLM Ireland must be some intimidating, big headed, dictatorial type who directs everything with just a glance.

We are immediately received in the lobby by a friendly looking man with glasses, disheveled hair and a huge grin on his face. He looks like your favorite uncle. He welcomes us, directs us to the check-in counter, and asks for us to meet up later at the bar to chat. We go up to our room, thoroughly impressed by the organization, the hotel and the friendly people. After leaving our luggage, we move back down to the lobby to meet up with Ken. He and two other men are already there. I don't know that Ken is one of these 3 men. From the mood of it all, I assume that these 3 are friendly participants having a good time before sessions open. We talk about the long trip and about how amazed we are by all we have seen. The 3 guys chat about the weather, give us tips on things to check out in town and comment on the upcoming meetings. I feel completely at ease with the bi-specled man and lucky to be a part of the group.

And then the mood takes a serious turn and formal introductions are made. Guy 1: Emcee and facilitator of the sessions. Guy 2: Administrative Assistant. Guy 3: Friendly Glasses Guy: Ken Gibson, CEO of The Leprosy Mission Ireland. Unintelligible words stumble out of my mouth as I am overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed by the fact that I have been "improperly informal" with the man in charge of the entire workshop and his administrative team. I feel like a shoe. ("What does he think of me? He can't think that I am a serious adult after all this joking around!")

I am once again shot down by my squareness. Ken Gibson is a lovely person, filled with energy and passion for his work. He transmits joy and a desire to put one's best foot forward to further the Cause. I feel humbled by the fact that the leaders in the world of Leprosy are as human as I am. They are actually fun to be around :)

Thank you, Ken, for the wonderful impression.

Follow Ken on twitter and check out his Blog to get to know him and TLM Ireland better.