One on One with Jim Turpin: 2011 Emory Medalist

One volunteer trip to Tijuana during 1960 changed Dr. James Turpin 49C 51T 55M, founder of Project Concern International, forever. He didn't know it at the time, but that same visit would lead him to save the lives of millions of others.

Shortly after his return from Tijuana, Turpin, his wife and their four children packed their bags for Hong Kong and moved into their new residence: a 62-foot barge named Yauh Oi (Brotherly Love) that served as a modern floating medical clinic for 35,000 "boat people" in Hong Kong's typhoon shelter. Turpin and his colleagues soon recognized that curing existing disease only addressed half the problem as patients returned home to face the same conditions that made them sick in the first place. Their reaction was to next convert an abandoned U.S. Special Forces camp into a training center for villagers in the mountains of Vietnam where thousands of starving Montagnards resided.

Project Concern volunteers have demonstrated a continued dedication to addressing the problem of self-sufficiency, as evident by their discovery of a new and now commonly used method of easily sanitizing contaminated drinking water. A similar story can be told for Tijuana, Indonesia, Appalachia, and the Navajo Reservations, which were soon to follow.

Due to Turpin's 50 years of unwavering dedication and sacrifice, Project Concern now operates in 19 countries. Though Turpin is retired, rest has no place in his plans as he sees the extra time only as an excuse to visit PCI's bases freely. His unwavering energies led him to receive the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award in 1994. What began with one doctor and his family of six on a floating barge has now developed into a global movement, changing over 5.5 million lives across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The Emory Medal is the highest University honor awarded exclusively to alumni. Honorees are selected by the Emory Alumni Board based on a list of criteria, including service to the Emory community and leadership.

Video produced and edited by Tania Dowdy 08Ox 10C, EAA

Category:

Education

Tags:

• emory
• award
• medalist
• jim
• turpin
• project
• concern
• international