March 22, 10 a.m. - The seven travelers gathered in front of Johnson Hall before departing for the airport on Tuesday, March 22. As each group member arrived luggage was piled on the sidewalk. Most of them had a suitcase, a carry on and another bag, which contained gifts for children in Sri Lanka. As they visit orphanages, hospitals and villages they will be able to hand out crayons, coloring books, balls, Easter eggs, pencils and pens to the children they meet.

Spouses, family members and others who came to see them off waved as the Meredith van pulled away from the curb with the travelers and their luggage.

Their flight was scheduled to depart Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 12:10 p.m. to fly to Atlanta. They will arrive in Zurich 7:55 a.m. on March 23 and depart later that morning. On March 24 they will arrive in Colombo 4:50 a.m.

On March 25 they will leave for Galle (one of the areas hit hard by the tsunami) and will stay there through the 28th, when they will return to Colombo. They will remain in Colombo for the rest of the trip except for a day trip to Kandy on the 30th.

On April 1 they will depart Colombo 11:50 p.m. They will arrive in Tokyo and change planes to depart for Detroit on April 2. From Detroit they will catch their flight back to RDU, landing at 3:31 p.m.