So, I got lazy and busy the past two weeks and didn't blog. I apologize but it just wasn't a priority I suppose.
Two weeks ago, my friend Nina who I met as an intern when I was here, came back to visit for the week. It had been about 2 years since I had seen her last so it was great to see her again. I took on airport duty that weekend and went with Sara, an intern, to pick up Nina and several other people.
The week for me was a catch up week on medical stuff, organizing either and putting it away to store for next years health weeks. Wow, we have a lot of stuff! We got rid of probably 50 suitcases full of medications that went to Dr. Garcia, as well as supplies that went to the hospital full of medical supplies like guaze, catheters, etc. We also kept about 10 suitcases full of medications so as you can tell we had a lot of donations!!!
I spent the week working on sorting those out, inventoring what we had on site for next year, and dispensing out stuff to everyone else. We also got so much food during our spring weeks that we were able to give away multiple suitcases full of pancake mix, pasta, and other treats to the prison and drug rehab center. Coco and I went and delivered a lot of these suitcases towards the end of the week. We also took sharps containers to the hospital and asked them to dispose of them and found out that their incinerator doesn't work and one guy was trying to just toss them in the normal garbage! AHHH! We had to explain to them and they said they'd take it somewhere else in town where they could burn it.
I spent every night staying up with Nina and Sara just hanging out and catching up. It was a great time, although Nina is quite the night owl and I'd try to stay up until 11-11:30 just to hang out with her and find out the next morning she was always up at least 1-2 hours later than that! She however is not a morning person so when Bryson and I would be on the roof the next morning working out we made a point to say hello to her and she'd always cover her face with her towel as she walked into the bathroom! It became a fun game figuring out how to greet her each morning!
The Saturday Nina left was a great day, not because she left, but because it was BEACH DAY WITH THE KIDS! I got to do this 3 years ago when I was here and was really hoping they'd go before I left. When we started hearing rumors earlier in the week that they were going on April 10th I was super excited. We left at 8:30 in the morning and returned at 5:30pm. It was so much fun. As soon as we got there kids were sprinting down to the water. The beach is too cold for them until after Easter so they haven't been to the beach since August! We swam in the water for several hours. Kids running around like crazy, splashing, throwing sand, building castles, getting buried in the sand....it was awesome! I spent time with a lot of the little kids as well as time with some of the older kids. We stopped around 12 and ate an awesome spaghetti and chicken lunch. I know, a weird beach food, but common here. It was tasty delicious after playing hard in the water.
There is a belief here that you can drown if you swim right after eating so we had to take a siesta from the water and we laid down for a bit under some shade. Some of the older kids came and laid down with us and just relaxed. At 2pm we were allowed to reenter the water and the fun began again! The water was pretty shallow but there were some deeper parts and they younger kids kept asking to go out to the "hondo", the deep part! Odalis who is so creative, brought a little boat made out of PVC pipe and rubber tires and had it out in the water. Several of the little kids piled on, so many it began to sink! :)
We had an awesome day at the beach and were exhausted when we got back home. But we weren't done with excursions yet.
No group came down my last week so it was just the 6 leaders and 4 interns which was nice. We had some nice rest and relaxation time and time hanging out with the kiddos!
Wednesday and Thursday I spent finishing up some health corps stuff, still putting things away, etc. and headed out in the afternoons with Dr. Garcia to the bateyes. Thursday we went to La Recta which is predomintely Haitian and I went on a little walk with the nurse to see the area around where we were. Lots of poverty! We saw a house made out of mud and straw pasted together, an apartment style building probably 1/3 the size of my house with at least 6-7 families living in it, and lots of skinny babies. It is amazing how happy these people are with so little. Part of me wants to move into a batey and live their lifestyle to see how simple we really can live. Although I'm living simplier than I do in the US, I still have a lot of accomodations like running water, internet at times, electricity often, 3 meals a day, etc. These people literally have nothing, live on dirt floors, and drink water from a dirty canal! I'm not sure how long I'd survive to be honest but I'd love to try it out to really figure it out.
Friday we headed back to the market town of Dajabon to see how busy it was since the earthquake. It was busy but no different than normal. There were 2 little boys that followed us around throughout the entire market place. They were obviously begging which is so sad. They become "tour guides" or at least so they think, hoping we'll pay them when we are done but since more groups will come in the future we can't pay them because then they'd expect it everytime. I talked with them though and at one point I walked ahead of Bryson not realizing he had stopped and one of the little boys tapped my shoulder and had me wait. They were looking out for me! :)
The afternoon I spent time just packing up some stuff, reading with the kids, and hanging out with the kids. I got my last game of Knock-Out in, with one win and multiple loses, a good lengthy tickling sessions with several kids, and some time to hang out with the older kids and just chill. We headed out to dinner at the French restuarant which was tasty and brought a treat of ice cream back for the kids to enjoy. I said my goodbyes to the kids and headed upstairs to finish packing. We played a game called Quelf where you do a bunch of crazy things before heading to bed.
It has been an awesome 7 months. I'm so glad I decided to come down although I had some hesitations at different points along the way. I can't believe it is already over, wow how it flew by. I'm going to miss my Dominican family and friends that I've spent 1/2 a year with. It will be a very difficult first month back home with the reverse culture shock and getting back into the swing of things at work, etc. but I'll be excited to see my family and meet my new niece Olivia Jane! Thanks for reading over the past 7 months, hope you enjoyed some stories along the way!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Happy April Fool's Day!
So no jokes were played on me today which is good. I'm never good at coming up with jokes so I prefer for ones not to be played on me! :)
This week has been a good week. I have gotten a lot of time to relax, catch up on sleep, starting working out again (a little), and spend time with the kids!
The past 3 days we have been doing 1/2 day activities with the kids here and the other 1/2 day is spent out in one of the bateyes doing a impromptu camp with the kids there. The children in the bateyes love activities because often times they have nothing to do but play baseball with a stick and rock and so any American interaction they get, they love!
Tuesday we went out to Batey Madre, which I am not sure we have been to in a while for activities, if ever. The kids there were very calm and well behaved and we had four stations. English vocab, recreation, arts and crafts and reading. We broke the kids up into four groups, small boys, small girls, big boys, and big girls and had our camp.
There was a little Haitian boy there that was so cute and stealing the show. He had an extra digit on each hand which I got a picture of. Check it out!
That day we also did an arts and crafts day with the kids. They had a good time and lasted about an hour before getting crazy!
Wednesday we went to Batey Maguaca which we go to often. They have a lot of kids there, some a little crazy but pretty well behaved for the most part. It has been neat to go back to these bateyes without Dr. Garcia and recognize faces and have people recognize me! One lady asked me to take a picture of her son so that when I come back I can bring her a copy. I brought back laminated pictures with me from Christmas and gave them out to several people in the bateyes and many of them remembered and want me to do the same when I return next time! :)
Wednesday afternoon we had an easter egg hunt with the kids. I watched some but then had to help Dr. Garcia with some English so he could respond to an email. Last night was culto and I sat with Joanni. She ended up falling asleep laid out on me and Sara, one of the interns.
Both Pastor and Dr. Garcia told me yesterday that Holy Week used to be a time of great reflection and worship. People would go to church daily, be calm resting at home, didn't drink alcohol all week, and spent a lot of time praying. Now it has become basically a spring break party week. People go to different parts of the island and party, drinking a lot, going to the beach, and spending very little time worshipping or going to church. Interesting how poverty doesn't change anything, just like in the States, traditions has changed to revolving more around drinking and self-fulfillment!
Today I woke up at 5am or 6am to torrential rain outside my room! It was raining so hard, and to wake me up you know it must have been hard! So, our morning plans got shifted a little and we had everyone stay back and do activities with the kids. We had reading stations and games/puzzles. Ari and Arianni had this long train puzzle of the alphabet that they put together with help and they were so proud! I love that the kids know me so well because even if I'm across the room they'll call out for me to show me what they've done. It's awesome to be a stable person there for them, although that will change soon! :(
This afternoon we still headed out to Batey Isabel and had a successful camp with lots of kids. Once again lots of familiar faces.
We stopped for ice cream on the way back and that was enjoyable as always! After dinner I spent a lot of time outside with the kids. They had a game of volleyball going which I watched while talking to Jochi. Then I spent time sitting on the benches for the rest of the night. I was hanging out with Jochi, Jose Luis (15 and 13) and with Luis Alberto (5). Luis Alberto pointed out a kite in the sky and I told him to run up to the sky and fly with the kite and he wouldn't be cold anymore. So, he stands up on the ground and starts to figure out how to run up but just giggles and can't move he is laughing so hard! :) He jumps about 1mm off the ground towards the sky and then hopped back on my lap. He ended up falling asleep on my lap with Franchesca's pink jacket on. Nena and her crowd of little girls came over at one point and did a mock culto service singing some songs and doing some prayers! I love to see them imitate culto because it is always fun to see the little girls sing and get excited since they don't get to participate a lot in the other services.
I hung out until 9pm with several of the kids and then came back to our side and played Quiddler with some of the volunteers that were here last week and this week.
Tomorrow is the last day for Holy Week camps. The weeks continue to fly by which makes me sad because now I only have 2 weeks left! AHHH!
I'll post my pictures from this week later so you can see all the action that has been going on!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Holy Week!
Happy Holy Week, which is like vacation week here or Spring Break basically. There is no school this week and many people have vacation, at least Thursday and Friday for sure.
This weekend was a pretty low key weekend. My body shut down completely and I was exhausted. Saturday morning I had to get up at 3am to see a volunteer off, then went back to bed. I woke back up at 7am to say goodbye to more people and went back to sleep before 8am breakfast. Ate breakfast, fell back asleep from 9-10am and said goodbye to the last group. Then went back to sleep until lunch at 12. Then after lunch I fell asleep from 1:45-3:15 and finally woke up! I was still exhausted however and went to bed around 9:45pm! Then Sunday I took another 2 hour nap or so after orientation.
Finally I think I've caught up on sleep for the most part. We have a group of high schoolers here this week along with 5 families with kids aged 11-17. It is a fun group.
Today was our excursion day because of Holy Week. The beaches tend to be very crowded on Friday of this week and there is a lot of drinking that goes on so to avoid any problems we went to the beach today instead of Friday this week. Which means...I got to see my roomies Friday and today because they both have been living in Jaibon at the other orphanage for the past 2-3 weeks and I haven't seen them much. So, I got to hang out with them today at lunch and on the beach which was fun. They move back Saturday for the rest of my time which is great! I've missed them! I have the room all to myself right now, which means it is messy! Surprise, surprise!
I went on a hospital tour today with the Melgar Family that was here last week. We got some ice cream and walked around town a little.
Other than that the day was pretty uneventful. I've been able to spend more time with the kids recently which has been great. This week we are doing activities here with the kids, out in the bateyes (poor farm villages) and there is an English camp at the Institute. I'll be working here and in the bateyes so I'll get some good pictures!
This weekend was a pretty low key weekend. My body shut down completely and I was exhausted. Saturday morning I had to get up at 3am to see a volunteer off, then went back to bed. I woke back up at 7am to say goodbye to more people and went back to sleep before 8am breakfast. Ate breakfast, fell back asleep from 9-10am and said goodbye to the last group. Then went back to sleep until lunch at 12. Then after lunch I fell asleep from 1:45-3:15 and finally woke up! I was still exhausted however and went to bed around 9:45pm! Then Sunday I took another 2 hour nap or so after orientation.
Finally I think I've caught up on sleep for the most part. We have a group of high schoolers here this week along with 5 families with kids aged 11-17. It is a fun group.
Today was our excursion day because of Holy Week. The beaches tend to be very crowded on Friday of this week and there is a lot of drinking that goes on so to avoid any problems we went to the beach today instead of Friday this week. Which means...I got to see my roomies Friday and today because they both have been living in Jaibon at the other orphanage for the past 2-3 weeks and I haven't seen them much. So, I got to hang out with them today at lunch and on the beach which was fun. They move back Saturday for the rest of my time which is great! I've missed them! I have the room all to myself right now, which means it is messy! Surprise, surprise!
I went on a hospital tour today with the Melgar Family that was here last week. We got some ice cream and walked around town a little.
Other than that the day was pretty uneventful. I've been able to spend more time with the kids recently which has been great. This week we are doing activities here with the kids, out in the bateyes (poor farm villages) and there is an English camp at the Institute. I'll be working here and in the bateyes so I'll get some good pictures!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Last Week of Clinics...CHECK!
These past 4 weeks have been absolutely exhausting but very rewarding. It has been stressful and at times difficult but totally worth it to serve over 4000 Dominican and Haitian patients with medical and dental care.
This week we followed the same schedule as we had the first week. We went out with both medical and dental teams to the bateyes were Dr. Garcia works, and where I helped out all fall. It was fun seeing some of the people I've gotten to know over the past 6 months.
Monday we were in a new location but the same batey. In efforts to keep the schools in session we went to the club area to have the clinic instead. The farm used to be owned by the United Fruit Company and they had big chalet houses and a clubhouse for the American big wigs. Now the club is used probably for dancing but it had a swimming pool that is drained and is a nice area that has been run down. This place was called La Cruz. We saw about 130 people that day.
Tuesday we headed to Maguaca where we served 3 different bateyes. There are quite a few children in this area, some pesty but all very cute. We saw about 140 people that day.
Wednesday was challenging. It is a predominately Haitian batey so the people are poorer and they speak Creole. It always causes us to be slower because you have to translate Creole to Spanish, then Spanish to English and back and forth. I have never seen what I saw on Wednesday. When we arrived around 9am, I saw a few people waiting outside the community center building and thought well thats a good start. I then walked into the community center and turned around and screamed inside to myself. There were well over 200 people waiting inside! It was insane! Knowing that we would be slower than normal, I knew right away we wouldn't be able to see even 1/2 of the people there! I felt awful!
We got them all outside a gate and 4 people had to hold the gate closed and try to let in 5 people at a time. Each time 5 new people got let in, other would push and try to shove themselves in thru the gate. Luckily Dr. Garcia worked the gate and they listened a little more to him. We gave out all the morning bands quickly and then went down the line and gave out 50 more afternoon bands to all the young children and pregnant women. He thought it was more important to see them than the healthy adults, which I agree!
We had 4 awesome translators, one was 12 years old but he was smart and great! That made a big difference, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see hardly anyone. One translator had a 6 week old son who I borrowed and carried around for an hour or so! His name is Kenny I found out today! :) She told the doctor she was working with that her husband left her and she hadn't eaten for 2 days because she had no money! We fed her lunch while she worked, and at the end of the day I hooked up the translators with soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and some baby wipes!
Today was my favorite day by far. I love the people in Jaramillo and that is who we served today. They as well are mostly Haitian and have tons of children! 3 weeks ago when we were out there I taught a little girl the pound it, lock it, put it in your pocket, tickle game. When I saw her this morning I repeated it with her and she started giggling before I even said "break the pickle". She remembered! Well that broke the ice and for the rest of the day until she left around 4pm she was my shadow. Her Mom had some dental work done so that entire time I was carrying her around wherever I went. Then, later in the afternoon I'd put her down with her Mom, walk to see how things were going and 10 seconds later she'd be running up beside me wanting to be picked up. I just love her and her smile!
I also stole the translators baby again for a while. He didn't have a diaper on today because his Mom ran out and so I made a makeshift one with abdominal pads (big gauze pads) and tape. The first one was too loose and as I handed him over to make a new one he peed on one of the volunteers! Oops! But good timing on my part! :)
At the end of the day, I was sitting in the pharmacy playing with Daska my friend for the day and as her Mom got their meds, I was sad that she was going to be leaving. I found out today that Dr. Garcia doesn't go back to Jaramillo until April 19th! That means I won't get to see these people again until next year and Daska's Mom said she is probably going back to Haiti so that Daska can go to school because there is no opportunity in her batey for school. The schools closed because they were mainly Haitian students and the Dominican teachers didn't want to teach them. True act of racism and very sad! So as I hugged Daska goodbye (even though her Mom offered for me to take her home with me, which I would in a heartbeat) I got a little choked up. I barely know this girl. I've seen her 3 or 4 other times for a brief couple of hours and just from that little interaction she clung to me today, me not understanding her Creole and she not understanding my English but it didn't matter. I don't know how I'm going to leave in less than a month. How can you not love these smiles and happy faces, and they have nothing but the clothes on their bodies and LOVE!?
These kids here that I've spent months with, playing with, getting to know and loving so much. If it broke my heart that much to say goodbye to an adorable girl that I've interacted so little with, how can I saw goodbye to these kids here. Wow, it is going to be tough! But I know I'll be back to visit so that will make it easier and Olivia will be here (or on her way soon thereafter) so that will make it a tiny bit easier! Here are my pictures from the past several weeks! Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/HealthWeeks?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/Week4MedicalClinics?feat=directlink
This week we followed the same schedule as we had the first week. We went out with both medical and dental teams to the bateyes were Dr. Garcia works, and where I helped out all fall. It was fun seeing some of the people I've gotten to know over the past 6 months.
Monday we were in a new location but the same batey. In efforts to keep the schools in session we went to the club area to have the clinic instead. The farm used to be owned by the United Fruit Company and they had big chalet houses and a clubhouse for the American big wigs. Now the club is used probably for dancing but it had a swimming pool that is drained and is a nice area that has been run down. This place was called La Cruz. We saw about 130 people that day.
Tuesday we headed to Maguaca where we served 3 different bateyes. There are quite a few children in this area, some pesty but all very cute. We saw about 140 people that day.
Wednesday was challenging. It is a predominately Haitian batey so the people are poorer and they speak Creole. It always causes us to be slower because you have to translate Creole to Spanish, then Spanish to English and back and forth. I have never seen what I saw on Wednesday. When we arrived around 9am, I saw a few people waiting outside the community center building and thought well thats a good start. I then walked into the community center and turned around and screamed inside to myself. There were well over 200 people waiting inside! It was insane! Knowing that we would be slower than normal, I knew right away we wouldn't be able to see even 1/2 of the people there! I felt awful!
We got them all outside a gate and 4 people had to hold the gate closed and try to let in 5 people at a time. Each time 5 new people got let in, other would push and try to shove themselves in thru the gate. Luckily Dr. Garcia worked the gate and they listened a little more to him. We gave out all the morning bands quickly and then went down the line and gave out 50 more afternoon bands to all the young children and pregnant women. He thought it was more important to see them than the healthy adults, which I agree!
We had 4 awesome translators, one was 12 years old but he was smart and great! That made a big difference, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see hardly anyone. One translator had a 6 week old son who I borrowed and carried around for an hour or so! His name is Kenny I found out today! :) She told the doctor she was working with that her husband left her and she hadn't eaten for 2 days because she had no money! We fed her lunch while she worked, and at the end of the day I hooked up the translators with soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and some baby wipes!
Today was my favorite day by far. I love the people in Jaramillo and that is who we served today. They as well are mostly Haitian and have tons of children! 3 weeks ago when we were out there I taught a little girl the pound it, lock it, put it in your pocket, tickle game. When I saw her this morning I repeated it with her and she started giggling before I even said "break the pickle". She remembered! Well that broke the ice and for the rest of the day until she left around 4pm she was my shadow. Her Mom had some dental work done so that entire time I was carrying her around wherever I went. Then, later in the afternoon I'd put her down with her Mom, walk to see how things were going and 10 seconds later she'd be running up beside me wanting to be picked up. I just love her and her smile!
I also stole the translators baby again for a while. He didn't have a diaper on today because his Mom ran out and so I made a makeshift one with abdominal pads (big gauze pads) and tape. The first one was too loose and as I handed him over to make a new one he peed on one of the volunteers! Oops! But good timing on my part! :)
At the end of the day, I was sitting in the pharmacy playing with Daska my friend for the day and as her Mom got their meds, I was sad that she was going to be leaving. I found out today that Dr. Garcia doesn't go back to Jaramillo until April 19th! That means I won't get to see these people again until next year and Daska's Mom said she is probably going back to Haiti so that Daska can go to school because there is no opportunity in her batey for school. The schools closed because they were mainly Haitian students and the Dominican teachers didn't want to teach them. True act of racism and very sad! So as I hugged Daska goodbye (even though her Mom offered for me to take her home with me, which I would in a heartbeat) I got a little choked up. I barely know this girl. I've seen her 3 or 4 other times for a brief couple of hours and just from that little interaction she clung to me today, me not understanding her Creole and she not understanding my English but it didn't matter. I don't know how I'm going to leave in less than a month. How can you not love these smiles and happy faces, and they have nothing but the clothes on their bodies and LOVE!?These kids here that I've spent months with, playing with, getting to know and loving so much. If it broke my heart that much to say goodbye to an adorable girl that I've interacted so little with, how can I saw goodbye to these kids here. Wow, it is going to be tough! But I know I'll be back to visit so that will make it easier and Olivia will be here (or on her way soon thereafter) so that will make it a tiny bit easier! Here are my pictures from the past several weeks! Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/HealthWeeks?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/Week4MedicalClinics?feat=directlink
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I'm Alive...
So for those of you that have been wondering if I were still living, the answer is YES!
Wow have the past 3 weeks been crazy! I have basically left my room at 6:30am every morning and returned around 10pm every evening. Needless to say I'm absolutely exhausted right now and even took a 3 hour nap today! We have one more week of clinics but a small group this week than the past three weeks. I'm just going to say a few highlights as I don't remember a lot of specifics about what happened over the past weeks!
I did take some notes the first week so I'll write a little about those days. Cara Fox, from PA, who is a PA came down with her team along with a doctor from California and several students. We had about 80 people that first week. We worked with Dr. Garcia and did medical clinics out in the bateys. The team from PA also brought a Rehab team with them and they worked at the Rehab Center and had a great week. The patients loved them. They would heal the pain these patients have had for years with just simple techniques that are taught in the US but not here in the DR!
The first week I handed out Fruit by the Foot for movie night to the kids. Ariel was trying to figure out how to open it and I had to sit down and help him figure it out. Guess they've never seen those before.
We went out to the bateyes where I worked this fall with Dr. Garcia so I saw several familiar faces all week. On Tuesday we were in Maguaca handing out toothbrushes at the end of the day! It was insane. We had about 100 people swarm the table wanting toothbrushes and we marked them with a Sharpie but they started rubbing the Sharpie off and coming back in line. I quickly starting realizing familiar faces and made lines down their entire arm so that they wouldn't be able to erase it as easy!
Wednesday we headed to La Recta which has a large Haitian population. There was a lady with twin 10 month old boys and one was so lethargic and dehydrated! We decided he needed to go to the hospital for IV fluids but the mom couldn't afford to get him there (about 20-30 minutes away) and she was Haitian, probably illegal, so she was likely to be turned away at the hospital anyway. We told her we'd pay for her transportation and she went home to get her daughter so she wouldn't be home alone. Well about 20 minutes later she still hadn't arrived so I went walking to find her and saw her down the street. I walked to her house with her where the little sick boy was actually eating Yuka but still needed some fluids. She did not want to go because she had not even one dollar to her name and couldn't buy food or water for herself or the other kids. Finally, a Dominican guy that was standing there with us trying to convince her to go, gave her 100 pesos and she left with me to get in the truck.
It was difficult to see this all transpire because she was so poor that basically she was going to risk her child dying of dehydration even with free transportation! I can't imagine living life like that! That afternoon word got out that we were there and we had 100s of people show up to be seen. Unfortunately with the added language barrier of Creole instead of Spanish, the providers were unable to see as many patients and it resulted in me standing on a table screaming at people to stop pushing in line because we weren't going to be able to hand out more tickets. It is hard to turn away such desperate people but we can only offer so much! That day we sent 3 people to the hospital, another baby that was lethargic, and a man they thought had either appendicitis or a bowel obstruction!
That evening was culto and we were sitting in the kids eating area when the power went out. When the lights came back on a few seconds later, Arianni had sprinted across the room in the dark I guess trying to leave, but only to the dark outside! She was talking with me later about how her aunt was coming to get her and she was going to go home. I tried to tell her how nice it was here and that if she went home she wouldn't have a Cristina, a Elizabeth, a Pastor Ramon, nor a Heather. But she was clever and said that yes she had a neighbor named Cristina and her mom was Elizabeth, etc. It was too cute!
On Friday we were in Batey Juliana at the banana washing station and I got to see some of my friends from Jaramillo. One little girl with a huge umbilical hernia that I recognized was there and I played a game with her. Heather taught the kids here a little thing that goes like this "Pound it, lock it, put it in your pocket, break the pickle, TICKLE, TICKLE". So you pound fists, twist them, put your hand in your pocket, and then you put your two pointer fingers together and the other person breaks them apart and you tickle them. I taught this to her and she loved it. The anticipation on her face for the tickling was priceless! I also got to see the kid that was my Facebook picture for a long time, the one sitting in my lap. He, his mom and his sister were there being seen, actually sitting in the exact location as last year and after looking at him for a short while I recognized who he was and told his Mom I had a picture of them from the previous year!
The next week was busy! We had 8 physicians/NPs here and traveled to Manzanillo and Carbonera (both about 45 minutes) away to do clinics. One highlight there was a tall, like 6'0 Haitian lady came in on a motorcycle with a swollen leg and unable to walk. She hopped on one leg half way and then Sara (a leader that came in for a week to help out), me and another volunteer fireman carried her, so I had her arms resting on me and her friend had the other arm, while Sara and the other volunteer carried her legs. It was awesome just being able to serve her with no words exchanged and just truly being there for a complete and total stranger. She had an xray with her and she had a tibia/fibula fracture. Dr. Imran explained to her that she needed to go to the hospital and we then carried her back to the moto. She had to go to immigration to make it back the military check points since she was from Haiti. On our way home that day we are driving down the road and see this huge white plaster cast hanging out sideways from a moto. As we drive by it, it was that patient with a full leg cast and the biggest smile in the world. It was so awesome!
Last week I was in Jaibon at our other orphanage and we went to 4 new locations. Day 1 we were in a school where they were so grateful and the principal was great. He brought us 2 liters of soda and just loved our services. Day 2 was my favorite. We were in a church in a town called Damajagua. Behind the church was an area that really looked like a stable and here was where we set up our pharmacy. The people there were awesome and I just really enjoyed that day. We took a break on Wednesday for our beach day which was a nice change of pace. The last two days we worked again. One day in Laguna Salada at a busy school and the second day in La Boca de Mao (the mouth of Mao) where there were tons of patients, mainly Haitian.
So in Mao we had a crazy experience. In the morning and afternoon we had tons of patients but were unable to see everyone. The day before I had given out 170 tickets in the morning and over 200 in the afternoon and just about did the providers in, I wore them out. So we limited it the next day because of the Creole and they were tired. In the morning we had patients inside the school because it was raining so we had them out of the rain but in the afternoon we decided to put them outside the gate to help with crowd control. Well it was crazy outside with over 300 people I'd guess waiting to get in, knowing we'd only have 120 tickets to give out. People were beating on the gate wanting to get in and we'd have to open the door just enough to let a person pass by and bring them in 10 at a time.
Well the brillant director of the school insisted on driving his vehicle into the school coming in the same door where we had 300+ people barging the door to get in. So that meant we had to slide the entire gate open for him to come in. I told him to get out and walk in and that we couldn't not open the gate because the crowd would come rushing in but he insisted on driving in and they started to open the gate. Immediately following his car entering was absolute chaos. About 300 people came running at us barging thru the gate to be seen! It is undescriable but my worst nightmare. I was tempted to say we were done see patients, as we had already given out about 60 tickets but instead I told everyone that we would not start again until everyone was back outside the gate. This meant me standing on the table screaming at people to go back outside, several of the teachers from the school helping me escort people back outside, and about a 20 minute ordeal trying to get people back outside. I was already exhausted and I hate having to be "mean" to these people that are so desperate but it is the only option to avoid total chaos!
Finally we got them all outside and started taking 5 in at a time which meant 2 people pushing the door closed as about 10 people pushed from outside trying to get in. WOW, was I glad when we got the 120th person inside and were able to leave the gate. I did feel bad that we couldn't see everyone and that we couldn't triage and take the sickest but it is impossible to really know who is the sickest and we'd be there until today if we saw everyone!
As the cooridnator of the clinics, I don't actually see patients I just help around as needed, take care of any problems that arise and make sure everyone is doing well. A lot of this time consists of me going around and stealing people's babies and holding them! I got to rock several asleep over the past 3 weeks and look forward to doing the same this week, especially with a smaller group so that means less management for me! :)
Today I moved back to Monte Cristi and got to spend some time with the kids who I haven't seen much over the past 3 weeks because I've been so busy!
Wow have the past 3 weeks been crazy! I have basically left my room at 6:30am every morning and returned around 10pm every evening. Needless to say I'm absolutely exhausted right now and even took a 3 hour nap today! We have one more week of clinics but a small group this week than the past three weeks. I'm just going to say a few highlights as I don't remember a lot of specifics about what happened over the past weeks!
I did take some notes the first week so I'll write a little about those days. Cara Fox, from PA, who is a PA came down with her team along with a doctor from California and several students. We had about 80 people that first week. We worked with Dr. Garcia and did medical clinics out in the bateys. The team from PA also brought a Rehab team with them and they worked at the Rehab Center and had a great week. The patients loved them. They would heal the pain these patients have had for years with just simple techniques that are taught in the US but not here in the DR!
The first week I handed out Fruit by the Foot for movie night to the kids. Ariel was trying to figure out how to open it and I had to sit down and help him figure it out. Guess they've never seen those before.
We went out to the bateyes where I worked this fall with Dr. Garcia so I saw several familiar faces all week. On Tuesday we were in Maguaca handing out toothbrushes at the end of the day! It was insane. We had about 100 people swarm the table wanting toothbrushes and we marked them with a Sharpie but they started rubbing the Sharpie off and coming back in line. I quickly starting realizing familiar faces and made lines down their entire arm so that they wouldn't be able to erase it as easy!
Wednesday we headed to La Recta which has a large Haitian population. There was a lady with twin 10 month old boys and one was so lethargic and dehydrated! We decided he needed to go to the hospital for IV fluids but the mom couldn't afford to get him there (about 20-30 minutes away) and she was Haitian, probably illegal, so she was likely to be turned away at the hospital anyway. We told her we'd pay for her transportation and she went home to get her daughter so she wouldn't be home alone. Well about 20 minutes later she still hadn't arrived so I went walking to find her and saw her down the street. I walked to her house with her where the little sick boy was actually eating Yuka but still needed some fluids. She did not want to go because she had not even one dollar to her name and couldn't buy food or water for herself or the other kids. Finally, a Dominican guy that was standing there with us trying to convince her to go, gave her 100 pesos and she left with me to get in the truck.
It was difficult to see this all transpire because she was so poor that basically she was going to risk her child dying of dehydration even with free transportation! I can't imagine living life like that! That afternoon word got out that we were there and we had 100s of people show up to be seen. Unfortunately with the added language barrier of Creole instead of Spanish, the providers were unable to see as many patients and it resulted in me standing on a table screaming at people to stop pushing in line because we weren't going to be able to hand out more tickets. It is hard to turn away such desperate people but we can only offer so much! That day we sent 3 people to the hospital, another baby that was lethargic, and a man they thought had either appendicitis or a bowel obstruction!
That evening was culto and we were sitting in the kids eating area when the power went out. When the lights came back on a few seconds later, Arianni had sprinted across the room in the dark I guess trying to leave, but only to the dark outside! She was talking with me later about how her aunt was coming to get her and she was going to go home. I tried to tell her how nice it was here and that if she went home she wouldn't have a Cristina, a Elizabeth, a Pastor Ramon, nor a Heather. But she was clever and said that yes she had a neighbor named Cristina and her mom was Elizabeth, etc. It was too cute!
On Friday we were in Batey Juliana at the banana washing station and I got to see some of my friends from Jaramillo. One little girl with a huge umbilical hernia that I recognized was there and I played a game with her. Heather taught the kids here a little thing that goes like this "Pound it, lock it, put it in your pocket, break the pickle, TICKLE, TICKLE". So you pound fists, twist them, put your hand in your pocket, and then you put your two pointer fingers together and the other person breaks them apart and you tickle them. I taught this to her and she loved it. The anticipation on her face for the tickling was priceless! I also got to see the kid that was my Facebook picture for a long time, the one sitting in my lap. He, his mom and his sister were there being seen, actually sitting in the exact location as last year and after looking at him for a short while I recognized who he was and told his Mom I had a picture of them from the previous year!
The next week was busy! We had 8 physicians/NPs here and traveled to Manzanillo and Carbonera (both about 45 minutes) away to do clinics. One highlight there was a tall, like 6'0 Haitian lady came in on a motorcycle with a swollen leg and unable to walk. She hopped on one leg half way and then Sara (a leader that came in for a week to help out), me and another volunteer fireman carried her, so I had her arms resting on me and her friend had the other arm, while Sara and the other volunteer carried her legs. It was awesome just being able to serve her with no words exchanged and just truly being there for a complete and total stranger. She had an xray with her and she had a tibia/fibula fracture. Dr. Imran explained to her that she needed to go to the hospital and we then carried her back to the moto. She had to go to immigration to make it back the military check points since she was from Haiti. On our way home that day we are driving down the road and see this huge white plaster cast hanging out sideways from a moto. As we drive by it, it was that patient with a full leg cast and the biggest smile in the world. It was so awesome!
Last week I was in Jaibon at our other orphanage and we went to 4 new locations. Day 1 we were in a school where they were so grateful and the principal was great. He brought us 2 liters of soda and just loved our services. Day 2 was my favorite. We were in a church in a town called Damajagua. Behind the church was an area that really looked like a stable and here was where we set up our pharmacy. The people there were awesome and I just really enjoyed that day. We took a break on Wednesday for our beach day which was a nice change of pace. The last two days we worked again. One day in Laguna Salada at a busy school and the second day in La Boca de Mao (the mouth of Mao) where there were tons of patients, mainly Haitian.
So in Mao we had a crazy experience. In the morning and afternoon we had tons of patients but were unable to see everyone. The day before I had given out 170 tickets in the morning and over 200 in the afternoon and just about did the providers in, I wore them out. So we limited it the next day because of the Creole and they were tired. In the morning we had patients inside the school because it was raining so we had them out of the rain but in the afternoon we decided to put them outside the gate to help with crowd control. Well it was crazy outside with over 300 people I'd guess waiting to get in, knowing we'd only have 120 tickets to give out. People were beating on the gate wanting to get in and we'd have to open the door just enough to let a person pass by and bring them in 10 at a time.
Well the brillant director of the school insisted on driving his vehicle into the school coming in the same door where we had 300+ people barging the door to get in. So that meant we had to slide the entire gate open for him to come in. I told him to get out and walk in and that we couldn't not open the gate because the crowd would come rushing in but he insisted on driving in and they started to open the gate. Immediately following his car entering was absolute chaos. About 300 people came running at us barging thru the gate to be seen! It is undescriable but my worst nightmare. I was tempted to say we were done see patients, as we had already given out about 60 tickets but instead I told everyone that we would not start again until everyone was back outside the gate. This meant me standing on the table screaming at people to go back outside, several of the teachers from the school helping me escort people back outside, and about a 20 minute ordeal trying to get people back outside. I was already exhausted and I hate having to be "mean" to these people that are so desperate but it is the only option to avoid total chaos!
Finally we got them all outside and started taking 5 in at a time which meant 2 people pushing the door closed as about 10 people pushed from outside trying to get in. WOW, was I glad when we got the 120th person inside and were able to leave the gate. I did feel bad that we couldn't see everyone and that we couldn't triage and take the sickest but it is impossible to really know who is the sickest and we'd be there until today if we saw everyone!
As the cooridnator of the clinics, I don't actually see patients I just help around as needed, take care of any problems that arise and make sure everyone is doing well. A lot of this time consists of me going around and stealing people's babies and holding them! I got to rock several asleep over the past 3 weeks and look forward to doing the same this week, especially with a smaller group so that means less management for me! :)
Today I moved back to Monte Cristi and got to spend some time with the kids who I haven't seen much over the past 3 weeks because I've been so busy!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Feliz Dia de Independencia!
Before I jump ahead to the week ahead, I'll wrap up yesterday and Concordia's trip. Friday is our day off, volunteers culture/beach day. In the morning they headed out to tour around Monte Cristi and I headed to two schools to speak with the principals about coming to teach next week. The rest of the morning I helped with the OO store and played with the kids some. The team from Jaibon was at the orphanage doing a tour and I got to see Heather and Bryson again! I miss our family being all together! :(
We headed to lunch at Comedor Adela, and I came back for the afternoon to work with Dr. Sprague to finish up doing physicals on the kids. The older kids were left to be seen and they were funny making faces and obviously not interested like all the little kids were, especially the boys because of the fun cough and turn your head exam!
I spent some time helping load up bags and bags of towels, blankets, pillows, sheets, etc that were going to Jaibon for the big weeks coming up! Then I helped Moni organize the kitchen pantry as they got lots of food and supplies delivered today from Tom and Coco and their various trips last week to the capital and Santiago.
The evening consisted of dinner, finishing up 4 more physicals, and then closing. The end of closing was great! Concordia wrote a chant/song to the tune of We Will Rock You!
Here are the lyrics:
Coming from Concordia, Los Americanos, 7:45, Is the wake up call, You got breakfast at 8, pancakes on your plate, morning announcements - don't be late.
Chorus: We would like to Thank You!
On our way to school, with lesson in mind, got numbers and colors, body parts to find, teaching was a blast, went by so fast, recess is over - wish it could last.
Chorus
Back from lunch, gotta shovel a bunch, counting the sheet, in the blistering heat, playing with the kids, til 3:15, we hear yelling, as soon as we're seen.
Chorus
Walk around town, eating ice cream, grocery shopping, sunrise hiking, Karie Jody Julie, Alexandra Mike, Janet and Elizabeth, Amy and Christine.
We were sitting in a circle for closing and they had sectioned themselves off so that each 1/4 of the circle did a verse! It was hilarious! What a great group! Forgot to mention that throughout the week they clapped at the end of every meal announcements for Christine. It went from just clapping, to snapping at time, to clapping slow and building up to fast clapping, to standing ovations, to the last dinner this! SIGNS with her name on them!
After closing I came back up to my room and waited for them to finish their reflections. Rich ended up coming to our room afterwards about 11pm and hung out talking with me and Christine until about 12:30am!
They left this morning at 4:15am and I got up to see them off. They were great, we'll miss them!
But, nonetheless, a new day started today with the first group arriving around 9am! I headed out around 10pm with Karie, Alexandra, and Amy our interns to go check out the Independence Day celebrations. February 27th, 1844 was the day that the Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti. They have a big parade from the clock tower park to the gym behind a school where they have performances by different schools, groups, etc. Here are some pictures of the crowd, and several different performances. Some merengue dancing and big performance by John F. Kennedy school who every year goes all out! It was great!
We didn't get to see the parade but made it for the beginning of the celebrations in the gym. Several schools did dance routines, singing, and other public officials spoke. We sat with the kids from the orphanage that go to Dona Nena for the second half of the show and then headed back. This guy didn't before, just looked silly! Had to get a picture with him! :)
After lunch, I spent lots of time just getting stuff planned for orientation tomorrow and the week in general. Also, had to finish making a couple of beds for the teams arriving today. I took a much needed nap and then got back to work. St. Francis arrived just after dinner and we greeted them and I finished some work that I still had to do. Tonight I drew some posters of the clinic locations for tomorrow's orientation and now am waiting for the last of the volunteers to arrive about 12:45am!
We headed to lunch at Comedor Adela, and I came back for the afternoon to work with Dr. Sprague to finish up doing physicals on the kids. The older kids were left to be seen and they were funny making faces and obviously not interested like all the little kids were, especially the boys because of the fun cough and turn your head exam!
I spent some time helping load up bags and bags of towels, blankets, pillows, sheets, etc that were going to Jaibon for the big weeks coming up! Then I helped Moni organize the kitchen pantry as they got lots of food and supplies delivered today from Tom and Coco and their various trips last week to the capital and Santiago.
The evening consisted of dinner, finishing up 4 more physicals, and then closing. The end of closing was great! Concordia wrote a chant/song to the tune of We Will Rock You!
Here are the lyrics:
Coming from Concordia, Los Americanos, 7:45, Is the wake up call, You got breakfast at 8, pancakes on your plate, morning announcements - don't be late.
Chorus: We would like to Thank You!
On our way to school, with lesson in mind, got numbers and colors, body parts to find, teaching was a blast, went by so fast, recess is over - wish it could last.
Chorus
Back from lunch, gotta shovel a bunch, counting the sheet, in the blistering heat, playing with the kids, til 3:15, we hear yelling, as soon as we're seen.
Chorus
Walk around town, eating ice cream, grocery shopping, sunrise hiking, Karie Jody Julie, Alexandra Mike, Janet and Elizabeth, Amy and Christine.
We were sitting in a circle for closing and they had sectioned themselves off so that each 1/4 of the circle did a verse! It was hilarious! What a great group! Forgot to mention that throughout the week they clapped at the end of every meal announcements for Christine. It went from just clapping, to snapping at time, to clapping slow and building up to fast clapping, to standing ovations, to the last dinner this! SIGNS with her name on them!
After closing I came back up to my room and waited for them to finish their reflections. Rich ended up coming to our room afterwards about 11pm and hung out talking with me and Christine until about 12:30am!
They left this morning at 4:15am and I got up to see them off. They were great, we'll miss them!But, nonetheless, a new day started today with the first group arriving around 9am! I headed out around 10pm with Karie, Alexandra, and Amy our interns to go check out the Independence Day celebrations. February 27th, 1844 was the day that the Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti. They have a big parade from the clock tower park to the gym behind a school where they have performances by different schools, groups, etc. Here are some pictures of the crowd, and several different performances. Some merengue dancing and big performance by John F. Kennedy school who every year goes all out! It was great!
We didn't get to see the parade but made it for the beginning of the celebrations in the gym. Several schools did dance routines, singing, and other public officials spoke. We sat with the kids from the orphanage that go to Dona Nena for the second half of the show and then headed back. This guy didn't before, just looked silly! Had to get a picture with him! :) After lunch, I spent lots of time just getting stuff planned for orientation tomorrow and the week in general. Also, had to finish making a couple of beds for the teams arriving today. I took a much needed nap and then got back to work. St. Francis arrived just after dinner and we greeted them and I finished some work that I still had to do. Tonight I drew some posters of the clinic locations for tomorrow's orientation and now am waiting for the last of the volunteers to arrive about 12:45am!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Free Physicals!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/OrphanageKidsPhysicals?feat=directlink
In the afternoon, there were more kids that needed to be seen so Amy started seeing patients as well. These were all the little kids who are pretty healthy. We did hear a few heart murmurs, see a few extra digits, clean out some ear wax but all in all healthy, shy kids but nothing serious.
While at first a little weary and timid, they did open up some and play just like any kids. Franchesca was ready to come upstairs everytime we opened the door and finally she got to come up. However, as soon as she came up, she was in my arms and wouldn't let go. We had to ask the psychologist that works with the kids to come up and help and she was still fearful and crying as we tried to get her height! I had to sit her in my lap to get checked out but she did great!
Luis Alberto came upstairs with his typical terrified look. I think he got scarred for life this fall after they took out two of his teeth. It took a little convincing to reassure him nothing was going to happen. He was smiling by the end. Jochi, who is 15, even kept telling me that he was scared. All she was doing was listening to his heart and lungs and he kept saying he was scared!
Winston wins for best smile of the day...and ties his brother, William, for best sandal tan of the year!
Today we set up clinic at the orphanage, Mom and Dad's room while they were here, and did physicals on all of the orphanage kids! Dr. Sprauge and Amy, a 4th year med student, were seeing the kids just to do a general check.
We started at 9am with the English Institute kids so that they could get done in time for class. First up...Freddy! He did well, didn't talk much, but didn't refuse the testicular exam either. Then comes Moncho and Ariel. Oh boy did they refuse the exam! Only after some convincing from Zuni, the administrator did they agree to get checked. And from there on, the boys became more and more reluctant to come upstairs for their physical! Word travels fast! :)
They got through several kids this morning, about 14-15 of them. Lots of boys and lots of persuading but we made it. The kids are so funny because typically they are outgoing with their personalities, but they all become mute and shy around doctors or dentists.
In the morning, Amy was doing vitals while Dr. Sprague saw the patients. Here is Jose Luis getting his blood pressure checked!
In the afternoon, there were more kids that needed to be seen so Amy started seeing patients as well. These were all the little kids who are pretty healthy. We did hear a few heart murmurs, see a few extra digits, clean out some ear wax but all in all healthy, shy kids but nothing serious.Not only were the kids patients, but I became a patient as well. Paola wanted to check my blood pressure for me! They loved playing with all of the gadgets.
While at first a little weary and timid, they did open up some and play just like any kids. Franchesca was ready to come upstairs everytime we opened the door and finally she got to come up. However, as soon as she came up, she was in my arms and wouldn't let go. We had to ask the psychologist that works with the kids to come up and help and she was still fearful and crying as we tried to get her height! I had to sit her in my lap to get checked out but she did great! Luis Alberto came upstairs with his typical terrified look. I think he got scarred for life this fall after they took out two of his teeth. It took a little convincing to reassure him nothing was going to happen. He was smiling by the end. Jochi, who is 15, even kept telling me that he was scared. All she was doing was listening to his heart and lungs and he kept saying he was scared!Ari and Arianni came upstairs together and were cute as ever. They were hopping around on one foot, entertaining themselves, stealing hand sanitizer and hamming it up as always. Arianni had this one piece outfit on that had to be taken off and so I tried to tickle her. She raised her arm for me to test and see that she was no longer ticklish! She was wrong! :)
Winston wins for best smile of the day...and ties his brother, William, for best sandal tan of the year! 
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