Take 2! Just wrote a long blog post, scrolled up with all the text highlighted to copy it, in case the internet went down, and it deleted itself somehow! AHH!
Anyway, I have had a fun relaxing weekend. Yesterday morning we said goodbye to some fun volunteers that had been here 2-3 weeks. It was sad to see them go. However, we had lots of work to get done for the group coming in later in the afternoon. We had to make 24 beds with sheets, towels, blankets, and mosquito nets! Then I met with Tom and Coco to discuss what the spring looks like for the Health Corps program. Looks like I'll be doing 4 weeks of medical clinics and 1 week of public health teaching! Should be a lot of fun, but very busy!
The afternoon I spent relaxing as we only had 4 people here at the orphanage. I used the time to call my Mom and Jo and get caught up with both of them. It was great hearing from them and finding out what is going on in the KY. Sounds like Baby Olivia is growing rapidly!
I made my way over later in the afternoon to play with the kids. Nena was cooking up some dirt patties served with a special weed on top. Franchesca, Jennifer and I enjoyed a great cuisine from her kitchen. Dirt mixed with water made into dirt hamburger patties and the weed smashed on top.
This game quickly ended because Lisy's Mom was here visiting and the kids love to sit and watch when parents come. About 10 kids were just sitting around staring at her Mom and her little brother who is 6 months old. Even Arianni who is normally so outgoing and boisterous was sitting there all shy and timid. It is amazing how the kids just love to hang out and see what is going on when parents come to visit. Lisy took me over to see "her baby" who was so cute. He only looked about 3 months old because he was so small. I asked her Mom to hold him and she handed him over. I was then quickly swarmed by 4 little girls wanting to hold him also. I'd put him in their arms but still hold on, and they would tell me to let go. I explained to them he was too little for them to hold alone, but then when I let Yanina, who is 20, hold him alone they didn't understand.
As her Mom got ready to leave, she got up, said goodbye to the pastor and started to walk away, then calling for Lisy to come say goodbye to her. It was as if she didn't really care that she was leaving, no dramatic goodbye or real sincere goodbye from what I saw. Often times the kids talk about going home with their parents, even if they never will, but I wish they could see what advantages they have living here. Food, shelter, clothes, love from the staff, their brothers and sisters, an education, etc. I guess at age 4 or 5 all you want is to go home to your Mommy and Daddy and be normal like your classmates or what you see on TV/in the movies.
Jasmin who grew up here and now lives in town came by to visit with her boyfriend and some other guys from town who came to play basketball. I talked with her for a little bit and then helped her round up some of the new volunteers that had arrived to play volleyball. She and Carolina, who still lives her, used to play volleyball all the time. The Americans weren't the greatest players so Carolina and Jasmin split up on separate teams. Before long, Carolina was playing on both teams. She would hit it over to Jasmin, who would then serve it up, and Carolina would come under the net and hit it back over, and then continue play on the other side by ducking quickly back under the net. It was quite hilarious, but at the same time amazing that she is so good and able to do that!
I sat down and talked to Nicol and Jasmin for a little while before getting my hair done by Nena. Lisy's Mom had brought her a big plastic barbie doll, like the twins got a couple of weeks ago, and Nena wanted to fix my hair like hers. So she started by pulling a piece from the front down the side by my ears on both sides and pulling it to the back. She didn't have hair clips to hold my hair down so instead I ended up with one big ponytail in the middle and two small side ponytails above my ears! Quite attractive I'm sure!
After finishing, she went crazy as she typically does once sitting still for too long. She was pretending to be a viscous dog and running around biting Indiana and me. We ran around screaming, yes I was screaming like a little girl, and she would catch up to us and bite our arms or legs. At first she was running on all fours, but this was too slow for her, so she became a two legged dog. It was pretty funny, until she got a little ferocious at times and bit too hard!
We pushed dinner back an hour because the group at lunch at 4:30 when they arrived, and the rest of the group was arriving around 7pm. Since it was later, the kitchen staff wanted to leave and I told them I would wash the dishes. So, after dinner I did as promised and washed the dishes that remained from dinner with some help drying them. We have a group of 28 volunteers here right now which means a lot of plates, forks, cups, but in the spring we'll have groups up to 250 people and I can't imagine doing those dishes 3 times a day! These women are AMAZING!
After finishing the dishes, I headed over to see the kids again. They were all inside their comedor. When I walked in, Arianni was eating some of our leftover pasta from dinner. She tried to airplane the food into her mouth so I took the fork from her and played airplane with her a couple of times. I'd miss her mouth, go to her ear, and finally feed her. Other kids and even the staff were laughing, but the best was her giggle! I sat down with Luis Alberto and watched Curious George. Mery loves monkeys now because of the book Bryson read all fall about the 5 Little Monkeys. Everytime commercials would come on, she'd tap me, and ask where the monkey was. She would almost pout until he came back on, and then she'd get so excited and tell me about it!
As I was leaving and saying goodnight, Arianni wrapped her arms around my legs and wouldn't let go. I had to tickle her away but she still got up and chased after me. I picked her up and took her outside with me. She said "I want to go to your house over there with you". I told her I lived in the trashcan and asked if she wanted to come in there with me. She said no and begged to be taken back inside. It is funny how afraid of the dark these little ones are. They are so resilient, but still have the same fears as all kids, even Nena who is tough as nails!
I know this post is super long but I have just had so many fun stories from yesterday and today so bear with me if you want to!
Today was another fun day. We had orientation this morning but then lots of free time with the kids. After lunch I spent some good quality time with the kids starting with some fun games of Knock-Out, a basketball game. I just have to brag about the fact that I beat one of the 15 year old boys here at the orphanage, along with Marcos who lives in town and plays basketball everyday! Well, after that game he got behind me and knocked me out of the game in the first round 3 times in a row. He continued to brag all day that he beat me 3 times, but for me to beat him, considering I couldn't make a shot for the life of me 5 days ago, I'm pretty proud!
After that I was heading up to shower but stopped to talk to Heather, Jessica, and Ari. Ari was cooking up some rice, beans, and juice, which really was just all rocks! I went over and ate some rice and beans and as I was waiting for juice, Nena came up and asked for cards to play. The kids are on a card playing kick right now, they get into these ruts and play the same thing for a while, then move on. Cards, coloring, and Knock-Out are popular now, which I love all of them!
I went and got the cards and we played Go Fish. Nena didn't know how to play this so I taught her, and Arianni, age 3 wanted to join. Well, after we started I realized she doesn't know her numbers! So, we'd just have her show us the card and we'd show her the card we wanted, but the whole game you could see her hand! She loved it though and Nena was still having fun so it was all good! We played Robyito, a Dominican game, until coloring books were brought out and they got distracted. Arianni didn't get the book she wanted so she wanted to play cards, and so did Mineli. Now I had two that didn't know their numbers playing. Made for an interesting game, but they had fun so that is all that matters! Mineli would lean over, ask Nena what the card was, and then ask me for it. She said "Do you have the number A?". So innocent and cute!
I headed up to shower, sort donations, and then heard that Luz Maria, Joanni, Nena, Indiana and Jose Luis' (all siblings) Mom was here and I wanted to meet her. I went down to see her and as soon as I sat down the 5 little girls that were around the mother came over to me and sat with me! Oops, didn't mean to steal them away! Often times they spend a little time greeting their parent but then continue playing as normal. Lisy was chopping up a cookie with a little plastic taster spoon that you'd get at an ice cream shop. I asked for a piece jokingly and they gave me a tiny piece so I actually ate it since they are packaged and I knew it was safe. They were so amused by the fact that I ate it that they gave me another little bite and then made me eat a bigger piece. Nothing like stealing a poor child's cookie! :) But they followed the typical Dominican by offering something when they have nothing!
I spoke to their Mom and little and as she was leaving she gave big hugs and kisses to her kids. I could tell she really loves them but just can't afford them so they live here where they have more opportunities. It was cute to hear the girls say "Mommy, this", or "Mommy, that".
Arianni came and crawled up into my lap and I started pretending like I was hungry and was going to eat her. I started nibbling at her nose, her ears, then her arms, legs, belly and back. She was giggling the whole time and saying "You aren't going to eat me". Then I started tickling her and she started "eating" me. I gave her a kiss on her forehead and then she wanted one on the lips, so I gave her one on the cheeks. She persisted about a kiss on the lips so I gave her one because she is hard to resist! Well, then she wanted to basically kiss all over me, and I kept telling her no and she would just belly laugh! So adorable! Even when I headed over for dinner she chased me up to our side and asked for another kiss. She wanted to eat dinner with us she said and I would love to have brought her to dinner, but obviously that would not go over well with the other kids!
Off to church with the kids, and the rest of the night just hanging out before bedtime!
Countdown 6 days til Mom and Dad arrive!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Happy Friday!
Welcome end of the week! Today has been a fun day. I did some work this morning and then helped Bryson make Chicken Parmesan (with a Dominican kitchen). He really did everything, I just helped shred some bread to make breadcrumbs, shred cheese, and put some sauces on stuff. It was definitely one of the best meals I've had here! Maybe he should look into culinary school!
This afternoon I've spent working on inventory, entering in all the medications that we have left onsite from our clinics 2 weeks ago. It is hard to believe it has already been 3 weeks since I left home! Doesn't feel like that long at all!
Tonight is going to be a great night as well! PIZZA! When we have small groups we get to go out for pizza at night instead of eating lunch out on the town, so lucky for us there are only 10 of us here! The pizza here is awesome! If at home I eat 2 pieces on average, here I can eat 4! The dough is so light and non-filling compared to at home and the owner is from Milan. He cuts fresh basil out of his garden beside his house/restaurant.
Before dinner, I hung out with the kids and played a couple different things I hadn't played before. Mike, a 3 week volunteer, has been jump roping with Arianni. She stand in front of him and then they jump rope together. So, she came up to me and wanted to try it. I wasn't sure how good I'd be but we were able to jump together about 5 times. Not so great, but keep in mind she is 3 years old so she doesn't jump too many consecutive times together on her own. Although from this fall to now she has improved so much and they get so excited to show you how long they can jump rope! Then I played several rounds of Knock-Out. A basketball game where there are two balls going and everyone is in a line. The first person shoots, and then the person behind them shoots and the goal is to knock-out the person in front of you by making a goal before they do. I am not so good at this game. The first game I was out in about 15 seconds. As the games went on I got a little better, or just placed myself in line so a younger, less experienced kid was behind me and gave me a little shot! But yeah, probably not my speciality, but fun nonetheless!
Last night I spent quite a bit of time with the kids after dinner. For dinner, we had Thanksgiving style with mashed potatoes, squash, chicken, stuffing, peas and pumpkin pie. Another advantage to having a small group! Aside from talking about food, we played a lot of cards last night. I played some "robyito" with the little kids, a card game I've learned here. I haven't mastered the strategy behind this game because 6-7 years old beat me everytime! Then Nena and I played SlapJack, which she had just learned from Christine the other day. Everytime she would win a big pile, she would just start cracking up laughing and brag to me! It was awesome! She loved this game! We then went into a game of war. Arianni came and sat in my lap and played for me. She is too young to know when she won so I'd have to help her but for the first 15 hands or so we didn't win one hand. Then all of a sudden we started winning, and we won almost every "war" that was presented! This game got stopped by the chief, Nena, because it was taking too long! The kids could sit and play cards for hours here. They love it. And even better, they play often with half missing decks, and they don't seem to care.
Once it was separation time, I came back over to our side and we continued to play cards. We played 500 Rummy (but only to 200). I was in 2nd place going into the last hand and ended up coming in 5th place! How quickly that game can change with one hand!
This afternoon I've spent working on inventory, entering in all the medications that we have left onsite from our clinics 2 weeks ago. It is hard to believe it has already been 3 weeks since I left home! Doesn't feel like that long at all!
Tonight is going to be a great night as well! PIZZA! When we have small groups we get to go out for pizza at night instead of eating lunch out on the town, so lucky for us there are only 10 of us here! The pizza here is awesome! If at home I eat 2 pieces on average, here I can eat 4! The dough is so light and non-filling compared to at home and the owner is from Milan. He cuts fresh basil out of his garden beside his house/restaurant.
Before dinner, I hung out with the kids and played a couple different things I hadn't played before. Mike, a 3 week volunteer, has been jump roping with Arianni. She stand in front of him and then they jump rope together. So, she came up to me and wanted to try it. I wasn't sure how good I'd be but we were able to jump together about 5 times. Not so great, but keep in mind she is 3 years old so she doesn't jump too many consecutive times together on her own. Although from this fall to now she has improved so much and they get so excited to show you how long they can jump rope! Then I played several rounds of Knock-Out. A basketball game where there are two balls going and everyone is in a line. The first person shoots, and then the person behind them shoots and the goal is to knock-out the person in front of you by making a goal before they do. I am not so good at this game. The first game I was out in about 15 seconds. As the games went on I got a little better, or just placed myself in line so a younger, less experienced kid was behind me and gave me a little shot! But yeah, probably not my speciality, but fun nonetheless!
Last night I spent quite a bit of time with the kids after dinner. For dinner, we had Thanksgiving style with mashed potatoes, squash, chicken, stuffing, peas and pumpkin pie. Another advantage to having a small group! Aside from talking about food, we played a lot of cards last night. I played some "robyito" with the little kids, a card game I've learned here. I haven't mastered the strategy behind this game because 6-7 years old beat me everytime! Then Nena and I played SlapJack, which she had just learned from Christine the other day. Everytime she would win a big pile, she would just start cracking up laughing and brag to me! It was awesome! She loved this game! We then went into a game of war. Arianni came and sat in my lap and played for me. She is too young to know when she won so I'd have to help her but for the first 15 hands or so we didn't win one hand. Then all of a sudden we started winning, and we won almost every "war" that was presented! This game got stopped by the chief, Nena, because it was taking too long! The kids could sit and play cards for hours here. They love it. And even better, they play often with half missing decks, and they don't seem to care.
Once it was separation time, I came back over to our side and we continued to play cards. We played 500 Rummy (but only to 200). I was in 2nd place going into the last hand and ended up coming in 5th place! How quickly that game can change with one hand!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Promised Pictures
Here are the pictures that I took on Monday and said I would post. Sorry it took so long to post them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/BateyIsabel02?feat=directlink
This week has been pretty chill with just a small group. It is a nice change of pace from my first week back that was exhausting, and then last week was semi-busy again.
Yesterday I worked and napped throughout the day. I spent some time with the kids last night. Jennifer wanted to be tickled again, as well as Lisy. I spent some time sitting with Luis Alberto and talking to him. Arianni was jumping to me at one point from the truck and counting, One, Two, Three, in English. It was adorable! I sat with Coral and Mineli later in the evening and they kept singing like the princess did in the movie Enchanted. She sings, Ohhh,Ohh,Ohh in a high pitched voice and all the animals come and help her clean. So we tried, but no animals came to help us clean! Jennifer turned the lights off and on in the comedor and I'd grab Mineli who was in my lap and scream. This was entertaining for a while until the kids got in trouble for turning the light off and on. Oops!
The kids had culto last night and sang a lot. I was next to Edison who screams instead of sings and Luis Alberto was in my lap trying to keep up with him but he would start a section of the song before everyone else! Two of the older boys were playing instruments and two of the younger boys were sitting at their feet hitting their legs with a t-shirt to bat away the mosquitos. It kind of look like child labor, although obviously it wasn't. Such a funny sight though. There is definitely a hierarchy here at the orphanage but the little kids like doing stuff to please the older ones!
The rest of the night we just hung out, I watched Indiana and Paola skate with their heelies. Indiana was trying to learn to skate with her left foot only. They share the heelies so each person only wears one. It was a fun, chill evening of just hanging out with the kids and getting to share in culto (worship) with them.
Oh and this morning while I was working out on the roof a beautiful rainbow came out through the clouds. It was very faint and then towards the end of my hardest leg set, it got very bright and you could see purple to red very clearly! It was awesome!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/BateyIsabel02?feat=directlink
This week has been pretty chill with just a small group. It is a nice change of pace from my first week back that was exhausting, and then last week was semi-busy again.
Yesterday I worked and napped throughout the day. I spent some time with the kids last night. Jennifer wanted to be tickled again, as well as Lisy. I spent some time sitting with Luis Alberto and talking to him. Arianni was jumping to me at one point from the truck and counting, One, Two, Three, in English. It was adorable! I sat with Coral and Mineli later in the evening and they kept singing like the princess did in the movie Enchanted. She sings, Ohhh,Ohh,Ohh in a high pitched voice and all the animals come and help her clean. So we tried, but no animals came to help us clean! Jennifer turned the lights off and on in the comedor and I'd grab Mineli who was in my lap and scream. This was entertaining for a while until the kids got in trouble for turning the light off and on. Oops!
The kids had culto last night and sang a lot. I was next to Edison who screams instead of sings and Luis Alberto was in my lap trying to keep up with him but he would start a section of the song before everyone else! Two of the older boys were playing instruments and two of the younger boys were sitting at their feet hitting their legs with a t-shirt to bat away the mosquitos. It kind of look like child labor, although obviously it wasn't. Such a funny sight though. There is definitely a hierarchy here at the orphanage but the little kids like doing stuff to please the older ones!
The rest of the night we just hung out, I watched Indiana and Paola skate with their heelies. Indiana was trying to learn to skate with her left foot only. They share the heelies so each person only wears one. It was a fun, chill evening of just hanging out with the kids and getting to share in culto (worship) with them.
Oh and this morning while I was working out on the roof a beautiful rainbow came out through the clouds. It was very faint and then towards the end of my hardest leg set, it got very bright and you could see purple to red very clearly! It was awesome!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Happy Tuesday!
Today was a good day for me. I was pretty productive in the morning working on an orientation for groups in the spring. They are going to be sick of my voice by Sunday evening after all the clinic orientation and health education orientation we will go through! Wow!
I also made bruschetta in the kitchen after lunch to have for dinner. Coco typically makes this but she is gone to Jaibon this week, so Bryson and I made the bruschetta. It took a while to get some flavor to it, just tasted like tomatoes for quite some time, but after several additions of basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, and sitting to soak in the flavors for 4 hours, it turned out pretty good with limited supplies/options!
This afternoon I was convinced by my roommates to change the layout of my blog. They both changed theirs and made them more exciting, so I had to jump on the bandwagon. Hope you like the new layout!
This afternoon I spent time hanging out with some of the kids. A side note from last night that I forgot to mention. This story is for DJ! Last night sitting with Luis Alberto watching TV he had his right thumb in his mouth and randomly put his left hand down into his pants and left it there for about 1-2 minutes. It was great! I wanted my camera to take a picture because it was too funny. He, however, did not leave his hand in his pants forever, sorry DJ! :)
This afternoon Jennifer who is 4 came up to me and told me I picked a bad movie last night. We watched Enchanted. Towards the end, a toothless, scary (to a 4 year old), witch kind of scares the princess and catches the audience off guard. Well, she jumped in her chair and ended up coming and standing beside me facing backwards for the rest of the movie! Oops! So, she keep reminding me that I scared her!
We read a few books at the mesita before dinner, and played in their comedor as well. After dinner was some major tickle time. I had Jennifer and Lisy between my legs, tickling them both at once. Before that, Lisy was making cake for me, out of the dirt on the ground. It was the best cake ever! :) We headed into their eating area to play because the mosquitos were so bad. With each kid, would come about 8 mosquitos. They are crazy right now from the water 2 weeks ago!
I played cards with Jazmin and Indiana for a little bit before they headed off to church and then spent time outside just hanging out. The kids were looking at pictures of themselves on a volunteer's camera that was here last year. They loved seeing pictures of themselves from last year and some cute video footage too. Mery came up and sat next to me. She is becoming so much more talkative now and I can understand most of what she says. She just wants to be like everyone else, and wants you to do the same to her as you do to the other kids!
The boys got some new heelies and have been flying around everywhere. Argenis took out Winston accidentally and Edwin would just go flying by grabbing on to whoever was close.
Before heading over to my side for the night, Luis Alberto and Arianni (brother and sister, ages 5 and 4) came over to show me their game of tops. They flatten metal Coke bottle tops and throw the top down at another top trying to flip it over. Luis Alberto was shocked that his little sister could beat him so he came to show me he could win. However, with some strange luck she won. She would either miss the top by a mile or flip it over. It was hilarious because her laugh was so cute and mischevious at the same time because she was proud to beat her brother!
We played a good game of Phase 10 to finish up the evening with the small group of volunteers here! I've enjoyed having them here and it is nice sometimes to have small groups to hang out with and play games!
Looking forward to parents week coming up. Heather, Christine, Bryson and my parents are all coming down and we are going to have a great time. See you in less than 2 weeks!
One last thing. My roomies decided instead of taking down our Christmas tree (that is still up), we should make it a family tree. So we all drew our families on index cards and hung them on the tree. Each day we'll draw a name out and tell a story about that person. Look at that masterpiece! DJ has a basketball, Jo is prego, Dad has scuba gear, and best of all Mom has a striped shirt and a glass of wine! :)
I also made bruschetta in the kitchen after lunch to have for dinner. Coco typically makes this but she is gone to Jaibon this week, so Bryson and I made the bruschetta. It took a while to get some flavor to it, just tasted like tomatoes for quite some time, but after several additions of basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, and sitting to soak in the flavors for 4 hours, it turned out pretty good with limited supplies/options!
This afternoon I was convinced by my roommates to change the layout of my blog. They both changed theirs and made them more exciting, so I had to jump on the bandwagon. Hope you like the new layout!
This afternoon I spent time hanging out with some of the kids. A side note from last night that I forgot to mention. This story is for DJ! Last night sitting with Luis Alberto watching TV he had his right thumb in his mouth and randomly put his left hand down into his pants and left it there for about 1-2 minutes. It was great! I wanted my camera to take a picture because it was too funny. He, however, did not leave his hand in his pants forever, sorry DJ! :)
This afternoon Jennifer who is 4 came up to me and told me I picked a bad movie last night. We watched Enchanted. Towards the end, a toothless, scary (to a 4 year old), witch kind of scares the princess and catches the audience off guard. Well, she jumped in her chair and ended up coming and standing beside me facing backwards for the rest of the movie! Oops! So, she keep reminding me that I scared her!
We read a few books at the mesita before dinner, and played in their comedor as well. After dinner was some major tickle time. I had Jennifer and Lisy between my legs, tickling them both at once. Before that, Lisy was making cake for me, out of the dirt on the ground. It was the best cake ever! :) We headed into their eating area to play because the mosquitos were so bad. With each kid, would come about 8 mosquitos. They are crazy right now from the water 2 weeks ago!
I played cards with Jazmin and Indiana for a little bit before they headed off to church and then spent time outside just hanging out. The kids were looking at pictures of themselves on a volunteer's camera that was here last year. They loved seeing pictures of themselves from last year and some cute video footage too. Mery came up and sat next to me. She is becoming so much more talkative now and I can understand most of what she says. She just wants to be like everyone else, and wants you to do the same to her as you do to the other kids!
The boys got some new heelies and have been flying around everywhere. Argenis took out Winston accidentally and Edwin would just go flying by grabbing on to whoever was close.
Before heading over to my side for the night, Luis Alberto and Arianni (brother and sister, ages 5 and 4) came over to show me their game of tops. They flatten metal Coke bottle tops and throw the top down at another top trying to flip it over. Luis Alberto was shocked that his little sister could beat him so he came to show me he could win. However, with some strange luck she won. She would either miss the top by a mile or flip it over. It was hilarious because her laugh was so cute and mischevious at the same time because she was proud to beat her brother!
We played a good game of Phase 10 to finish up the evening with the small group of volunteers here! I've enjoyed having them here and it is nice sometimes to have small groups to hang out with and play games!
Looking forward to parents week coming up. Heather, Christine, Bryson and my parents are all coming down and we are going to have a great time. See you in less than 2 weeks!
One last thing. My roomies decided instead of taking down our Christmas tree (that is still up), we should make it a family tree. So we all drew our families on index cards and hung them on the tree. Each day we'll draw a name out and tell a story about that person. Look at that masterpiece! DJ has a basketball, Jo is prego, Dad has scuba gear, and best of all Mom has a striped shirt and a glass of wine! :)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Dia de Duarte
Today was a national holiday here in the Dominican Republic. One of the "founding fathers" of the country is honored today and so there was no school. We decided to go to a batey and do some activities with kids there in the morning. We headed out to Batey Isabel and hoped there would be kids. We hadn't set anything up since I was unable to get ahold of Dr. Garcia to get a contact's phone number. We pulled up and there were lots of kids hanging out and several practicing baseball. We quickly had several children interested in what was going on. I got off the bus and said hello to Dulce who is one of the ladies that I've met through Dr. Garcia.
They opened the church for us and we started our activities. One group did recreation outside. They had cones and a basketball and did "bowling". The kids loved this. Typically Dominicans are not good at standing in lines, but the kids were staying in line in anticipation of their next bowl! They also did an obstacle course which was funny. They had to spin on the bat, run through cones, balance a ball in a cup on a paddle, and then run back. Of course they cheated multiple times as is the norm in this country!
The other two groups were inside the church. One was bracelet making and the other reading. Bracelet making was a hit. They don't get much access to these types of things so they were making 2-3 bracelets each as fast as they could! Reading went over well too. They read to the kids in small groups and then let the kids read the book themselves. I sat down with a little girl probably about 7-8 years old and she read a Dora book to me. She read very quietly but did a great job! I also read Where the Wild Thing Are to 3-4 other little girls that came in late and had nothing to do.
I recognized several people from being there multiple times with Dr. Garcia. To my surprise, there was a little 2 month old boy that I know from my favorite batey, Jaramillo. He was there with his cousin and I asked her why he was there. Apparently she lives in Isabel and was just watching after him. She is probably 8-9 years old! I took him from her so that she could go make a bracelet, such a sacrifice I know! :) He was cooing and laughing at one point, he is so cute!
We headed back and as we were leaving they were asking when we were going to return and if we were coming back tomorrow. These kids are so well behaved and just love the attention and extra goodies!
This afternoon was a beach day for the crew. We made our fun day today instead of Friday since there was no school. It was nice hanging out on the beach for a couple of hours. I spoke with Dorothy who is a traveler of 20-30 years and had a nice conversation with her.
I spent some time with the kids after the beach. They painted the basketball court today but ran out of paint so only 3/4 of it is painted and it is 3 different colors, each 1/4 different. Hopefully they'll finish the rest tomorrow. I'll have to get a picture of it to show on here.
I played with Luis Alberto in the park area. He wanted to show me how he could climb across the monkey bars by himself. Keep in mind these monkey bars are above 7 feet off the ground! Just this weekend he was using Mike to help him across so he has made some progress. He went back and forth across them probably 15-20 times! He would try new hand placements to impress me and even tried going backwards, but needed a little help from me. I went across twice upon his request and thought my hand were going to split open! I don't know how they do it! I guess he weighs a little less than me! One of my favorite parts was when I told him to count as he went across, but in English. He did. One, two, three, four, seven, eight, nine, ten! Pretty good for a 5 year old Spanish speaker, huh!?
Monday nights means movie night. We watched Enchanted with the kids and I sat with Luis Alberto in my lap. In the beginning of the movie it is a cartoon and the prince and princess go riding off into the sunset. It looks like it could be the end but the scene then changes. I whispered to him, it is over (it had only been maybe 5 minutes) and he asked, "is there another movie"? Oh the innocence of young kids! I love it!
Tomorrow the volunteers are going to be teaching at the English Institute but I'll be staying back here working on orientation for our health clinics in the spring! I have a link to the awesome video that Bryson made from our first week of health clinics. Here is the YouTube video link. Enjoy! I think it is great, better than what pictures could have told. See how many times you can find me! ;)
http://www.youtube.com/orphanageoutreach?m=Mg==&p=Ng==
I'll post up some pictures from today at some point tomorrow. Off to bed for now!
They opened the church for us and we started our activities. One group did recreation outside. They had cones and a basketball and did "bowling". The kids loved this. Typically Dominicans are not good at standing in lines, but the kids were staying in line in anticipation of their next bowl! They also did an obstacle course which was funny. They had to spin on the bat, run through cones, balance a ball in a cup on a paddle, and then run back. Of course they cheated multiple times as is the norm in this country!
The other two groups were inside the church. One was bracelet making and the other reading. Bracelet making was a hit. They don't get much access to these types of things so they were making 2-3 bracelets each as fast as they could! Reading went over well too. They read to the kids in small groups and then let the kids read the book themselves. I sat down with a little girl probably about 7-8 years old and she read a Dora book to me. She read very quietly but did a great job! I also read Where the Wild Thing Are to 3-4 other little girls that came in late and had nothing to do.
I recognized several people from being there multiple times with Dr. Garcia. To my surprise, there was a little 2 month old boy that I know from my favorite batey, Jaramillo. He was there with his cousin and I asked her why he was there. Apparently she lives in Isabel and was just watching after him. She is probably 8-9 years old! I took him from her so that she could go make a bracelet, such a sacrifice I know! :) He was cooing and laughing at one point, he is so cute!
We headed back and as we were leaving they were asking when we were going to return and if we were coming back tomorrow. These kids are so well behaved and just love the attention and extra goodies!
This afternoon was a beach day for the crew. We made our fun day today instead of Friday since there was no school. It was nice hanging out on the beach for a couple of hours. I spoke with Dorothy who is a traveler of 20-30 years and had a nice conversation with her.
I spent some time with the kids after the beach. They painted the basketball court today but ran out of paint so only 3/4 of it is painted and it is 3 different colors, each 1/4 different. Hopefully they'll finish the rest tomorrow. I'll have to get a picture of it to show on here.
I played with Luis Alberto in the park area. He wanted to show me how he could climb across the monkey bars by himself. Keep in mind these monkey bars are above 7 feet off the ground! Just this weekend he was using Mike to help him across so he has made some progress. He went back and forth across them probably 15-20 times! He would try new hand placements to impress me and even tried going backwards, but needed a little help from me. I went across twice upon his request and thought my hand were going to split open! I don't know how they do it! I guess he weighs a little less than me! One of my favorite parts was when I told him to count as he went across, but in English. He did. One, two, three, four, seven, eight, nine, ten! Pretty good for a 5 year old Spanish speaker, huh!?
Monday nights means movie night. We watched Enchanted with the kids and I sat with Luis Alberto in my lap. In the beginning of the movie it is a cartoon and the prince and princess go riding off into the sunset. It looks like it could be the end but the scene then changes. I whispered to him, it is over (it had only been maybe 5 minutes) and he asked, "is there another movie"? Oh the innocence of young kids! I love it!
Tomorrow the volunteers are going to be teaching at the English Institute but I'll be staying back here working on orientation for our health clinics in the spring! I have a link to the awesome video that Bryson made from our first week of health clinics. Here is the YouTube video link. Enjoy! I think it is great, better than what pictures could have told. See how many times you can find me! ;)
http://www.youtube.com/orphanageoutreach?m=Mg==&p=Ng==
I'll post up some pictures from today at some point tomorrow. Off to bed for now!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Relaxing Weekend!
Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day. We have about 30 suitcases of medications that have to be inventoried for the spring clinics, so the 4 volunteers that are here helped me with the inventory of some of the suitcases in the morning. In the afternoon, I was supposed to go to dance practice at the English Institute. For Independence Day, Feb 27th, they have a big parade in town and then everyone meets up in the gym of one of the schools and different schools/groups do small performances. The English Institute students are performing the Miley Cyrus Hoedown Throwdown.
However, I felt a little sick to my stomach and decided to stay back and took a 3 hour nap! When I woke up it was almost time to greet our new volunteer. Her name is Dorothy and she is a world traveler. She is probably around Granny's age but she is awesome. She has volunteered in 14 countries, and traveled in 70 countries! How awesome is that! She even wrote a book that got published in 2007 called "At Home in the World: Memoirs of a Traveling Woman". I'd like to read this one day, I bet it has some great stories!
So, I greeted her, we ate dinner and then I headed out to play with some of the kids. I sat most of the evening inside the kid's comedor while they watched TV. They have been watching a lot of TV lately, I think one because the mosquitos are bad from the rain, and two because it is "cold", at least to them! :) So, Luis Alberto was sitting in my lap and watching some TV. At one point we both got kind of bored with the show so we started to pretend fight. I would "punch" him in the face and then pull him down to the ground like he was falling from the force of my punch. Then he would do the same and I'd throw my head to the side. It was fun. We did this probably for 5-10 minutes off and on and he was giggling. He got a little aggressive at times, and I had to remind him to do it "suave".
At 8pm, we had a volunteer game night and played Apples and Apples and enjoyed some cookies that Julie and Heather baked for us. They were tasty chocolate chocolate chip cookies! After that I hung around with some of the multi-week volunteers and learned how to play Euchre. I think I've got it down now, after living in Ohio for 4 years and people being OBSESSED with that game!
Today was a pretty calm day. I'm team leading this week so I sat down with Dorothy and went through orientation in the morning and took her on a little tour around the orphanage in the afternoon. I then hung out with a few kids and they colored before time for lunch.
After lunch, we did some planning for tomorrow. We are going to a batey to do some reading, crafts and recreation with the kids there since there is a national holiday and no school. It should be fun. I've only been to the bateyes to do health related stuff so it will be fun just to play with the kids, who have even fewer opportunities and activities like this than the kids here in Monte Cristi! Should be lots of pictures tomorrow!
I walked into town trying to chat and catch up with Dr. Garcia but he wasn't home. However, it was nice to get out and walk around on a beautiful day. When I came back, Franchesca wanted to hang out so I went and got some books to read with her. She wasn't too interested so we found some other little girls and read with them. I read 2 Bizcocho books (about a little dog named Bizcocho) and Lola en la biblioteca (Lola in the library). I read with Joanni and some of the older girls read the books to themselves. Thanks Courtney and Evie for the books! The greatest was reading the Lola book the second time through. Joanni, Ari and I each read a page (however I was the only one that could really read). So they would make up what was going on but Joanni already had some idea because she had heard the book once. However, Ari who is 4 just kept saying Lola vino, Lola vino, Lola, Lola (Lola came, Lola came, etc) and would try to come up with something. It was hilarious! At one point she said, Bola, and then "what is her name again?" I loved it!
After dinner, we went to church and then played a card game called May I after church. Mom and DJ you would like this. It is like rummy but when someone lays a card down that you need and it isn't your turn you can ask to take it but have to take an extra penalty card with it! I won the game by 1 point! Woohoo!
Good night, I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow. Also, Bryson made a video from our first clinic week so I'll work on getting that link to put on my blog! Miss you!
However, I felt a little sick to my stomach and decided to stay back and took a 3 hour nap! When I woke up it was almost time to greet our new volunteer. Her name is Dorothy and she is a world traveler. She is probably around Granny's age but she is awesome. She has volunteered in 14 countries, and traveled in 70 countries! How awesome is that! She even wrote a book that got published in 2007 called "At Home in the World: Memoirs of a Traveling Woman". I'd like to read this one day, I bet it has some great stories!
So, I greeted her, we ate dinner and then I headed out to play with some of the kids. I sat most of the evening inside the kid's comedor while they watched TV. They have been watching a lot of TV lately, I think one because the mosquitos are bad from the rain, and two because it is "cold", at least to them! :) So, Luis Alberto was sitting in my lap and watching some TV. At one point we both got kind of bored with the show so we started to pretend fight. I would "punch" him in the face and then pull him down to the ground like he was falling from the force of my punch. Then he would do the same and I'd throw my head to the side. It was fun. We did this probably for 5-10 minutes off and on and he was giggling. He got a little aggressive at times, and I had to remind him to do it "suave".
At 8pm, we had a volunteer game night and played Apples and Apples and enjoyed some cookies that Julie and Heather baked for us. They were tasty chocolate chocolate chip cookies! After that I hung around with some of the multi-week volunteers and learned how to play Euchre. I think I've got it down now, after living in Ohio for 4 years and people being OBSESSED with that game!
Today was a pretty calm day. I'm team leading this week so I sat down with Dorothy and went through orientation in the morning and took her on a little tour around the orphanage in the afternoon. I then hung out with a few kids and they colored before time for lunch.
After lunch, we did some planning for tomorrow. We are going to a batey to do some reading, crafts and recreation with the kids there since there is a national holiday and no school. It should be fun. I've only been to the bateyes to do health related stuff so it will be fun just to play with the kids, who have even fewer opportunities and activities like this than the kids here in Monte Cristi! Should be lots of pictures tomorrow!
I walked into town trying to chat and catch up with Dr. Garcia but he wasn't home. However, it was nice to get out and walk around on a beautiful day. When I came back, Franchesca wanted to hang out so I went and got some books to read with her. She wasn't too interested so we found some other little girls and read with them. I read 2 Bizcocho books (about a little dog named Bizcocho) and Lola en la biblioteca (Lola in the library). I read with Joanni and some of the older girls read the books to themselves. Thanks Courtney and Evie for the books! The greatest was reading the Lola book the second time through. Joanni, Ari and I each read a page (however I was the only one that could really read). So they would make up what was going on but Joanni already had some idea because she had heard the book once. However, Ari who is 4 just kept saying Lola vino, Lola vino, Lola, Lola (Lola came, Lola came, etc) and would try to come up with something. It was hilarious! At one point she said, Bola, and then "what is her name again?" I loved it!
After dinner, we went to church and then played a card game called May I after church. Mom and DJ you would like this. It is like rummy but when someone lays a card down that you need and it isn't your turn you can ask to take it but have to take an extra penalty card with it! I won the game by 1 point! Woohoo!
Good night, I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow. Also, Bryson made a video from our first clinic week so I'll work on getting that link to put on my blog! Miss you!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Sunshine Day!
Here are some pictures from last week, what I was able to take before my battery died, and some from activities yesterday morning. Bryson made a video of the clinic week from last week so I'll post a link to that once it is up so you can see what my first week back looked like.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/Jan921?feat=directlink
What a gorgeous day we had today at the beach in Cabarete! Typically on Fridays we take groups to Dajabon, the border town between the DR and Haiti, so they can experience the marketplace and see the poverty that exists in Haiti. Then we eat lunch in town and head to the beach here. However, with the recent events in Haiti, and some uncertainity of what the border may look like, we had another field trip planned. There is no concern about the border in Dajabon because the southern borders are being used and not the northern border but we decided just to not go for one more week!
So, we headed to Cabarete which is a total tourist/beach town! It is a good 3.5 hour trip away from us so we headed out early this morning and got there around 10:30. The leaders decided to play some cards, order lunch, and then hang out on the beach. We had a good time being together again since for the past 4 weeks we've been split up. The sun was intense today, I actually had to sit in the shade for the last part of our day because it was too hot. The Hopkins Family had been there before and had never gotten burnt in the past 3 months here, so they decided not to wear sunscreen. Let's just say they look like lobsters! The sun was intense today!
We had a relaxing day, headed back for dinner and got to spend a little time with the kids before closing. It was good to see the kids. Several of them came up to me, jumping on me, asking to be tickled (it was tickle time DJ!), and just loving on me. I sat in their Comedor (eating area) for the last 30 minutes with 2 kids in my lap (alternating over time) watching a cartoon on TV. Nena stole my flipflops so I had to tackle her to get those back and of course had to tickle her and Arianni before leaving for the night! :)
Yesterday afternoon we had an activity with the kids because there was no school. They came over and made crafts and did several different things. I was actually sorting and counting left over medications so I only made it down for the very end. Something that really touched my heart was what Nena showed me that she had made. She had made two little bag/purse looking things out of brown paper sacks. She had cut them probably to be about 1/3 the size of the original bag and decorated them with stickers, coloring, and tied a string to them to carry them with. Inside them were these little containers that she had painted and they were to hold earrings she said. One bag she made was for one of the women that works at the orphanage, and the other bag was for her MOM! It put a smile on my face because she was so excited to share with me what she had made and she was so proud of what she was going to give her Mom. Her Mom was actually just here this last weekend, she braided her hair along with her sister's hair and they say she is coming back this Sunday to visit.
Many of these children have parents but their parents cannot afford to take care of them so they send them to an orphanage for hopes of a better life. The kids still remember their parents however and love them dearly. Two years ago when I was here for Christmas I remember Winston, a shy 8 year old boy at the time, saved his apple to give his Mom on her next visit. Apples are like gold here, the kids only get them on Christmas, so for him to save his apple and give it to his Mom is a big deal! I just love the way these kids endure so much, and still have so much love for their parents, even though they don't live with them!
Have a great weekend everyone!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/Jan921?feat=directlink
What a gorgeous day we had today at the beach in Cabarete! Typically on Fridays we take groups to Dajabon, the border town between the DR and Haiti, so they can experience the marketplace and see the poverty that exists in Haiti. Then we eat lunch in town and head to the beach here. However, with the recent events in Haiti, and some uncertainity of what the border may look like, we had another field trip planned. There is no concern about the border in Dajabon because the southern borders are being used and not the northern border but we decided just to not go for one more week!
So, we headed to Cabarete which is a total tourist/beach town! It is a good 3.5 hour trip away from us so we headed out early this morning and got there around 10:30. The leaders decided to play some cards, order lunch, and then hang out on the beach. We had a good time being together again since for the past 4 weeks we've been split up. The sun was intense today, I actually had to sit in the shade for the last part of our day because it was too hot. The Hopkins Family had been there before and had never gotten burnt in the past 3 months here, so they decided not to wear sunscreen. Let's just say they look like lobsters! The sun was intense today!
We had a relaxing day, headed back for dinner and got to spend a little time with the kids before closing. It was good to see the kids. Several of them came up to me, jumping on me, asking to be tickled (it was tickle time DJ!), and just loving on me. I sat in their Comedor (eating area) for the last 30 minutes with 2 kids in my lap (alternating over time) watching a cartoon on TV. Nena stole my flipflops so I had to tackle her to get those back and of course had to tickle her and Arianni before leaving for the night! :)
Yesterday afternoon we had an activity with the kids because there was no school. They came over and made crafts and did several different things. I was actually sorting and counting left over medications so I only made it down for the very end. Something that really touched my heart was what Nena showed me that she had made. She had made two little bag/purse looking things out of brown paper sacks. She had cut them probably to be about 1/3 the size of the original bag and decorated them with stickers, coloring, and tied a string to them to carry them with. Inside them were these little containers that she had painted and they were to hold earrings she said. One bag she made was for one of the women that works at the orphanage, and the other bag was for her MOM! It put a smile on my face because she was so excited to share with me what she had made and she was so proud of what she was going to give her Mom. Her Mom was actually just here this last weekend, she braided her hair along with her sister's hair and they say she is coming back this Sunday to visit.
Many of these children have parents but their parents cannot afford to take care of them so they send them to an orphanage for hopes of a better life. The kids still remember their parents however and love them dearly. Two years ago when I was here for Christmas I remember Winston, a shy 8 year old boy at the time, saved his apple to give his Mom on her next visit. Apples are like gold here, the kids only get them on Christmas, so for him to save his apple and give it to his Mom is a big deal! I just love the way these kids endure so much, and still have so much love for their parents, even though they don't live with them!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Home in Monte Cristi!
So the past week has just been spent catching up on some work that I didn't finish in the fall and doing some clinic stuff to get ready for this spring.
It has been a lot of fun catching up with the kids. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with them and they are still as crazy and wild as before!
Monday night we had movie night with the kids and Heather and Julie baked them cookies. After eating a cookie, Ari who was sitting with me needed some water. There were about 4 other little girls that wanted water so I walked with them back over to their side to get water. When we came back Arianni was walking with me and wanted to sit with me. However, Ari made it known that she had been sitting with me. She screamed out, I was with her, I was with her, as the movie was playing. It was cute and I quickly had to resolve it by putting Arianni in a chair next to me and Ari in my lap!
Tuesday night Luis Alberto fell asleep in my lap outside and drooled all over my pant leg! Lovely, but he is so cute I guess I'll allow it!
The twins and Luis Alberto started school for the first time this week. I haven't gotten to see them yet in their uniforms but Arianni brought her backpacks to show me last night. They are so proud of their uniforms, shoes, and backpacks. They even pointed out their uniforms and shirts that were hanging up drying so I could see their very own uniform!
We have spent some time coloring, reading the new 5 Little Monkey books that I brought back, and playing in the park.
Yesterday I took one of the health focused volunteers around to the hospital and rehab center. We were up in the maternity area and a lady had an itty bitty baby. I asked how old and she said she was born yesterday but it wasn't hers. It was a Haitian lady that was laying in her bed in the room. Apparently this lady had the baby sitting there without clothes, diapers, and was crying. So the Dominican lady came and dressed her and was holding her. She was so small and so cute! Of course I wanted to take her home with me! The Haitian lady didn't speak Spanish so we couldn't communicate with her. She just laid in her bed as we held her baby and swadled it in a blanket that was lying there. The crib had nothing but a thin mattress so instead of laying the only blanket down as a sheet and the baby having no sheet to stay warm, we swadled her and laid her back in the crib, content! Oh how I'd love to "steal" her baby! P.S. There are no ankle bracelets here to detect that! ;)
Today is Dia de Altagracia, a national holiday of some sort so there is no school. We are having activities with the kids today here at the orphanage. I'll try to take some pictures so I'll have some to post!
It has been a lot of fun catching up with the kids. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with them and they are still as crazy and wild as before!
Monday night we had movie night with the kids and Heather and Julie baked them cookies. After eating a cookie, Ari who was sitting with me needed some water. There were about 4 other little girls that wanted water so I walked with them back over to their side to get water. When we came back Arianni was walking with me and wanted to sit with me. However, Ari made it known that she had been sitting with me. She screamed out, I was with her, I was with her, as the movie was playing. It was cute and I quickly had to resolve it by putting Arianni in a chair next to me and Ari in my lap!
Tuesday night Luis Alberto fell asleep in my lap outside and drooled all over my pant leg! Lovely, but he is so cute I guess I'll allow it!
The twins and Luis Alberto started school for the first time this week. I haven't gotten to see them yet in their uniforms but Arianni brought her backpacks to show me last night. They are so proud of their uniforms, shoes, and backpacks. They even pointed out their uniforms and shirts that were hanging up drying so I could see their very own uniform!
We have spent some time coloring, reading the new 5 Little Monkey books that I brought back, and playing in the park.
Yesterday I took one of the health focused volunteers around to the hospital and rehab center. We were up in the maternity area and a lady had an itty bitty baby. I asked how old and she said she was born yesterday but it wasn't hers. It was a Haitian lady that was laying in her bed in the room. Apparently this lady had the baby sitting there without clothes, diapers, and was crying. So the Dominican lady came and dressed her and was holding her. She was so small and so cute! Of course I wanted to take her home with me! The Haitian lady didn't speak Spanish so we couldn't communicate with her. She just laid in her bed as we held her baby and swadled it in a blanket that was lying there. The crib had nothing but a thin mattress so instead of laying the only blanket down as a sheet and the baby having no sheet to stay warm, we swadled her and laid her back in the crib, content! Oh how I'd love to "steal" her baby! P.S. There are no ankle bracelets here to detect that! ;)
Today is Dia de Altagracia, a national holiday of some sort so there is no school. We are having activities with the kids today here at the orphanage. I'll try to take some pictures so I'll have some to post!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
I'm Back!
Welcome back in 2010 for my blog. I'll be a lot busier this spring so it may not be updated as often, sorry!
This past week was busy, exhausting, but absolutely AMAZING! We spent the week with a team from Manchester Community College, Team XiMedica, and some individuals doing health clinics. We were stationed at the orphanage in Jaibon but worked out in communities about 20-30 minutes away where they had little to no access to healthcare.
The week was successful to say the least, we saw 1011+ patients in 4 days with only 4 practioners!
Each day we were in a different area. Day 1 we were in Jicome, Day 2 we were in Esperanza (where I used to go to the other orphanage that no longer is open), Day 3 we were in Batey Libertad (the poorest of the week) and Day 4 we were at the orphanage serving people from the local community there.
Patients would wait in line for sometimes up to 4 hours to be seen by a physician. It is common here that patients aren't really sick but want to have some medicine for headaches, or colds when they do get them. Tylenol is something we obviously take for granted. These people don't just have Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Vitamins sitting in their house ready to take whenever, so for them receive only 30 pills for free is a blessing for them.
We saw all kinds of interesting thing. We saw multiple abscesses/infections, lots of colds, stomach pain (heartburn), high blood pressure, diabetes, and lots of skin fungus especially in Batey Libertad.
Some memorable patients/sights: Day 1 I opened the door after lunch to start seeing patients again and about 50 people came thru 2 doors at once shoving to get into line. It was pure chaos and I quickly learned my lesson not to open 2 doors again, instead one at a time to contain them! We saw tons of cute kids and babies of course! I saw a kid with fetal alcohol syndrome that the physician had typical features for that. She was so cute, and it is sad to think a mother could be so selfish and do that to their child but I guess without the education and living in the poverty here, sometimes alcohol may be their only escape from reality (unfortunately).
Day 2 we were at a local school working in the town of Esperanza. We could have seen probably 500 patients that day if we would have taken everyone that was there. We stopped handing out tickets to be seen at 10:45 am and worked until 5pm if that tells you how many people were there! A 100 year old lady with huge dark glasses and ankles the size of my thighs from swelling was seen and the physician that saw her said he was her most memorable patient all week. To see the wrinkles on her face and know how hard she had worked her entire life, he said it was just amazing that she still had a smile and loved life! There was a baby with pneumonia and one of the volunteers created a breathing mask, to cover his face and nose, so he could get an albuterol treatment from an inhaler. The best part is, it was made out of a gatorade bottle and some tape!
Day 3 we were in Batey Libertad, my favorite of the week. This is a very poor village with very little and several Haitans living there! They were all so grateful and there were soooo many children. Our first patient was actually a Dominican guy from Day 2 that wasn't able to be seen and he said he was going to come first thing in the morning to be seen. Well, here they had to get a ticket from the community leader to be seen but since he didn't live there he didn't know who that was so he asked Bryson and I how he was supposed to get a ticket. We pulled him aside and made him the first patient of the day since he had come from the day before. He had a huge cast from an accident and was in lots of pain. He was grateful to be seen and left happy with his Tylenol!
We had a little boy with horrible swimmer's ear but didn't have drops until later in the afternoon so I was determined to find him. I went on a wild goose chase with 2 little 8 year old boys around the batey, going down muddy alley ways until I happened to look inside one of the homes and recognize the little boy's sister. I asked the Mom if her son had a bad ear and she brought him over to me. I gave her the drops and she was pleased!
Little boy with tops on and no pants or underwear were peeing everyone, all over themselves. Babies had scabies, and nasty fungal infections on their heads, and skin. Families of 4-5 kids with mothers younger than 20 probably. Mud everywhere. BUT ALWAYS, HUGE SMILES EVERYWHERE!
Day 4 was a little crazy. It was slow in the morning, the 23 orphanage boys got full physical exams, and some other people from the community were seen. By afternoon, the word was out and tons of people came. Before we knew it we had over 160 people waiting to be seen and we had to stop taking patients. It was a long day, physicans working until 6:15pm, already exhausted from 3 long days before that! An elderly lady came after we had finished handing out tickets but she had a huge infection on her hip from her underwear cutting into her and we accepted her and pulled her to the front of the line. One lady was so grateful that she said a prayer in the pharmacy for about 5 minutes, thanking God for all of us and what we were doing. All throughout her prayer, the other 4-5 men waiting in the pharmacy had their heads bowed and eyes closed! May be one of my favorite memories all week!
All in all, it was an awesome week! Tuesday was crazy with the earthquake. We were loading the bus and as I stared at it I noticed it was moving (looked like someone was pushing from behind) and I turned around because I thought the motion of the bus was making me dizzy. Little did I know the ground was rocking and that was what was making me dizzy! I turned around, still felt dizzy and looked at everyone else as we realized it was an earthquake! It lasted a good 20-30 seconds and we were all kind of in shock. It took several hours to realize that it was such a terrible sight in Haiti and had done so much damage! It really breaks my heart to see pictures and hear stories of what is happening over there! We had no damage here where we are living so we were very lucky!
Now I am back in Monte Cristi. We came Friday morning and all the kids were excited to see me. It was awesome to give them big hugs and see them all again. Saturday we cleaned up and put stuff away in Jaibon because no one will be there until the end of Feb. We headed back to Monte Cristi after lunch and now I'm back home! I got to see the kids and hang out with them some but I also had to rest because I was worn out from the long week. I'm excited to be back in Monte Cristi, in my room, with my roomies, and with my kids! Can't wait for what's to come!
This past week was busy, exhausting, but absolutely AMAZING! We spent the week with a team from Manchester Community College, Team XiMedica, and some individuals doing health clinics. We were stationed at the orphanage in Jaibon but worked out in communities about 20-30 minutes away where they had little to no access to healthcare.
The week was successful to say the least, we saw 1011+ patients in 4 days with only 4 practioners!
Each day we were in a different area. Day 1 we were in Jicome, Day 2 we were in Esperanza (where I used to go to the other orphanage that no longer is open), Day 3 we were in Batey Libertad (the poorest of the week) and Day 4 we were at the orphanage serving people from the local community there.
Patients would wait in line for sometimes up to 4 hours to be seen by a physician. It is common here that patients aren't really sick but want to have some medicine for headaches, or colds when they do get them. Tylenol is something we obviously take for granted. These people don't just have Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Vitamins sitting in their house ready to take whenever, so for them receive only 30 pills for free is a blessing for them.
We saw all kinds of interesting thing. We saw multiple abscesses/infections, lots of colds, stomach pain (heartburn), high blood pressure, diabetes, and lots of skin fungus especially in Batey Libertad.
Some memorable patients/sights: Day 1 I opened the door after lunch to start seeing patients again and about 50 people came thru 2 doors at once shoving to get into line. It was pure chaos and I quickly learned my lesson not to open 2 doors again, instead one at a time to contain them! We saw tons of cute kids and babies of course! I saw a kid with fetal alcohol syndrome that the physician had typical features for that. She was so cute, and it is sad to think a mother could be so selfish and do that to their child but I guess without the education and living in the poverty here, sometimes alcohol may be their only escape from reality (unfortunately).
Day 2 we were at a local school working in the town of Esperanza. We could have seen probably 500 patients that day if we would have taken everyone that was there. We stopped handing out tickets to be seen at 10:45 am and worked until 5pm if that tells you how many people were there! A 100 year old lady with huge dark glasses and ankles the size of my thighs from swelling was seen and the physician that saw her said he was her most memorable patient all week. To see the wrinkles on her face and know how hard she had worked her entire life, he said it was just amazing that she still had a smile and loved life! There was a baby with pneumonia and one of the volunteers created a breathing mask, to cover his face and nose, so he could get an albuterol treatment from an inhaler. The best part is, it was made out of a gatorade bottle and some tape!
Day 3 we were in Batey Libertad, my favorite of the week. This is a very poor village with very little and several Haitans living there! They were all so grateful and there were soooo many children. Our first patient was actually a Dominican guy from Day 2 that wasn't able to be seen and he said he was going to come first thing in the morning to be seen. Well, here they had to get a ticket from the community leader to be seen but since he didn't live there he didn't know who that was so he asked Bryson and I how he was supposed to get a ticket. We pulled him aside and made him the first patient of the day since he had come from the day before. He had a huge cast from an accident and was in lots of pain. He was grateful to be seen and left happy with his Tylenol!
We had a little boy with horrible swimmer's ear but didn't have drops until later in the afternoon so I was determined to find him. I went on a wild goose chase with 2 little 8 year old boys around the batey, going down muddy alley ways until I happened to look inside one of the homes and recognize the little boy's sister. I asked the Mom if her son had a bad ear and she brought him over to me. I gave her the drops and she was pleased!
Little boy with tops on and no pants or underwear were peeing everyone, all over themselves. Babies had scabies, and nasty fungal infections on their heads, and skin. Families of 4-5 kids with mothers younger than 20 probably. Mud everywhere. BUT ALWAYS, HUGE SMILES EVERYWHERE!
Day 4 was a little crazy. It was slow in the morning, the 23 orphanage boys got full physical exams, and some other people from the community were seen. By afternoon, the word was out and tons of people came. Before we knew it we had over 160 people waiting to be seen and we had to stop taking patients. It was a long day, physicans working until 6:15pm, already exhausted from 3 long days before that! An elderly lady came after we had finished handing out tickets but she had a huge infection on her hip from her underwear cutting into her and we accepted her and pulled her to the front of the line. One lady was so grateful that she said a prayer in the pharmacy for about 5 minutes, thanking God for all of us and what we were doing. All throughout her prayer, the other 4-5 men waiting in the pharmacy had their heads bowed and eyes closed! May be one of my favorite memories all week!
All in all, it was an awesome week! Tuesday was crazy with the earthquake. We were loading the bus and as I stared at it I noticed it was moving (looked like someone was pushing from behind) and I turned around because I thought the motion of the bus was making me dizzy. Little did I know the ground was rocking and that was what was making me dizzy! I turned around, still felt dizzy and looked at everyone else as we realized it was an earthquake! It lasted a good 20-30 seconds and we were all kind of in shock. It took several hours to realize that it was such a terrible sight in Haiti and had done so much damage! It really breaks my heart to see pictures and hear stories of what is happening over there! We had no damage here where we are living so we were very lucky!
Now I am back in Monte Cristi. We came Friday morning and all the kids were excited to see me. It was awesome to give them big hugs and see them all again. Saturday we cleaned up and put stuff away in Jaibon because no one will be there until the end of Feb. We headed back to Monte Cristi after lunch and now I'm back home! I got to see the kids and hang out with them some but I also had to rest because I was worn out from the long week. I'm excited to be back in Monte Cristi, in my room, with my roomies, and with my kids! Can't wait for what's to come!
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