My Reflections on the Dominican Republic Trip

My trip was amazing!
However, there was one thing that bothered me on the trip - the inability for the med team to incorporate prayer or evangelism into the work we did each day. I think in years past, prayer was incorporated into the med team's outreach in that every patient was prayed for after receiving medications. This year because of the way each clinic was set up, this wasn't really feasible because the people were waiting in lines outside for both their medication and clothing. I struggled with this, trying to understand my purpose. I felt that I can medicate and provide relief or healing of pain, infection or other ailment, but I'm not affecting the spiritual, which is what matters most. What benefit did I provide? It wasn't until speaking with some people once returning that I realized that even in providing medical care I was ministering. Jesus said, "if you have done it until the least of these you have done it unto me." Because I know I did all for Christ, I know that he will bless all that was done for His Glory.


Also in coming back, I struggled alot with how much those of us have in the US versus what the people in the DR have. I struggled with how unfair it is that in the same world, people can live so differently. I got mad at seeing others complain about their situations, or at patients at work complaining about how they "didn't like this doctor" or how "this doctor did... or didn't..." I just wanted to tell them they should be thankful they even have a doctor. I got sick to my stomach after I washed my clothes and was putting them away, at how much I had. Its sad that sometimes we aren't content even with how much we do have and are always wanting more. God has showed me that I need to be grateful for all that He has allowed me to have. My mindset has now changed, with the help of others, from the focus on the perceived injustice of it all to one of gratitude and one of giving. God has blessed me, so I need to be thankful and then I need to be free and willing to give to those who have need. This has made being back in the states a bit easier.


Something else that impressed me that week was hearing the stories of how God worked through other teams. Team B which worked on Batey 50 held bible lesson time with the kids everyday. They told stories of how attentive the kids were and how much they loved to listen. This was encouraging. The evangelism team had alot to share about how souls were saved and how God worked through them to heal people and bring hope to the people in the bateys. Having come from a conservative church background, I was skeptical when hearing that people were really healed. But then I thought about it.. Jesus healed the crippled and made the blind see in the Gospels. What makes me think that He doesn't do it today?? He didn't lose the power or ability. But just like in the Bible days, those who were healed had faith. Jesus said. "Your faith has made you whole." I wonder if we don't see healings often because we don't have the faith that God is able to do that. Because of our lack of faith, He doesn't show those miracles to us. We tend to have more faith in doctors and medicine than in the power of God. What a shame! Yet how exciting for the people of the Dominican Republic who by their faith were healed!

I learned alot on this trip. I learned how important it is to share the Gospel. Part of this stemmed from my grandmothers death the week before, where again I was so vividly reminded that there is eternity after death. Knowing where we will spend eternity can make death so much easier to deal with; and knowing that my grandmother is in heaven makes grieving her loss that much easier as well. I know that one day I will see her again. How do I know?? Because I know that she had been saved from eternal death by the grace of God. She trusted in the Lord with her whole heart and she believed that Jesus was God's Son and that He died to pay the penalty for her sins, making her justified before God; and she believed that He rose again to prepare a home for her in heaven. By His grace, and His grace alone, I too have come to this knowledge and have accepted the gift of salvation and know that because of what Jesus Christ has done I can be joined with Him in heaven and be joined with all the saints who have gone on before me. Because of this I don't fear death. It is only the beginning of eternity. An eternity with Jesus Christ :) This gift is something I now want to share with everybody. There is a purpose to this life - it is so important to share the work of Christ with others. I can't wait to see how God uses me in this way, and I can't wait to tell others about Him.


I also learned how important it is to have Christian fellowship. The time we had with one another was incredible. We had worship and prayer time every morning which was awesome. Even on the mornings when I didn't make it downstairs for worship, I could hear everyone singing from my room, and I could only imagine what a sweet sound it was to God's ears. Each evening, I got to speak with others about their experiences during the day and how God was able to use them that day. Some experiences were powerful. The love for God and desire to please Him just radiated through everyone. I could easily sit next to anyone in the group and talk about God and how amazing He is. Every night, some of the young people got together for another time of worship and bible study. It was so encouraging to just be among them. Seeing others discipline and devotion to God and His Word only encouraged me to want to get into the Word more; and the way some prayed as if God was sitting right next to them only made me want to develop my prayer life as well. Iron sharpening iron. Fellowship with other believers is soo important, because it helps us grow in our own relationship with the Lord. It helps guard us from the temptations and influences of the world, and helps us stay on the right path. It was nice to be able to edify and encourage others as they did for me.


So those are just some of my thoughts about the trip. I can't wait to go back and pray that I may have the opportunity to go again. I pray for opportunities to share the Gospel and for the salvation of all those I know who are still lost without a Savior, and I pray that this experience will stay with me always.
Thank you for allowing me to share.. Until next time :)


By the way. Five weeks and counting.. until my next adventure with Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone. Very very excited!!

Dominican Republic- Day #8 - Saturday, July 9, 2011- Travel Day!

Saturday morning, we were up early, ate breakfast and then loaded the buses to head to the airport. Before leaving we got a group picture in front of the Maranatha church.

We then loaded the buses and took at 2 hours drive back to Santo Domingo. Goodbye Dominican Republic! Until next time :)

Dominican Republic- Day #7 - Friday, July 8, 2011- Villa Pereira

Friday, our last work day :(
We boarded the buses and prepared for out 35minutes - 1 hour bus ride to the batey, we were surprised by a 5 minute drive to a church right in the town of La Romana, where we were setting up out clinic for the day. I was a bit disappointed that we weren't going to be at a batey, but soon realized there was a need right there in the city. The people there also were sick.
Friday was supposed to be a half day of work, and we were going to spend the rest of the day as a whole team at the beach and then at the compound for reflection and story sharing time. While we had less time, we still saw 130 patients. We had to move at a faster pace to accommodate all of the patients and their needs but we did just fine.

Lucia was my interpreter for the day. I saw alot of patient with hypertension, respiratory, and vaginal infections. One of my patients was a 41 year old man who complained of swelling to his legs. He had severe +4 pitting edema to his legs (for those who don't know what that means, they were so swollen that when you squeeze them, your fingers leave imprints), a blood pressure of 194/110 and a heart rate of 146. His right arm was also edematous and he reported that now his abdomen was becoming bloated. He denied making enough urine and reported having headaches. These were all signs that he had a cardiac problem, probably congestive heart failure. I referred him to the hospital for a cardiac workup.

We have referral forms available to give to patients who we feel need to go to the hospital. They can be for surgical or medical referrals. During the week, we would send people to the hospital for wound debridements, surgical referrals, GYN consults, etc. It was more difficult to send someone from the bateys to the hospital in the city because of transportation issues. It was much easier in the city, and i was able to get someone from the church to bring this man to the hospital right away.

After him, I had another patient, a 35 year old father, who had complaints of headache and dizziness and blurred vision. After asking many questions, he told me that he was hit by a car about 1 year ago and has been having these symptoms since then. I didn't know at first what to do for him, because whatever damage was done a year ago, is probably permanent at this point. I questioned whether to send him for a referral for neurology, but after a normal neurocheck, i felt it would be unfounded. The situation was unfortunate. He stated that sometimes he does lose his balance, but also said he has never fallen. I gave him pain medication for the pain and told him he needs to talk to his health promoter if the dizziness gets worse. I felt bad that I couldn't help him more. If he had gotten proper medical care at the time of the accident, he may not be having the symptoms he is now. I felt like I didn't really help him.

I also saw another women who had had a tubal ligation about 1 year ago and had been experiencing pelvic pain since then. I also had to give her a referral for an OB/GYN consult. There was no way of identifying what was causing her pelvic pain after ruling out vaginal or urinary tract infection.

Because we were in the city, I assumed that the people have more access to health care than they do in the bateys. But I saw differently. I don't know if it has to do with money or if the people just aren't educated enough about what we in the States believe is basic medical knowledge. We as a med team gave alot of education on that day. We educated about low sodium diets to prevent hypertension, adequate water intake to prevent dehydration, and how to properly clean water. One major difference between the city and the bateys, was that the people of the city were more literate. Some of them could speak basic English and most of them could read.

Overall, it was another great day!

some of the med team

Lucia, my interpreter

Juan Roberto, our team interpreter

Juan Carlos, another interpreter

Lucia and I

Emelio, our team guide

We left the church and went back to the compound to change and eat a late lunch and then headed to the beach to meet up with the rest of the team.

After the beach, we all returned to the compound and had dinner and then a long time of feedback and time of sharing about the week. The other groups did some amazing things and had some great experiences during the week.

One member of the team shared how he became attached to one of the children on last years trip and had been sending him clothes during the year. This year, he was able to meet the child's father, who thanked him for all he had done for his son. He then told the team member, that if he wanted he could have his son, believing that this would allow his son to live a better life. I was touched by that story, knowing that the father loved his son so much that he wanted what he believed was best for him. Very touching!
Others from the evangelism team shared stories of people who were healed from all sorts of ailments. The blind could see. The crippled walked. And some with tumors were now tumorless! God did some mighty works that week and it was so exciting to hear the stories from those who witness them.

After our feedback time, a local band put on a concert for us with great music and dancing. It was a great last day of celebration!

Dominican Republic- Day #6 - Thursday, July 7, 2011- Batey Reguelito

So.. Thursday we went to Batey Reguelito. As we arrived, the kids didn't seem to run up the bus as much as the kids in other bateys. They were quiet and watched and then slowly approached the bus. I wonder if this was because many groups don't go that community often. A mother brought her little girl to us as soon as we got off the bus. She had an infected abscess to the bottom of her chin.

We said that she would be one of our first patients once we were set up, but then another mother brought her son to us. He had a laceration to his forehead, maybe about 2-3 centimeters in length and he was bleeding. The ground was very rocky in this area, and he had fallen and hit his head that day. We took him right into the church that was opened for us to use for the day. We assessed him and realized he needed sutures. We pulled out our wound bin, while others were unpacking all of the other supplies and medications and setting up the clinic, and gathered materials to suture his head wound. He was crying alot and was scared. I felt bad because I knew he couldn't understand anything we were saying to him. We gave him a local lidocaine injection to numb his forehead and while a number of us held him down, one of the doctors in the group sutured his head with some not so great sutures. He did so well!! While he cried and screamed the whole time, he really did amazing for being a 6 year old child. After we were done, we bandaged his head and gave him a lollipop.

No sooner than we had finished and covered his wound, a large swarm of bee came out of the walls of the church right above where the doctor had just sutured the wound. Lots and lots of bees just kept coming out of the walls and ceiling from both sides of the church. It seemed as so there were hives in between the walls and the sheet metal on the outside of the church. We all evacuated the church, and wondered where we would go next to set up the clinic. After realizing there was no other place to set up, the pastor of the church smoked out the bees and then we went in and began our day. We couldn't help but give God praise for holding off the bees until the doctor had finished suturing that wound. Had they come out not even 5 minutes sooner, we would have been trying to hold down the kid, and suture the wound with bees swarming around the room. That would have been bad. Again, God showed Himself. The timing was impeccable. With all the screaming and crying the kid was doing, you would think that it would have disturbed the bees and they would have come out then. Nope, they came after everything was done.. ONLY GOD!!! :)

I was in the pharmacy on Thursday. The nurses in the group alternated so that we had one licenced clinician working in the pharmacy each day. It was so busy. I missed the one on one contact with the people though. I filled the prescriptions and then the interpreter would tell the patients the instructions. Because many of the people are illiterate, we applied stickers to the medications that have pictures signifying the time of day, and we marked at what time they should take it- in the day, afternoon, evening or night.

During lunch, I had alot of time to spend with the kids and people in the community. The kids loved to get their pictures taken and they many of them wrote their name on a piece of paper so I would remember them.

Iris, Majelis, Bealni, RoseMari, Javier, Lovely, Elenita, Bacheco, Vanessa, and Francois

Vanessa and Francois

Diego

Vanessa and Francois's family

Francois and Vanessa- Loved them!!

 I loved how excited the kids were to take the pictures and write their names. They were such happy children!
It was another good day. I didn't love being in the pharmacy. I really missed the interaction with people. The clinic saw 130 patients that day and gave out alot of medications. It was so good to share about our experiences with others from the group. That night, we had a team share time where I told the group about how God worked through us by bringing us to that batey that day, where we were needed and how He held off the bees until we were done with the suturing.. God is Good all the time!!

Dominican Republic- Day #5 - Wednesday, July 6, 2011- Batey Peligro

On Wednesday, we went to Batey Peligro. This was my favorite batey of the week. The children were especially friendly and well behaved. I spent the first half of the day with Ana, the pediatrician, and then the second half of the day on my own with Juan Carlos as my interpreter.

When we arrived, we set up in a three roomed school. This was the most effective setup of the week because we were able to do height, weights, and BP and have people wait in one room; all the consults in the second room; and pharmacy and clothing in the third room.

As soon as we got there and were setting up, I met Odelina, Maquel and Susanna, three kids that were just hanging around the school.

We also set up the outside with the bug juice and dentistry sections.

We saw a variety of conditions this day as well. I was very encouraged by a first time mother who brought in her 1 month old baby, who she had birthed at home, and just wanted to make sure everything was okay with her. The baby was so healthy!! When assessing the baby though, I noted that the baby's abdomen was bound with a rag. When asked what it was for, the mother responded that it was to prevent an umbilical hernia. I love cultural traditions- it was definately cool to see and understand.

We also saw a 28 year old mother, who only had enough money to pay for a card for herself. She came in with three of her daughters, 19 month old twins and a 12 year old. They all were not well and she was asking if we could help them too. One of the twins appeared very sick. She was lethargic and had nasal drainage. The mother stated that she had a fever and a cold. The baby had a temperature of 104.5F and had a double ear infection and a respiratory infection. She wouldn't even take a lollipop offered to her. She would randomly fall asleep. We gave her some tylenol and started her on some antibiotics. It was really sad to think that because of lack of money, this child may have not been seen, or if we had not been at that batey that day, how much longer she would have been sick. I thank God we were able to help her. The second twin had a scalp rash as did the twelve year old. The mother was asking for a referral to have a tubal ligation, being that she already had 6 children. She also complainted of a ptygerium. It is a fleshy growth that over time grows over ones eye. It is a result of long-term exposure to sun. She had had it removed twice already and it was beginning to grow back.

Once on my own, and seeing only adult patients, I treated a number of vaginal infections, stomach pain, and did a lot of clean water teaching.

On lunch break, I spent time with the kids. They all wanted the pictures taken. I wanted to remember the names of the kids so I began writing them down as they told me. This only made every one of the kids to want to have their picture taken. It was a great day!

wheel and stick

jumprope

the girls

Manuel

Ali

Susanna and Ludi

Jesenia and Fraeci

Rosita, Maeleni, Kenya, Heide

Hido