Dominican Republic- Day #4 - Tuesday, July 5, 2011- Batey Plumita

On Tuesday, we went to Batey Plumita. Again, as the bus pulled up, kids started running toward us, very excited to see us.

At this batey, there were alot of sick kids. There must have been a breakout of infection because most of the kids we saw had some type of respiratory infection, tonsillitis or ear infection. I was working with Ana, a pediatrician who spoke Spanish that day so we didn't have  a translator.

A mother brought in six of her kids ages 12, 10, 9, 8 ,7 and 5, who were all sick with fever and cold. Some of them had ear infections and the others had tonsillitis. Some of them had parasites, and they all had scabies. The mother, who was 29, reported that she had 8 children total. She didn't know how to properly clean the water, so we did clean water education with her.

We also saw patient with kidney infections, menstrual problems, and skin conditions.

One lady brought in two girls, neither of which were her children (she was their caretaker) who were sick. One, Meleni, had scabies and impetigo. The other girl, Crisiana, a 9 year old, was sick and had fever, and showed other signs of possibly HIV/AIDS. We got her a referral to the hospital for followup testing. They both received antibiotics.

There was a large number of kids in this batey. Each batey seems to have their own
set of medical issues. The degree to which the children are clothed differ and the
mannerisms of the children also differ.

This boy was naked when we arrived. We clothed as soon as we unloaded and he ended up with a shirt my brother donated.

I had him smile and take a second picture :)

Crisiana

Meleni

That night back at the compound, after supper, we had a peer led bible study. We talked about how in America, we are forgetting the Holy Spirit in our lives and churches and have not allowed Him to work through and in us. Pastor Lubin joined us and reminded us that we should go to church with a spirit of expectation. I say that when we got to church, we must have our baskets full and our hearts and minds prepared so that we can feel the Spirit working.

It was a good day!