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!

Dominican Republic- Day #3 - Monday, July 4, 2011- Batey 50

Happy Independence Day!!!

Monday was the first full day for me and the medical team. We went to Batey 50, one of the poorest of the bateys that the group goes to.

When the bus pulled up, all the kids ran up to the bus very excited!!

Each day at the med clinic, some things are primarily the same regardless of the batey. Once we arrive we scope out our surroundings, usually a church or a school, and decide how we will set it up to run the clinic. We need an area for "bug juice." All the kids in each batey get Pipearzine, an antiparasitic, to kill any worms they might have. We also set up the teeth section, where we have Caroline, a dental hygienist, clean and varnish all of the childrens' teeth and provide them with toothbrushes and toothpaste. Most days these two areas were set up outside. We then set up an area for heights, weights, and blood pressures; an area for the dentist, who came with us from the hospital; an area for family planning, which was run by a family planning doctor from the hospital; the consult area, which included about 4-6 stations of clinicians who saw patients; an area for the pharmacy and and area for clothes distribution.

Once set up, the patients begin to come in. Prior to our arrival, the health promoters inform the people that a clinic is coming. In order to attend the clinics, the members of the community must purchase a card from the health promoter in that batey. The cards are, I think, 35 pesos (the conversion is $1 to 38 pesos). Only with a card can they receive care. The people wait in line and hand in their card in return for a yellow ID type card that gets their name, batey, height, weight, BP, and medical complaints or problems on it.

They then can see a clinician. Each of us clinicians had a interpreter if necessary, and depending on how many interpreters we had with our team that day, we would team up or work alone.

On Batey 50, we saw about 80-90 patients, and Caroline varnished about 70-80 kids' teeth. I worked with Libby, a physicians assistant at Yale, and had Andrea as our interpreter. It was challenging to communicate through an interpreter. Sometimes I felt as if i wasn't getting the important information across correctly because I didn't really know what the interpreter was saying, especially with the patients that spoke Creole. ( I can understand some of the Spanish)

A lot of the complaints were pain and stomach related. A large number of the people have stomach pain, which is often attributed to hunger and the lack of enough food. The pain issues were often joint and back pain or headache, which were work related or caused by dehydration.

A large number of the people have a misconception about what adequate water consumption is. I asked a man who was complaining about dizziness when working and headache how much water he drinks. He told me (he works out in the sugar can fields all day) that he drinks 1 bottle of water a day. I don't think I need to say that that isn't enough, but he believed it was. I educated him on how much water he should be having and gave education on how to clean the water. Some bateys are equipped with water filters ( another project of the team) while others do not, and the people have to either boil the water or clean it with Clorox. Hypertension is also another common ailment.

After seeing the clinicians, the patient goes to the pharmacy to get all the medications prescribed. Every patient receives multivitamins. Fortunately, our pharmacy, which is stocked by all donated medications, had a variety of medications to treat all of the common issues in the bateys, including infection, hypertension, acid reflux, pain, scabies, and other skin infections.

Libby and Me



Libby, Leah and Crystal
 

Pat, a pediatric APRN



Ana, a pediatrician and anesthesiologist and Crystal, an ED nurse



 

The pharmacy



People waiting to be seen
 

During the clinic times, we have a part of the team that sets up activities for the kids on the outside. During lunch, I was able to join them and interact with some of the kids.



Team B digging the foundation for another home

That night we got a tour of the hospital. Years ago, the group started building it and now the first 2 floors are completed and functional. The third and fourth floor are still being worked on.



This room was dedicated to Tony Vance and his family who have supported the group and the hospital and who have helped with the building of the hospital. This room will be used for patients who may not have all the funds to pay for their stay and for their families.





The Operating Theater



CT Scan

 



Xray



Mammogram






Water Filter- Because of the ability to have clean water, this is the only hospital that can do dialysis


 

They have Bible verses posted throughout the hallways of the hospital






Me and Estela, a psychology and family planning doctor


 The tour of the hospital was nice! It was so cool to see how much progress has developed within the hospital.

Dominican Republic- Day #2 - Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday was a great day!! After prayer and worship and breakfast, we went around the block to the church. This is the church that hosts our group when we are down in La Romana and who also is connected with the hospital.

 

In La Romana, the people either speak Spanish or Creole. There are many Haitian migrants in the DR and therefore, Creole is a main language. The whole morning service was in Creole except for the sermon, which was preached by Pastor Lubin, a pastor from Wallingford, originally from Haiti who accompanied us on the trip. He was planning on preaching in English and translating into Creole himself, but that day another pastor from Haiti, who spoke both English and Creole was there and was able to do the interpreting. The sermon was about the freedom we can have in Christ. The service was over 3 hours long!! It was really encouraging to see how excited the people were to be there and how much they loved the Lord. The way the people interact with each other and were accepting of our group, was amazing even though we couldn't communicate with them.



One of the choirs singing. I love music in another language.



After church, we had lunch and changed and then made our way to Batey 205 to play some soccer and softball with the people there. A batey is a community within sugar cane plantations in which the cane workers live. They are primarily populated by Haitian immigrants. On our way, we saw Pilar, the woman of a family the team has taken care of over the years, walking down the road. We picked her up and she rode the rest of the way to her house, where she told us, her husband was sick. We stopped at their house on the way to Batey 205. Francisco, her husband was very sick. He had lost alot of weight, was having difficulty breathing and had a cough. It appeared as if he had pneumonia and we suggested he go to the hospital. Money is the biggest obstacle to health care in the DR. In order to go to the hospital, one has to have the money to go. We were able to provide the money for Francisco to go to the hospital where he stayed until I believe Wednesday. The Good Samaritan Hospital provides care to all people. While patients still have to pay to be seen or treated, it differs from other hospitals which won't even see certain people depending on where they are from. I also should note that none of the bateys are close to the city of La Romana. We took bus rides as long as 2 hours to get to the bateys for work each day.

Sugar cane fields

Francisco and Pilar's house

Francisco

Pilar praying for Francisco

After we picked up Pilar, Francisco and their granddaughter, some took them to the hospital while the buses continued to Batey 205. We played soccer and softball. Some of the kids of the batey joined us. Mimi, one of the ladies in our group, who teaches Zumba here in the CT, did some with the kids. It was a nice day.

I met Brandy and his brother Brando. I was working hard to remember all the Spanish I had learned both in high school and college and began to communicate with him. He told me his name and told me that Brando was his brother. When I asked him how old he was, he responded in English, "ten". I then asked him if he spoke English, to which he said "yes." All my horrible efforts to speak Spanish to him became a joke. haha



Brandi y Yo



Brando y Brandi

The kids there were very excited that we were there. They were running around playing with each other and I couldn't help but notice how happy they were and at the same time how little they have. One little girl kept coming to me to have me fix her sandal which had broken. It was held together by a bobby pin. I fixed it once and then once she started running again, it was soon broken again. Again, I fixed it. It broke my heart that these were this girls only pair of shoes and they were broken and would continue to keep falling apart. The kids love to get their pics taken :)

That night we went to Elza Phanord's church in Kilometer 6. The service was primarily in Spanish. I again was impressed by the people love for God and the energy that they had and expressed when worshipping and singing. Another wonderful service followed by Pastor Lubin where he preached on finding refreshment in Christ. That service was also about 3 hours. We had a fabulous time!!!