Day 1

After waking up bright and early, we got ready to head out to our first day on the mission sites. We started our journey by taking a 45 minute bus ride through the sugar cane fields, where our driver expertly parallel parked the bus. Then parked it again. And again. And again, until it was absolutely perfect. We stepped off the bus to discover that the batey we would be working in was much nicer than some that we had seen. Medical was specifically set up in the school's lunchroom. Residents would start off getting their blood pressure taken by either Mike or Samuel Oliver. After blood pressure, they patiently waited for one of the two local doctors to assess their symptoms and prescribe what medicine we had to help. Jake Perkins, my mother, and myself would then get a list of medications that we would have to fill. At first, trying to fill these medications was a slight challenge, on account of the list was in Spanish. With the help of  translator named Edwin, who was very patient with us as we asked the same questions quite a few times, the day ended up running efficiently and smoothly.

     -Ryan Colson