Day 5- Quisqueya Barrio
Today, we had our furthest drive yet in our hot, bouncy school busses- a little over an hour each way- to Quisqueya barrio. This is a large "neighborhood" of the city/ province of San Pedro. Most of the people who live in Quisqueya are Haitian immigrants with very limited incomes and opportunities, so they still need all the services we have been providing.
I worked in the medical clinic today, where we saw the most patients yet- approximately 90! We saw babies through senior citizens. Paul Orton and Shelby Hogan checked blood pressure before the patients saw one of the 3 Dominican doctors who traveled to Quisqueya with us. Then, Lynn Hogan and I filled the "prescriptions" written by the doctors (mostly over the counter medications which these people struggle to obtain/ afford). Every patient receives, at a minimum, vitamins and tylenol or ibuprofen. Then, depending on their diagnosis, we also give them cold/ allergy medications, GI medications, antibiotic/ antifungal creams, and a few more specific medications as prescribed. Each day, the 2 people filling prescriptions in the "pharmacy" struggle to keep up with all the prescriptions coming in. But also each day, people on other teams (water & VBS) that day come in and help us as it gets close to lunch time. Dr. Hannah Bowers was one of those people today- she has been such a wealth of knowledge, information & organization skills this week! (And she worked in the medical clinic herself Monday and Tuesday).
After these hot days of work, we return to Casa Pastoral in La Romana for a delicious dinner prepared by the local staff here. Then, after dinner each evening, we have gone around our entire group sharing our "highlight of the day." Well, mine was easy today, and I must share here! Before we had gotten started seeing patients/ filling prescriptions in the clinic this morning, the room was full of all our Trinity group, as well as 30 or so people waiting to be seen in the clinic. Paul Orton suddenly stood up and led the entire room in singing Happy Birthday to me- in Spanish! Yes, I just spent my 58th birthday here in the DR! The Casa Pastoral kitchen staff also had a delicious birthday cake for me after dinner, and Mike gave me a card signed by our entire team, as well as a locally made necklace. It was a great and memorable birthday!
This week has been very special as all twelve of us seem to have worked together really well! Whether it is counting pills, organizing the massive amounts of medicine, loading/ unloading busses, helping in the clinic after completing their other team responsibilities, or preparing the water filter systems each night, everyone has pitched in and helped get the work done. We have felt your prayers, and we have felt God working through us to bring clean water, medical care, and Jesus' love to the people of the Dominican Republic. But as much as we want to be a blessing to the Dominican people, I always come away from this experience feeling like I've RECEIVED the blessing from these special people, and the rest of our group.
Julie Wills
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