Finally home…after a long trip
Day 8
The short version: We are back in the U.S. and we are all safe.
The long version: We spent the morning at the hotel soaking up the last rays of sun and enjoying the pool before heading out around 12 for the airport. There was a LOT of security which was kind of strange but we all made it through just fine and got to Atlanta with 1 hr 45 min to spare. After waiting in a long immigration line we made it through customs etc. and arrived at our gate. It was great to have our orange New Missions shirts to help us keep track of everyone. We attracted a lot of attention – but it was all good. Thanks sponsors! However at the gate, due to excess weight limitations Delta refused to take 14 of us on the flight even though there were enough seats. We were going to have to stay until Tuesday before there was another flight out. With jobs, classes, tests, papers, etc. this was quite a cause for commotion and panic. There were even some tears. People were furious and for a minute I thought we’d have a mini riot. We all felt awful for the attendants trying to work everything out. And poor Lana she was trying to work it all out for us but can barely talk because of a cold. We couldn’t have done it without her. In the end, she worked some miracles. Caroline, Cari, and Sarah ended up on a flight to Indianapolis. The rest of us received some laughs when we realized they had gotten on in place of a late Pacers player. We still aren’t sure who he was but he had the uniform and the ring! He just kept calling somebody and saying, “it’s not my fault it’s the airline”. Which possibly was true because let me tell you Delta didn’t have one happy customer tonight. Eventually and very very barely the other 4 of us ended up on a flight to Dayton. Right now we’re on our ride back to the Fort (my dad came and picked us up). But there were so many horror stories – 24 hours stuck with nothing, being late and not making standby on 4 different flights, lost luggage, delayed flights; it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong did. We got lucky because we got a little pack with a t-shirt and essentials. We also got $600 vouchers so already planning our trip for next spring break!
But there were some highlights. For example, Logan finally got his first Diet Mountain Dew all week! We had some really good laughs talking about what would happen if we got stranded. We ate our last Dominican pineapple and bananas. And tonight I get to sleep in my own bed J (But poor Lana and Logan have to spend the night at our house cause it’s so late/early) Thanks for keeping up with us! We’ll always be willing to share our memories and pictures. Logan will probably even show you the phone numbers he picked up (granted they were only 6 years old…). It was certainly a trip to remember!
Last Day :(
Day 7
None of us can believe we’re leaving tomorrow! As I write this we are all sitting around in our room (Air Conditioning!!) listening to music, writing/signing thank yous, and exchanging SD cards for photos and laughing about all of them. It’s so much fun but sad too. We were going to try to do some work calculating more BMIs but the photos are just so much more fun and we have over 1000 so it takes some time to go through. It’s great to see them all compiled together. Lana tells us that when we get sad we’re going to be looking through these and I think she’s right.
Today was a day all to ourselves. Some of us went surfing for the first time and others spent the day at the ocean and pool. It was certainly a great way to end our trip although I know we would all have loved to have spent more time with the kids. With so much time out in the sun today I think we are all burnt now but hoping it’ll turn into a tan soon. It’s hard to imagine its only 40 something and rainy in Fort Wayne right now instead of 97 and sunny like here.
One of the sad parts about today was saying goodbye to the Lanning family. We’ve all been invited over and have some plans to meet up again. That is one of the great parts of our group – we’ve all grown really close. I can’t imagine coming with a much larger group. It just wouldn’t be the same. And Logan survived even though he was the only guy and we forced him to lay out in the sun and teased him quite a bit – that’s ok he can take it.
We’re having some mixed feeling about leaving. As much as we want to stay here we also miss our families. The students are also worried about their schoolwork. Sounds like the airport tomorrow is going to be Study City. For now we just ask for prayers for safe travel back to the US in the morning.
Los locos
Day 6
What a day! This morning we went to Playa Laguna (which translates as Laguna Beach but is NOTHING like the tv show) and set up shop in the back of two trucks. After announcing our presence to the community, people came and we helped about 30-50 people. A lot of people didn’t seem to need anything too urgent. A lot of kids just came for the attention. But we did hand out some medicine and stickers though and a couple of people who needed a little more serious attention came to the clinic later this afternoon. We took two of the open air buses, and people just climbed up on the bus and told us what was wrong. We had boxes filled with meds and things we thought we might need. The kids were hanging off the buses and had a great time. Then Jon gave us an extended lunch which was great. The ocean wasn’t as rough so we got to go enjoy the very salty ocean, sunbathing, cold drinks, and some time in the pool. It was so relaxing in the middle of the afternoon, especially with a humidity over 90! All of us got in the pool together and felt so refreshed after the morning on the busses. At 2:30 we headed to the clinic and it was bustling with people eager to see us. We had been warned at 2 o’clock that there were already 75 people waiting to see us. While this might seem like a lot, now consider the fact that this is extremely unusual for Dominicans because they run on “Dominican time” meaning they’re always approx 30 minutes late – not early that’s for sure! We ended up seeing about 200 people probably – some really sick and others more there to just see the American nurses. We were all pretty tired by the end. The 2 non-nursing students (Jeni and Julianne) started inputting data into the computer on the kids we had seen at the schools earlier this week. We found out that the BMIs tended to be a little low (around 15-17) while average is 18.5 to 23.5. After a quick supper, we headed to church. Lots of singing, clapping, and praising God. The kids swarmed around and enjoyed sitting on our laps. The man who spoke was very dynamic and energetic. Now if I just understood any of what he said… We did recognize a few of the songs though although it is hard to remember the English words when all you’re hearing is the Spanish. Then a few of us walked some of the church kids home. It was so hard to say goodbye to them. They are so happy but you worry about their futures so it is hard to leave. Our time playing with them definitely changed us all for the better. After church our group gathered together to share some about our week together. The family that joined us from Michigan will leave tomorrow, so it was our last night together as a group. We each shared our best and worst thing of the week – and then all prayed together. It was a really nice way to end the serious part of our week. We have become like family and will miss each other as we go our separate ways – as well as miss the people here. We have all sorts of inside jokes from spending a week together and some of us are already planning to get together sometime! Spring break 2011 next year? We look forward to a free day tomorrow. I know we’re all surprised by how quickly this week has flown by. I feel this aching deep down cause I can’t imagine going back to America (but neither can I imagine staying here). How can we walk into a Walmart and see all the excess produced in sweat shops everywhere when these people don’t take anything for granted and just want to be loved? God is certainly alive and working in the DR!
Women’s Health and our last school visits!
Day 5
Hola amigos! Day 5 is coming to a close. It was a little bit lighter day and that was nice. Tomorrow will be busy again. We started out the day at Coliego again and saw 8 classes! Students aged anywhere from 3 to 18 or so. The kids were well behaved so it was a nice end to our school assessments. It was also really humid today – 87% is the one number I saw.
After a relaxing break we headed to the health center for the woman’s clinic. I was kind of disappointed because I expected more women to come but it was great that around 10 or so came. One of the women I even recognized from the strip last night. The saddest part was that she had one baby with her who was 17 months old and looked like she was a couple of months pregnant with another. The baby with her kept crying whenever she would realize her mom wasn’t there. It makes you think about how much her mom probably isn’t able to be there for her. I was so proud of all the women who came though! We wish that we could have held 2 clinics so that the word would kind of get out about what it was about. For the most part they all seemed excited to be there but it is hard to gage their reactions when you don’t understand the Spanish and you work through a translator. Lorene said there was a lot of chattering during the presentation about what they were seeing and lots of them asked questions afterwards so hopefully that’s a good sign.
Other things about our trip…some of you have been asking about the food. We’re eating all our meals at the hotel. It’s been pretty good. We all love the pineapple and bananas! Other than that we usually get a choice between 2 meals and a couple sides. Some interesting options though have come up…for example the first night a couple of us ordered “Seafood Casserole” but it was pretty much a soup, the butter is not very good but smells like movie theater popcorn butter, and the fried cheese is – well, not so good. We do love the open (non-alcoholic!) bar with pina coladas, frozen lemonades, and cherry cokes!
Tomorrow is our last day doing nursing things. We’ll be holding the clinic in the back of the truck in a neighborhood so there will be lots of people stopping by I’m sure. They all want us to see them and make them better even if nothing is wrong.
Tonight we enjoyed swimming in the cold pool and very very lukewarm (if even that) hot tub as well as hanging out around the pool. Hasta luego amigos!
“Un poco” worn-out
Day 4
We were greeted this morning at Redemption Village by a whole slew of kids chanting “les gringos! Les gringos!” It was a very busy morning… we saw over 100 kids in 3 hours. A lot of them had irregular heartbeats and iron deficiency. It was so much that now Sarah, Carolynn, and Logan’s ears are slightly bruised – tomorrow we’ll be switching stations around more. After we finished we took a tour of the village. As soon as the kids realized what we were doing there was no chance of a free hand anywhere. The kids swarmed us and were so welcoming. One girl grabbed me a flower off a tree and put it in my hair. When we finally got back on the truck the kids tried to keep up with us until their adults started yelling at them.
After a quick lunch we dropped Lorene off at the clinic to help Catherine (the nurse). They were busy all afternoon and saw everything from pregnancy to high blood pressure and cerebral palsy, hemorrhoids, and scabies. Not everyone who came was really sick but they all want to go home with something even if it was just vitamins. The rest of us went to Coliego school – it was the complete opposite of Redemption Village. Pretty much a college prep school funded by rich international donors. A lot of people said this was their favorite school so far.
This evening we went to church. It was fun because some of the kids remembered us from their assessments. One kid came up and pointed out his finger where he’d been pricked. Another remembered my name. We were all excited because we knew one of the songs “Si Señor” or what we might know as “Trading my sorrows”. It was so cute! All the little girls would go up to the front of the stage and dance.
After that the females went back out to the bar area of town to pass out flyers again. We were all surprised by how receptive the women were to receiving flyers. Whereas in America someone would immediately throw away something handed to them on the streets here they are so excited about it. They read it intently and then discuss it with their friends. Seeing the women with the European men is so sad and disgusting. They hold hands and play house like everything is a normal relationship. I think I’d almost prefer they just treat the girls like a commodity instead of making these girls believe that maybe it’s something real. There are so many of the girls. We had 400 flyers to pass out and easily ran out. Prostitution is such a huge problem because there are no other opportunities for women. Chaz and Renee (missionaries) told us that there are some women who are good church-going women who come every week, have a job and take good care of their families but need to be a prostitute once a month because they can make more in one night than in the rest of the month.
Right now we’re all really happy to have a lighter day tomorrow. And also really excited to see how many women show up for the seminar tomorrow. We made 25 kits but pretty sure we’re going to need way more!
Getting things down
Day 3
Is today really day 3? It is going so quick! Today was a lot of work and boy are we exhausted. None the less, once again I am writing this at 1 am because some of us stayed up talking. Seeing everything we’re seeing and trying to comprehend it all means we’re all in need of some debriefing time.
Today for example we went to Redemption Village – a Haitian refugee colony and it was the worst we will see while we are here. Although Jon told us most homes have running water they obviously didn’t have plumbing. I wish I could describe it…trash everywhere, children with very little (if any) clothes. Kind of what you picture when you think of when you think third world. Yet, it is incomprehensible to think this is in our own backyard. And many of the children had never seen a doctor before because they are not legal immigrants so no insurance is available. We’re realizing more and more how lucky we are. After taking a FREEZING shower (she couldn’t even stand to be in the water) she said she would never complain about something lukewarm again. And it’s for sure! It’s hard not to feel guilty for having so much.
One thing we wanted to mention were some of the differences we were told about the Dominican’s views on healthcare. For example, they believe that pinkeye is spread by staring at someone. You can also cure high blood pressure with grapefruit juice. And apparently menthol rub fixes everything else. It’s hard to know how to work with these beliefs cause you want to respect their culture but also let them know that rubbing your eyes and then shaking hands is not acceptable behavior when you have pinkeye.
We had a lot of fun today though! Some of us went into the ocean for our lunch break. It was refreshing but kind of exhausting. And sand got everywhere cause the waves were really rough so we all got thrown around a bit. Then tonight the girls went and passed out flyers for our women’s health seminar on Thursday in the prostitute district. More on that tomorrow!
Right now we’re left with some questions about practicality like if a kid needs glasses then how do they get them? Or if we treat lice then how do we keep it from coming back. Somehow a short term trip just doesn’t seem to cut it. Yet a long-term mission seems so impossible. I guess that’s what New Missions staff is here for. They are great and dinners with them so far have been awesome. It’s so great to hear about how they got here and what they see their mission as being. It’s been an inspiring journey and we still have 5 more lovely days 
Hasta luego!
Meeting Bombita
Day 2
Today has been quite the day, just trying to remember everything we did could prove to be quite the task. Luckily though, as I write this I am playing Euchre with my mom (Lorene), Logan, and Julianne. Julianne is here with her mom, Kim, and dad, Dan. They are from Michigan and are joining us for the week. Kim is an RN so now we have 3! Julianne is a freshman at Aquinas College and it’s so great to have her and her family here with us.
We started out with breakfast and headed out towards the health clinic to organize supplies. They had almost completely run out of meds so we were glad we had some to stock the shelves. We wished we had brought more meds instead of bandages and things because they already had a lot of those. Then soon after, a group of children came to the clinic for their assessments. Let me tell you those kids are sooo patient! We weren’t ready for them when they arrived so they just waited – we all agreed that no kid in America would stand still for any tenth the amount of time of those kids. Things didn’t go quite so smoothly but it was good enough and we learned so that things could go more smoothly this afternoon. We took their blood pressure, screened for lice and scoliosis, recorded their heights and weight, checked their vision and hearing, and took their hematacrit (for those of you non-nurses out there, that means their iron level). There were about 20 kids total and about half of them were Haitian refugees.
After finishing our assessments we came back to lunch (Cari wants you to know that the coffee and cocoa is better here though!) at the hotel and then after a short break headed out again. This time we went to Bombito a small rural school. We’ve noticed that the schools are just tents (so far at least). This makes us wonder what happens when it rains and is windy. These kids were easier to work with because their teachers could help translate or at least tell the kids what to do. Melissa, Kathy, Jon, and Ria (Kathy and Jon’s daughter) all stopped by as well. Annabelle came with us too – she is our translator in the afternoon. It was so nice having some people to help translate. I just wish I could speak Spanish. I’ve learned a couple things…”Aquí” is “here”, “pies” is “foot”, “estatura” is “height (of a person)”. Language is still just a huge barrier.
I think we all enjoyed our day. Reflecting over it we can’t believe that it was only this morning we were sorting supplies at the health center. I think we were all struck by the children of mixed European and Dominican parents. Most times this happens because the mother is a Dominican prostitute and many European men come over for the prostitution. Sosua is a prostitute tourist town. We saw a couple of these “couples” this evening when we took a walk to a nearby internet café and ice cream shop. Logan and Julianne are arguing about who had the better ice cream (one type cost 2x as much) so it must have been good!
Well now that it’s after midnight we are all exceedingly slap happy and having a mighty good time. I usually hate euchre but this night has been so much fun. I love all of the people on the trip already and it’s only day 2!
P.S. – don’t forget to check out the pictures link at the top!
We’re here!
Day 1
Well it sure has been a long day! We all met up at FWA at 5 am this morning. All went smoothly although they told us that because all 7 of us brought the maximum amount of luggage we had overweighted the plane – oops! From there we caught our flight to Atlanta. Tired as we were most of us just spent the time sleeping; although, it was fun to getting to know our team a little bit better as we all sat near each other. In Atlanta we had an hour layover for lunch before leaving for Puerto Plata. We hit some turbulence on the way over but nothing drastic. I enjoyed looking at all islands with sandy beaches surrounded by the bright blue ocean. We were greeted to the island with a four piece band playing outside the terminal although to my dismay they packed up before I could find my video camera and some change. Immigration and customs wasn’t a problem either. They examined the first 3 or so of our bags with supplies for the health clinic then gave up. Lana said they were checking for expired medicine. With 28 pieces of luggage in total that would have been a hefty task!
Outside the airport we met Melissa and John Hanley who are missionaries here. They helped us load up the open air bus/truck with all our stuff and head over to the health clinic. Along the 15 minute or so drive we were all thoroughly entertained – there were people everywhere along the streets. We marveled at their driving – cars would literally come up to our bumper and then swerve around to pass us, heading straight into oncoming traffic. Tonight we met more of the missionaries and I don’t remember which one said it but somebody said if we really want to see Dominican driving we need to ride in the front seat with the driver sometime. I can only imagine! Everywhere we drive the people notice us – I’m not sure if it’s because we’re gringos or because they know the New Mission truck, probably both.
After unloading the 13 suitcases of supplies for the health clinic we came over to the hotel. It is really nice. As soon as we got here one of the employees jumped at the chance to pour us some juice which I must admit had a flavor I didn’t quite recognize, very tropical fruity I suppose. This stuff was packaged but we need to be careful about the water here. We can’t even brush our teeth with the tap water. Luckily they have 5 gallon dispensers of purified water located around the hotel to fill our water bottles with etc. The weather was the perfect temperature (mid 60s) upon arrival but has chilled down more since the sun set. It is “moist” and there are more rain clouds hovering but we’re hoping that the sun comes out soon! This is unusually cold for this time of the year.
Tonight then we had orientation with the Hanley’s again. John will be the main one with us during our outings but Melissa helped give us some practical tips about situations we may encounter. For dinner we got to eat with another missionary couple – Karen (?) and Joe. They shared a lot about how they ended up here and how they view their work. I know we all really enjoyed all the conversation. Tomorrow John will pick us up at 9 am (8 am Indiana time) to begin our day. It’s only 10 pm DR time but I am exhausted and could use a good night’s sleep. I’m pretty sure everyone is feeling the same way.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We made it safely and cannot wait to see what the future has in store.
Final Preparations
As I’m finishing up packing for tomorrow I’m realizing how hard it is to fit everything into a carry-on but not as hard as I assumed. I’m definitely not taking the recommended 11 outfits though! I’ll be rewearing some clothes but that’s fine – I mean I do it at college all the time anyways. And, the one comfort I have is knowing that I’ll always be able to return home , wash my clothes, and get all squeaky clean in a week. I feel a little bit bad about this because thinking about returning home to the luxeries we have here probably shouldn’t feel as good as it does. I should be more concerned with leveling out the field – I mean what good is it to walk in, do some work for a week, and continue living like I always have. That is not me saying you should stop showering it’s just my way of recognizing how much privilege I have been given.
One other thing is weighing heavily on my mind right now – my hair. haha. But really, we looked up the weather and it’s going to be hot, humid, and raining almost every day. With naturally curly hair I’m fearing a Monica like catastrophe (for any of you “Friends” fans out there) as such…
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. It’s hard to believe it’s just a few more hours!
And we have a schedule!
Tuesday other 50 at Bombita and then the 75 or so at Redemption in the afternoon and that night for those that want to we will hand out invitations for the Thursday afternoon health seminar along the main bars.
Wednesday similar schedule as Tuesday but Redmetion and Colegio Nueva Vida (main campus), church, and handing out invitations after church.
Thursday will be a lighter day with Colegio in the morning and the health seminar which I plan on holding from 4 – 6
Friday morning we can do a community outreach in the field or parking lots of either Palm Village or Playa Laguana and that afternoon since by then word will have gotten out I expect a large group at the health center so we can have everyone help out at the health center and then church that night.
Saturday I am open to giving the rest of the time off, or we can do a community out reach again to either Palm Village or Playa Laguana depending on what happens on Friday, and then having the rest of the afternoon and evening free.
