Dajabon II......The Journey Continues
02/13/98 - Friday
I took today off so I could
leisurely pack and get ready. We went to
Monica’s Valentine Concert then to Randy Conrod’s 21-year-old daughter’s
funeral. The we (Sheri and I) packed our
4 tubs. We received supplies from
Washington State (Dr. Lowell Johnson), Heart to Heart International, Pier,
Ethicon Endoscopy, and Ethicon Suture.
The magic of e-mail has allowed us
to communicate worldwide instantly. I
received 2nd or 3rd hand that customs in the DR was being very difficult and
holding up all medications. As they come into the country. Therefore, we had to re-pack and label all
our tubs again segregating out the most important items. We were told that customs would keep them
until Monday, then release them. That
would slow us up and would be inconvenient since it meant a trip back to Santa
Domingo (a six hour bus trip). Sheri,
Mandie, Holly Davis and I did our repacking and got to bed about 11:00
p.m. I e-mailed our pastor, Dennis,
about the anticipated trouble with customs and asked for prayers. We collapsed into bed and prayed about the
next day’s journey back in time.
02/14/98 - Saturday
We arrived at the airport at 6:45 am
for our 8:30 am flight. Mandie and Holly
were at the airport waiting. Mandie and
I had four 33-gallon storage bins full to the brim, along with two large bags,
and two carryon bags. I was concerned
about how they were going to handle the extra bags. They said that as long as they were less than
90 lb., they would travel with us as regular bags, not freight. If the bags weighted over 70 lb., there was a
$90.00 charge. The same charge applied
to extra bags. Since I had one 84-lb.
bag and two extra bags, we paid $270.00 extra for the bags. We knew at least that they would get there
with the rest of the bags... hopefully.
We had smooth flights. The five of us from Wichita (Kay, Cindy,
Nancy, Mandie and I) had no problems or bad connections. We arrived in Dallas and only had to go two
gates to our departure gate for Miami.
Once again we had an uneventful flight to Miami.
I tried to find Scott Davies, a
friend from Wichita, in the Miami airport.
He was coming back from Peru, but his flight was coming in about 4:30
p.m., and we were leaving at 5:15 p.m. I
was not able to find him because he was arriving two concourses away. We bought our tourist passes in the Airport
for $10.00 and filled them the best we could (the instructions were not very
good, in Spanish).
Our flight to the DR was uneventful
and smooth. My big concern awaited us at
customs. We began by standing in line to
have our passport stamped then the long wait for baggage to arrive. Fortunately all of our bags arrived undamaged. We got carts and loaded the bags. There were 12 of us, from around the country,
that came in on the flight. Finally Tao
and Dan, from MMI, showed up. They
talked with the guard at customs. Then
Tao told us to give him our baggage claim checks. We then paraded our bags around the customs
tables, where all the other passengers were opening their bags, out the airport
door and into our vehicles. There was no
holdup or even a cursory check.
A short one hour drive and we
arrived at the “Chicken Hilton”. We
stopped at the hospital (Elïas Santa Hospital) for a meal of fresh cantaloupe,
pineapple, tomatoes and bread. Then we
went to the “Hilton” and found an empty bed.
Most, who had come in on earlier flights, had turned in since it was
11:30 p.m. local time. Mandie, Kay and
Al Ware, a scrub tec from Cleveland we met last year, stayed up until 1:30 am
talking.
02/15/98 - Sunday
Six o’clock came early today, after
a short night of sleep. (I forgot to put
my earplugs in the overnight bag, bad mistake.)
A quick, cold shower and I was up.
Then I began to renew friendships with those from last year and meeting
new friends.
Breakfast was cinnamon bread and
fresh fruit. The weather was slightly
overcast and about mid 70’s. At
breakfast we ate with Bud and Carol Radefeld, the medical director of this
project, they related a story.... Dr.
de la Peña is a general practitioner, who was born in Mexico and now works in
Ohio. As he was flying in to Santo
Domingo, he struck a conversation with the man next to him. This man was an anchorman for a news station
in Santo Domingo. Dr. De la Peña told
him about the project. As they landed
Dr. De la Peña told him about the anticipated customs problems. The man told him he would like to introduce
him to a friend of his, the man was the Director of Customs. Dr. De la Peña introduced Dr. Radefeld to
him, and guess what ... We all just
skipped the customs line with our bags.
No checks, no open bags, just like I said earlier. It is great to see God’s miracles, but it is
even better to see how he works things out.
After our orientation in the morning
we loaded the vehicles, school bus, van Toyota wagon and a truck, and we began
our journey to the Campemento Los Pinos (Camp of the Pines). The trip took about four and a half to five
hours. After we arrived we unloaded our
suitcases and moved into the dorms.
Carefully arranging our mosquito nets and bunk beds.
At dinner we had chicken, meat loaf,
mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables.
We also had fried plantain, very interesting taste. After dinner we had a devotional by Daniel
Castro (MMI director from Honduras), very thought provoking. He taught on Luke 10:35, the paralytic being
lowered to Jesus by 4 friends. Some
times we are like the religious leaders, some times like the friends who bring
one to Jesus. Some times we need to be
the paralytic and rely on others to bring us to Jesus.
We went to bed at 9:30 p.m. When the
earplugs went in I didn’t hear anything, except when the guy in the bunk above
turned over, I thought someone was getting into my bed.
02/16/98 - Monday
I
awoke about 5:30 am when the generator came on.
Yes, I could still hear it over the earplugs. Unfortunately the generator is on at 5:30 am,
but the lights in the dorms and bathrooms don’t come on until 6:00 am. So I got up and went to take my cold shower
... in the dark. A flashlight helped but
only marginally.
For breakfast I had scrambled eggs,
fresh bread and fresh cantaloupe and papaya.
I still don’t like papaya. I also
have trouble with leaving the butter on the tables for two weeks, no refrigeration.
Al, Kay, and I began our morning by
walking 35 minuets to the hospital.
Unfortunately, it is 35 minuets by car ... up hill. Tough walking. We actually didn’t go to Dajabon, but a
different direction to Los Almacigos; it is the name of a tree. It was a new hospital for us, it was
confusing. We unloaded the big truck
into a garage attached to the hospital.
Then the process of arranging, cleaning, and organizing. Unfortunately only one OR so we put two
tables in there. We were trying to start
by Noon, but a fifteen-year-old came in for a C-section. Dr. Bartak (an OB/GYN) was only too happy to
help. The busyness never let up until
about 5:30 p.m. We saw 61 new consults
and did six major surgeries and two minors.
Mostly hernias, from ages six to fifty.
We had an operating air conditioner in the OR but the rest of the
hospital is ventilated with louvered windows.
The flies weren’t too bad. It got
up to about mid 80’s.
Mandie is working as a runner with
the clinic. Today they went to El Piño. They didn’t have air conditioners, so we don’
take about that. Their day was very
busy, but they didn’t have any toothbrushes to give away until tonight.
Tonight for dinner we had beans,
rice, and meat (beef, I think) along with okra (yuck), bread and salad. After dinner went to the chapel where all the
tubs were opened organized and sorted.
They were very excited about the amount of things that were received. Mucho drugs, toys, Bibles, and
toothbrushes. It was a hot and muggy,
but productive time.
My back is a little sore tonight,
from not only the long bus ride, but also the loading and unloading. It also hurt because of the OR table. It was very low and I had to stoop over for
two surgeries. We couldn’t raise the bed
and we couldn’t find any cinder blocks to put it on. The second surgery I did on one knee. They also didn’t have nay stools to sit
on. Later when I was working on the
other OR table I noticed Dr. Radefeld had started a case next to me on that
short bed, but it was now up!!! They
were afraid to tell me that the bed had been wired down for transport and they
forgot to unwire it to raise it up. It’s
hard to be flexible when you’re stiff.
Ha! Ha!
So to bed, quite tired and stiff -
now with Advil on board. To sleep.
02/17/98 - Tuesday (El
Martés)
The generator begins each morning,
but today the lights came on also. A
quick cold shower and a shave, and I was at breakfast. We had pancakes and pineapple (papaya was
also available). The also have cereal
available, granola type ... no Cocoa Puffs, and whole milk.
There were six of us to walk today
and I think we walked faster because my legs were more tired when they picked
us up in the van.
Bud didn’t feel up to par today, so
he stayed in the clinic and say 59 new consults. In surgery the day started with twins who had
enormous umbilical hernias. The first
twin was put to sleep with gas and normally they start and IV for fluids and
emergency access. An hour later they
still had not found a vein. I then
proceeded with out and IV to do the umbilical hernia without problems. It was very humbling for the
anesthesiologist. But he did put in a
caudal block on all the kids under anesthesia and it seems to really help
prevent post-op pain. I even tried
unsuccessfully to do a cut down on the saphenous vein. Then the twins’ surgery went very well,
followed by an inguinal hernia on a 2-year-old.
Then an adult hernia was repaired by me.
Then Bud came in at the end of my schedule to do a large bilateral
goiter. I helped with that one. The OB/GYN doctors did 3 or 4 hysterectomies
and 6 tubal ligations.
Needless to say the peanut butter
sandwich and vanilla wafer cookies for lunch with water didn’t last long. We left the hospital about 6:00 p.m., so we
arrived back at camp after they started serving rice and fried eggplant with
cabbage and tomatoes. I went for
everything except the cabbage... twice.
Mandie had a busy day at the clinic
but they got done early and stopped for helago (ice cream). She seems to really enjoy herself. She is the only general helper who has been
on a project before so they really appreciate her.
I went to my room after dinner and
laid down for about 1 hour then got up to join the rest. They were sitting around singing songs in
Spanish and English with a guitar. The
interpreters are part of the group.
Although some are workers for MMI and do not speak English but drive
trucks or do whatever needs to be done.
Wednesday (El Miércoles)
02-18-98
Up at 5:30 am with the generator and
shower. Some people have used the camp
shower or sun shower bags. The work by
filling them with about 5 gallons of water and you leave them out in the
sun. It will get up to 105° out in the sun but by nightfall it is back
to 70° or so.
Therefore, it only works from 2 - 5 in the afternoon. So I don’t use them.
Breakfast was a hard-boiled egg, 2
pieces of bread, and 2 slice of cantaloupe with a glass of water. We then began our walk with 5 of us
today. We got about 2.5 miles today up and
down 3 hills.
Surgery today was very
difficult. We still only had 1 room with
2 OR beds. I started the day with an
inguinal hernia on a 3-year-old. I then
saw clinic patients for 1 - 2 hours then back to OR for an inguinal hernia on
an 80-year-old. A local surgeon named
Dr. George. He helped me with a hernia
on a 20-year-old female, then the removal of a mass on a 68-year-old male’s
patient’s neck. Then the hospital
allowed us to use the room we were using for bumps under local. It was a 10 x 10 room with a metal table and
only the light of the louvered windows.
I then room with 3 - 4 people relaxed eating cookies and juice. Our lunch was a choice of either tuna or
peanut butter. We didn’t do as many cases totally but seem to do more complex
cases with the 2 OB/GYN surgeons.
After work we drove through Los
Almacigos to get ice for the camp. The
city is small, about 2-5,000 people. The
streets are very narrow and crowded. A
small city square was in the center of town.
Dinner consisted of rice, meat
sauce, con con (which is the rice in the bottom of the pan that hardens, so it
is crunchy), with fresh bread, lettuce and a coconut flan (it like
custard). It was also very tasty.
At announcements tonight, they
commented about the improvements on the camp.
We had noticed the new clothesline near the cabins. When we put our towels on it, it sags and it
is about neck high. In fact Al came in
after lights out and caught it in the neck.
It did seem kind of dumb. But
tonight they explained that the real improvement was a telephone but it didn’t
work ... because what we thought was a clothesline was really the telephone
line. Oh well.
Tonight our program was a time of
sharing by those who wanted to, readings, insight in Bible verses, sharing of
experiences, and some jokes.
El Jueves (Thursday) 19 de
Febrero 1998
Breakfast
today was a coffee cake, cantaloupe and a glass of water with of course fresh
bread. The six of us walked again after
breakfast and it was warmer today. Last
night was also very humid and warm. We
walked about 2.5 miles (or maybe kilometers) who knows. This way to our hospital this year is more
rural and less populated.
Our day in surgery today was the
busiest yet. We did 27 cases total. I did 10 procedures myself starting with
pediatric hernia, then a left thyroid lobectomy. I then did a subcutaneous mastectomy in a
male for a breast tumor. 3 inguinal
hernias, an epigastric hernia and 3 mass removals followed that. Two of the mass removals were weird looking
but of course we don’t have the capability to have a pathologist look at the
tissue. So we just remove them.
We had tuna fish for lunch, but I
chose the reliable peanut butter and Ritz crackers with water. Someone did bring some Dominican coffee and I
had some. It is served in a small cup
(about 1 oz.) and it is very strong and sweet.
Al also paid and had Alex (one of the interpreters) go into town and
bring back ice cream for everyone. One
was some kind of plum and the other raisin vanilla. Not too good but cold.
After stopping in Los Almacigos for
ice, we went back to camp about 6:30 p.m. in time for dinner. The entree was a Dominican casserole, yet
rice was a major component, along with spaghetti, beans, and chicken. We also had fresh bread, tomatoes and onions.
Tonight’s entertainment was Dave and
Fran Hanie. They are from the Chicago
are. He is retired and She is an IV
nurse. It was a riot. I ended the night playing hearts with six
other people.
El Viernes (Friday) 20 de
Febrero 1998
I almost over slept this morning, as
I didn’t hear the generator. That meant
competition for the cold shower and then to breakfast. This morning was delicious French toast
(fresh bread) with cantaloupe and water.
They do have cereal, but I don’t like whole milk after drinking 2% all
the time at home.
Walked again today and it was not as
warm, but still not cold outside. We
push and walk faster and my legs ached as we went up the hills. This part of the DR is very hilly and looks
kind of like East Texas, except with banana and coconut trees. Also the flowers are beautiful. There are poinsettias that are 12 - 15 feet
tall. Also a lot of hibiscus and other
flowering shrubs. All grow well here but
only a few people place a priority on gardening. Mostly in the towns. There are almost no manicured
lawns. I have never seen grass being
cut, except around the hospital and that was being done by a man with a
machete. No, I didn’t bother him by
taking a picture.
Our day in surgery may have been the
busiest yet with 12 major surgeries and 18 minor procedures. I did 5 major and 3 minors. A thyroid, a hydrocele and 2 hernias. One case was frustrating in that we don’t get
to see all our patients that we personally operate on. Someone else sees a 48 year old man with a
lump I the right abdominal and thought it was incisional hernia from a previous
surgery. I wasn’t sure, but with no
x-rays, lab work-up, exploration was the only option. It ended up being adhesions of small bowel,
so I did a lysis of those. That is a
little larger operation than usual due to potential for difficult post-op. During the surgery the electricity went out,
so we relied on no cautery and only my headlight. That tends to really make my neck and back
sore after a full day of holding your head just right to keep the light within
the good part of the bifocals.
The other frustration of the day was
due to not having any running water. We
had been lucky in having running cold water to scrub in and to clean our
instruments. The water comes from a
cistern at the hospital. Last night when
the truck came to water its pump was broken and wouldn’t work so no water. We had to get the interpreters to carry
several buckets of water from down the street.
From those we poured water out of a cup on our hands to scrub and rinse
off. No it’s not very sterile, but its
what we have to work from.
It’s quite amazing that there is not
much infection although we did drain one abscess while we were here. It may be because they don’t take antibiotics
very often and therefore don’t develop resistance. There were reports of Pseudomonas outbreaks
in the nurseries in the country in one of the local papers.
The people of the DR are quite
trusting. The have complete and absolute
faith in the medicos (doctors). When
seeing them in the clinic, even with an interpreter, they ask no questions
about their illness, nor the treatment or alternatives. They don’t ask about the prognosis or want
statistics. Through the interpreter, I
asked about this and asked if they ask question about us and if we are good or
well trained. They responded by saying
“you are the doctor, do whatever must be done.”
No questions about why me, or what if.
No bargaining, just absolute trust and submission. I should have that simple faith, that
complete unfaltering trust in my God that is much more powerful than the “North
American medicos.”
Dinner tonight was rice, potatoes,
and meat (I have stopped asking, but it didn’t look like beef). Also fresh tomatoes and bread. After dinner we had the “MMI Olympics.” It was a great time of fun with 3 teams of 5
competing a number of fun made-up events.
Afterwards 8 of us played cards and visited until lights out at 11
p.m. Walking back to our bunks, we were
overwhelmed with the millions and millions of stars in the clear night.
Beth fell during the Olympics and
hit her elbow. By bedtime it began to
swell and cause quite a bit of pain.
Unfortunately there is no ER or x-ray facility near by. So she will go into Santiago on Sunday for
x-rays. In the meantime she’s in a
splint.
Sábado (Saturday) February
21, 1998
Today
we got to sleep late - until 6:30 am and breakfast was at 7:00 am. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs with bits
of bacon (not to be confused with Bacon Bits) along with mangu and cornbread -
like bread. The mangu is a Dominican
favorite of mashed plantain, vinegar and onions. It wasn’t too bad. Also we had banana with breakfast.
We were scheduled to go to the beach
at Monti Christ. It is a pretty beach
about 1½ - 2 hours north of the camp
on the Atlantic Ocean. Since I went last
year and remembered the peanut butter and sand sandwiches, and because I was
tired from doing 30 cases this week I choose to stay back in camp with 4
others. Beth was one, because of her
arm. She still feels sore, but she is
feeling better. This gave me a great day
of rest, realization and reading. It was
very, very much appreciated.
I had a
wonderful 2-hour nap in the morning, then a lunch of potato soup (much like
chicken noodle soup), ham salad, and a cinnamon roll. The afternoon was taken up with reading,
writing and studying. It was quite a
refreshing time.
The group returned from the beach
around 5:30 p.m. Diner was spaghetti,
bread, corn and green beans, and fried plantain. The other fried plantain was deep-fried and
came out like potato chips. This one was
a skilled fried and soft like French fry.
After dinner the program was a much
wedding. Samir, who is an OB/GYN
resident, is getting married in 4 weeks and so they did a mock wedding with Al
as the bride, Marsha (circ. nurse) as Samir (complete with heavy
eyebrows). It was very funny. Then 2 people had birthdays, Doug (project
co-director) and Beth King (pediatric resident). It was a great party. Then to bed before lights out.
El Domingo (Sunday) Feb. 22,
1998
We
slept in until 6:45 am today. There was
no water in the bathrooms today, so no cold showers. Breakfast this morning was a bran muffin, a
cinnamon roll and a banana.
I
helped with the church service at 10 am in the camp with the scripture reading
and closing prayer. It was very
nice. Bud Radefeld gave a message and
several ladies formed a choir so it was nice.
At each meal we ate with different
people to get to know as many as possible.
There are about 15 different denominations represented in the 39 people
that started the project. Four people
have left now to return home, because they could only stay one week. Also Tao Beato, MD, the local project
director took Beth Metger into Santiago or Santo Domingo to have her elbow
x-ray and treated. We don’t know if they
will return tonight or not.
The afternoon was hot and everyone
just sat around. Daniel Castro had his
guitar and the Dominicans sat singing in Spanish. It was interesting hearing familiar tunes,
like “How Great Thou Art” in Spanish. Initially
it bothered me when we were a group and someone prayed in Spanish. I would think, “I don’t have any idea what
they are saying and this does nothing for me”.
Then I slowly realized God knows Spanish and he is who hears the
prayers.
Rita is a neat lady. She has been a widow for 12 years and has 5
children, 15 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. She went with a lady friend to see one of
Dr., Radefeld’s presentations in Ohio 9 months ago and thought a project would
be an adventure. She had never done
anything like this, but thought they wouldn’t take a lady in her 80’s but they
did. Her children thought she was
crazy. She had been a schoolteacher for
31 years, so she went to the local library and got a 1st grade Spanish primmer
and has been teach in herself Spanish. She works as a helper for the Surgery
team. She washes and packs instruments
and fold laundry. She says this has been
a life changing experience. She hopes to
convince her friends to come next year instead of by herself.
About ½ the group is returning and the other have never been on a project with
MMI. The youngest is Brady Ridel; he is
14 years old. His dad is here on his 6th
year of projects. He is a pediatric
gastroenterologist. Brady is one of 3
children and 3 foster children. His mom
has been on projects and a non-practicing RN. She is now home-schooling their 3
children. She has been on projects and
they hope to begin full time missionary work in 2 to 3 years either in the DR
or Peru. They now live outside of Nashville
and are friend with Michael Card and Steve Green, through their church. Brian (dad) has offered to serve as a refuge
for Monica next year in Nashville.
After a dinner of bean soup with hot
dogs cut up in it. We were picked up by
the Dominican Evangelical Missionary Church bus and taken into town (Dajabon)
for a church service. It was put back to
7 p.m. to accommodate us. It was the
same church that sponsors us here and also the same as we attended last
year. It started late (like Methodist)
and had 30 to 45 minuets of loud and joyful praise music. During the singing all electricity went off
and it was very dark. They never lost a
beat but continued to praise God in the dark.
They never lost a beat, but continued to praise God in the dark. Five to ten minuets later the lights
returned. Daniel Copeland translated the
message for us and we felt the love of God there. It was a small church in a “L” shaped room
with 150 people crammed in. At 9 p.m. we
closed and the Dominican bus driver stopped at the ice cream store for us. Only 2 choices left but it tasted great.
Riding back the sky was so clear, it
was beautiful. Looking at the huts
beside the road made me realize again how much we have. Some only lit a fire or had a single light
bulb, others were in total darkness.
El Lunes (Monday) de Febrero
23, 1998
Our coolest morning yet at 62° and fortunately or unfortunately, no water
today. Beth and Tao returned about 1 am
and her elbow was NOT broken. God truly
is good. We had our favorite breakfast,
pancakes and syrup. The syrup is made
locally of sugar cane. The large amount of cane is grown in the South of the
country. I was also surprised to see the
large number of rice fields, as well.
After our brisk morning walk we
settled in to a very busy day. Each
morning we begin by forming a circle in the parking lot and singing Alabaré,
which is Spanish song
Alabaré
Alabaré, Alabaré, Alabaré,
Alabaré, Alabaré a mi Señor.
(I will praise, I will
praise, I will praise, I will praise the Lord.)
Juan vio al número de los
redimidos.
(John saw a number of the
redeemed.)
De los que alababan al
Señor,
(Of those that praises the
Lord,)
Unos cantaban, otros oraban,
(Some were singing, others
were praying,)
Pero todas alababan al
Señor.
(But everyone was praising
the Lord.)
The
locals frequently join in singing and clapping.
Then with prayer we begin our day.
The schedule was very heavy today
with 15 majors and 15 minors. I did 4
majors and 6 minors today. Wearing a
headlight all day makes me have a little headache by the end of the day, but
not bad. We had one lady, that Dr.
Bartak did, that began to have low blood pressure and was taken back to surgery
because of bleeding, co that complicated the schedule. She did well otherwise. I had an interesting case, with an
18-month-old, with a large right inguinal hernia that turned out to contain his
appendix. So I removed his appendix
through the hernia sac. We also did an
open gall bladder surgery. The patient
presented with an ultrasound that showed a polyp. When I opened the gall bladder after surgery,
there was no polyp. Even when it looked
like technology is advancing here, it can be relied upon.
Cindy was sick today with tourista,
but it was because she ate while they were traveling back from Santa
Domingo. She went with Beth and
Tao. Instead of stopping in Santiago (a
town of 300,000) which is 2 hours away.
They had to go to Santa Domingo.
They couldn’t get a x-ray at Santiago because they were having a
carnival and a political rally and the roads were closed all over the
city. Even in Santa Domingo they found
one of Tao’s colleagues an orthopedic doctor, but the x-ray at his hospital was
broken, so they went to a second hospital to have the x-ray. They then took the film to Tao’s friend at
the first hospital. We in the US have so
much to be thankful for.
I did the morning devotions today
and used faith and trust as the theme. I
used the faith and trust of the Dominican’s in giving us, unknown foreigners,
their children and sick, without apparent anxiety. I used Genesis 22:1-14, the story of Abraham
and Isaac as a biblical analogy and it seemed to be well received.
After the dinner of rice and beans,
and bread. I was very tired and took and
evening cold shower and then turned in.
I forgot to put in my earplugs, but that didn’t matter.
El Martes (Tuesday) de
Febrero 24, 1998
Breakfast was a boiled egg, fresh
bread and cantaloupe. Mandie had someone check the menu and then decided to
sleep in until almost time to leave.
It was cool this morning and the
walk felt good. Once we got to the
hospital and sang and prayed it never let up.
I know I said that it was the busiest day yet already, but this was the
busiest. We did 16 majors and 22
minors. I did 13 cases myself, including
5 hernias and a bunch of lumps and bumps.
The day was complicated by the
autoclave catching fire and the air conditioner quitting. Both were fixed quickly. Dr. Jorge Rodriquez came back today in the
afternoon. He wanted to scrub with me to
watch a technique for hernia repair that we do in the states. He scrubbed with me and asked if we could
take pictures, which we did. The reason
he wanted them was to show the medical students that he teaches in Santo
Domingo.
All went very well concerning the
number of cases we did. Frank bought us
ice cream. I didn’t get any but that was
OK. The PBJ was enough since we also had
Hojuelitas de Maiz. That was a Dominican
Frito Lay Corn Chips.
We didn’t leave the hospital until
6:30 p.m. It normally is a 30-minuet
drive but it took us longer in the van because we took one of the patient’s
home that lives across for the camp. The
young girl was very cute and our driver made sure she had a comfortable ride as
opposed to out usually break-neck speed in and around potholes.
We arrived late for chicken and
rice, fried eggplant, fresh bread and tomatoes. Afterward it began to rain
heavily so that we couldn’t hear because of the rain on the tin roof. We worked on our skit for the coming night. I know what the mean by Monsoon. I rained so heard I couldn’t believe it. This was the only time it has rained since we
got here and they are having a drought.
The program was Daniel Casto, the
director from Honduras, leading us in singing with his guitar. He sings beautifully, and except for the rain
drowning us all out at the beginning, it was great, especially the Spanish
Songs.
Miércoles (Wednesday) de
Febrero 25, 1998
No water again for showers this
morning, so I borrowed Al’s camp shower and used that. It’s amazing that a person can shower and
wash his hair with 2-3 gallons of water.
Breakfast was skimpy with pineapple and cornbread. A brisk walk and a short ride and we were at
the hospital for the last time. Our
volume was low today, as last year we didn’t get finished until 3 or 4 p.m. I
did 2 hernias and 2 minor procedures. We
were finished by 11:30 am and began the difficult and began the difficult task
of packing and morning the entire surgery into the big truck. The hospital made s dinner for us all and we
went to the hospital cafeteria (coonedor).
It was a room with a long metal table and benches on each side. The cook made a Dominican meal of rice with
3 different meat sauces to go over it.
One was cow intestine, one was some kind of fishy smelling stuff and the
third had plantain, carrots and slimy meat.
Some of the crew ate like a horse, I ate it and said it was OK but he
has a cast iron stomach. We’ll see what
happens.
After we had almost finished packing
the local pastor and hospital director came and asked us all to come to the
“lobby,” because the local people. When
we got there, there were 30 to 50 people mostly children all dressed in their
best dresses and barrettes. The pastor
first spoke then the hospital director.
The showered us with thanks and praise and said the people of the town
were very grateful and could never pay for what we had done because they were
too poor. The hospital had only averaged
3 hernias a month, because they don’t have the supplies or money. They said we have all of your names and any
of us could come to Los Almacigos as individuals and they would give us a place
to stay and food to eat. It was very
touching. We all sang first in Spanish
then in English and hugged and said our good byes to the town.
Doug needed some organization time
with the hundreds of boxes before we placed them the town. It was dirty because Wednesday is market day
and the remains of the fresh fruit and vegetables lined the streets. The houses varied from small to smaller, but
the people were all very friendly.
A brief ride back on the church bus
(our blue van lost its transmission and the church loaned us their bus since
Sunday night).
Dinner was Maria’s specialty - goat,
over rice of course. We also had rolls,
cooked carrots and salad. The salad was
lettuce with vinegar and oil dressing and tomatoes and onions. We also had a flan that was vanilla.
After dinner was the grand finally -
the skit from the surgery and medial teams.
The surgical team did a parody on the Olympics with 4 surgeons competing
for the gold with style and technical points.
The medical team did a musical review of a day in the clinic.
After the skit Pastor Rafael Alvad
from the church in Dajabon and his district superintendent along with the
national president of the women’s organization came to the camp (the church
owns the camp) and brought a 3 tired decorated cake thanks decorated cake that
said thanks. We had lots of time to
visit and take pictures and have fun together for the last time in the camp.
Jueves (Thursday) 25 de
Febrero 1998.
The
habit of walking at 5:30 am gets easier.
A quick shower then we all began to re-pack. It was some easier since we left the supplies
we brought along with some of the clothes.
We had to pack our mosquito nets for use tonight at the “Chicken
Hilton.” After breakfast of a
hard-boiled egg and cantaloupe and cinnamon rolls we packed the white truck
with our bags and the bus and went to the clinic site.
The clinic was in Bueno Gusto a
small village near Los Almacigos. We had
no rounds or surgeries so we went with the clinic people and tired to stay out
of the way. The school was closed so we
could use the whole facility, both rooms and the chapel. It had no electricity but did have a
cistern. The bathrooms were outhouses. They saw a large number of people. One lady had a flashlight since she had been
here waiting with her 2 preschoolers since 4:00 am. All of the kids are treated for parasites but
I wonder if it does much good since they go back to the same environment. I guess that is why the health education
lectures to the parents are so important.
We finally closed the gate at 11:00 am and had lunch ad the final
patients cleared. We then packed and hit
the road to Santa Domingo at about 1:00 p.m.
The roads back are terrible but at
least they are working on them from Santiago to Santa Domingo. We had one minor emergency when Cindy from
Canada had an acute asthmatic attack.
Fortunately we had doctors, nurses and medicines on board.
We arrived back to the “Chicken Hilton”
and settled in to shower and clean up.
It is amazing how much better it looks now after being in the
country. It is almost like
decompression. We were able to gradually
enter the Dajabón society by first going through Santo Domingo and our re-entry
to American requires that we gradually come back up.
Dinner at Viscuvios restaurant was
great. It is a 4« Sicilian Restaurant with an extensive
menu. Dr. Bartak paid for dinner for all
40 of us! A very generous gesture. I ate with Mandie, Kay, Al, Alex and
Betty. We came back and I turned in but
a large group went to the pool and listened to Dominican music and they learned
how to do the Dominican dance.
Viernes (Friday) 27 de
Febrero 1998
We
slept in until 6:30 am and then had a light breakfast of fruit and muffin. Then we all loaded into the school bus and
headed downtown to the old section of town.
It is about an hour drive back through Santo Domingo with wide variations
of utter squalor to magnificent mansions.
After arriving to downtown we shopped in the Mercado (market). The city was alive with activity because of
the Independence celebrations.
At noon most of us went to Willie
Hunter’s house. He is the executive
director of MMI. He has lived in the DR
for 35 years. His home is very beautiful. In the afternoon, Mandie stayed downtown for
the festivities. I want to the
Lighthouse. It is a memorial to
Christopher Columbus on the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the New
World. The people in general don’t see
Columbus as a hero since they were already here; they didn’t consider
themselves lost. Also all of the Indians
on the island were killed and none remain today.
We then drove back to the “Hilton”
and went swimming in the pool. It was
nice, but cool. The temp today was mid 80’s
and humid but at night it drops to the 60’s.
Our dinner was rice and salad, with ice cream for dessert. After dinner we met as a group to share
thoughts and experiences.
El Sábado (Saturday) 27 de
Febrero 1998
I
got up at 5:30 am to pack and get ready for the long day. Breakfast was 6:15 am and we were on the bus
after more hugs, kisses and good byes by 7:00 am.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to
the drive across the town. It just
sticks with you, the sights, the people, the noises and the smell.
1998 Statistics
Decisions 96
Adults 657
Children 399
Total 1056
Health
Ed 1282
Fluoride 173
Eye 1514
Lumps
and Bumps 10
Pharmacy 3227
Surgery
Major 86
Minor 93
Total 189
Consults 189
Villages that the Medical
Team went to:
El
Piño
Canongo
Manuel
Bueno
Xaca
Gorda
Restuaración
Sabana
Larga
El
Cadillary
Santiago
de la Cruz
Bueno
Gusto
Olympic Events
123
m. Race
Discus
Shot
put
Platform
diving
Archery
Broad
Jump
Soccer
Curling
(Marshmallow Blowing)
Balloon
Popping
Javelin
Whistling
with Cracker
