2022 Dominican Republic Service Trip

2022 Dominican Republic Service Trip:  The Dominican Republic Service Trip took place over Thanksgiving break and as the week progressed I made journal entries of the days, the job I got to do, and overall reflections on the days (I tried to capture most of my ideas and emotions during it rather than the events that took place). Below are some of my journal entries from the week.

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Arrival Day 11/19/22: Today is Saturday the 19th and our first night in the DR (La Romana).  Today was hectic, overwhelming, and overall very fast-paced, but I did my best to stay calm. I didn't want to start the day. I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to shower and be ready at work by 5:20-surprisingly I got there about 5 minutes early-  but this was a very early start time for me.  While trying to get through the airport I started to get frustrated trying to move my suitcase with the secondary bag on top ( the bag of shoes I was carrying was too heavy to rest on top of my suitcase so if I didn't hold the bag and my suitcase up it would all fall right over). One of the first times I got nervous was when I had to check my bag and fill out my passport and e-ticket. To start airports tend to stress me out because I feel like there's always something that I'm going to end up doing wrong so when my phone began to not connect to the  Wi-Fi I became nervous that I wouldn’t be able to fill out my ticket. After finally getting my phone to work I was able to fill out the plane ticket which took some of my stress of the day away. But, then right as I began to feel calm I stopped going through the self-check.  At this moment I had many thoughts racing through my head like did I do something wrong, was there something in my pockets that I couldn't find,  they ended up patting me down and not finding anything, it ended up just being my hood. Come on, is that something that can come up on the monitors? But once I finally got through the bag check and had my ticket in hand and had over an hour to spend waiting for the flight I began to calm down again and began to look forward to arriving in the DR.  The plane ride was good and very smooth and a plus side is I got to sit next to Kendall and Maryam! Once arriving in Santo Domingo I immediately felt the heat (which was brutal going from cold New York to the scalding Dominican Republic). I enjoyed the bus ride to La Romana because I got to see the beaches, farms, and houses, and the contrast in sceneries between the commercialized airport with beaches to the small towns and houses on the side of the highways. Something I noticed is there were a lot of mopeds and bikes on the roads and there are quite a few other buses but not overall not many cars-I wonder why that is.  We arrived around dinner time and dinner was good even though I was a little nervous about the water but everything ended up being fine. Looking back at the day I ended up being more calm than I was expecting myself to be. I was finally happy to be in the DR and was ready to go to sleep. 

 

DR Day 2 11/20/22: Medicine Packing and First Beach Day: Today was the first day getting to work after spending the previous night settling in. Today I spent probably around 4 hours packing and sorting pills (this included multivitamins allergy medicine acetaminophen Tylenol etc.).  Packing and sorting pills is both tiring and stressful all in one (it was only stressful because I didn't want to mess up or lose count).  I think one of my main worries about this trip is messing up but I need to not think about that and focus on the good the group is doing as a whole.  As the hours progressed my back began to kill but it was all worth it and then because we had to go to the beach.  The beaches here are so beautiful;  its bright blue water is warm both in and out of the water,  and there were relatively not too many people at the beach. On the way back from the beach Maryam and I were so tired we ended up falling asleep on the bus after we got back from the beach-this ended up being a common occurrence throughout the week; everyone would be tired for the day of work we would all fall asleep on the bus. While waiting for dinner to be ready I spent time with Sophia, Kendall, and Maryam making friendship bracelets. This was a fun way to unwind before learning how to take blood pressure ( it was so cool to be able to start learning new skills regarding medicine and knowing I would then be practicing it later in the week). Overall the day was nice, and calm, a little tiring, but good.  I think the only time I got nervous was letting the idea of taking blood pressure sink in,  I was nervous because again I didn't want to mess up but then I spent the rest of the night making friendship bracelets and practicing taking blood pressure on others willing to let me practice and vice versa I let people practice on me.  This was a nice way to start the week and got me excited to see what else I would learn and what else the week would bring. 

 

DR Day 3 11/21/22: Med Clinic First Work Day: Today is the first day we got to start working with people in La Romana and the surrounding areas I got to start in the med clinic taking blood pressure and temperatures.  Today was tiring, nerve-wracking but simultaneously exciting.  On the way to the Batey where the first Med Clinic was to be held, I got to see the beautiful mountain scenery. This helped calm my nerves especially because I was a little nervous about starting blood pressure since I had only learned it last night and had limited practice. When we arrived there were many people already gathered by the entrance getting ready for the clinic to open.  We started with unloading the bus and then setting up all the tables and stations figuring out the layout of the clinic that was held in a small school room. The more I got used to taking BP the more comfortable I began to feel. The main time I started to become stressed was when I wasn't able to hear people's blood pressure there was either too much noise going on in my surroundings (people or the cars with loud stereos) or maybe I just didn't have to stethoscope in the right spot. Surrounding me were many people trying to get a consultation for themselves and their kids, their parents; overall their families.  I think they thought if they could get to the front of the line (which was a long line) they might be able to be helped quicker, Which couldn't happen because the papers they had had numbers that correlated to their spot in line and when they would be seen. Seeing this around me made me start to feel bad because I think they thought we stopped at a certain time and we wouldn't get to all of them and this would be their only chance to get the help they needed until another group would come around. Having all this surrounding me while trying to take blood pressure (a very quiet noise going through my veins) began to get a little hectic for me and then I became frustrated with myself when I wasn't getting it or if I messed up a few times.  But when that happened (not being able to hear the Blood Pressure) I began to rely on the clock attached to the blood pressure strap  (I'm not sure of the medical name of it) and ask Mary or another person there to check and see if I was right. At first, I thought a few of the reasons I had failed was because I only had limited knowledge and I wasn't fully sure of what I was doing but being at the med clinic helped me realize the important thing is just being there and doing the best I can to help others. On another note, my Spanish did end up coming in handy because I was able to articulate a few sentences to try to communicate with people and they seemed to understand it (hopefully). After the rush of people trying to get their blood pressure, these adorable little girls came up to me and began to play with my hair and give me a massage just trying to play and have a conversation with me. This was another time my Spanish skills helped me a little bit because it helped me try to communicate with them and talk about the day and overall just have a nice conversation with them.  It was also very cute how they helped and acted as my assistant a few times. When a few other people came over to take blood pressure they were all just very excited to try to help and just be there.  It was nice to see how people can find joy and happiness and whatever situation they are in.  They were very nice and, I know this trip isn't about me and it's about helping everyone else but, it made me feel really good to be able to help people in need and be able to provide them with something I think should be the bare minimum for any and every one no matter their situation. Something unrelated to the Med Clinic but the circumstances there were the condition of all the dogs wandering around.  Many of the dogs were extremely skinny and malnourished which is hard to see because of the extreme contrast in house dogs in the US- they live very comfortable lives while dogs in the DR are usually ignored or treated poorly. But overall it was a good day and we ended with going to Jumbo ( a Walmart/Target but in the DR)  and making meal kits for the people we would visit later in the week.  It was eye-opening to learn that the standard health care we receive in the US (like Tylenol, Tums,  multivitamins, or anything we would consider necessities) is very hard to receive in the DR especially when living on a Batey in poor conditions. 

 

 DR Day 4 11/22/22: Construction: 2nd Work Day: Today was both physically tiring and relaxing (kind of). At La Papita (the Batey construction will spend the week) We finished painting the roofing sheets green to protect them from rust and heat retention ( because of the constant sign and lack of shade the homes get very hot so the paint absorbs the heat making the house is cooler overall limiting the heat)  that were started the previous day.  I painted four rooftops with Mr Z two of which we completely did whereas for the other two, we were just adding a second coat of paint.  Looking around there were a few kids there but mostly (I assume)  were at school.  There were a few light rain showers throughout the day which felt nice and when it rained we began to see the roofs were working.  These roofs were providing shelter to people that they didn't have before.  It was hard to see the poor living conditions people had at and around the baracomes. Many had a very limited space with only room for one bed and a side table and there were a lot of flies and bugs around-overall the small space that was supposed to be inhabited by sometimes 5 people couldn't be kept clean.  Some rooms in the Beracomes had TVs which shows that even in poverty there are levels (everyone lived on the same Bateys but some had more success/things or belongings than others). Something noticed was that younger people seemed to be more successful than older working men because the younger people were in their prime so they could do more and have more success than the older men living and working in the shower fields.  After lunch, we went around handing out meal kits to each family and they were very thankful for our help. While we tried to speak to them in Spanish many of the families living on the Bateys didn't speak Spanish they spoke Creole, and this is because many of the workers are Haitian.  It was heartwarming to see how happy the kids got from us giving them stickers and playing basketball with them. It shows that even just showing up and showing you care about them is important and can make a difference.  Something that can seem so small to us can mean the world to others which I find inspiring that we can help the world around us by doing what seems to be small tasks.  After dinner to end the day, we went to a Toros baseball game which is a good way to end the day with excitement and fun.  I'm glad I did construction today because now I have experience in both med clinic and construction and can use what I have learned to help out where I am needed to the best of my ability- no matter where that may be.  At this point, I don't have a favorite I just want to do what I can't help,  like Mrs. French says wherever you end up is where you are meant to be.  

 

Throughout the rest of this trip, I began to make fewer notes of how the day went on but I ended up doing 3 days at the Med clinic and 2 days at construction switching every day. A fond memory I have of working at construction was the day we spent painting all of the Baracomes and bringing the roofs out to paint and dry. As I was carrying a sheet of roof with Sofia a few little kids came over to try to help us. We told them it wasn’t safe to touch the roofs because of the sharp edges but instead of running back off to play one of the boys stood beside me took a corner of my shirt and walked with us until we set down the roof since I was holding the sheet I didn't have a free hand so he grabbed in the next thing he cold to stay and try to help. It was adorable and filled me with joy to be able to say I was helping both him and his community. He ended up hanging out with me for a little while, holding onto my hand when he could and giving the biggest smiles he could to me as I worked on painting. Just knowing I was able to help one person was enough for me to call this whole trip a success. He ended up leaving my side and going back to playing so I didn't get to say goodbye but the small moment of interaction I had with him I will hold onto and will drive me to help out anywhere I can. Even though this trip was a little tiring mentally and physically I am so glad I went on it because it truly was a great learning experience and something I will never forget.