the Water of Grace: Beyond the Bend

I just recently got back from an incredible experience in the Dominican Republic. I went there for 9 days to help a group through the ILAC program. (I wish I could have stayed longer) The program has been going on for many years. They set up clinics in different campos (little farming villages) and open clinics for 4 weeks during the summer. It includes nursing, medical, pharmacy, and dental. Throughout the rest of the year, they offer different specialty clinics, such as cardiology, hernia repair, orthopedics, etc. that these patients can be referred to and others who are unable to get health care due to no insurance or no documentation. The program also helps establish and educate Cooperderas, aka community members who take a major role in improving and helping with healthcare. They do a lot of other great programs throughout the year also, such as water filtration systems.

It was such a humbling experience to be there, to live in these villages with the people, to help care for these wonderful people. An experience about learning more about living in simplicity and in the moment... that was such a beauty in and of itself. There is so much I could write about. So I'm just going to touch on a couple things, and then I'll share lots of pictures. :)

We saw so many patients, a few that really touched my heart. A young man that broke his leg in an accident over a year ago, that is terribly infected and if he is not able to get surgery soon, he may lose his leg. I did dressing changes on his leg, gave him a few supplies for at home and educated on importance of getting to hospital. But that is a steep mountain to climb in and of itself. To get a bed in the hospital, the supplies, meals, care--- especially when no insurance-- I'll just say it's very difficult. So after that, I asked myself... How can we fix that? How can we help that?

Then the elderly man, who didn't have a home, who just wanted his feet to feel better, as they were so swollen, and his head to not itch. After assessing him, we determined he more than likely has Congestive Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation. Through double interpretation--- English to Spanish to Creol, we try to explain to this kind gentleman that his heart is very, very sick, and that he needs to start taking these certain new meds daily and go to the Cardiologist in September. It's difficult, as he doesn't understand how that would be the cause of his feet swelling, and he doesn't really trust any of us. I don't blame him-- we, random Americans, come in to his community, who can't speak his language, and tell him his heart is bad, and he needs to do these things. But we try to explain again anyways, because we really do care and want to help him. We then find someone in his community that he trusts, and depends on for food, who promises she will help him get these meds and a meal daily. I wash/scrub his head give him the soap and brush to take with him, and he goes back home. I leave clinic that day with a heavy heart, as did we really help him--- or just make things harder and more confusing? Then the next mornings, he is at the clinic as we arrive eating a meal and getting his meds. We talk to him and he says he feet are feeling better, and we can tell the swelling is going down. My heart smiles-- maybe we can help improve his quality of life a little bit more.

Then there is a the woman, who comes in to get her teeth cleaned. We do her admit paper, and take vitals. Her blood pressure is 240/115, having sometimes chest pain and blurry vision. We explain to her how high it is, and why it's so dangerous, and she really needs to go to the "polyclinica"-- first stage in hospital care. She refuses, says she is fine, and just wants her teeth cleaned, no matter how much we try to explain. She agrees to take a Norvasc (blood pressure pill), and wait for a recheck an hour later. It's better-- 180/90. They will clean her teeth now, and she goes home. We don't know if she will come back. The next day, we are surprised, as she comes in for a medical appointment, to get help with her blood pressure. My face smiles! Yes.. we can help you! She then proceeds to tell us how grateful she is for our clinic, how we are so kind, know what we are doing, and may God bless us.

Then there's all the children... they are all so precious. I wanted to just hug them all. They live in a place in which they know no other way. We do our best to teach them about the importance of washing their hands and teeth care. There is still trash everywhere. They don't have material things like we do in the states, they just have each other and a roof over their head. And you know what, they are happy, they are smiling and laughing, and just loving the present. There is so much to learn from them.

One evening we had group reflection about our time in the Dominican thus far. This is the story that was read.

Once upon a time, there was a town that was built just beyond the bend of a large river. One day some of the children from the town were playing beside the river when they noticed three bodies floating in the water. They ran for help and the townsfolk quickly pulled the bodies out of the river.

One body was dead so they buried it. One was alive, but quite ill, so they put that person into the hospital. The third turned out to be a healthy child, who then they placed with a family who cared for it and who took it to school.

From that day on, every day a number of bodies came floating down the river and, every day, the good people of the town would pull them out and tend to them – taking the sick to hospitals, placing the children with families, and burying those who were dead.

This went on for years; each day brought its quota of bodies, and the townsfolk not only came to expect a number of bodies each day but also worked at developing more elaborate systems for picking them out of the river and tending to them. Some of the townsfolk became quite generous in tending to these bodies and a few extraordinary ones even gave up their jobs so that they could tend to this concern full-time. And the town itself felt a certain healthy pride in its generosity.

However, during all these years and despite all that generosity and effort, nobody thought to go up the river, beyond the bend that hid from their sight what was above them, and find out why, daily, those bodies came floating down the river.

I want to share a bit of my journaling that I wrote while there...

The question they asked (after this story)--- where do we think we are helping? At the bottom of the river, the middle, or are we going to the top, beyond the bend, and finding the root of the problem and trying to fix/help it from there? It's hard when we are here for a short time, doing a little help, and then leave, and they are right back where they started. What does one month of meds do for someone like that elderly man, who probably can't afford more? I don't know. Maybe not much. But I do know that little bit, that bit we showed we cared, that he is an important part of this world, not just some number. That even if we can do a little bit, maybe help him have a little better quality of life (like less pain in his feet, not itchy head) in the last months or years he has left on this earth-- that has to mean something, doesn't it?! A smile, a hand touch-- it all counts. It has to, otherwise what's the purpose of life?! No we aren't going to change the world, or even a little part of it-- we aren't going to fix it all. But we can make a little dent, it's like we can keep chizzling away, little piece by piece, and one can never know when a big crack will happen. Or like Saint Mother Teresa said, "Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." So I strongly believe even though there is so much research, books, out there about how helping hurts-- helping helps too, There is good in it. As long as you are doing it with love and compassion. No-- I might never come here again, or maybe I might. I probably will never see these special people again. But I know we made a difference, a little bit at a time.

Barrero/Batey Campo Group-- such special people!

We got to go to the beach on one of the weekend days.

It was beautiful and so blue!!

These two pictures are the center of the ILAC center in Santiago, DR.

Getting the nursing area all ready for patients!

My super awesome nursing students!

Dental supplies

Pharmacist all ready to dispense meds!

This was so fun... playing with the kids in our homes/community each day.

How one takes a school classroom and turns it into medical clinic rooms. :)

Dentists working hard-- equipment run by generators and compressors.

I learned how to play Dominoes! So fun!

She had so much spunk! :)

Playing a bit of baseball. The diamond was right next to many of our homes.

These sunsets just got more and more beautiful each night.

Such beautiful ladies!

Love

Getting meds... so neat how everyone worked together and helped with interpretation.

Collaboration... aka as medical rounds. :) Loved this integration of minds discussing and critically thinking together without all the tests at our finger tips as in the U.S., such as xray, labs, echo, ekg, etc.