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The gua-gua dumped me out of the crowded gua-gua in front of the hotel. Immediately, I took a page from all of those spy movies they constantly replay on TNT, “Just act like you are supposed to be here. Be normal. Be cool.” (I’m a nutcase.)
The guard took one look at my skin color and returned to his newspaper. I looked like I was supposed to be strolling up. (But what’s odd is that I didn’t feel normal. The lobby was clean and quite. There were computers in a neat line to my left and breakfast being served in front of me. Order. It was the order of everything that made me feel weird. It’s like I had hit pause on my life.)
I ran into the four other volunteers fresh from their night stay at the hotel the night before. We took our time catching up and benging on the breakfast buffet before heading over to the welcome meeting with all of the clinic staff.
Somos Amigos was my first medical mission. My job? Translating. Crazy? Yes. I can’t believe I have learned so much of language in such little time. Can you? Nevermind… don’t answer that.
I was assigned to a cardiologist for the week. We saw patients on a general basis for about four days. We all ate our meals together and then separated into different houses in the community each night.
The experience taught me a lot about how much I have learned since coming to the DR. I have created a list:
- Spanish. And not in the sense that I recognize the vocabulary but
also in the sense that I get colloquialisms and am able to communicate them in English. - Large spiders on the wall are first meant for taking pictures. Then they are meant for the nearest man to kill with a machete.
- Cats can eat rats of the same size.
- Indoor bathrooms rule.
- Sometimes madness just requires patience. (I mean madness here both as craziness and disorganization).
I felt the mission, and missions like it, do a great thing in meeting certain needs for communities here in the DR: We were able to offer dental care and specialized exams/meds for no cost. Additionally, the doctors were exposed to a way of life completely different from those they left in the states.
The Somos Amigos project sends teams ever three or four months to the same area. This has had significant effects on the health of the community, Naranjito, which often has to send its individuals far to receive adequate care.
They also helped build a church building and an elementary school to which they continue to supply with resources and offer dental education. The teacher, employed by the Sec. of Ed is actually able to teach with tools! (Something I have found to be tragically uncommon here.)
However, like all projects, there are shortfalls mostly in the area of cultural exchange. Very little was done to prepare the doctors with basic information on their patients cultural background. I think this failure manifested itself mostly in problems with co-ed translator/doctor pairs as well as in frustrations as to why non-sick people wanted so many meds.
In addition, there is currently no training being given to potential health promoters in the community or lessons given out about heart disease or diabetes – huge health problems in the community.
Plus, its proximity to Haiti made translation extremely difficult at times. There was one person on staff who spoke basic Creole. Often, I would pull two Haitians into an examination, hoping that between the two of them enough Spanish could be translated to know what was going on… It. was. crazy.
Overall though, I got to meet some really great people looking to do something within their means to help others. It was a really great experience.
I have already signed up for my next mission at the end of the month. 
Cool Pics.