Moses Brown Dominican Republic Service Trip 2010

Hey everyone! (It's Zoe) Everything's going great! Sorry for not blogging in time for yesterday, its just been a very filled 24 hours. So here's the low down; yesterday morning we got up to an early 6:30 wake up call and rolled out of bed to get ready for our first batey!! Breakfast was eaten at the hotel (the traditional eggs, pineapple, cereal, coffee, and toast) and then we loaded up the bags on our way to the hospital. After a brief introduction to the whole group, 4 or 5 of us helped to sort out the medicines in the pharmacy while the others worked with some of the doctors learning how to take blood pressure. After a while, we boarded the bus again and headed to a small house right outside La Romana to pick up lunch and some translators. Some of the boys weren't feeling well all morning so Neil and Amy went back to the hotel to relax and recuperate for the day :(. Luckily the other boys felt well enough to go to the batey. When we arrived at the batey, we instantly greeted with smiling boys and girls. I worked in the pharmacy with Shyloe, Ali, and one of the adult volunteers Kris. It was pretty hectic for the rest of the morning and we were surprised (and slightly delighted) when we noticed that there were no more orders for prescriptions! Come to find out that we were just taking a break for lunch, a much needed break. Then we resumed and managed to get prescriptions for about 80 people! Everything seemed to run surprisingly smooth for our first day at the batey and I was very proud that we were able to work with only 12 people (excluding the hospital people) without Neil and Amy. With the monetary donations we raised, we were able to pay for transportation for a man who had an infection in his foot and possibly needed an amputation. After we loaded all the supplies back on the bus, we waved good bye to all the smiling kids. When we got back to the hotel, we were able to relax by the pool and play a few games before our dinner was served. After dinner, we reflected on the day and played a quick round of Rose, Thorn, and Bud (I think that was the name...) where everyone shared their favorite moment of the day (rose), their worst moment of the day (thorn), and what they were looking forward to the next day (bud). Many people said they were looking forward to the orphanage and the great breakfast place the next day. After talking for over an hour, we headed back on the bus for a trip to Jumbo, a superstore in La Romana where we all stocked up on drinks, shirts, balls for the kids, and other random gifts. It was then back to the hotel for the night! All in all, a GREAT first day. I cannot convey how exciting it is for me (and probably for Jen and Shyloe) to be back here with such a great group! Thank you SO much to everyone who donated!!!

-Zoe

p.s. - we finally calculated the total amount we raised, it ended up being around $6,100! more than double what we made last year! GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!!