Dominican Republic Blog Jan 28
Clinic Day 1 – Ver Agua The first clinic day is always a bit off as we try to figure out the team, the flow and work the kinks out. We were all up and ready early- and piled into the two buses for the drive to Ver Agua- and set up in the high school. When we arrived, HAART staff had the rooms set up for us – we just needed to get our selves organized. In the am we looked after the kids in the school….which was pretty light as most were healthy. It did give us a chance to get organized and ready for more patients. The afternoon picked up a bit with people who needed more help and the team got the system flow down. At 4 pm we loaded on the bus and headed for the hotel- then a swim, dinner and team meeting. After dinner we talk about the day- what went well- what was not so good- things to do better tomorrow. Each “department” updates the group and we make plans for tomorrow. We saw 257 patients – a good first day. Dominican Republic Blog Jan 27 – travel day
Well- the day has finally arrived. After a tough drive through snow and no plows on the roads, the group all met at Pearson at 6 am. We “pony expressed” the 40 or so hockey bags to the airport to join the group from Wasaga Beach. Ray from facilities at CarePartners got up at 3 and delivered a lot of bags to the airport which was a huge help. The hockey bags of supplies are heavy and hard to move- each weighing 50 lb each but the team worked together and we got them all through. We flew WestJet and they were amazing- they did not charge us for the hockey bags and even cut us some slack on the bag weight- if we were off by a pound or so – they waved us through- which is not always the case. We have had to pay $150 for that extra couple pounds in the past. The plane left a bit late due to weather and de-icing and we arrived around 3 pm (there is a one-hour time change) - the warm 26 degree weather was such a nice change from Canada. The HAART team was there to greet us along with Lori and Luke Hollinger who are came from Costa Rico to meet us and Lori is going to be a leader for the trip. We came thru customs with no issue. We loaded the bags onto a bus and the team onto open air little trucks with benches and we made the 20 minute trip and checked into our hotel – Souza by the Sea - a clean, safe, basic hotel but with wonderful staff – it overlooks the ocean and has a pool- which will be wonderful after our clinic days in the hot sun. We had a great dinner and team meetings to get organized for tomorrow. The first day is always chaos. We are thrilled to have Joe Odumodu join us again – donating his time as the team pharmacist. Joe and Pharmasave have been supporters of our medical team for many years now…..donating time and supplies….and we could not have our international medical clinics without them. Well...only a few more days until the group leaves on a jet plan to the Dominican for the 2019 outreach trip. We will be posting blogs throughout the trip to keep family and friends up to date with the events that are happening so please share the website.
We have also created a Facebook page for you to follow as well. Follow this link to the page and be sure to like it so the updates show up on your news feeds and please share! Enjoy! https://www.facebook.com/CNS-Community-Nursing-Services-364115270809903/?modal=admin_todo_tour Jan 10, 2019
The team is packing and gearing up for our next out reach trip to the Dominican Republic. The group leaves on Jan 27th and will be providing care throughout the following week. Check back for daily updates starting Jan 28th and to see what the team has been up to. Jan 28 2016, Thursday
Today the team splits off- some to go home, others to go to see more of the Philippines, others to go to Viet Nam…..it has been an amazing experience and team. We represented Canada well and the Governor is now taking responsibility for helping us in 2019. The last word always lies with the team- thank you for your hard work – you made us proud. See you back in Canada for our reunion. Linda Knight CEO CarePartners Comments from the team: Joe: The team was very capable and strong. Thanks to all the nurses that helped in Pharmacy. The trip has been very enjoyable and look forward to the next trip. (From the team- thanks so much to you Joe and Pharmasave for all you do to support the team.) Diane: This trip is just what I needed to regain my belief that there are good people out in the world!! Great group of people on the team and the Filipino people are very appreciative of our care. Le-Anne: Another wonderful and fulfilling trip to such a beautiful country. Everyone working as a team to help those in need. I am so thankful to Linda for being given this opportunity again. We sometimes forget how lucky we are in Canada. A big thank you to Anabelle, Pablo and all their family for the support and thanks to all the translators. Anabelle and Pablo: This was my fourth medical mission, third mission trip for Pablo. The last two missions I helped organized with Linda and Sue. It was a lot of work but it's all worth it. I am so grateful that Linda gave me these opportunities not only to join the mission but also to bring the mission to my hometown. Each mission I learn and grow more as a person and a nurse. Pablo is equally thankful and grateful for the opportunity. There were cases that broke our heart but Pablo and I walk away knowing that we did our best and we were able provide some assistance. I know that the people of Jordan are very grateful for the help that they get. The sense of community in Jordan is still very strong for which I am very proud of. This team is awesome! I couldn't have ask for a better group of colleagues to work with. Pablo and I are looking forward to coming back and bringing a larger team in 2019. Sabrina: My 7Th trip. What more can I say? Another amazing, fulfilling life journey helping those in need. Thankful for working with such a wonderful, caring, hardworking team. Thank You to Anabelle, Pablo and family for all the hard work organizing this trip and to Sue and Linda as well. We have touched the lives of many people in this beautiful country and I am grateful for this experience. Cannot wait for the next trip! Carolyn: Participating in this medical mission has been an experience I will never forget. I have an even greater appreciation for the Filipino people, for their grateful hearts and for their hard work. It was a privilege to be part of this caring professional medical team. I hope that we were able to make a difference in the lives of those we treated. Jennifer: 7 days of clinics. It's such a privilege to have served in this way. To see the looks of gratitude when even a little help or relief is given is humbling and so worthwhile. To see someone be able to read with the glasses donated; hypertension diagnosed, and medication given in hopes of preventing a stroke or heart attack; help with insomnia given to a woman suffering from stress and grief because her husband was murdered in December. There are so many stories to tell........an honor to have worked with this wonderful Medical Team here in the Philippines! Lilian: This was my second mission and I am so happy to be a part of this team. We all worked so hard to help those less fortunate in this beautiful country. All of us came from different regions but we came together as one like a family and Connected with one another. This team became the power team. Thank You to Annabelle and her family for all their hard work and support in making this mission possible. We could not have done it without them. Lorna: This has been a great experience for me. Loved the patients and people of the Philippines. The entire team was so enthusiastic and caring – great to work with. Hope that I will be able to experience another adventure with everyoneJ Joana: What an incredible experience to be a part of again, with such an amazing team. I feel so privileged and honored to be here helping the beautiful people of Guimaras. A special thank you to Linda, Sue, Anabelle, Pablo and their family for making this experience so wonderful. A trip of a lifetime filled with so many inspiring moments, the ability to give back to those in need is the greatest gift I could ask for. Cannot wait for our next mission! Donna and John: We feel so blessed to have been part of the Philippines Medical team. The people we have met have blessed us both in ways we will never forget. We could not have done it without the wonderful help from the interpreters, local family and civil workers. Truly a great team. To each of our medical team members, thank-you for sharing this experience with us. To those of you who supported us back home, lots of love and thanks to each of you. We look forward to joining the team again soon! Lincoln: Well I am no longer a mission virgin. I enjoyed it immensely and the people I worked with were fantastic. The Filipino people are friendly and their food tasted so good. I ate 10 pounds of mangos during my time here. I especially enjoyed entertaining the children with magic tricks and helicopter rides. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in such a worthwhile event and would consider doing another one in the future. P.S. where else can you get an ice cold beer for a buck? Yda May: I am very grateful for this opportunity to be part of a rewarding, and fulfilling mission to give back. I was lucky enough to be chosen to give back to my own people and the majority need medical help. Even though I am aware of this, it is still an experience that I would carry on and continue to share with others back in Canada. My goal is to encourage others to donate and possibly bring a MD or dentist to join the next medical mission in 2019. Thank you Linda for what you do, and may your company be blessed more. I met wonderful people, and built friendship, and for sure will continue to have relationship with them when I go back. Trish: My very first mission trip and I hope it is the first of many! What a wonderful team to learn from. Lots of knowledge but not afraid to have some fun along the way!! An experience I will always remember and lots of memories to take home with me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity……I would highly recommend it to anyone. I don’t think I have ever been more proud to be a Canadian!! Gloria: My first mission trip and I am very happy that I came on this trip. My job was working with Cal on glasses, the wonderful look that I see when they can read my paper gives me so much joy...I wish all my team assistants would take this trip. Thanks to the CNS team for inviting me along. Looking forward to the next trip. Alison: Very rewarding experience to help people and make a difference. Team was great to work with very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and caring. Really enjoyed going to the different villages. Loved the patients and people of the Philippines. Hope to be able to participate in another mission soon. Tiffany: Words cannot describe my experience…I am so grateful to have been part of such an amazing team. “when you are a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours” Many lives have touched mine during this journey……… looking forward to many more……Thank you. Margaret: This has been another fantastic experience. We have helped so many people. Mark has learned a new skill: Fluoride treatment for the 5-14 year old crowd. Mark: This has been one of those rare experiences when you can be told all about the trips and see pictures but you have to experience it for yourself to fully get a grasp of the magnitude of the organization and the results. The team is a well-oiled machine and it’s been an amazing experience to play a small part in it. Plus I have something new for my resume! Jean: This is my 7th medical outreach mission with CarePartners/CNS and it is always a pleasure to work with this group. The nurses and staff are always professional, compassionate, capable, and adaptable to all the changes that happen in a mission. Not only that, they are a lot of fun, what more can you ask for? Thank you to Linda for giving me and your team members the opportunity to serve in outreach, and to Sue, Anabelle and family, Mayor Chavez, and Michelle for putting all of this together. Look at the team photo, and the Canadians were only a small part. Philippines and the people are very special indeed. This was a culinary vacation. I hope I can return in 2019. Cal: Well, again I’ve proven, I’ll follow Linda anywhere. The flight is long, but the rewards are great! It puts a smile on your face, seeing a smile on their face. I felt very proud seeing our flag hung at another village each day. Enjoyed getting to know the team. I was surprised to hear that Gloria got out of the country…..lol Linda It seems like yesterday that a little nursing company started in Belgrave Ontario and grew. Now that little company is having an impact half way across the world. To see the “Welcome CNS International medical team” signs at every clinic and see the support of the mayor, governor and the people of the Philippines was so heartwarming. We have a reputation on the island now and everyone is talking about us coming back in 2019. There are so many things we are thankful for- the food, the support driving us around, the slugging the bags, all the help from Anabelle and Pablo’s family, right down to the mayor making sure he had a celebration band that played “Canadian” music on the last night. Most of all- thank you to the people who came to the clinics- waited in the hot sun to see us, and gave us the privilege of caring for them. Thank you and see you in 2019. Jan 27, 2016 Wednesday
Our last clinic day. We are in San Miguel- which is a fairly big town. Set up was in the community gymnasium – which is good as it was pouring outside. It has been overcast the last couple of days….which has been fine - a warm rain. The land is parched so they can use it. We are not used to all the space that a gym offers – so it was nice that we were covered – and the waiting patients were protected from the rain (which did get heavy at times) - but we kind of miss our rustic set ups. We had a friend of Pablo join us – who is an MD – and was a big help for this last clinic. Our hockey bag room looked very forlorn this am – every bit of supplies was packed into bags and when we leave we will be taking 48 empty bags except for personal items. We will divide it between the municipal clinic (to go to the villages) and the indigenous community which was very much in need. The clinic was steady. We have had some record hypertension problems. 240/140, 220/112- these are readings we have never seen in clinics before. It is a combination of diet (very high salt), heredity, little medical follow up and lack of ability to afford the medications. Anabelle says that diet is the biggest contributing factor. Pork is cheaper here than fish – which is ironic when it is an island. The dried fish is heavily salted and the pork is cured. Everyone uses soy sauce which contributes to the problem. We had a lot to pack up and give to the Mizhele from the mayor’s office and the aboriginal village – and with the help we had we finished clinic early. That allowed us time to empty the bags- get back to the hotel, get cleaned up and go to the Festival – dinner at the mayor’s office and then a dance. The mayor’s wife Lillbeth made us another amazing dinner – including traditional dishes like dinuguan (made from the blood and intestine of a pig), a turkey, a deboned chicken that was stuffed back into the skin and baked and black spaghetti – the sauce is made from the ink from squid, olive oil, and spices. The dessert was home-made chocolate cake, and fruit salad in a coconut cream. I feel like I am always talking about the food on this blog- but in addition to experience of the clinics, the team has been exposed to traditional Philippine food….and they have embraced it. After dinner we moved outside. The mayor’s staff had a tent set up for us and at 7:30 a wonderful band started to play that was specially chosen by the mayor for the Canadians. It was an excellent rock and roll band that played music from the 80’s. They got us all up with Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Money for Nothing, Pretty Woman, Lady in Red and Smoke on the Water to name a few. The old members of the team loved it and the young ones actually knew some of these songs. The Canadians showed the community that we know how to party- ha ha. Lincoln spun and twirled the ladies as we all tried to keep up with him. The Mayor, the Governor and the Congressman and their families all joined us dancing in the warm breeze under the stars. It was a very special night that we will never forget. One of the very best moments was when the Governor told us that the 15 year old girl needing the bowel reconstruction and colostomy closure was admitted to hospital today as the Governor contacted a friend who is a pediatric surgeon for help. Anabelle and I introduced her to the Governor at the aboriginal village and asked for his help and in just one day he came through for us. It will be life changing for this girl. As a team we offered to help with costs for her medications or the family to get her to appointments. The team danced till midnight (we were having such a good time the Mayor and Governor asked the band to play an extra hour). The team piled into the vehicles and made it back to the hotel as at 5:15 am they headed to Boracay for a couple of days of tourism before heading back to Canada. It was a wonderful experience and the team should be proud. We provided services to 5000 people, gave out 1000 pairs of reading glasses, pulled more than 600 teeth and gave medications to thousands of people. Looking forward to Philippines 2019 – and the Governor is going to have us cover a larger area – with more support. We will start collecting our medications and supplies as soon as we get home as we will need a lot. Linda |