Our group of 12 went to Batey La Gina, a 40-minute drive through rolling cane fields with the distant mountains as backdrop. Upon arrival I immediately recognized this location from 2 years ago. The work space was tiny. Setting up the clinic is like solving a puzzle each morning with the shoe distribution location always being the final piece. Rebecca, Suzanne and Lauren kept the pharmacy perking like a well-oiled machine with our only frustration being the lack of infant Tylenol. Our team doctors, Marilyn and Peter, settled right in their places alongside the interpreters, Juan Roberto at the door with Greg weighing and keeping count. Tio Ron, Ian and Jimmy squeezed arms (aka took blood pressure) of all 113 of our patients while Cole and Jake manned the bug juice table. I calculated shoe size from a distance, distributing almost all the shoes we carried with us this morning. After a prayer of gratitude from Andrea, one of our Dominican Haitian host/interpreters, the team ate rice with stewed beef, ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the obligatory "red" soda. Then off to distribute food from house to house, 150 bags! We gratefully floated in the Caribbean Sea this afternoon, cleansed of sweat and dirt, recalibrating for our last two days.
Construction Team Update 11/21 (JF)
We had a great crew on construction at Batey 50 today. There was great teamwork and we worked quickly and efficiently. Hannah, Cory, Winnie, Grace and Katie painted the doors which were hung yesterday and then did some all-important playing with the completely lovable children on Batey 50. Mason, Emma B., Hayden F. (my youngest son), Mr. Bracker, Mr. Crosson, Richard B., Rachel C., Alannah and I shoveled sand and gravel, sifted sand, and hauled wet cement so that David B. could level it on top of the sub-floors which were tamped into place yesterday. The house is really coming along.
Here is an example of typical house construction on Batey 50. Below is a video of the construction process and shots of the what a finished house looks like (the house we completed last year).
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