Highlights from Sunday 2013

The team effort in the morning was beyond words. Each year we do our final preparations for our first work day on Sunday morning. This year, because of the extraordinary abundance of shoes and meds that had been donated by the Watkinson and UHSSE communities, our morning was super-charged. Everyone was busy, busy, busy straight up until noon. Rachel Countryman, our pharmacy diva, estimates that we will be able to give each patient we see a three-months supply of vitamins. As our Dominican hosts would say, "Hallelujah!"

After lunch, we got a surprise visit to the beach. In that it is 90 degrees here, that was a welcome surprise! Many of us felt like it was a privilege we hadn't yet earned but we were grateful for it nonetheless.

In the evening, we made our annual visit to the church at Kilometer 6, a staggeringly poor barrio of La Romana. The church is pastored by the wife of the founder of the Good Samaritan Hospital, our hosts for the week. Many team members united with friends we have made over the years. The highlight was Marjorie Davis bringing greetings from our team to the congregation in Creole with Samantha P. '13 bringing our final thanks also in Creole that Marjorie had taught her.

Monday is our first work day and everyone is beyond excited to get to work.