Musings on Monday from Marjorie

On Monday we all headed out for our first trip to the Bateys. We split into two teams, one going to Batey La Gina to run a medical clinic; and the other team went to Batey 50 to do construction work, which included mixing cement and painting corrugated sheet metal (for the roofs of the houses). I was on the team that headed to La Gina and it was an amazing experience. After a 40-minute drive, we arrived at the Batey around 9:30am. When our school bus pulled up, we immediately saw lots of little children with smiles on their faces. They were so excited to see us! We set up our clinic in a small church, much like a one-room schoolhouse. We quickly organized our clinic stations which comprised of blood pressure diagnosis, general medical screening with our doctors from UCONN, dental station, and pharmacy. I was responsible for intake and weigh-in as patients arrived. After they went through the medical clinic, they were given shoes and food bags to take home. At the end of the day, we served 155 men, women and children. It was so wonderful to do this work and feel like we made a big difference in their lives. I look forward to Tuesday when I will be headed to Batey 50 to continue work on the construction site. Stay tuned…more to come!