On The Bateyes

After a quick breakfast, we loaded our two buses up with all the supplies for the day and headed out into the countryside to our work sites for the week: the bateyes. Bateyes are settlements that have grown up around sugar cane fields. Most of the sugarcane in the Dominican Republic is harvested by Haitian migrant workers who survive on low pay and live in very poor conditions. We drove for an hour past strands of palm trees, groves of West Indian Cedars and solitary mahogany trees, the distant green hills growing larger every minute.

The medical team arrived at their batey for the day and quickly transformed a cramped one room schoolhouse into a med clinic for the day. Over the course of five hours they treated 115 patients: mostly women, children and the elderly. They dispensed all the children’s vitamins they had packed for the day, along with large amounts of allergy meds, Tylenol, and blood pressure and diabetes medications. Brooke, Olivia and Rose somehow managed to take blood pressure at their station- right at the entrance where everyone was lined up to enter and see the doctors. While hearing the heartbeats was a challenge, their newly found expertise allowed them to use the gently bouncing needle on the BP cuff to assess the heartbeats and pressure. Sofia used her fluency in Spanish to manage the “bug juice station” giving children a dose of anti-parasite medicine. Maryam quickly mastered the meds (working with Mr Gemme and Ms OB)- reading the challenging handwriting (doctors!!) and sifting through the bins for just the right med. Kerry carefully matched each patient with a pair of shoes before they left. Last but not least, doctors Alvaro, Ellie, Mythri, and Amanda and nurse and Watkinson alum Mary provided the medical care that was so needed in this batey.

While the medical team ran the clinic, the construction team arrived in Batey Papita and learned that their task for the day would be to help with the roofing of a new dormitory for the workers there. Using materials which were all paid for by generous Watkinson donors, the team applied double coatings of enamel paint to corrugated tin roofing panels to protect them from rust, corrosion, and to keep the houses cool in the fierce Caribbean sun. The children of the batey came out to greet the team and were gifted stickers and bubbles, and even joined in with the team to paint the roofs. 

After a long day the teams came back to the dorms and spent the evening creating food packs for distribution to families on the bateyes tomorrow. By the time the last pack was filled and placed in the corner of the dining room, the Watkinson kids filed upstairs to bed, tired and sore, but ready for another day tomorrow.