Hello Everyone, this blog post is being brought to you by Pia Squatrito and Jack Mazlish!
Aurelia (Pia) Squatrito - Class of 2025:
Hello from the med clinic! Our team started with another early wakeup of around 7:00 am. With sunscreen, bug spray and our team "La fuerza azul" (meaning the blue force) shirts on we headed downstairs for breakfast and "Squinters" which is an electrolyte drink. Today our breakfast consisted of: scrambled eggs, bacon & sausages, assorted fruits, bread. Shortly after the construction bus arrived so we helped ensure that they were all set to go, then it was our turn. We were told that the bus had arrived so we loaded up all of our medical supplies and donations. We were off!
We arrived to a Batey located in "San Rafael Del Yuma" and were directed to their quaint church where our pop-up medical clinic would be located. Today my role was BP (blood pressure) / Pharmacy "switch". I started off the day working blood pressure, and when I realized that there wasn't as much as a need for 3 BP students I transferred to sitting in with a doctor providing care for our patients. This was a super amazing opportunity for me, especially since I am heading into the medical field, specifically nursing next year! Maria Akiki, a second year UConn internal medicine intern, has been such an amazing mentor, and teacher for me. We took a break for lunch and afterwards we saw the rest of our patients. We then headed home for our "thanksgiving dinner" at 'Casa De Campo' a day early. For me this years trip has been so surreal because it is my third consecutive DR volunteer trip, and I am graduating this coming spring. Now onto Jack sharing about construction!
Today when we got to Batey 50 we got to work on shoveling sand onto a truck. This was when we noticed that a certain member of our work crew had forgotten their work shoes. I won’t reveal who that was but you know who you are. The sand was then driven over to a concrete mixer so we could make concrete. Once we had some concrete we started using wheelbarrows to dump the concrete into a mold. Which we finished filling up by the end of the day.
While some people worked on concrete the entire time or painting the entire time. I was asked to move over to painting halfway through filling up the concrete mold. Unfortunately a few minutes after I started painting it started raining. Since it was raining we got on the bus and ate lunch and by the time we were done with lunch the rain has stopped.
After getting off the bus we found out that because of the rain the kids had gotten out of school early. This was because there are a few rivers that have to cross to get back that overflow when it rains. I was one of the people who went to play with the kids.
First, the kids learned some English with Cafe (one of the people who is helping us with this trip) taught the kids some English. After learning some English the kids played with the parachute until we had to leave.
After getting back, we packed some rice into ziplock bags, showered, and get into nice clothes. Then we got onto the bus to dinner.
When we got there we all sat with our feet in the pool while we were waiting for the food to be ready. Then food was ready and we all ate. After we were done eating, most of us swam for a while and then we ate some cake. Then we drove home and went to bed.
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