Day 7 - The Last Work Day

 

Hello everyone, my name is Chebly, one of the doctors on the team currently in the Dominican Republic. Today marks the last day of our service trip, and we are all determined to make the most of it—providing the best care possible and helping as many people as we can.

We started our day as usual, waking up around 7:00 AM, sharing breakfast, and packing food boxes. By 8:30 AM, we were on the bus outside the dormitory, ready to head to the clinic. The mood was bittersweet—it was our last day here, but we were determined to make a lasting impact.

Then, the unexpected happened. Midway through the journey, our bus broke down. The driver tried his best to fix it, but it just wasn’t working. Under the hot sun, we waited for nearly two hours until another bus arrived. Thankfully, the replacement bus had air conditioning—a small but much-appreciated relief after the delay.

As we sat there waiting, my mind kept wandering to the patients who were likely waiting for us at the clinic. I hoped they wouldn’t lose patience and leave before we arrived. When we finally reached the clinic at around 11:30 AM, my heart lifted at the sight of a crowd still waiting outside.

Every day, I find myself looking forward to this moment—the smile on the patients’ faces as we arrive. It’s the best reward I could ask for, fueling my motivation to give them the best care and support, both medically and emotionally.

Despite starting late, our team worked tirelessly, seeing and treating around 120 patients by the end of the day. It was non-stop work until 3:00 PM, but the teamwork and dedication made it possible.

On the way back, the familiar rhythms of bachata music filled the bus, lifting our spirits as we reflected on the day and shared our favorite moments. 

We reached the dormitory around 4:00 PM, quickly changed, and headed to the beach to unwind under perfect weather. 

By 6:30 PM, we returned to find dinner with the usual amazing cake waiting for us—exactly what we needed after such a long day. 

While everyone enjoyed the meal, you could feel a hint of bittersweetness—it was our last night and final dinner together, wrapping up an unforgettable journey.

As per the tradition of this yearly trip, the last night featured an award ceremony. Everyone had a randomly picked name and was tasked with choosing an award for that person. The awards were distributed amidst laughter and cheers, as we took a moment to admire each other's excellent work and dedication throughout the trip.

Until next time, 

Chebly

Hey Wat,

Caleb Gottesmann - Class of 2027: 

Today was an eventful day. With it being the last day of our service trip, emotions were high and were so high that in the heat of the moment a member of our team journey onto the wrong bus in the morning (Culprit pictured asleep). Ms. French commented that this was the first time in 13 years of Watkinson DR Trips that somebody got on the wrong bus but another way of looking at this was that this was the first time in 13 years of Watkinson DR Trips that somebody got on the wrong bus and we as a team overcame it.

Once we arrived at Batey 50 a few members of our team sifted sand for rocks, while others got to work digging ditches and laying blocks around one of the houses. During this time a number split off from the concrete and began to finish the painting we had been working on throughout the week. While the painting started, a few wheelbarrows of rocks were sifted out of the sand we began manually mixing concrete before bringing the concrete to the ditch where we began to lay it. Our professional masons of Watkinson began laying concrete while others filled in the space between the new foundation and the home with dirt as the sun began to scorch. We finished post haste with the sun beating on our backs and headed for lunch.

picture to be added in the morning (sorry)

After a scrumptious lunch in the sugarcane fields we headed back to work. We set off to distribute food with the assistance of Yolanda who worked with Hayden in organizing which houses we needed to deliver to before we headed off to the school. Once we got to the school we delivered a bag of toys and sweets for later and gathered all the kids for some paricute shenanigans. We played for a few minutes bringing the parichute up and down, kids running in and out before we got back to work. We finished the work day concluding the painting and doing all we could with the new foundations but were unable to lay the final piece of it as a tree was in the way and was to be cut down at a later time.

Once the work was done for the day we said our goodbyes, gave any equipments like boots and gloves out, and left with many of our number crying as we drove away. Afterwards we headed to the beach for quick hour for some fun before returning to home base around 6:30. After we returned we immediately had dinner and one last cake!!! before being given some time to finish packing for our departure tomorrow. After many of our troop most surely did not finish packing we met up for Paper Plate Awards with some of the highlights being Will the Wanderer, The León, and the Big Gun Award which was given to two people, Julia Schoenfeld '25 and myself. Now with the hardest past us we all head off to bed at a reasonable hour* and prepare ourselves for our trip home tomorrow.