Our Great Dentist

This is a picture of Randy, the dentist who was on our trip.  He had such a big heart, and gave a devotion the second day that moved all of us, and brought the spirit of Christ to our day.

Message from Katrina

I feel so blessed to have been a part of this mission.  We all learned so much from the people in Cien Fuegos and also from eachother. 
Something I found very inspiring was the interest of the patients in learning about health and how to live healthier lives.  Men, women, and children sat attentively and absorbed everything I had to say during health education sessions.  The people were interested in everything we had to offer, even if it was just advice on how to reduce their risk of hypertension or diabetes. 
I worked closely with a church volunteer who only spoke spanish.  Not only was she very enthusiastic about health education, she took on the responsibility when there was no translator to assist me.  She had listened to my talks on diabetes, hypertension, healthy eating, and dental hygeine, then began giving talks on her own.  It was very inspiring. 
I hope to continue inspiring people in Cien Fuegos to live healthier lives by creating health education modules that can be implemented by the community members. 

Thoughts from Rachel

I just wanted to tell everyone how much I respect and admire the group of nurses I traveled with to Cien Fuegos.  This was one of the most physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging endeavors I have ever undertaken, and I know we were all equally exhausted.  Despite the challenges we faced during the week, we came together, supported one another, and worked as one of the most efficient and dedicated teams I have ever been a part of.  I am so proud to have worked along side each one of these nurses!  I left Cien Fuegos feeling more proud to be a nurse than I've ever been. 

I came home from this mission very enlightened.  I was so inspired by the people of Cien Fuegos.  The patients we saw were so joyful despite living without basic necessities.  Many had no access to things like running water, refrigeration, or transportation, things I cannot imagine living without.  Regardless of the things they didn't have, the people were happy.  I hardly met a local person without a smile on their face.  The adults were thankful for vitamins and someone to share their problems with.  The children were so grateful for small gifts like  pencils, stickers, or plastic trinkets.  I left with a different perspective because of the people in Cien Fuegos.

Mission update by Mary Gura RN WHNP-S

As a student this was such a enriching learning experience along with a spiritual experience. The thought of going on a mission trip to provide medical care was so entriguing when the idea was presented to us back in August. The Women's Health Nurse Practitioners (4 of us plus Deb our instructor) decided unanimously to go on this adventure. As the possibility unfolded to actually make this happen, other graduate nursing students and faculty jumped on board to make this mission trip a reality. We prepared for this trip by making some educational pamphlets to take with us on topics that Barnabas Task felt were needs of the people of Cien Fuego. We collected donations of meds and supplies packing 18 suitcases full for our trip.

We spent 4 days offering medical care to the people of Cien Fuego (over 600 patients were seen throughout the 4 days). We saw patients of all ages (from 6 mos - 70). Common complaints ranged from flu symptoms, abdominal cramping, fatigue, muscle aches, high blood pressure, and parasites. The people were the most patient people I have ever met. They may have waited 2 hours or so in line or sitting and waiting to be seen but we never heard a complaint. The people graced us and prayed for us being there to see them. A smile and a listening ear went a long way. Many times Motrin and vitamins was all we could provide and the people took them so graciously. They were beautiful people. The children just loved to see us smile and have their pictures taken. We enjoyed the people of Cien Fuego as much as they enjoyed us!

Thank you to IPFW and the Barnabas Task for giving us the opportunity to serve the people of Cien Fuego.
God Bless.

Mary

Video of stocking pharmacy

Several people wanted to know more about the clinic.  I took this video as we stocked our pharmacy.  When we arrived, we had only bare walls.  Day one we had 1 shelving unit we put together - as you'll see, we needed more.  On day 2, we got a second shelving unit.  In addition to all of the medications that were donated by various relief organizations, the Dominican physicians brought boxes of medications.  We learned even more Spanish!

Carol

What Incredible Students We Have!!!

After meeting with the News Sentinel last evening,  I felt a need to talk about what an incredible job the students did.  This was a service learning trip.  The idea was to assess the community health needs and begin development of their capstone project based on the assessment data received during patient care and the meeting with community leaders.  Development of  self-sustaining health education for the community of Cien Fuegos will continue in the coming months.
Never have I seen a group of students who worked so hard and so well together.  There was collaboration, cooperation, caring and love shown.  The gave as much as they received.  BRAVO group, you certianly stepped up to the plate.  Dr. Sternberger, Jane and I are sooooo proud of you!

                                         The Women's Health NP group

The Adult NP group

Stay tuned for an article in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel about our trip and Barnabas Task.  What a great opportunity to show how we can combine learning, synthesis, application and service to a community.
Hey, gang.  We need a picture of the Nursing Education Group!

Update from Deb

Despite problems with the internet connection in the DR, we continued to take pictures so that we could update the blog when we returned. 
Day 2 at the clinic began with a devotion given by our dentist Randy.  He spoke about his experience in reading a book called "The Art of Possibilities, Transforming Your Personal and Professional Life".  We had all been feeling like we were there just putting a bandaid on a giant wound, because of the amount of poverty and what we had to offer in the week we were there.  He talked about taking OWNERSHIP of what would we could do, to own that we had a week there to make a difference.  He related it to the fact that the world only needed 1 savior, but many disciples.  We could make a difference by serving for the short time we were there. 
We had interpreters that were medical students at the University, who were invaluable, as we knew very little Spanish.  They do not have patient contact very early in their studies, so they were very eager to help us and to see all the pathology in the patients we saw.  We learned alot from each other.  The children have all kinds of skin fungus, pharyngitis, coughs, colds.  The girls marry very young (13-15) and are mothers very young in life.

 The clinic building, with "offices" on the second floor

 2 Dominican students dressed up as clowns and played with/educated the children

 The waiting line for the clinic.  It goes around the clinic.  They were there every morning

 This little boy was so cute.  He kept coming up to me and smiling and looking at me with big brown eyes

 Candice and Erielka, the medical student/interpreter

 Jane and her interpreter

  This is a 6 month old little girl who had no diapers.  Her mom was 15 and she was feeding her only juice and an "herbal" tea, because she didn't have any formula.  We gave her formula and bought her 3 packs of diapers. 

This was the sunrise we saw every morning from the hotel dining room. 
Day 2 we saw about 200 patients.
Day 3, we did not have as many interpreters.  Some of the medical students were concerned, that even though they had permission from the University leaders, they would not be looked upon well by their professors for missing class.  It was too bad, but we doubled up with interpreters and made do with what we had.  Jane, Katerina, Rachel and Katrina took a bus to a Haitian orphanage and took care of about 70 children who all had some sort of skin condition.  That evening, we met with the community and University leaders to interview them about the community. (I will let some of the students describe)  We have forged a relationship with the leaders of the medical school at the Catholic University. 
Day 4 at the clinic started early at 8 am.  Our goal was to finish our last clinic day with a bang.  We had plenty of medical students for interpreters, so we were able to see many.  The church in Cien Fuegos provided us with lunch each day; some sort of meat, rice and beans, tomallies (sp?) and usually some type of salad.  The women were very gracious in serving us and making sure we were fed well so we could continue the clinic each day.

That evening we were honored to be part of Noche de Damas (Night For Ladies)  This was a night organized by the lay women on the trip.  It was a night planned for educating the DR women on their rights.  In the DR, women have few rights and are never given such an opportunity.  It wa a beautiful night.  I spoke on Breast Health and Awareness, speaking from my personal story of breast cancer and educating women on how to decrease their risk of breast cancer.  Karla spoke from her heart about her story of being raped and how her life has changed since giving it up to Christ.  Then a judge from Santiago spoke on women's rights and how the women of Santiago could get help if their rights were violated.  Tom had sent a bus to Cien Fuegos to pick up some women and bring them to the hotel.  They had never been to an event like this and they were all very grateful. 

Singing Amazing Grace.
One day we went to the "hole', the garbage dump of Cien Fuegos.  It was terrible to see.  There are people who are garbage diverss here.  They spend the day "diving" into garbage and trying to get anything they can to use or sell.  It was so sad.  Here is a picture:

What a wonderful trip.  Something that I will never forget.  Please know that your prayers and support were very important in making this a meaningful trip.  I am sure that we touched the hearts of the people of Cien Fuegos and Santiago as much as they touched our hearts.  Stay tuned for more information from the students.