La Romana Medical

Received from Elaine on March 9, 2012:

Amour, Paix, Patience, Sagesse, Unity, Union, Voluntare, Fraternite

On the walls of Inglese Bacara where we attended church Sunday these fruits of the spirit were written and inspiration for our week to come. Thirty five missionaries came together to do the work of God. There were reunions and new friends made, spirits remain high and hopeful.

More urban illness has crept into the Batey. A Coke truck impeded our entrance one morning.

Over six hundred received healthcare, children got hugs, and did crafts at bible school. Few injuries occured, all remained healthy. We had the privilege of porcelain every day.

So with love, peace, patience, wisdom, the spirit of fraternity, unity we accomplished our mission.

Dios es bueno

...E

La Romana Construction

Received from Tom Kohls on March 9, 2012:

A report from the construction team at La Romana

Fellow ACC members and friends,

The Good Samaritan hospital is the primary focus of the mission’s construction efforts. The hospital was founded to serve the medical needs of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. It now serves all residents of La Romana and the Dominican Republic, regardless of race, creed, or national origin. Construction started in 1985.

Our construction teams are tasked with working on projects to maintain the finished parts of the hospital and to help with new construction. We receive our assignments through local translators. We frequently work with local laborers.

The work, so far, has been quite straightforward. Some crews have spent a lot of time moving sand, concrete blocks, and bags of cement for the ongoing construction of the upper floors. My crews have been painting on the second floor of the hospital while hospital business continues around us. Small crews made up of more skilled members has been doing electrical work and masonry work in the new construction areas.

We have had the usual challenges while working on construction projects. There’s always a shortage of basic tools and supplies. It can be hard to find a wheel barrow, step ladder, drop cloth, or any number of other tools. We all borrow and improvise and wait our turns. The last could days have presented a different challenge to crews working in open air environments. We’ve had wind gusts up to 40 MPH. It all goes with the territory.

Through all this, we’ve been able to see progress. There are rooms where concrete blocks were piled a year ago. And more importantly, we continue to receive the gratitude of the staff of the hospital and those able to use its services.

Please keep us in your thoughts as we return from our mission. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Faithfully submitted,

Tom Kohls

Monday, March 5  Reflections & Ruminations

I realize that this year I was very focused on the potentials of this mission partnership.
They seem to be prolific.  Pastor Ronel and the people who work with him seem to have great ideas about education for employment and a wonderful ability to follow through....

I think over the next couple of weeks I'd like to consider some aspects of the trip and ruminate for a few paragraphs on the possibilities.
I'd love interfacing with others from the trip as well as from you who are simply following our pilgrimage. 
I think there is a call to do several trips during the year with somewhat different foci. And I'd like to find the right folks to travel and the right folks to support the work...

So perhaps this small network will help to develop a larger network for the ways we can work together.

Possibilities include - the new nursing school with space and instructors awaiting resources
                              - the establishment of a chicken farm in Caveau
                              - visiting pediatric therapists to help in the 2 centers for handicapped children
                              - more attention to food production and opportunities at the orphanage in Llavoix.
                              - a small community orphanage at Rocher D'Horeb where Pastor Gratis inspires
                                 hope
                              - an expanded med team in the spring including med students and other
                                 medically related students
                              - a system for healthcare follow up facilitated by Dr. Betina: involving
                                 establishing  Health Promoters in each of the 28 Haitian Baptist Convention
                                 Churches in Port au Prince (sort of a "Parish Nurse" model)
                              - the sewing classes, computer classes already happening at the Delmas 19
                                   school
I hope the list will grow as we share the dreams....

With immense gratitude to every single member of our team and 
blessings to all, shantia

Last Full Day

On Friday we visited the same orphanage that we visited last year. Last year the children were living in a condemned building on plywood beds. This year their housing situation is about 1000% better, but the food situation still requires much improvement.

The children are now living in a new building with a cafeteria, bathrooms, showers, and real bunk beds. They have a much better water supply. Chickens are also kept at the orphanage and the eggs are used and sold. The orphanage is joined with a school and it looks like the orphans are attending classes.

As I said, food is still an issue. It is unclear if the children get food every day and while we were there they had a mean of rice with very little beans. The doctors did note that they need more protein in their diet.




This was also the last day of the kite project. I had pre-made several kites and had partially finished many more. I spent the day out doors on the ground building kites and handing them out. In the morning I met Evans. He took right to the kites and not only showed me the Haitian way to string the kites but effectively helped me run the kite workshop. It would have been great to have my son W there to help as well as I think he would have had a great time.

Before we left for the day I made sure I gave Evan enough supplies to continue building kites after we left and asked him to make sure he takes care of the kids younger than he. As we were leaving he came over and gave me a hug and said, through a translator, that he would take care of the younger kids. Haiti needs more people like Evan.