Blog
Medical Team from Indiana
I was so excited that our second team this year from St. Francis in Indiana came in May. The team consisted of medical and veterinary professionals! The team did an extraordinary job! They were able to serve so many patients, animals and humans! We even made some time to do home visits in the mountains! We are hopeful more groups will start coming down now that many COVID travel restrictions have been lifted.
Olivia
In June, we added a long term BBOH volunteer to our team. Olivia has made multiple trips to the DR with various groups to serve BBOH before she decided to make a long term commitment. She will be teaching dance classes and working with the youth group in El llano! She has been spending her first three months getting to know the community, learning Spanish, and also working alongside me at the clinic. It is really nice to have another BBOH staff member on board.
Added Responsibility
In the beginning of May, Adam and Jessica Carlile added a baby boy to their family! Jonathan is such a sweet baby! Unfortunately, Adam has been stateside for the past couple months dealing with some health issues, so I have been spending a lot of time over at the house with the Carlile children. It has been very busy but wonderful at the same time. I have been able to go on many “Tia dates’ as we call them, helping me run errands, walking the dogs, or just going on adventures.
Clinic Update
Our next step for the clinic is to raise money for a final coat of paint and to finish the parking lot/ramp out front. It truly is amazing how beautiful the clinic has turned out. The ability to have electricity because of the solar panels has been such a blessing. We continue to hold walk-in clinics every Thursday. We have noticed recently that we are getting new patients from further away. We have been finding a lot of malnourished children, and mothers who have died shortly after child birth. We are trying to figure out why there has been such an increase.
Last month, we had a 1 year old baby girl whose mom died and was being raised by her grandma. When she came to the clinic, the baby was severely malnourished. We brought her to the Missionaries of Charity for specialized nourishment and care. Unfortunately, she died a month later. It has been a long time since I have had to bring home a dead baby to their family. It was such an emotional and very sad day.
Recently we had an emergency situation with a young woman who had a baby three months prior. As we were ready to leave the clinic, Dr. Angel and I happened to look out the window of the consultation room and saw a crowd of people coming out of the avocado farm with a makeshift stretcher of bamboo sticks. They carried this young woman for many miles to get to our clinic. Her blood pressure was extremely high, oxygen levels were in the 70’s, she was anemic and retaining fluids. Fortunately, we were able to stabilize her so that we could bring her down the mountain to the hospital. Thankfully she is doing great now!
Family Time
I am so excited to be heading home in the beginning of August for a few weeks to spend time with my family. I haven’t been home since last August! I am looking forward to spending time with my family at a cottage up north and then celebrating my sister Paige’s graduation from Physician Assistant school.
Prayers: Adam’s health improves so he can return to his family in the D.R.
Strength and perseverance for Jess as she waits for Adam’s return
The health of the women and children in the mountain
Olivia’s growth in her mission in the D.R.
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