Medical Mission to Dominican Republic Medical Mission to Dominican Republic
2/22/2007 - 3/3/-2007
This report was provided by Larry Seacat, a CCC member. He and his wife Jackie (Nurse Practitioner) attended this mission trip of 20 volunteers including surgeons, nurses, cardiologis, anestesiologists, surgical technicans, interpreters and volunteers.
The mission trip takes us to a hospital out in the barrio, north of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The hospital is called "Elias Santan Medical Center" and is the product of an American couple named Willie and Jan Hunter. Over the past 20 years it has grown froma small dwelling ot a hosptial with several buildings. For the past several years the hospital has been a part of Medical Missions International. There is a surgery center with with 4 surgery rooms plus two larger rooms with 7 or 8 beds each for recovery.
Our team did 41 surgeries in five days on Dominican men, women and children. One case was a little two-year-old girl with two thumbs on her left hand. I watched as the surgeon skillfully removed the extra thumb and thought "that will change that little girls' life forever." There was a colostomy reversal to reconnect the bowel. There were breast cases, hysterectomy, gallbladder and lipoma cases. A young teen had a finger on one had that would not straighten out because the tendon was short. The surgeon was able to correct the problem and the boy hopes he can play baseball someday.
Everyone on the mission team worked toegether as one, adn all said they felt very blessed by their experiences during the trip. We started each day by sharing devotions and a prayer, and prayed with patients before their surgery. We all felt God's presence throughout the week, and praise him for using us to serve others.
One evening we were invited to attend a church service for children by a young Dominican lady. She and her brother had started the church for children at their home. They live back in the barrio in a one room house made of blocks and a tin roof with one light and a dirt floor. When we got there, they had taken the one light down and put it outside to have light for church. There were 40+ children seated in a small area outside of the home. The children began to sing songs in Spanish, and they seemed so happy and glad we were there.
As they were singing, more and more children came to join in until there were 75 or more plus some adults. They made us feel very welcome. They have so little, and yet they are so happy. As I looke around I could see someone through a window working by candlelight in the home. As the service concluded, a young girl emerged carrying a tray of homemade cookies wrapped in napkins. She began passing them out to us first, and then to the children. They were so willing to share when they have so little. I think most of us slipped our cookies to the children.
After the service, the lady's brother said he wanted us to wait five minutes and he would take us home. We did wait to find out he had sent someone to get Coke Cola. He wanted us to have some. We asked him to give it to the children, which he did. He took us back to the hospital compound on his flatbed truck. What a wild ride, but no one complained! We went into town shopping one day and to the beach one day. All in all, it was a very rewarding experience. This was my third trip adn Jackie's tenth. Dr. Jackson (surgeon/group leader) celebrated his twentieth trip this year. I heaerd the comment more than once from team members "Its like coming home when we come back here." You could feel the love and caring the whole mission trip. It was mutual among team members and patients even though we could not all speak the same language.