Baby no more!

This little Princesa child is sooo big now! She hung out with us at school today and it was so much fun. She's laughing and almost walking and has such a little personality. It's fun having a baby around!

Snow vs. Sun

Oh I think I'm in for a bit of a temperature shock when heading to Oregon in a few weeks! My mom just emailed me a picture of what's happening there, meanwhile, it's a bit warmer here!

Vaccines

Candace has officially graduated my vaccination school and is now vaccinating away! We did our second round of Hepatitis B these last two days and managed to vaccinate almost 150 kids with just 3 of us...and some teacher helpers. We had a good time through all of it though and I'm thankful for the vaccines that were donated and all the hands to help!! One more round of Hep B and our kids have their first complete series of vaccines!

Youth

This weekend was a full one! The church had their Regocijo Juvenil which is like a big youth event for all the area. It started Thurs night and finished on Sunday night and went so well. Loads of people turned out and it was fun to see everyone.

Dominican Thanksgiving

We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. I think there were 14 of us all together...Dominicans, Americans, Canadians, Haitians (baby Jonathan!). It was fun to see the Dominicans trying lots of foods for the first time like apple pie and cranberry sauce and stuffing. It was also great to eat such familiar "home" food. I'm very thankful for the family of friends I have been placed with here!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is going to be Tuesday for us! There are lots of events happening this week so we had to push the celebrations forward a few days. Today we made apple pies and then tonight the turkey got worked on. We got rid of the guts and the neck (how disgusting is that part!). I can't actually remember laughing so hard in a long time! We did it by candlelight as well as the lights were out, which added to the fun. You never quite knew what you were pulling out of that thing!

To get our turkey we had to go on an adventure to Santiago which is a bit over an hour away. We bought our $30 turkey weighing in at 15 lbs (yah, $2/lb!) and a ham too. We plan on having the full Thanksgiving spread tomorrow, minus pumpkin pie. We went to the 2 biggest grocery stores in Santiago and struck out. We tried at the 2 stores in this area and again, no canned pumpkin. One guy I asked told me he didn't have canned pumpkin but upstairs they had decorative pumpkins. I told him thanks, but I couldn't make a pie from that! Anyhow, it's been fun trying to do an American Thanksgiving in the DR! Tomorrow we'll have Americans, Canadians, and Dominicans around our table and I'm really looking forward to it!

Guagua

When I was younger I promised I would never drive minivan. Never say never. I now drive a 16+ passenger van daily. Here in the DR, these types of vans are used as public transport, called a guagua. There is a set route and people stand on the side of the road and wait for it to go by. Now one of the joys of driving our guagua is that they flag me down for a ride. Fun. It is pretty much a babe-magnet.

Our guagua is long. Sometimes I have trouble parking. It is blue. The steering wheel is big but it is otherwise easy to drive. Sometimes I just pretend when I'm driving alone that 4 rows of seats don't exist behind me. It will be amazing when teams are here, for that is the reason for our guagua...but we don't have another team until the end of January.

Our guagua has a tape deck. That is one of the highlights because I have tapes. I like to listen to my tapes because they are generally from about the 8th grade and are amusing. Makes me think of old boyfriends and talking with the girls while playing M.A.S.H.

Our guagua has two settings for temperature, cold-colder. There is no heat, just air conditioning. That makes sense though because, after all, this is the Dominican Republic.

I'm thankful for our guagua.

Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the Dominican Republic, and we are LOVING it! Candace and I decorated the house this weekend and brought out all of the Nutcrackers too. Tonight we went to dinner with the Mercy Ships group and were very excited about all the decorations they had. Even though it's still early November and Thanksgiving hasn't even come and gone...Christmas is in full swing here and it's very welcomed!

Dominican Wedding

We got to attend a wedding for friends Milka and Francis on Sunday which was really nice. With only a few variations, it was fairly similar to U.S. weddings and I'm glad we were able to be there and be a part of it all.

Classrooms

Progress continues as we have begun digging and building onto our already in-progress classrooms. We have a bathroom block and 2 classrooms almost finished and have now started digging and laying block for 2 additional classrooms. We are working towards having a 2 story classroom set where we'll have 8 classrooms and 2 sets of bathrooms. Anyhow, it's so exciting/overwhelming/encouraging, to see it all coming together. To trust that we'll be able to handle the changes and growth. I can't wait to meet all these kids!

Life these days...

So these days have been filled with all sorts of different things. I'll start with the top left photo which is Michelle and me...she is one of the leaders with Mercy Ships, the group that is here for the month. We made a day trip with everyone up to Jarabacoa and stopped along the way for coffee.

So then top right was one of the stupidest things I've done yet. So there is this retreat for the youth of all the churches and these two invited me to ride bikes out to it. I thought it would be tough, but figured I could probably do it. I WANTED TO DIE. Or, actually I thought I was going to. It started raining along the way, a mixed blessing as it was cooling but also then meant wet clothes for awhile.

Then that takes us to the bottom two photos where today we went to Jarabacoa to vaccinate the children at the ANIJA school. We did loads of shots on screaming, crying, fleeing children, but it was very successful thanks to all the help.

Storm

Thanks for everyone checking in about how we're doing after the storm. It was a very rainy and windy and wet week, but the north coast was spared most of everything. The south was hit very hard and the rescue efforts are still underway as they find whole villages under mud and water. Dominicans compare this the Hurricane Katrina in the States. Bridges and roads were taken out, rivers rose higher than they ever have; many people are still missing.

Rain

So it's been raining. A lot. The other night the thunder was intense, I have never heard thunder like that before. It probably lasted for over 30 minutes and it shook the windows and the house the whole time. Candace came up to sleep with me...that's how intense it was!

The rain is a mixed blessing. Being from Oregon, I LOVE the rain. I like grabbing a blanket and sitting on the couch and watching it. I like hearing it on the tin roof. I like even getting wet when I go out sometimes. But rain also means flooding. Flooding of houses that were rough to start with. Leaking tin roofs that were already weak fall in, families get wet, dirt floors turn to mud. Rivers rise and it means no school...we can't get into the village if the river is too high; we can't expect the kids from the other side of the river to cross, it's too dangerous.

So today Candace and I sit on the couch, napping, drinking coffee, talking, reading. It's been raining for quite a few days now. I miss my kids at school. I hope they are dry, I hope they get to sit on the couch and drink hot chocolate while their mom reads them stories. And then I am reminded of the hard realities. I hope the rain stops.

Beach day

To celebrate the graduation, we went to the beach for the afternoon on Sunday. It was cloudy and a bit damp, but still great to go out and talk and play...some were even brave enough to get in the water. We went to a new-to-me beach called Cangrejo which we were able to walk to from the house...like 40 miles away (or so it seemed!)

Moving forward

We have the Mercy Ships team here for 3 weeks and construction is flying forward! The septic, which was dug by hand, is almost completely finished which is that much closer to having the new bathrooms ready. The sidwalk around the gazebo is finished. The classrooms are nearly done...it's great! We (and by we I me they) actually just started digging the footings for 2 more classrooms which, to be honest, is overwhelming to think of! To have that many kids in the school will be amazing. I love watching the changes and being involved in something so great.

Adonai Graduation

It's the time of year for graduations! I went last night to the first one which was quite fun. They started out at the park and walked to the church where a million people packed in (it was HOT). After we went and had spaghetti with the graduates and chatted. Why do I get to be a part of these things? How did I get so blessed to live this life? I love it!

In preparation

Dear family

In preparation for being in Oregon for Christmas (Dec 19th-Jan 4th) I'll need a few things to make the transition easier:

-Please place a bin always next to the toilet...that's where the t.p. goes, right?
-Turn off all lights nightly at 5pm and on again about 9pm. Feel free to change the schedule without telling and turn lights off and on at will.
-I will need a constant heater near me to maintain 80 degrees
-Please find all sweaters, long underwear and anything warm
-I will need to be awoken each morning by roosters and motorcycles
-Remove all seatbelts from the car
-Replace all carpet with tile
-Instead of an umbrella, I'll just be needing a showercap
-All coffee will need to come in a plastic cup. Oh yah, I drink coffe now.

Thanks for getting things ready. See you at Christmas!

Jes :)

Yubi's 25!!

We went to Yubi's birthday party last night which was fun, as usual. Yubi is one of the teachers at school and also goes to church with us. We had a group of gringos which was always entertaining and even had to perform at birthday song for her.

Women's Retreat

I got to go to an amazing women's retreat this weekend. It was so great and I was surrounded by incredible Dominican women and learned so much. We talked and talked and talked some more. They're still amazed that I can wash my hair daily and I don't have to wrap it around my head at night...and were stumped at the eyelash curler, we continue to learn from each other!!

Good things come to those who wait

Sorry I've been a bad blog-updater, I'm working on it tonight, so long as the lights stay on. Check in later, I'll do my best! Sorry.

Youth group

Tonight our little dinner for a few turned into all the youth in the church! It was excellent in the end and fun to have everyone over. It's been amazing to be a part of this church and how they have welcomed me in and made me really feel like I am a part of them. The friendships I have made in these last few months are so great and I look forward to building on them in the time ahead. So it turns out I can still be a part of youth group...who would've guessed?!

Roof is on!

What a production! Saturday was the day to fill in the roof on the classrooms and bathrooms. What an incredible project. A whole team was brought in who has a lot of experience with this and it was interesting to watch...and a lot of work for them. So now the roof will "set" for about a month and we'll otherwise be moving forward with all the other projects that are to be done! We are still set for bringing in a new class of 4 year olds in November which is exciting and overwhleming. I took applications for 4 hours and had 167 kids that want in...now we have to pick about 50. It is overwhelming, the need is huge, how do you pick one poor kid over the other poor kid? It's hard but I trust that we'll pick the ones that need it the most and pray for wisdom in doing so!

Happy Thanksgiving

All is well...I knew it would be! Candace is back and settling into the swing of things and it is perfect. Today is Canadian Thanksgiving so we had mashed potatoes yesterday and corn on the cob from the street man today. We started sponsorship work like crazy today since Candace will be taking over that job (!!!!!!!) as I am freed then to work more towards medical and being a nurse! So many ideas abound right now about the direction I could take and the needs that we have. So for Canadian Thanksgiving, I say that I am thankful today that life is back to normal, that Candace is home!

HOOOORRAYYY!!

Candace is back!!! I'm so excited...life is good!

Ew

So unfortunately, the ugliest dog on the island, perhaps the world, has found its way to my garage. He is disgusting. He is skinny, losing hair all over, gross, and the worst part is that he won't leave. Anytime I go near he growls so it's quite hard to kick him out. Even harder is keeping him out because he's scrawny enough to fit through the bars on the gate. I hope he doesn't die in my garage...

Retreat!

What an incredible weekend! I went on my first Dominican church retreat! It was so fun. I was a little nervous as I don't know people that well in the church yet, but that was one of my main reasons in going. Anyhow, it was so much better than I expected (it always goes that way) and I made lots of new friends and got to know many more people. We slept little and played a lot but it was well worth it!

As I shared a cabin with Dominican women, I also learned a few things...mostly about hair! I stepped out of the shower and as I was walking to my bunk I heard one lady say in shock "she got her hair wet!" You see, Dominican women wash their hair about once a week and otherwise keep it dry so that it doesn't get all kinky. Anyhow, they were also amazed that I don't have to dry my hair and keep it in rollers to straighten it, and that I can even go to bed without doing anything...they wrap their hair around their heads every night to keep it straight! Oh, the things that I'm learning! What a fun weekend!

Bye bye Etheridges

As quickly as they've come...they had to leave. Today we spent the afternoon in Playa Dorada which was so beautiful. It was amazing to have them here, it meant more than they will ever know! It's been so long since seeing them and hopefully won't be that long until the next visit!

Photos

So I thought I better put some more update photos on. The top two are baby Jessica who's already a month old. She's chubby and happy and doing really well. It's fun seeing how quickly she has changed and watching her grow! The bottom is of Princesa and her older brother, Julio, who loves her and kisses on her everday at school. It must be so confusing why his little sister is raised by someone else, but at least he knows her and loves her a lot. And of course, a photo of the amazing sunsets here... one of the great things about living in the D.R.!

Visit to the village

I got to take Dan and Sarah to show-and-tell at school yesterday and loved it! We walked around the school and to Caraballo and through the village. They played with kids and we had lunch with all of them and it's so fun to see them loving on the kids I get to love on everyday!

Etheridge time

It's been so fun having Dan and Sarah here...we've gotten to play a lot and just chat. We've been to beaches and waterfalls and the mountains and it's great! Really special to have them here with me. We're going to the village tomorrow which is always the best part of having anyone here!

Smiles

Yup, THIS is what makes me happiest each day.

Etheridge visit

The Etheridges have landed! Dan and Sarah flew in from England last night and will be here for 2 weeks. It is amazing to have them here, it's been a very long time since last seeing them. We've already had a bit of time to play in Sosua and catch up...but I'm excited that we still have 2 more weeks ahead. Dan managed to get himself a nice sunburn in the first 24 hours of being here, but hopefully that'll be brown soon. Looking forward to all that is ahead.

Princesa

I LOVE this kid! The good news is that she's back onto loving me...for awhile there she only loved Zeneida-mom. We had fun at school today and got to play and cuddle. It's so great being back in school!

Can you hear me now?

So I was just talking to my mom about cell phones and it made me think...LOTS of people have old cell phones. Do you know we need cell phones?? Okay, so if anyone has a phone they're not using, SEND IT! It doesn't matter what brand it is, as long as it isn't ancient. We just take it to the phone store and they do some magic and it's ready. Chargers would also be great to come with the phone...otherwise it isn't that useful after a few hours. So let me know after you dig them out of the closet (you're not ever going to use it anyways!) and I'll tell you where to send it to. We'll use them at the school for keeping in touch with various people there (kitchen staff, construction staff, professors, etc.). Don't think everyone else will just do it, YOU do it! Thanks, from all of us that are hoping to talk soon. :)

Uniforms

Yesterday was Uniform Day where all the kids got to come in and receive a big bag of goodies to get them ready for school. The biggest thing they received, thanks to lots of fundraising of those involved, was the uniform! Each and every kid walked away with a new shirt, new pants, and a pair of sturdy shoes. It's exciting to be able to do that and give the kids something that truly helps them get to school. It was also exciting because, well, I got to see my kids and...I missed them. School starts at the care center on Monday and I'm looking forward to it!

Gazebo

Look how amazing our gazebo is! it's coming along so well and I can't wait to be in it! The work is so hard though, these guys sit on top all day nailing the thatch to the boards. It's the first actual place the kids have to go when the sun is beating down...as it always does. And for the off-chance that there's rain, the kiddies will stay dry. The classrooms/bathrooms are also coming along well. Can't wait to have more kids be able to come to school.

Baptism day

Today little baby Jessica got baptized and it was special to get to be a part of that. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky, or is blessed the better word, to get to be here. To be welcomed so openly into their family, to come alongside them...it's not actually easy to describe.

It was interesting to see how it's done here (or at least in the village), with a little branch dipped in saltwater while the pastors says prayers over the baby whilst wiping the wet branch around her head, mouth, hands...like I said, interesting.

I can't wait until she's old enough for sleepovers and to learn English. I've got a lot of plans for this kid!

Change

Remember when the school looked like this: Now look at what we have!!!

Just flipping through photos today and couldn't actually believe all the changes that have happened in one year at the school. We've got a new cafeteria, lots of new paint on everything, bathrooms, classrooms, a gazebo, and speaker system...I can't wait until all these things are done and for all the projects ahead. Even more, I can't wait to see all the kids at school.

Growing

So this kid went from baby to girl overnight! I can't believe how big she is getting. It's just that I love her SO much...she's pretty much the best baby (except now she only wants to go to Zeneida, but I'm working on that.)

One year

525,600 minutes
How do you measure
Measure a year?

I can't believe I'm doing this...

So I hate these things, I really do. But it's Sunday afternoon, Alison had "tagged" me and I really have nothing better to do so here I go:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts
2. Each player startes with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (If you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

#1 I like strawberry-flavored things. I didn't know this until Josie pointed it out to me, but it's true. Stawberry Dinos, strawberry icecream, strawberry SkimIce...

#2 I love sugared cereals. I tried to deny it for awhile and buy things like Muesli and wheat Chex, but have now fully embraced the fact that I love sugared cereal. In fact, the more colors it has, the better it tastes...Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Loops, CoCo Puffs, Reese's Puffs...and the new favorite Marshmallow Safari.

#3 I go to the bathroom quickly. I was once told it is one of my best qualities. I often beat boys out of the bathroom.

#4 I am living my dream job but never knew this was the job I was dreaming of! I get to love on Haitian and Dominican kids all day, I get to tell others about Kids Alive, I get to mend knees and de-parasite kids, I get to help raise babies...who could want anything else??!!

#5 I love mangoes. They are the fruit from heaven.

#6 I don't like sunbathing. I love the beach and ocean dearly and spend a good amount of time there, but don't like to be in the sun. I'm white and have come to realize that that will never change. I go from white to red and not a lot in-between. I love the beach when it is raining and storming. In my heaven, I will have a beach and be there all day.

#7 I love babies. Thankfully I am in a place where I am surrounded by babies. If I have a hankering to love on a baby, I do. If I want a baby to stay the night, they do. Maybe someday I'll get my own, but thankfully I've been placed somewhere to fill my arms with endless amounts of babies!

#8 I listen to songs on repeat. If I like a song, I play it over and over and over until it's time to not listen to it for awhile.

Okay, that's it. Now I'm supposed to tag some people so it's going to be: Pamela, Allison, Josie, Naomi, Kylee, Bekah, Lauren, and Jonathan (yah right!)

Play day

We got to have a great day yesterday! We went to a beach called Las Canas with friends and had a nice getaway. This is one of the beaches that is completely empty...we didn't see anyone else the whole time which is a big difference from the other beaches in the area! We had a BBQ of sorts (more of an oven maybe) where we made hot dogs covered in sand, we got to play and swim and nearly drown in the waves...it was a good day. I'm definitely thankful for my friends here and amazing beaches and time to play and get out of the house for a bit!

Hungry babies

This is Jonathan and "Mini Spice" who were both being starved by their families...

They have had great care over the last weeks and are now doing so amazingly. I love to be a part of this and see their recovery and how much their personality changes as they are given constant care and love. It's hard imagining what their lives were like before, but it's encouraging seeing that they are well-cared for now.

To compare

Q:What's worse than sleeping without a mosquito net?
A: Having a mosquito trapped inside your mosquito net!

Maltreatment

So this 1.5 year old girl, Wonji (or something like that) is her name. She was discovered in a nearby village while the Crossroads group was going through. They were scheduled for other things so I had the opportunity to take her to the hospital in Puerto Plata. She was severely dehydrated (see top left photo) and malnourished, along with being very itchy and spotted with rash, bug bites, and skin infection. We went to the E.R. first where she was then transferred to the peds ward. She got an IV and fluids started into her body again, for the first time in an obviously long time. She was well enough to leave after a few days, but on the follow up, the family was without any milk to feed her. As the mom was just given cans of milk to feed the baby, she made it clear she had sold the baby's food. The baby was then offered to be cared for by Crossroads (the other group in the village, their link is on the right), so she is back in the village in the warm arms of lots of people that love her and feed her. She is scared, cries a lot, and doesn't like to be left alone or laid down. Hopefully she will be strong enough and stable enough to think about what her future is...if she'll go back with her family or look for someone to long-term care for her. For tonight though, she is safe and well-fed.

More baby Jessica

So this little girl is getting cuter by the day! I got to go into the village today and cuddle for a little bit and she's just so sweet.

Trip home

Mom and baby got "discharged" this morning and I got to drive the family home. She's even cuter today and I love cuddling her, it's hard to put her down! What a gift it is to be a part of this!

Happy Birthday

Today may have actually been one of the best days I've ever had. I got to be a part of welcoming my friend Pena and his wife Silvania's baby into the world. It's a little girl and she was born this afternoon at 3:13 with huge amounts of hair! They said she was a bit gringa because of her white hands...but she'll be black soon! It was so special to get to be there, I really feel privileged to be able to take part in their family and how they welcome me in. I'm going back in the morning to help them all get home, so they don't have to do the family moto on first day postpartum! It's hard in the States stepping out of "maternity nurse" role, so you can imagine what it was like for me watching here in the D.R., where most of the times things seem backwards. But I'm thankful mom and baby are amazingly healthy and look forward to helping this little one grow up.

Poverty, Pobreza, Mize, Malsite

I hate poverty. I hate inequality. I hate how inadequate and helpless it makes me feel.

He tells me it's his birthday on Wednesday. When I congratulate him, his mother asks what for, so he reminds her as well. With 8 children, how can she remember birthdays, especially with no literacy or knowledge of the calendar? I make him a birthday cake, because that's just what I do, and wonder if this is his first one in his 21 years. My heart hurts.

She tells me she has no milk for her baby, who cries constantly in agreement. So I give her four cans of formula from my stock, that should last them awhile I think. She tells me the next day her neighbors baby was hungry, so she gave her 2 of her cans...and I am changed. This is giving. I give because I have plenty. True giving is when you don't have anything else to give, yet still find a way. I have a lot to learn here.

So what do I do? I can never make it right. I can't stop the dependency on those who have more, I can't lessen the gap. But I do all I know how to. I continue baking birthday cakes, I continue to spend time at her house drinking coffee, even knowing she has no extra money for this.

Sometimes it is a struggle living on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, with all the beautiful beaches and high tourism. In the village a few months back, I was visiting families, going house to house and learning about their children. At the top of the hill, I sat outside with some children chatting, as out of the tall grass came 6 tourists and a guide on a horse-back tour. I was speechless. My feelings ranged from shock to anger as they rode their literal high-horse through the village, my village, snapping pictures on all sides. I wanted to run, I wanted to shout at them, "Why don't you get off your horse, shake hands, heaven forbid even smile at these people! That kids picture you just took? That's Carlitos, he's 8 years old and is the man of the house. And that cute little black girl? She's Jeuli and she arrived from Haiti 10 months ago starving and weighing 28 pounds...and she's 8. And that one..." But I don't. I can't. I pray that this "adventure" can somehow touch them deeply in their lives as they develop their photos and remember.

I'm not here to change it all. Maybe not even change a big part, but I've found myself being changed. I am passionate about making it better. I want desperately to see Andres go to highschool and will fight what I have to to get him papers. This isn't fair, none of it, but we weren't promised fairness and justice, were we? So I just try to help in all that I can, to make a difference in the world that I'm placed in , and hopefully that'll be enough. I pray it is enough.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you".

Dixon time

What a more perfect way to end the summer than a visit from my brother John, sister-in-law Rachel, and Josh and Emily!! The biggest problem was that, as always, the time went way too fast. It was so amazing to have them here, to share this piece of my life and heart and see them loving the same things I do. The kids played endlessly in the water, only falling in love with the ocean on the last few days. Josh's favorite thing ended up being Coke in the bottle! We did some kayaking and swimming and walking and playing.

One of the most special things for me that week was taking my family through the village. The kids brought some toys to give out which was fun to watch. Within the first few minutes, some of my girls from school took ahold of Emily's hands and were leading her through the village. They connected to her so quickly and remembered her when we went back again. She brought along 7 of her own My Little Ponies to give out and each girl in the house was able to get one (big family!). She got to ride on the back of Jonathan's moto, the fearless one that she is! It was also fun to see the kids interact with the Trautwein kids, something I have thought about so much and it became sort of surreal to actually see these two lives mixing. Of course it was also amazing to wake up to thumb-sucking Josh in my bed or Emily telling me that she couldn't sleep because the roosters and monkeys woke her up (P.S., there are NO monkeys in the D.R!)

The time with John and Rachel was very special too. I have been blessed endlessly with a close family and realize that more and more as I grow up and experience more of life. The closeness we have is irreplaceable and I am so thankful to have been able to share with them. Many things happened over these days that I know were planned long ago. Again, it was the best way to end a busy summer and so fantastic to see my family here, something I'm still thankful for.

Summer teams

Wow, we said good-bye to our last summer team today and I can't believe summer is actually over for us. I feel like we were just heading into this with all the fears of having never lead teams before. Thank you to Grace Bible, Cape Bible Chapel, Plano Bible team #1 and #2, and Valley Community Baptist team #1 and #2. With your help we finished the batherooms, painted the bathrooms and the school, started and nearly finished 2 new classrooms, started and did amazing work on the gazebo, and saw about 500 patients in surrounding villages. It was a busy summer, I think we're all exhausted, but so grateful for the work that was done, the new friends we made, and the time we got to spend together. What an accomplishment all around!

More mobile medical

We had an amazing week doing mobile medical clinics. Some of the villages we went to were so incredible, the people, the location, the things we got to do. It was overwhelming sometimes, but mostly just special to be a part of it. The turn-out was huge, often we had to turn people away as we just didn't have the time to stay in each village. What a team we had working, I was able to learn a lot and grow in many ways.

Moblie Medical clinics

With the team this week we have been going to the surrounding villages for mobile medical clinics. It has been challenging and amazing. The amount of people we have seen is incredible, from 75-100+ each day. Many of these people would otherwise not have healthcare, and it's evident on many that they never have had healthcare. I've been learning a lot and seeing a lot as I work alongside the doctors and team in this group. We've got 2 more days and 3 more villages to see.