UPDATE FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Hope you enjoy the updates from my 5-week trip to the Dominican Republic!

NUMBER 1

Hey all!! This is my first update from the Dominican Republic! I arrived a week ago and have spent the week settling in, making friends, getting to know the kids again, and working hard!! I will be here for 5 weeks total, one month left, and I'm excited to give an update!

If you don't already know, I am with a program called Orphanage Outreach (they have a fbook page if you're interested) working at an orphanage with about 42 children. I came down with them for one week about 2 1/2 years ago and fell in love with the little Dominican children. As I was looking for a summer program this year to be a part of, I emailed around and discovered that they were in great need of a Speech Pathologist! (Or someone, like me, who is being educated in the profession) I really had no idea what I would be doing when I came down, except working with a couple of the children here at the orphanage with speech/language/voice problems. Well, it turns out that 4 of us from college got to come together and HERE WE ARE!! Sara is also doing Speech Pathology with me and the other two are mainly focusing on physical therapy.

So, what do I do all week? Well, they jam pack our days and it's pretty crazy!! A typical week day consists of the four of us heading in to the small town of Monte Cristi by foot or getting a ride with the OO vans to the local rehab center. (Meanwhile all the other volunteers go out to teach English at the Institute that OO owns or into the local public schools). We are sort of pioneering this whole volunteer experience at the rehab center, which is intimidating and fun! They haven't had many volunteers just come down to work at the rehab center, except for a PT group last year. Well, anyways, our first day at the center, they allowed Nat and Elizabeth to get some hands on with physical therapy clients!! So cool, they love it. Sara and I were kind of expecting a slow start because they have NO speech therapist in this town and really never have, so they didn't have any clients lined up. But low and behold, within the first hour we had our first client!! It was a terrifying yet WOnderful experience, interviewing her and doing some on-the-spot therapy. Since then, word of mouth has spread and clients coming in for PT have also come to us for Speech therapy and we have about 5 clients. :-) Plus, each evening we work with a girl at the orphanage for about an hour after we get home, before dinner.

All of this work is really draining because I have to use my brain a lot! Those who teach English are drained physically after a day's work and I am exhausted mentally from trying to recall everything I have learned and trying to be creative. The other girls, Nat, Elizabeth, and Sara speak "un poco" of Spanish and so I translate a lot. I LOVE it. Truly, I love to speak Spanish more than most things! :-) And here I can do it ALL the time! When we're not at the rehab center we are probably either playing with the children at the orphanage, getting some sort of cultural talk, or using up our precious "siesta" (nap) time. We read, journal, nap, chat, etc. It's for about an hour or two during the middle of the day, which is amazing.

Let's see...daily life here is much much different than life in the States or even my life in Argentina was. We live in a "Ramada"...no, not like the Ramada Inn, but a pavilion with a tin roof, closed in by a chain link fence, covered in boards so that no one can see in. It's actually so much nicer that way because the air can circulate in and out. The ramada is full of bunks and we each have a mosquito net, which saves our body from being eaten alive while we sleep. The bathrooms are more or less like camping and we have to take navy showers to conserve water. The food is wonderful...very filling and quite nutritious. Lots of rice and beans, fruits and veggies. My ankles and feet are COVered in mosquito bites and we have plenty of other friends to keep us company during showers or in the bunk, ie spiders, cockroaches, etc.

I'm not sure if any of this makes it sound like I am not enjoying every second of it. HOnestly, the primitive setting does not bother me in the least and it's very similar to how I remember it two and a half years ago. We're constantly sweaty and gross, but it just makes you appreciate a shower SO much more! haha. All the little things in life seem to matter so much less here, material possessions, etc. No cell phone, Ipod, computer, tv. Makes relationships so much more important and your alone time with thoughts increases as well.

Thankfully I have been able to take time each morning to be alone with God and I find his Word rich and refreshing. I am also reading Crazy Love and loving every page of it. I am really trying to slow down and journal out my thoughts along the way. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've read the book or are currently reading it, AMY! :-)

Tell me what you want to know and I will update you further!!!

Love and blessings a todos!!!!!


UPDATE #2 Simply Amazing

Hey all! Second week down, 3 more to go! It's crazy that we've packed so much in, yet we're not even half done! Well, in reality, Sara and Natalie are just starting up their last week, which is MUY triste (very sad), but I've still got awhile. I know it'll fly by.

Working at the clinic is getting a little easier, as we are getting into the routine of seeing the same patients and planning for them each day gets easier. Although, this week we added 2 new clients at the clinic and 3 at the orphanage, bringing our grand total to TEN! It is enough to keep Sara and I up late at night planning and busy during the day giving therapy. We have such a variety, from high functioning stroke, to almost non-verbal stroke, to stuttering, to language delay (possible apraxia), to voice, and more! I doubt that I will EVER experience this all at once again in my life. (Unless of course I return and live here ;-)). Day to day it can be frustrating, thinking "what difference can I make being here 5 weeks and then just up and leaving??" but when you experience the moments of a patient saying "hola" for the first time since her stroke and having a little boy laugh with true joy about stuttering when he had previously been terrified to even talk in front of us, or working with a teenage boy who is embarrassed about his high pitched voice finally make a breakthrough to a lower pitch...it's simply AMAZING. That's when you feel like you could do this for your whole life and never tire of the smiles and laughter brought about by better communication.

Since you know a little about my routine already, this time I'm going to talk about our Fridays. They are wonderful days of travel and relaxation. In the morning we travel to the Haiti/DR boarder, where they have an open market for Haitians and Dominicans to buy and sell goods. I posted a couple of pictures of the experience, but even the pictures cannot describe the different scenes. It's absolutely indescribable. One thing that it has made me realize is that I have never genuinely wanted for anything in my lifetime. I've never wondered where I would get my next meal, I've never had to go without a pair of shoes, and I've certainly never had to struggle for survival. All of these things you witness at this market, with Haitians rushing back and forth across the bridge that separates the two in order to quickly get what they need, bring it back to the Haitian side, and run across for more. The boarder is only open for 3 hours and, therefore, it is chaos. Haiti is a much poorer country than the Dominican Republic and, therefore, the Haitians are under much more stress to get what they need to live on. You do see the contrast at this market as well, with people who are clearly more wealthy than the others, dressed nicely, etc. I suppose that just makes the contrast even greater. Everyone is generally very friendly to our long line of "americanos" and return our smiles, wave, and say things that are mostly not understood. At times we are so jammed together that you discover what it means to be really "friendly" :-)

Next, we return to the orphanage to change quickly and head off to a buffet lunch at a restaurant which has amazing food. Then, we're off to the beautiful beach to enjoy the rest of the afternoon!! I have posted some pictures for you to enjoy. :-)

You may be asking me, So Sarah, what have you learned from all of this?? Well my friends, I am still processing through it all, and I will get back to you next week. I just want to say that I love you all and I would love to hear news from any one of your lives. Please update me :-)

With love and joy,

SArah Anne

UPDATE #3 Beauty Untold

So, here I am at the end of week 3 in the Dominican Republic! We just said goodbye this morning to Natalie and Sara, so now it's just Elizabeth and I. Except, it really isn't "just us" because we have lots of new friends and interns to spend our time with. But it is definitely a different dynamic without the other two.

As many of you know (because I got tons of well-wishes!), Tuesday this week was my 22nd birthday!! This is the second year I've missed my birthday at home...sorry mom! It would've been nice to be home, but I did definitely enjoy it here as well! They have the lovely tradition here of pouring cold water on your for your birthday, which I was delighted to experience in such heat! One of the older girls that I have gotten closer to gave me a cute beaded bracelet for my special day :-) One thing I definitely miss here, though, are hugs!! It's really hard because no one wants to touch...it's so so hot! But I love hugs mucho :-)

On Tuesday we also got the privilege to get to visit the local public hospital. Monte Cristi isn't a huge town and, if comparing their hospital to the states, it is quite primitive. One thing that struck me was that if the pharmacy is out of whatever medicine you need or supplies you need for a surgery (stitches, oxygen, etc) you have to go out and personally buy it. There are people waiting all day, some never making it into an appointment with a doctor all day. They have some sort of organizational system, but to the "untrained" eye it doesn't seem to be very effective or efficient. But they do what they can with the resources they are allocated. What else do we expect?

We also got to experience the English camps this week one day because the clinic was closed. That was quite the experience. I did camps back when I was here 2 1/2 years ago, but I've forgotten just how insane the kids can be! Our clinical work is taxing on the brain and your energy sometimes, but the camps are absolutely draining! You have to run around all day in the blazing heat, singing songs, playing games, making crafts, etc. Especially in the second camp they went to, where the children were not as used to the educational exposure that the other locations had been. They get so excited to sing and use beads and run around with us silly gringos. One little boy this week threw his arm around my neck and proudly told his friends, in Spanish of course, that he was going to New York. I'm not sure he thought I could understand him and I'm not sure it would've mattered if he knew I did. He also later kissed me on the cheek, as evidenced by a picture we captured. I'll post it later.

I did absolutely fall in love this week though. Because we don't usually go to the English camps, the kids didn't really know us and weren't as attached to us as they are to the other volunteers. I was just kind of watching an activity when a little girl kind of came up to us (kind of hung off to the side too). She was one of the most precious little girls I have ever seen. Her distinctive features gave her Haitian heritage away and I can't describe to you her huge brown eyes looking up at me and how they melted my heart. She hung out with me for the rest of the afternoon. I'm not sure she spoke Spanish fluently, but it was enough that we could communicate. At the end of the afternoon when I told her we would be leaving soon she ran away from me and I found her by herself, with huge tears rolling down her cheeks. When I tried to tell her goodbye she just followed me to the van and when her friend tried to pull her away, she stubbornly pointed to the van and said "I"m going with them." Talk about your heart breaking and melting at the same time.

I fell in love a second time when I found one of my favorite little girls at the orphanage sitting on a chair all by herself, crying. She wouldn't answer me when I asked what was wrong, so I just pulled her onto my lap and rocked her until she slept. Ahh...these children are slowly taking my heart!!!

UPDATE #4 Travel Time

Hey all!

So, this is my final update before I will be back in the USA next Saturday night. CRAZY!! I can't believe that I've been here for an entire month already! In some ways it seems longer, in others shorter. One thing that is unique to living down here though is that we definitely have a day-to-day mindset. One of our mottos is "This Is It" and that's truly how we live. I don't worry about what we're doing tomorrow (except in a therapy mindset with my clients) and I haven't thought a lot about life back in the states and what's going to be going on when I get home, when I move to Texas, etc. When I do let myself think about it I worry slightly about finding a place to live, having $$, etc., but I know God will work everything out if I just lean on him. Phew.

This week was the first week with just Elizabeth and I. We've adjusted fairly quickly, although we do miss our other halves!! I have Elizabeth help me with some speech things and other things I do by myself now. Some pretty cool things have been going on therapy-wise. Still loving the work and loving the variety of patients we get to see each day.

An exciting event happened this week! Twice a year the leadership brings a group of interns to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, for the day. We just happened to be lucky enough to experience it!! The trip was a whopping 5 hours each way, but it was totally worth it! We had fun exploring the colonial part of Santo Domingo, where we visited a fort from the 15th century, a museum with a lot of the country's history, and ate..drum roll...PIZZA HUT!! Legit Pizza Hut that tasted exactly like the US. We also went shopping and bartered with local vendors on the street. The island has some pretty interesting history.

I really enjoy the interns that are here volunteering alongside of us. We've gotten some more time to get to know them and each week we get two one-on-one times to spend with a pre-chosen intern. We also often play cards, the most popular game being Nerts, and have a lot of fun doing that. We are from all over the country and it's a unique experience!

I am looking forward to returning home, but I am doing so with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I will spend this week living life to the full with my clients, kids at the orphanage, sweaty walks home, beach time, reading time, star gazing time, etc. See you in a week!!

Love and hugs.