Hello from back in the States! Well, it was a long day of traveling to get home on Sunday. Flights were on time, but there was some running in the terminal to catch the connecting flight from Miami to Chicago! Unfortunately, Grant and Heather's luggage was lost once we got to Chicago so it was not without a few hiccups! They handled it like champs and headed on to start clinical on Monday. It was nice to be back in America where I could read all the signs- we certainly knew we were home when we saw our first Starbucks! It was a strange feeling to be leaving the DR and it felt like we were just getting used to trying to communicate in Spanish (some better than others), riding to work in the back of a truck, taking cold showers, eating fresh pineapple with every meal, and throwing toilet paper into the trash can instead of the toilet! It is hard to fully appreciate or process all that we learned and experienced while there among the Domincans. They have a warmth and compassion for others that is clearly felt even through the language barrier we experienced.
Our time at the resort was a nice break and time to reflect as well as we spent time with others from the trip learning their stories and sharing experiences from our time at the guesthouse. Since our group was so large-55 of us in total- it was hard to spend time with everyone as we were going about our busy days during the week. My favorite parts of our time at the resort was the final meeting we had together with our fearless leader, Dave. We took turns sharing our favorite memories and experiences from the week. We all went around in a circle and hugged every single person from the group, it was very special to me made us all realize the relationships we have made and the unique contributions that each person brought to the group. My other favorite part of the resort was the beach and the amazing water- warm as a bath and three shades of transparent blue. My final favorite part of the resort was getting baptized by Dave (aka Okie Dokie, grandpa Dave). I chose to get baptized this day because this year has been a very important year for me. I have grown tremendously in my faith and my relationship with God. I feel that God has placed me just where I need to be and has placed the right people in my path at the right time. It was an amazing opportunity for me to renew my faith and I will always hold it close to my heart.
I apologize for the lack of blogs and also lack of pictures....I will continue to work on this as I journal about my time in the DR and take the time to go through my many pictures (although I don't have even close to the amount of pictures that Heather took:) )
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Hola!
It's been a pretty busy few days in the DR. On Tuesday I was able to travel to el Circada, a very small remote town in the mountains to the west of San Juan, about a 45 min drive. Since all of our travel is down in the beds of trucks, it made for a great sight seeing experience. Jill, Heather, and I went to this clinic with our professor, Brenda, who is a Pediatric specialist. This clinic has a local therapist who travels there to screen children for developmental delays. Some who came there were coming in for a check up while others were attending for this first time, often being sent across the hall after seeing a Doctor because of concerns about their walking, crawling, etc. I believe this program had been started by a Bradley grad who turned a project into a reality, which is phenomenal. Most of the kids were under 2 and were absolutely adorable. I continued my streak of being the one to bring the baby to tears. It was awesome seeing Brenda work her magic with these children - words weren't needed to get them to do things. One of the saddest stories I've come across was a child who apparently has seizures and has weakness and spasticity in one half of his body. His arm would curl up and he would push it back down to straighten it out. I think he probably has grown up thinking that was normal for him (since maybe 3 years old) when it definitely could have been made better with proper therapy. He was very cheerful, as were most of the patients I've worked with outside of crying babies.
Wednesday was my last day at the regular clinic. We had 3 PT students plus two PTs and 2 undergrad students so Kelly and I tag teamed a lot of our patients, bouncing ideas off each other. We were able to treat a few strokes and a girl with scoliosis. There was also a man who had a somewhat unknown surgery on his knee several months ago, which has resulted in very minimal movement of the knee. For that patient Kelly and I just mobilized the knee and knee cap (basically just moved it back and forth) in every way we know how and it resulted in the man saying he felt way better in his ability to move it, which made us feel good even though we couldn't see a lot of difference. The two stroke patients were probably my favorite because we were able to work closely with the therapist, telling him what our opinions were and showing him treatments. One of the men was unable to raise his arm
above his head before we started but could get most of his motion after using a technique called PNF. This was phenomenal because we had never seen PNF work before, at least so quickly win such impressive results. We really felt like we were able to help both of these men and their families.
We did have one mishap, however. Someone at the clinic stole my phone while we were working with these men. Not so much bummed about the phone, more so that it happened while we were helping the patients. Life goes on, though, and a phone is great but it isn't the end of the world. Franklin, the therapist we were mostly working with, went into the community looking for it and asked around, even took me to the police station. He and the rest of the staff there were amazing and tried everything they could. I felt bad because they felt like they let me down by letting it happen. By no means are all of the Dominicans great people, but the ones involved with the clinic and our other experience were so welcoming and helpful.
Today, Kelly, Jill and I went away from physical therapy and went towards physical labor. We volunteered to help build a retaining wall around a future health center that will be the largest on this half of the country. In order to get emergency care here you must travel to the capital, which can take well over an hour. Even to get an ambulance is a matter of politics since the drivers are basically taxi drivers. Simply put, if you have an emergency here you die. The new facility is being run on donations and the sale of shirts and hats etc. and is getting closer to the $3 million mark that is estimated to complete it. The wall we've been working on is massive and will be used to stop people, obviously, but it's primary focus is to prevent hurricanes from damaging the new facility, which is what happened to the facility here. It's going to be a massive asset to this community and the country.
So I've gotten a little sun burnt and several more mosquito bites. I was going to brag about neither happening but I wasn't so lucky. We have had perfect weather so far even though the forecast called for rain every day - so hoping this continues into the weekend as we travel to Santo Domingo and the beach! The goal is to find a good machete or something else that's awesome at the market there. No more mangos though, that stuff will be in my teeth for days.
Probably have one more post from me this weekend before we head out Sunday. It definitely won't be nearly this long. If anyone is actually reading this until the end besides my mom, you must be supremely bored.
Hasta luego
Hola!
It's been a pretty busy few days in the DR. On Tuesday I was able to travel to el Circada, a very small remote town in the mountains to the west of San Juan, about a 45 min drive. Since all of our travel is down in the beds of trucks, it made for a great sight seeing experience. Jill, Heather, and I went to this clinic with our professor, Brenda, who is a Pediatric specialist. This clinic has a local therapist who travels there to screen children for developmental delays. Some who came there were coming in for a check up while others were attending for this first time, often being sent across the hall after seeing a Doctor because of concerns about their walking, crawling, etc. I believe this program had been started by a Bradley grad who turned a project into a reality, which is phenomenal. Most of the kids were under 2 and were absolutely adorable. I continued my streak of being the one to bring the baby to tears. It was awesome seeing Brenda work her magic with these children - words weren't needed to get them to do things. One of the saddest stories I've come across was a child who apparently has seizures and has weakness and spasticity in one half of his body. His arm would curl up and he would push it back down to straighten it out. I think he probably has grown up thinking that was normal for him (since maybe 3 years old) when it definitely could have been made better with proper therapy. He was very cheerful, as were most of the patients I've worked with outside of crying babies.
Wednesday was my last day at the regular clinic. We had 3 PT students plus two PTs and 2 undergrad students so Kelly and I tag teamed a lot of our patients, bouncing ideas off each other. We were able to treat a few strokes and a girl with scoliosis. There was also a man who had a somewhat unknown surgery on his knee several months ago, which has resulted in very minimal movement of the knee. For that patient Kelly and I just mobilized the knee and knee cap (basically just moved it back and forth) in every way we know how and it resulted in the man saying he felt way better in his ability to move it, which made us feel good even though we couldn't see a lot of difference. The two stroke patients were probably my favorite because we were able to work closely with the therapist, telling him what our opinions were and showing him treatments. One of the men was unable to raise his arm
above his head before we started but could get most of his motion after using a technique called PNF. This was phenomenal because we had never seen PNF work before, at least so quickly win such impressive results. We really felt like we were able to help both of these men and their families.
We did have one mishap, however. Someone at the clinic stole my phone while we were working with these men. Not so much bummed about the phone, more so that it happened while we were helping the patients. Life goes on, though, and a phone is great but it isn't the end of the world. Franklin, the therapist we were mostly working with, went into the community looking for it and asked around, even took me to the police station. He and the rest of the staff there were amazing and tried everything they could. I felt bad because they felt like they let me down by letting it happen. By no means are all of the Dominicans great people, but the ones involved with the clinic and our other experience were so welcoming and helpful.
Today, Kelly, Jill and I went away from physical therapy and went towards physical labor. We volunteered to help build a retaining wall around a future health center that will be the largest on this half of the country. In order to get emergency care here you must travel to the capital, which can take well over an hour. Even to get an ambulance is a matter of politics since the drivers are basically taxi drivers. Simply put, if you have an emergency here you die. The new facility is being run on donations and the sale of shirts and hats etc. and is getting closer to the $3 million mark that is estimated to complete it. The wall we've been working on is massive and will be used to stop people, obviously, but it's primary focus is to prevent hurricanes from damaging the new facility, which is what happened to the facility here. It's going to be a massive asset to this community and the country.
So I've gotten a little sun burnt and several more mosquito bites. I was going to brag about neither happening but I wasn't so lucky. We have had perfect weather so far even though the forecast called for rain every day - so hoping this continues into the weekend as we travel to Santo Domingo and the beach! The goal is to find a good machete or something else that's awesome at the market there. No more mangos though, that stuff will be in my teeth for days.
Probably have one more post from me this weekend before we head out Sunday. It definitely won't be nearly this long. If anyone is actually reading this until the end besides my mom, you must be supremely bored.
Hasta luego
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Hola from the DR!
Today was my first day in the PT clinic here. I loved it! The clinic is an outpatient clinic that is connected to the hospital here. We worked with the head PT, Franklin, and he was great. They provided this big lunch of rice and beans (and a meat that I could not identify-AND I just ate it anyway and it was good... big step for me!). Over lunch we sat and talked with Franklin and the two translators (we each had our own translator with us all day which was great because Monday at the nursing home that was not the case and it was super frustrating) and shared things with each other about PT and culture in our respective countries.
In the morning I saw a couple kids and a baby. That was certainly outside of my comfort zone! Surprisingly, I think I remembered quite a bit from class about how to work with the little ones. The second toddler I saw was NOT my biggest fan and screamed the entire session! He took to the translator and that helped calm him, but he did not want anything to do with me- that was difficult! The adult patients I saw we all stroke patients but one. Stroke is very common here- they have a lot of high blood pressure and it is not well medicated. They were all the loveliest people you would want to meet and so grateful for any care you give them. When I asked one woman what I could help her with, she stated that she needed more strength in her arm because she was not able to properly dip a cup of water over her head to shower (here a lot of people "shower" by dipping a cup into a bucket of water they keep in the "shower" and dumping it over themselves). Very eye opening to see the contrast in "need" for daily living here vs. America.
In the afternoon we went for a run through the city and visited one of the Solid Rock (the company that coordinates this trip and is housed here all the time is called Solid Rock International). coordinators that literally lives in the back of a castle and has a pet chicken (which I held). Then we saw the enormous track and field area/"park" where all the Dominicans here play sports and run/walk on this giant track. It was really cool- huge track, soccer, volleyball, and even boxing. I ran one lap with a very fast Domincan and he was barely jogging while my two classmates and I were sprinting our butts off! Cool experience!
We had a great meeting after dinner (food here is always awesome) where everyone shared stories from their day (groups are vacation bible school and construction in addition to PT) and it was amazing to here all the stories of how God is showing up for us daily. Our fearless leader, Dave, even got quite chocked up talking to us.... was a moving and inspiring moment!!
Well, more later! We are all tired and sweaty, but still have high energy levels and looking forward to another day!
Love you all, Lindsey
Today was my first day in the PT clinic here. I loved it! The clinic is an outpatient clinic that is connected to the hospital here. We worked with the head PT, Franklin, and he was great. They provided this big lunch of rice and beans (and a meat that I could not identify-AND I just ate it anyway and it was good... big step for me!). Over lunch we sat and talked with Franklin and the two translators (we each had our own translator with us all day which was great because Monday at the nursing home that was not the case and it was super frustrating) and shared things with each other about PT and culture in our respective countries.
In the morning I saw a couple kids and a baby. That was certainly outside of my comfort zone! Surprisingly, I think I remembered quite a bit from class about how to work with the little ones. The second toddler I saw was NOT my biggest fan and screamed the entire session! He took to the translator and that helped calm him, but he did not want anything to do with me- that was difficult! The adult patients I saw we all stroke patients but one. Stroke is very common here- they have a lot of high blood pressure and it is not well medicated. They were all the loveliest people you would want to meet and so grateful for any care you give them. When I asked one woman what I could help her with, she stated that she needed more strength in her arm because she was not able to properly dip a cup of water over her head to shower (here a lot of people "shower" by dipping a cup into a bucket of water they keep in the "shower" and dumping it over themselves). Very eye opening to see the contrast in "need" for daily living here vs. America.
In the afternoon we went for a run through the city and visited one of the Solid Rock (the company that coordinates this trip and is housed here all the time is called Solid Rock International). coordinators that literally lives in the back of a castle and has a pet chicken (which I held). Then we saw the enormous track and field area/"park" where all the Dominicans here play sports and run/walk on this giant track. It was really cool- huge track, soccer, volleyball, and even boxing. I ran one lap with a very fast Domincan and he was barely jogging while my two classmates and I were sprinting our butts off! Cool experience!
We had a great meeting after dinner (food here is always awesome) where everyone shared stories from their day (groups are vacation bible school and construction in addition to PT) and it was amazing to here all the stories of how God is showing up for us daily. Our fearless leader, Dave, even got quite chocked up talking to us.... was a moving and inspiring moment!!
Well, more later! We are all tired and sweaty, but still have high energy levels and looking forward to another day!
Love you all, Lindsey
Monday, June 8, 2015
Hola everyone!
Today is technically our third day on this trip, and so far it has been an indescribably blessed experience. We all love seeing how God shows up, the culture, the landscape, and of course-the people.
We have met many wonderful and loving people who are so welcoming. We have been in the barrios (where some of the locals live), and played with many awesome kids.
Today some of us went to a nursing home, and it was such a touching experience. We were evaluating some of the residents, trying to figure out what activities are important to them that we could work on, and then providing them treatment. During our visit we also tried a group exercise with different exercises and dancing. Most of them LOVED the dancing. This is the first time any team has went to the nursing home, so today was about experimenting with what we believe they would benefit from and to figure out their greatest need.
It is true that this country is so beautiful, and the people really touch your hearts.
Tonight we have a baseball game with the locals, and I heard they are AMAZING.
I am falling in love with this country, the people, and their culture.
Lindsey and Heather
¡Hola amigos, amigas, y familia!
Our Spanish is greatly improving with every interaction we have with the local Dominicans - at least we think so. Yesterday we went through orientation and attended a church service. We were able to spend some time in the barrios?¿ (neighborhood) next to our guest house. There are a lot of kids that just run around and like to play with all of the toys (including us). We had some piggy back races in honor of the triple crown win by American Pharoh. I was the clear winner.
Today was our first day in the clinic. We split up the day, and the rest of the week, so that we would rotate a little between our three possible locations. Kelly and I went to the hospital clinic and saw a ton of neurologically impaired patients of all ages while Jill, Lindsey, and Heather went to the nursing home. Kelly and I were able to treat patients with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, post-polio, post stroke, torticollis, and other diagnoses. This kind of experience was amplified by the fact that we were able to educate some of the therapists on treatment techniques. One of the shining moments was a little boy with Down's Syndrome named Samuel that was given to myself and Megan to treat... It was quite the experience seeing as the child wouldn't let me get near him. After trying to get him to do just about anythung PT related, we just had him pick up and throw balls around. It turned out well overall - the tears had stopped when his mom came to get him and he even blew us kisses goodbye. If nothing else we provided a lot of laughs for the PTs and OTs there.
Most of our travel is done in the bed of trucks, which is great because everyone that knows me can probably imagine how much sweat I've produced in this humidity already. After getting back, Kelly and I explored the city a little while going on a run, finishing up by meeting some of the our girls to climb to the top of a fantastic cathedral. The breeze was well appreciated and the view was great.
Tonight we've got some vendors coming to the guest house after dinner and then we're playing baseball with some locals. Potentially rain the rest of the week so hopefully it holds off! A few of us are headed to the mountains tomorrow to do developmental screenings, a program established by Bradley grads a few years back.
So far a pretty great trip!
Our Spanish is greatly improving with every interaction we have with the local Dominicans - at least we think so. Yesterday we went through orientation and attended a church service. We were able to spend some time in the barrios?¿ (neighborhood) next to our guest house. There are a lot of kids that just run around and like to play with all of the toys (including us). We had some piggy back races in honor of the triple crown win by American Pharoh. I was the clear winner.
Today was our first day in the clinic. We split up the day, and the rest of the week, so that we would rotate a little between our three possible locations. Kelly and I went to the hospital clinic and saw a ton of neurologically impaired patients of all ages while Jill, Lindsey, and Heather went to the nursing home. Kelly and I were able to treat patients with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, post-polio, post stroke, torticollis, and other diagnoses. This kind of experience was amplified by the fact that we were able to educate some of the therapists on treatment techniques. One of the shining moments was a little boy with Down's Syndrome named Samuel that was given to myself and Megan to treat... It was quite the experience seeing as the child wouldn't let me get near him. After trying to get him to do just about anythung PT related, we just had him pick up and throw balls around. It turned out well overall - the tears had stopped when his mom came to get him and he even blew us kisses goodbye. If nothing else we provided a lot of laughs for the PTs and OTs there.
Most of our travel is done in the bed of trucks, which is great because everyone that knows me can probably imagine how much sweat I've produced in this humidity already. After getting back, Kelly and I explored the city a little while going on a run, finishing up by meeting some of the our girls to climb to the top of a fantastic cathedral. The breeze was well appreciated and the view was great.
Tonight we've got some vendors coming to the guest house after dinner and then we're playing baseball with some locals. Potentially rain the rest of the week so hopefully it holds off! A few of us are headed to the mountains tomorrow to do developmental screenings, a program established by Bradley grads a few years back.
So far a pretty great trip!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
First post on this blog! Below is our itinerary for this trip:
Saturday June 6th:
Sunday June 14th:
Saturday June 6th:
- Early AM- depart from Northwoods to Chicago O'Hare
- 1:20 PM- American Airlines #1085 to Miami, arriving 5:20 PM
- 6:56 PM- American Airlines #1337 to Santo Domingo, arriving 9:11 PM
- Late PM- depart for hotel
- leave for guesthouse in San Jan de la Maguana in the morning, tour in the afternoon, and worship service that evening
- work in the clinic!!!!!
- 8 AM- depart San Juan guesthouse, heading to Santo Domingo
- Noon- Santo Domingo sightseeing
- 3 PM- hotel registration in Santo Domingo
Sunday June 14th:
- Early AM- depart for airport
- 9:51 AM- American Airlines #1026 to Miami, arriving 12:15 PM
- 1:55 PM- American Airlines #1090 to Chicago, arriving 4:14 PM
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