the next season...

Okay we are still full of turkey from yesterday but onward we go at the Guesthouse in San Juan.   It's been awesome having our fall teams in town and now we are preparing for the Winter Season/team arrivals.

I've heard from many of you asking which supplies you should bring and I'm excited to hear from and see every one of you.   We have teams back to back to back from December 31st to the first week in April this year so.....the list will change FREQUENTLY based on what the team before YOURS brings, uses and replenishes.  :)    After eyeballing the pharmacy here, I'm going to ask for some things that we may already HAVE but which I know we will use great amounts of...and the same for the OR supplies.    Some of these things will ALWAYS be on the list.    We are aware that not everyone can bring every medication- these are suggestions.

Medications
Ibuprofen (each barrio team should bring at least 6000-10,000 pills of 200 mg strength)
Adult Vitamins (at least 8000 to 10,000 multivits)
Child Vitamins (at least 10,000 chewables.   Gummies are okay but chewables are better)
Child vitamins drops (at least 50-100 with iron if possible)
Antifungals creams (50-200)
Hydrocortizone creams
Vaseline (5-10 per team)
BP meds (beta blockers, ACE, calcium channel blockers- we always have a need for these.  Many of the patients in the barrios are taking enalapril, amlodopine, lisinopril, or nifidipine)
Children's tylenol/ibuprofen suspension/drops (at least 50-100 per team)
Children's cough medicine suspension
Singulair/Clarinex/Claritin- You will see a lot of asthma/allergies in the barrios
Inhalers-  We do not have ANY in stock.  We do, however, have a lot of albuterol for nebulizers.
Toothbrushes/toothpaste- These are excellent to hand out in the barrios.
Diflucan- There are always complaints of yeast infections  in the barrios.  You can bring diflucan or vaginal creams but the diflucan is a lot easier.  
Hygeine products- It is a good idea to hand out soaps/lotions/small shampoos in the barrios as well.  You will then want to bring at least 300-400 to hand out.
Shampoo for "hongos"- There is often a large amount of tinea capitis noted in the barrios.   We can treat with antifungal creams but bringing medicated shampoos would also be a good idea.
Permethrin cream for scabies:  bring at least 10-30.
Small plastic baggies for meds:  Barrio teams should plan on prebagging most medications BEFORE going out to the barrios (this is often how you will spend your Sunday afternoon or evening).   Your vitamins, ibuprofen, tylenol, etc should DEFINITELY be prebagged.     You will need at least 2000-5000 small baggies to put your medications in.   It's also a good idea to bring brown paper bags to put the medications, toothbrushes/toothpaste, and hygeine products in for the patients in the barrios.    You should prebag a month's supply of most of the medications (30 vitamins, tylenol, ibuprofen, BP meds, etc).  Antibiotics are bagged differently based on type and prescription.
Antibiotics- This is obviously dependent on which antibiotics the doctors like to prescribe.  However, we recommend Amoxicillin, Doxy, Cipro, Flagyl, Augmentin, Keflex, Azithro...to start.  :)
Glucometers-  this is a very tricky request- because I probably have at least 100 glucometers in the med room.  However- most of them DO NOT HAVE test strips orrrr they have test strips that will last one month..orrrrr the test strips are expired......orrrr there is no way to do quality control on them.   My recommendation would be that you bring a glucometer with plenty of test strips to use while you are here    or bring one with at least a years worth of test strips.   We do NOT need lancets or alcohol wipes or insulin syringes.  We do not have insulin here, nor will we give out insulin in the barrio clinics.
BP cuffs/stethoscopes:  for triaging patient in the barrios.
Small measuring cups for water/cough syrup, etc.  Dixie cups for handing out water with the albendazole.

OR supplies:
* This is based on assessment at this moment.  We have a month before the first surgical team arrives but there are Dominican doctors operating in the clinic during this month and using some of these supplies. Therefore- this supply list CAN and will fluctuate/change.
Instruments:  There are many many basic instruments here.  However, any specialty instruments should come with your group.
Blades:  We have some 10s,11s, 15s but please plan to bring what you would like to use.
Foley catheters:  There is an abundance of straight caths but NO Foley catheters in stock.
JP drains- we have a few (very old) drains but no bulbs.  
Gloves: sterile AND clean
OR packs/drapes
Sterile Bovies
Sterile suction tubing
Sterile spinal needles if you plan to use them.
IV tubing of your preference (but not insytes- we have a lot of IV insytes at this moment)
STERILE Laps/sponges/ratex/ towels:  We will always have a need for these.
Wrapping material for your instruments/packs
Anesthesia- it's a good idea to bring your own laryngoscopes/bulbs.
Pain meds:  Most of the post-op patients will go home with tylenol or ibuprofen.  If you would like your patients to have anything else at discharge- you'll probably want to bring it.  :)  We can order Fentanyl (IV) and Morphine (but only in 0.2 mg IV dosage form) here a few days before your arrival if you would like.
Circuits:  We have an abundance of anesthesia circuits at this time.  I will update this if we start to run low.
ET tubes:  There is a variety of ET tubes available, however- we do not have many small sizes/ children sizes.
O2 tubing/masks/oral airways:  There is an abundance of tubing/masks/oral airways at this time.  I will continue to update if we start to run low.
Anesthesia meds:  We have sevo/iso/propy/succs in stock.   HOWEVER, there is surgery in the clinic in December so I cannot guarantee quantities at this time.   You may want to bring what you would like to use...or call me at 829-982-1136 to check in closer to your arrival time.  We can order ketamine but Ephedrine is in VERY SHORT SUPPLY here and very very difficult to obtain.   Please bring it if you can.  

Well- here is a start. As I stated previously, because we have patients in our clinic at this time, the lists above can fluctuate greatly.   Please let me know if you have any questions or feel free to email me at phillynic@gmail.com.   I am sooooooo looking forward to working with all of you and can't wait til you get here!

Nicole Eby
829-982-1136

Greeting From New Community Church

This week New Community Church from Elizabeth City, NC is staying at the guesthouse.  You can follow our journey here!   http://www.newcommunitychurchmissions.blogspot.com/

More Barrio Clinic Days

Days 2-4 for the Barrio Clinic Team included visits to Elias Pinas near the Haitian border as well as 2 clinics northeast of San Juan de la Maguana.

This team required the skills of a translator who could speak Creole so anyone with Spanish skills did limited talking.  We were in a city-like setting with running water at the church.  During lunch the team took a bit of a walk around to see the markets and at the end of the day traveled the short distance to the Haitian border for a look through the gate to "no man's land" that exists at the river between the 2 nations.

On Wednesday the team got a little lost and enjoyed the experience of the bus getting stuck.  Instead of getting to the planned location, the team decided to set up at an available school.  Just before getting there our fearless leader, Juan Ernesto, began recruiting patients by yelling out the bus door letting the residents know that a team of American doctors and dentists was there to serve them - it was like having our own pied piper. Our lunchtime walk took us to the river that served as the crossing point between neighborhoods as well as the local bathing spot.

The final day of barrio clinic on Thursday was held in a very remote school down a valley accessible only by gravel road.  We finished a little early and headed to a nearby waterfall to eat our late lunch and enjoy the cool waters of the area.  Upon returning to San Juan de la Maguana we made a quick stop at the local market and then walked into town to visit the main cathedral including a climb to the very top for a 360 degree view of the city.

Three of our team members opted to sponsor children attending a school built by Solid Rock.  On Thursday night those children came to meet their sponsors.  It was great fun to watch them see the children meet their new friends and "cheerleaders:"

Our Friday morning departure greeted us with a little bit of excitement as a nice sized tarantula had made its way into one of the rooms to say good-bye.  We're all just hoping none of his friends found their way into our luggage for the return trip to the US!!!

We really enjoyed our visit and guesthouse stay.  Dan, Kari, and Nicole make for a wonderful team and we thank them for their tremendous care of all of us.  God speed to them all and may God bless them for their service to all.

Peace out from the First Presbyterian Nashville mission team - Doc Holliday and the best team ever!!!

Clinic-Day 1 & 2

 So since you guys got a taste of the Barrio...check out our exciting first two days in the Clinic!

Pre-op is the place to be...

We found out this little girl was not only a fire cracker before surgery....but afterwards as well!

Pre-op looks like fun...but if they only knew what was to come!

Mickey is a universal language!

Anesthesiologist of the year because his scrubs match the sheets

We found out NOT to mess with Stuart!

The result of monkey perfume :)

Stay tuned for more....

Barrio Clinic - Nov 7

A portion of the team headed to a barrio about 40 minutes from San Juan.  Two dentists, an internist, a nurse and several Dominicans joined the team.  Approximately 140 patients ranging in age from 11 months to 80+ years were seen for primary care needs while the dentists pulled upwards of 40 -50 teeth.

The best part of the barrio clinic was setting up outside under a tree.  The shade and breeze were soothing and we were able to enjoy being a part of all the noise, laughter, and commotion of the community.  The barrio is home to about 200 families so based on patient counts it seems we saw nearly one member of every family living there!  Solid Rock Missions sends medical teams to a barrio only once or twice a year so this was an important visit for the community.

The barrio clinic was a delightful day that even included a visit from a neighboring pig as s/he cooled down in the small drainage creek that ran through our treatment area.  We gave out around 30 pairs of reading glasses - see below for a happy patient still unwilling to remove the sticker listing the correction strength.

A lunch time walk around the community included a view of the local police outpost and trip to the river that serves as the water supply for drinking, bathing, and laundry washing for the community.  No doubt this is the reason we treated so many adults and children for parasites and malnutrition.

The clinic/surgical team started off strong w/ 8 surgeries for the Matt Speyer - all kids w/ tonsils being removed.  Stuart Smith had ortho consults all day preparing for surgeries on Tuesday and Wednesday.  More may appear as word spreads about the team's presence.  We are the last medical team for 2011 and the next team won't arrive until next January.

After dinner tonight most of our team headed off to play in/watch a local baseball game.  We think we won, but no one really cares as the team is a combo of adults and kids and just hanging out is the real goal despite the intense passion of Dominicans for baseball.  Stuart Smith and Jon Alderman were brave enough to join in while the rest of the gang were loyal fans.

We're all tired from our first day of service and know that God is present as we serve in His name.  We pray that we have clothed ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility and patience to enable us to live out the calling for the week.

Benediciones a todos nuestras familias y amigos.  Hasta manana.

Day 1 - November 6, 2011

Wow...words cannot begin to describe the experience here.  I am amazed at how God is already working after only 24 hours here...we were able to worship this morning under a mango tree with the people of San Juan and the presence of God was so real.  We played and spent time with the children after the service - they loved having their pictures made and then looking at them - just like my own kids.  I have great anticipation for what God is going to do this week - I am so humbled and blessed to share in this experience.  blessings, Stacy Walton

First timers!

Hi all, this is Holly and Alison. We are student registered nurse anesthetists from Wake Forest, here in the DR for our first mission trip experience. So far, the countryside is absolutely beautiful, and the locals are so welcoming! We are so excited to have met many great new friends. This morning, we even attended a church service under a mango tree in a nearby village. It was truly rewarding to see! We start in the OR tomorrow, and WOW, we are taking it back to the basics. It will be the best learning experience for us both. Looking forward to the week ahead making so many more memories!

FPC Nashville Team Has Arrived

After 12 hours of airport and bus transport, we have arrived all 26 donations bags in tow plus 13 roller boards and backpacks overflowing the trailer and back rows of the bus.

The team has dined, rec'd their orientation and the crew is waiting to load up the LSU - AL football game.  More tomorrow after church and unpacking.

Peace Out, the best team ever per Doc Holliday

Quick update on supplies

What a great week we're having with Northwoods in town!  This is just a quick supply assessment for incoming teams wondering what meds are available in the med room.

We are running out of many things after 3 very busy days in the barrios (and an expected busy day tomorrow) There are little to no...

Antifungals (creams, pills, shampoos,etc)
Antiscabies meds (few ivermectin, zero creams)
Ibuprofen (there will be none after tomorrow)
Hydrocortizone cream
Adult vitamins
Children's vitamins
Azithromycin
Cipro
Doxy
Flagyl 500 mg
Amox 125 mg
(Really we have little of ANY antibiotics except Keflex and NO BP meds.)
ACE inhibitors
Beta Blockers
Calcium Channel Blockers
Diflucan
vaginal creams
Pregnancy tests
Children's cough meds
Claritin
Children's tylenol (chewables/suspension)

This is a quick list off the top of my head at this moment.  I'll try to update again when I see the incoming supplies with the next team.   Pepsid/Zantac will be on that list very soon, possibly after our last clinic tomorrow.   Thanks again for all you do!

Bendiciones!

nik

Northwoods Community Church trip to DR Oct 15-23, 2011

Trip summary by the numbers
Over 800 people treated in the medical clinics in 4 days
Over 200 children and adults pray to receive Christ
30 bags of groceries given to needy families (each bag enough to feed a family for 2 weeks)
600 blocks laid at the school

Northwoods Team 2011

Days 7-9 Friday - Sunday Oct 21-23
Left San Juan and traveled to Barcelo resort for a little R&R before leaving to go back to the US. Stopped in the capital Santo Domingo for about an hour to shop and site see. One famous site is Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor built in the 1500s.

At the resort the highlights were baptisms, communion (the last night together), and hugs of good-bye.

Day 6 Thursday October 20th

The day started with a devotional by Scott on the topic of respect.

Construction Team
Finished up at CCED around noon having laid a little over 600 blocks for 4 days of work. They came back to the guesthouse where the cleared out the tool room, raked leaves, picked up branches etc.

Medical and Child Evangelism Teams
The teams made a quick visit  to the Cordero de Dios school in Elias Pina (near the Haiti border). They got to visit several of the classes and the students sang a song of Jacob and angels coming down from heaven. Then off to a small town called Isidro Martiniz where the child evangelism team shared the gospel with the children. Dave started off and taught the children a song, followed by Eileen teaching them Psalm 119:11. She shared the gospel and then. Sharrie, Jessica, Curt and Dave did face painting. 19 children received Christ.



Darl and her sponsored child Adrian



Tom and Jean with their sponsored child



Carol with her sponsored child



Students who need sponsors at Cordero de Dios









Puppets and their puppeteers



People waiting in line to get into the clinic



Day 5 Wednesday October 19th
One of the greatest joys and privileges we have here is developing relationships with those we work with like translators and workers. One such person the construction team has gotten to know is a translator named Elvis. He lives with his grandparents and shared with several of the guys on the construction team that he was really concerned about his grandfather's salvation. Elvis' dad had recently passed away and didn't want to leave his grandfather's salvation to chance. His grandfather is 91 years old and on a visit many years earlier had seen a witch doctor in Haiti. Ever since that encounter he has been haunted by dreams and possessed by demons. The guys on the team asked Elvis if they could bring others with them to Elvis' grandfather's house to pray for his grandfather. Elvis asked his grandfather and he agreed. So later this afternoon they met his grandfather and though hard of hearing and lacking eyesight his grandfather asked Jesus to come in to his heart and be his Savior. They prayed over the house and for Elvis. Praise God with us and pray for Elvis, his grandfather and those in that home.

Dominican Hair Di\vas
Beth and Jean held another class and 32 students were in attendance. They learned eyebrow shaping.
Four years of hard work are coming to fruition. For the past 4 years, 3 women have come annually to Beth Graichen's hair styling class. This week they will start attending a one year professional school for cosmotologists. On their completion they will be instructors at CCED where a hair styling class will be taught.

Construction Team

200 blocks delivered yesterday were carried two at a time and stock-piled in front of the 2nd floor ramp. A line of 15-20 people then lined up and moved them to the 2nd floor in 15 minutes. No one knows how much the block weighs, but all agree that they get heavier as the day goes on. Rumor has it that things are happening at the construction so Jessica and Lori joined the team and learned how to mud, tie rebar, shovel and strain sand and keep Bill and Ramone supplied with mortar.

Medical Team

Saw around 190 patients today. 3 children had their wristbands cut off. In the DR when babies are born they wrap a red ribbon around their wrist to ward off evil spirits. People working for Clinica Christiana talk to the mother about Jesus Christ and the fact that only Jesus can ward off evil spirits. With the mother's permission they cut off the ribbon.

Becky with smiling mother and infant after ribbon is cut off.

Becky, Diana and Wayne in the pharmacy distributing medicines and vitamins

Child Evangelism Team

The puppet ministry continues to get better and today around 100 children were in attendance when the gospel was shared. Around 50 children and 2 adults asked Christ to be their savior.

Steve Kovach and his friends

Day 4 Tuesday October 18th


Each day before breakfast we have a 5-10 minute devotional led by a different member of the team . Today was Wayne Huang's turn and he shared on love (we're going thru the fruit of the Spirit) from the love chapter out of 1 Corinthians 13. After breakfast we took a quick trip to the local market and you name it we saw it. Bargain of the was Jean's purchase of a large plate of mixed fruit (papaya, pineapple, mango, and cantelope for $1.50 (US). Easily $10 in the US.

Child evangelism
Another hard day facepainting!  The kids love this and swarm all of us to get a moustashe, beard, heart and flower painting on their cheeks, chins, arms and chests.  The children are beautiful and very friendly. They love to hear us try to speak Spanish and talk to us like we know what they are say saying.  We were out to a new barrio today with the CEF evangelist.  We taught the kids a song in English with actions and they taught us one in Spanish.  They were great with the English one. We weren't so great on the Spanish one.  Aileen gave the gospel at the end and 29 kids raised their hands to receive Christ.  We were also able to annoint and pray over about 30 kids.  Many of the children have a red thread on their wrist which is a way they believe to keep bad spirits away.  We prayed that the Blood of Jesus Christ would do that instead.  At the same time, Pastor Juan gave the gospel to the adults waiting to be seen by the doctor at our clinic.  He said that 64 adults raised their hands to receive Christ.  They are so open to God's love.  Today we added painting nails to what the kids could receive.  Even Dave got in the actions with the little kids - the older ones stayed away from his offer. 

Construction Team
After moving 400 block to the 2nd floor yesterday the construction team was pumped for more on their 2nd day. The team took short breaks to enjoy the fruit Jean bought (there was enough for 10) and then popsicles from a local vendor. Just when they were getting ready to leave for the day 200 blocks were delivered. They will have to be moved from there to the 2nd floor. They're already thinking how they can get 25 people to form a line to move the block from where it was piled to the 2nd floor. Stay tuned to see how that works out.

Hair Stylists
Beth and Jean saw 30 attend a class and went over curling techniques. 

Translation
Lois Mannaioni taught another English class.which is for students who really want to learn more English. The students stay after school to attend the class.

Day 3 Monday October 17th
We all hit the road running today.

Child evangelism
Members of the evangelism team using puppets, music, face painting, and tennis ball evangelism with the local CE (Child Evangelism) rep shared the gospel and saw 29 adults and 12 children give their life to Christ.

Medical Team
The medical team saw 250 patients and handed out medicines and vitamins.

Construction Team
10 strong guys loaded up in the back of pick-ups and went to the CCED (school) and laid 160 blocks on the 2nd floor as part of a new 6 room expansion which when finished will have room for 200 students. No one dropped any bricks on their feet and everyone learned that Ramone is the boss.

Hair Queen Divas
Jean Slack and Beth Graichen and the class of 30 beautiful girls learned salon etiquette and applied the latest and greatest feathers to their hair. Steve Sheffer wanted a feather when he got his hair cut, but they wouldn't give him one so Dave Murphy got one instead.

Translation Team
Lois Mannaioni taught an english class to 13 students and loved every minute

Beth says she wants everyone to know that she is having a great time just in case things turn later in the week.


DAY 2 Sunday October 16th

   Attended church in the morning at Cabezza deToro (Head of the Bull) about 45 minutes from the Guest house. Scott tried to get a picture of a combine on tracks, but missed. In the afternoon a few people took a walking tour of the barrios (spanish for neighborhoods). Rumor has it that the local politicians have the curb and gutters poured, promising to finish the road surface, but never do. A few others went for a jog at a local track and got to go thru a political rally. Wayne Huang is up and moving around and doing much better. Good news is that the missing luggage arrived around 5:30pm. Many happy faces with that news.

DAY 1 Saturday October 15th.
Just to let everyone know all 22 of us made it here. Already several things to pray for:

1) Pray for a quick recovery for Wayne who got sick before he left Chicago.
2) We had maintenance problems on our flight from Chicago and the delay caused us to miss our connecting flight in Miami to Santo Domingo. We ended up taking a plane leaving at 12:30pm
3) The majority of our luggage didn't make it from Chicago to Santo Domingo, so pray that it makes it here tomorrow (Sunday 16 October)