Day 1
We had a wonderful day! Today was our first day of clinics and it could not have gone better. The setup was a bit slow as it was our first time doing it, but once we got everything ready the day moved by quickly. We were at a school and had 2 big classrooms on the second floor. It was a great space! With our hygienists in one room and the dentists in another we were able to clean everyone’s teeth and send about 70% of them to see the dentists. Our darling Rebecca Hammond (12 yrs. old) immediately bonded with the children by playing with a red rubber ball we brought from home, jumping rope and painting finger nails. We love her! What a difference children make. Rebecca is fearless and friendly in ways that the rest of us are not.
We saw some amazing people with cases that were heart wrenching, but one woman touched many of us profoundly. She is pregnant and sat in the chair for almost 5 hours as Dr. Dale Behner did 2 root canals and a filling. The infection in her mouth was so bad it took many tries to numb the area and prepare her for the procedure. We all sat around encouraging her and taking care of her as much as we could. She was very submissive and never complained once except for saying several times how tired she was. I’ve posted some before and after pictures of her at the end of this post. We love the Dominican people! We are excited for 4 more days of clinics as we have now seen more than ever the need that the people here have.
We are excited for the day we have tomorrow as we head to the beautiful area of Samana. We will all sleep well tonight!
Clinic Days 2 and 3
This is Annie from the Crown Council here. Dru has sent us a message here on our phone letting us know that the internet connection they use at the hotel Tambora where they are located in the DR is not working and so from Sunday night until Thursday evening she will not be able to update this blog. Although she did send a few notes about how the group is doing so I wanted to share them with you.
Yesterday and Today the group saw over 100 people each day. This includes adults and children. Their clinics were both at churches with great space to set everything up in. The weather has been fantastic and not super hot so nice to work in. Everyone is in good health except for a few sick stomachs but nothing serious. The team has been bonding and making lasting friendships. Dru said they have all really connected and it has been wonderful. The Dentists have been doing amazing and very difficult procedures. Once Dru gets to the next hotel she will post many pictures and tell detailed stories. For now they are off to work another day……
