[7/3/12] My thoughts and experience from my medical mission to the Dominican Republic to help the Haitian people living in very poor, 3rd world conditions.
Hi Everyone!
Back from
the medical mission from the Dominican Republic! The trip was way too short and
I definitely feel like I gained more in terms of perspective and inspiration
from the mission than I was able to give to the people who really needed it. Certain
events during the trip (that I will detail later on in this post) also vividly
reminded me why I train as hard as I do to raise money for World Vision. Living
in the first world, we take many basic things like clean water, toilet paper,
and a roof over our heads for granted. Raising money so that families in Africa
can have a clean water well for generations is a cause that I am not only proud
and honored to dedicate myself to, it is something that I feel called to do. Thank
you for all of your support!
To begin, I
want to introduce and list out the activities that we did and how our clinics
and our mission was set up. A HUGE shout out to our incredible team: Cameron,
Andrew, Yoni, Justin, Aaron, Shravan, Mike, Christina, Vanessa, Jen A., Jen H.,
Ingrid, Lorelei and Nita!! It was incredibly humbling to work with all of you
incredibly talented and inspiring people and it was wonderful to get to know
all of you better during the trip! The 15 of us staffed clinics in Haitian
bateys, performed street medicine, visited inmates at a prison, had dinner with
families, visited the public hospital in the main city, and provided food and milk for kids (lovingly called the “Milk
ministry”). Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I’m going to post a few
pictures at the end of this post and write a caption for each of them. I should
also have more pictures as my other friends who went on this medical mission
starts to post them and send them to me!
I don’t
think words can truly describe the clinics that our team held for the Hatians. We
brought all of our medicine courtesy of Cameron who planned and organized the
entire trip. Although it was challenging to accept the fact that we wouldn’t be
able to help everybody or we may be short some supplies, I realized that we
truly were providing a service that many of the people in that town wouldn’t
normally receive. I’m talking about basic medications like those for
cough/fever, antibiotics, anti-fungals, anti-parasite medications, among
others. We also saw many cases of preventable diseases like scabies and
parasites that required the administration of a single pill/dose of a
medication to fix but these people had no access and no money to that med. I
learned that the definition of extreme poverty was for one to live on less than
$1 per day. This $1 has to cover food for the day, usually for the family… How
does one survive on these conditions? I was told by an old Haitian man that
many don’t (more on that later). The most striking and challenging aspect of my
experience at our clinics was the fact that most of the kids were the ones who
had extreme cases of scabies, infections, and parasites.
Witnessing
the conditions at a Dominican prison for men was an intense and mortifying
experience of just gross human rights violations. It was one of the worst
things that I have ever seen in my life in terms of their conditions. In 2
cramped cells less than the size of a small bathroom the government had crammed
over 80 people in those cells. Many of the men slept standing up. As a result
of the close quarters, all the men who had been there for any more than a few
days had severe scabies, rashes, and staph infections. I learned that this
particular prison was the county prison where inmates wait to be transferred to
the larger main prison. This typically takes months to happen so many of the
inmates are left to rot and die in these prisons… Our team handed out scabies
medications and food to the men but we were unable to treat many of the
infected wounds, lacerations, cysts, and abscesses that we saw due to the
government which prohibited us from treating the prisoners. Honestly, I felt
quite helpless as one by one each man begged our team to treat all their
problems. I’m definitely still struggling with this experience.
Providing
and having dinner with a Haitian family was another amazing experience that we
had during our mission. Two of my other colleagues and I bought about $50 worth
of groceries for a family dinner. Remember, however, that most Haitian families
have to survive on less than $1 per day ($30 per month). Essentially, the three
of us bought more food for this family for one dinner than they make and live
off of in an entire month. The matriarch of the household had 5 kids and 2
grandkids with one more grandchild on the way. She also invited over 5 other kids
from another family over to eat with them. As our team hung out and talked with
the family as the food was being prepared, we were told something that
absolutely shocked us. Antonio, the eldest of the kids who were visiting the
household, told us that his mom had passed away 2 days ago. The way he said it,
however, was very straightforward without much emotion. We realized that because
of the incredibly poor conditions that they experience every day and what they
witness as kids for their entire lives, they were desensitized to death. We
then asked Antonio how many brothers and sisters he had… 8 other younger brothers
and sisters… After asking him what his plans were… he simply shrugged and told
us that without IDs and birth certificates he would not be able to get a job or
go to school to support the family. IDs and birth certificates are something
that many Haitians in the Dominican Republic don’t have due to discrimination
from the government and the conditions that the people live in. I realized that
Antonio’s story is very common in very poor 3rd world conditions.
Overall, the dinner went incredibly well and the families were VERY thankful
and asked us to come back whenever we were in the DR. I’m sure I’ll be back
there soon enough.
Last
activity, but not least, is the Milk Ministry. This event that we held probably
had the greatest impact on me in terms of my passion and commitment to raising
money for Team World Vision. Essentially, we brought a canister of milk, boiled
eggs, some cookies, and some clothes and handed all of it out to as many kids
as we could living in the village. We crammed about 300+ kids into a small
church and the only way I could describe the event would be utter and complete
chaos! Because we only (barely) had enough for one egg, ½ a cup of milk, and ½ a
cookie for most kids (some didn’t get eggs or a cookie) the kids were
scrambling to get in line as fast as they could, they were trying to climb
through the windows for seconds, parents were trying to push their way in, and
mayhem ensued. By the end, our entire team was exhausted because we basically
had to try to control and organize the chaos! I was absolutely struck by how
little we were giving each child and how incredibly happy and thankful most of
the children were. In America if you give someone a single egg, ½ a cup of
milk, ½ a cookie, and some random piece of clothing they would most likely say “WTF?
Where’s my hamburger?” Basic things that we take for granted in a first world
country like America like milk, eggs, protein, etc. are luxuries for the
Haitians living in these bateys. Even more basic things like clean water, food,
and medicine are also very scarce… I train and run to inspire others to donate
to my cause to help kids and families in similar situations living in these conditions
in Africa.
The public hospital that we visited, although it looked nice on the outside, was another interesting experience for our team of medical students. Healthcare in the DR (and in many other poorer places in the world) is basically "If you have the money, you'll be treated. If you don't, you won't". If a patient is lucky enough to see a doctor (could be days before a doctor comes by to see you), the medicine that the doctor prescribes has to be paid for by the patient and his/her family. This particular hospital provides beds (based on availability) and saline IVs for free. Everything else from the bedsheets, food, water, medicine, etc. must be provided by the patient. Medicine is not cheap, particularly if a family lives on less than $1 per day like most Haitians who go to the public hospital are living on. In America, if someone goes to the emergency room, they are treated first and asked to pay later. In the DR (and the Philippines - mentioning this because I feel like my calling is going to take me to the Philippines again at some point on a similar mission), the idea is pay first and treat later... Apparently, however, I'm told that the conditions are improving at this hospital so at least that's encouraging to me.
During this
medical mission I really gained a lot more than I was able to give to the
people… I left inspired and on fire with passion for medicine, my training, and
life. Our team did the best we could to provide whatever little medical care we
could. Each of us learned a lot about ourselves and about the situation in a 3rd
world country. I sincerely wish I could have spent more time down there. Still,
due to the inspiration that I gained from this trip, I feel a very powerful and
deep drive to really train and run as hard as I can. I feel empowered to shamelessly
ask for donations from as many people as I could because I know the need is
great in 3rd world settings after seeing it firsthand in the DR. If
you think about it… $50 can buy you a nice watch, a video game, or a really
nice meal at a nice restaurant among other things. $50 can also buy a clean
water well for a family/town living in the 3rd world for an entire
generation or two. If asked what is the single most important thing I’ve gained
from this trip: I would have to say courage… Courage to step up and be the
instrument of hope for people in the world. Courage to not turn a blind eye
to the need in the world. Courage to face injury, disappointment, even death to
inspire others to donate to support my training and my cause. Courage… to
change the world. Thanks for reading!!
Humbled,
inspired, courageous, and passionate.
God bless,
Marc Dadios
If you are interested in donating to my cause... please follow this link (Like I said... I have to try to be fearless and shameless when I ask right? Might as well start now!)
Here are some pictures from the medical mission trip: I will post more as I get them from my colleagues!
One of the Haitian kids we were able to see, treat, and help during one of our clinics!
The outer facade of the public hospital we visited.
A day in our bustling clinic at one of the Haitian bateys.
The calm before the storm: Right before the Milk Ministry began
Medical students and doctors working together to treat/diagnose patients.
Outside the prison that we visited.
Touring one of the villages and seeing how people lived day to day.
