Day Adventures: Santo Domingo

We had a wonderful time on the University of Kentucky Brigade. We were able to hang out with some really great people and helped a lot of people in the communities. The first day we all went together to Plan de Vivienda. We started the day going to church with Dr. Nick and then got into treating patients. We had a lot of back and neck pain patients due to the kind of manual labor the men and women do daily. Being there really makes you think about what we have and the privileges we have. Many women had trouble with their back due to the way they hand wash their clothes on a cement walled structure that promotes horrible body posture. Many men had pain from lifting large bags of sugar and rice all day long. It is so amazing how different life is for these people. The second day we went to two different communities. One was Lara Flores which was built on a landfill and the other was 12 de Octubre. My group went to Lara Flores. We were in a community center with one large room for registration, nursing, pharmacy and PT and then a small room divided into 12 "rooms" by sheets for the doctors to use for treatment. We had a toilet in a cement walled area with a potato sac for a door that you "flushed" by putting water from a bucket into the toilet. That was interesting with Melayna all day just holding her over the toilet so she did not have to sit on the seat. Both days the kids were amazing and just jumped right in and played with the Ecuadorian children. Lucas even got to play soccer for about two and a half hours which he loved. Lucas also met a little girl that played with him all day at Lara Flores and gave him a frozen yogurt pop and a lollipop. She followed him around all day and would come to me and ask we to interpret when Lucas did not understand her. Melayna liked to help in the nursing station and played all day with the nursing students. Many people, especially the Ecuadorians, wanted to take her picture with them since she is "muy linda" (very pretty). Everyone was so helpful with the kids and helped keep them busy all day. Lucas met a doctor named Lucas that he really clicked with too and the Dr. played police and Power Rangers with him all three nights, which was priceless to watch. Lucas kept calling him his friend and wanted to sit by him at meals. It was really sweet. I also met some really awesome people especially the interpreters. I clicked really well with an interpreter named Mateo who is planning to visit the US with his family this summer and may come to AL for a visit. I could not have asked for a better experience. I was sad to leave all the people and the experience, but we are ready to pack up and head home. This was the perfect ending to our Ecuador Adventures.