Two Years in the D.R. -- Looking back and Ahead -- Month 24 in the D.R. (June 2013)

             Here's a photo of me in Pancho Mateo, one of the communities where I work.

Well, I initially signed up for one year of working at Health Horizons International (http://hhidr.org/), as the Clinical Programs Director, in Montellano, Dominican Republic, in June 2011.   I always assumed that that one year might turn into two years, and of course it did.

Now, as of June 11th, 2013, I've celebrated 2 full years of living in the D.R, and now I'm signing on for another (3rd) year.  

So this month I'm just going to share a few of my favorite photos and memories from the work and life I've experienced here over the past two years.

Still one of my favorite photos of the last 24 months, this picture above  shows 100 kids from Pancho Mateo (including one of my favorite groups of siblings standing in front -- my little friends Francia on the right, and her brother baby Alexandre being held by another sister on the left.)  This was during the kids camp that I and the Raleigh Mennonite Church teen girls, and the teen girls from a church in Pancho Mateo organized in Summer 2012. I love this photo because it shows one of the Dominican teen girls (Nina) taking a leadership role and sharing structure and God's love with the children of a local Hatian family -- her neighbors.  It is God's love that breaks the barriers of racial conflict in so many places, and it is love and structure and older mentors like these teens from the community who can help all these 100 kids grow up to be wonderful women and men who can be leaders in their communities for the future! (I love the RMC teen ladies working hard in the background loving-on the children as well!  I was so impressed with all the teen leaders from both countries! It was a hot, exhausting, and great week!)

I took this photo during one of my first weeks on the D.R. and it is still definitely one of my favorites.  It shows the road we take on motorcycle to get to Arroyo de Leche -- our farthest away community up the mountain -- to check on patients there.  The Dominican countryside is a beautiful place -- especially along this, the sugar cane road, flanked by acres of tall green sugar cane on either side.  But it is a difficult road, sometimes impassible, and sometimes I've had to walk up in rain and mud when trying to go up on moto was just not safe.  So this road reminds me of our journey in life. It can be difficult, sometimes next to impossible, almost impassable.  But there is beauty all around us on the journey -- if we look.

I love this photo of 6 of the 19 Community Health Workers who I supervise and who I have helped train, and who continually share their love, friendship, and knowledge with me.  I will always be proud to know them!  I'm so impressed with how they spend their time, energy, and resources without hesitation to help others in need in their communities, and I hope to grow to be more and more like them.

This photo shows a note that was stuck to the side of the fridge in the house we borrowed from missionary-from-Canada Rachel Stickley when I first arrived in the D.R.   I was glad to see this important reminder as I sat in the dark in the evenings those first few weeks here, with no electricity, (the generator broke while I was there,) being eaten by mosquitos, (I was still learning to use my mosquito net!) and trying to flush the toilet with just a bucket of water, and cook on a gas stove that I was sure was about to blow up in that borrowed house. : )

In this photo I'm visiting the river with my friend, Community Health Worker Dania, to learn about the dangers of unclean water in the river around the time of our cholera outbreak in fall 2011.

Here we are going door to door with co-workers, friends, and neighborhood children delivering cholera-prevention information and hand-soap called "Harmony" that same month, Fall 2011.

Here missionary women from the surrounding area gathered at my and my housemate Julienne's house in December 2012 for a Christmas party. We made ornaments and sharing stories.  We hope to do it again in December 2013!  It was great to have everyone over!

Here I and one of the medical students, Kate, are accompanying "Awesome Community Health Worker," Estela and her youngest daughter on home-visits to her patients in Negro Melo, on a rainy day when the roads had flooded. :)  That rain never stops US! :)

And...

I'll end with a video that is old -- it was actually made before I came to HHI -- but it shows a little bit of what we do here and some of the experiences that I've had the opportunity to be a part of here. (I'm now responsible for the field clinics, and for doing the work that "nicole" did -- working with the communities, patients, and community health workers. So this video definitely shows a lot of what I do).  Note: The address for donations in the video is wrong, so please disregard that and go to the link above for the HHI website if you want to learn more about where I work or feel like making a donation).:

Here's the Video: HHI Field Clinics Video

Thanks so much to all of you for the prayers, visits, and support over the past two years! And thanks for the continued support and prayers as I move forward into the 3rd year here in the Dominican Republic!