Joana & Dove: First Batey

Today has been like no other day of our lives! We woke up early had breakfast and rode the bus to the Hospital! At the hospital we met our interpreters who came with us to our first Batey. Our interpreters were extremely nice and helpful throughout the entire day. Our first Batey had an overwhelming amount of people. They were all so anxious to be cared for and especially to recieve donations. It was so hard to say no to the adults and kids when they wanted more. The children were so happy to get pencils and pens because they told us they really needed them for school. Many of the patients were in severe conditions. One that really touched our heart was a teenage boy who had been in a motorcycle accident and his arms and face were completely burned from road rash. This accident had occured a week ago and infection could had been prevented with medical care but he recieved none. His tounge was also parted and it was too late to transfer him to the hospital for stitches.However we were able to give him many antibiotics and bandage his wounds to help the healing and pain. We can´t begin to explain everything we experienced today. We are so excited to talk to you all about it when we get back in more depth! Mom and Dad WE MISS YOU!

FIRST DAY!

We're finally here!!!! Our flight(s) went well, though my ears don't handle altitudes well... I was never so happy to finally reach the hotel and our room so I can finally change my clothes after a longgggg day of travelling. I nearly forgot where my passport was as we went through customs, which would NOT have been good, but for the most part everything went smoothly.

So here we are, in the sunny DR, at the hospital before our first day at the bateys. We spent last night once we settled in sorting out all the toiletries, medicines and other toys. It was EXHAUSTING.. Sunday felt like a week itself within a day. I'm so excited to finally get out there today, though. I'm signed up to work in the pharmacy-basically helping give out the medications to everyone with scripts. It's supposed to be hectic, but we can handle it! It's been great so far.