I had to take it back and reminisce on my Medical Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic.

SN: I had a meeting on Tuesday regarding an upcoming opportunity I have to travel to Accra, Ghana for an elective rotation next year. We are waiting to see what happens next with changes to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully some of the restrictions will be lifted by February and I’ll be able to go and tell you all about it. 😄 Just being proactive in the meantime.

So about this medical mission trip…. I traveled with Handfuls of Hope, Christian organization that focuses on missions, education and evangelism. It was founded by individuals involved in a series of short-term mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Each year they travel to a small village called Catalina to provide dental and medical care. The thing I liked most about working with Handfuls of Hope was the partnerships established with the local community and investments they have made within the community. Most medical mission trips advertised take pre-meds and medical professionals abroad to provide medical services for a week or 2 then leave with plenty of pictures, a number of documented patient encounters and a hefty paragraph to put on their resume about being experienced in global health. 🙄

I would much rather be involved with an organization that invests in the communities we serve not just once a year but year round. I want to support organizations that not only offer support for communities but empowerment within those communities so that they have the knowledge and skills to care for themselves instead of relying on external initiatives once a year. This organization has been investing in the village of Catalina for years, and working in partnership with the same local church to make a lasting impact. By working with the local church, they were able to refurbish and revitalize a school building, construct a library, and establish a medical clinic.

I heard about the trip from a friend who traveled with them before and decided to go during my application year. My friend, Christina, and I traveled from Miami to Santo Domingo.

As soon as we landed we met up with the rest of the group that flew in from New Jersey and went to the hotel to drop off our luggage. From there, we divided into groups and headed towards Catalina. The village we went to was near Bani, just 45 miles from the border of Haiti. Once the bus went off the main road I told myself “Oh, this is a village village.” We kept bouncing up and down as the bus dipped up and down and side to side. All I could see was tall grass and sugarcane. Finally, after about 30 minutes we stopped and had arrived.

When I turned around we were greeted by the young women and men that lived there. There were a lot of children, everyone was smiling and happy to see us. I was shocked to see that almost all of the women were pregnant. The majority were young girls and they looked younger than 14. Everyone started unloading the bus and passing out toys and meals. The houses were in pretty good condition but they didn’t look like they had electricity.

One of the guys over the trip told me that the members of this village cut sugarcane and it is sold in France. They are allowed to live there for free and get paid based on how much sugarcane they cut.

One of the girls on the trip went over to this toddler sitting in a bucket in the front of a house. If you could imagine, just think of a scene from a feed the children commercial. He was only wearing a diaper. She walked over, picked him up and started posing while her friend took pictures. I walked over and asked her if she knew the child or his mother. She said no. I said then put him down. 🤔 I extended my arms to reach for him, he came to me and I sat him down comfortably where he was. I couldn’t take a picture. I couldn’t bring myself to. If we all decided to pose for pictures that’s cool but I’m not going to hold a child as a prop. At least ask his mother. Maybe that’s ok for other people but if you wouldn’t randomly pick up a child and take pictures in America, then why would you do that while abroad.

We headed to the local church to set up shop. We used fish net and curtains to create patient rooms.

I helped bag the medications while Christina helped organize the pharmacy.

I missed out of the second day of the trip because I had to travel to Atlanta for my interview with none other than Morehouse School of Medicine. Once I arrived in Atlanta, the immigration officer didn’t believe that I was travelling to Atlanta on business and they escorted me to a back room…SMH. They searched my suitcase for drugs and drilled me with questions about why I went from Miami, to the Dominican Republic to Atlanta within 3 days with no return flight. I had purchased a separate airline ticket for the return flight because it was cheaper. I had to show them all of my emails about the trip, the interview with MSM, my scrubs and business attire for them to believe me. After about 45 minutes, they finally let me go. The officer explained it looks like I was drug trafficking because of the timeline, no return flight and flying between major cities. I know it was really because my middle name is Maria…and I’m from Miami.

So after I was released from the confines of immigration, my cousin picked me up and she couldn’t believe the story either. Had my interview, it went great, I’ll post the details of *Interview Day* later, stay tuned. 📺

After the interview I flew back to the Dominican Republic, dropped off my things at the hotel and went to the local church in Catalina to see patients. The president of the organization, Don, was so understanding and flexible! He paid for my taxi to the church and helped me find transportation to and from the airport.

Once I arrived at the church, I worked with the pediatrics team by helping the physicians and nurses obtain a history and conduct physical exams as a translator. We had a translator but she was at the same level proficiency as I am with Spanish so we worked together. The church was divided up based on specialty. We had an area for Ambulatory Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Physical Therapy, Dental Hygiene and Ophthalmology.

Some of children wanted to take pictures with me. One mom explained that they usually don’t see black women in the medical profession. I was one of 3 of the black women on the trip, one was the pediatrician and the other was the pediatric nurse.

Sometimes the electricity would go in and out so we made due and started using our iPhones as a light.

We noticed after about 2 hours of seeing patients the faces started looking familiar. Our patients would go home, change close and get back in the line to wait to see the pediatrician again to get more medical supplies (pain meds, vitamins, baby formula, etc.). It didn’t work though, because we definitely recognized them. We had too many people that needed to be seen so we couldn’t give out additional items at that time.

While I was waiting to see the next patient I heard someone asking for help for her son. He was very lethargic and could barely stand. He took a few steps towards me then threw up on the ground. Took a few more steps then collapsed but I reached out and caught him before he hit the ground. I lifted him up and laid him down on a bench that we were using as our patient bed.

He was breathing fast and laid there with his eyes closed. He was dehydrated and needed an IV, which he was not too fond of. His mother was crying and too scared to hold him still so I told him that he was “Muy Fuerte” and held him steady. I found a stuffed animal, started singing to him which was good enough to distract him right before the needle went him. I watch his face go from a smile to a silent cry. It’s like the saddest thing to see a child do, but I knew this pain would be worth it because it’s meant to get him to a healthier state then when he came in. So, after the initial urge to frown, I smiled and told him how good he was and how strong he was. He ended up getting an albuterol treatment with a nebulizer because he was struggling to breathe.

I stayed with him the whole time. At the end of his treatment, he curled his bicep and said “Muy Fuerte” then told me to take a picture. Lol.

All of my pictures were taken with permission from my patients and their mothers. At the end of the trip, medical care was provided to 2,700 patients through our clinic and the use of mobile clinics which traveled into the other local villages.

This experience reaffirmed my desire to volunteer and work in medically underserved communities as a medical student and physician.

On the last day of the trip we had a beach day at a resort in Juan Dolio. I mean, what’s all work with no play. The tiki bar was an open bar 😏 and the El Fogor restaurant was all you can eat.

I made some friends, played with a crab then fell asleep on the beach. It was a good time.

Afterward, we went to an all girls orphanage. I will discus that experience in  a follow up post…it’s too much to share so it deserves a post of it’s own.

This was truly an exceptional trip. I have wanted to go back every single year since but of course my medical education and obligations here at home come first. During my 4th year, we are allowed to choose our own electives and have time off as long as we complete our 7 mandatory electives. So, guess who’s heading back to Catalina!? The pandemic now brings so much uncertainty to the future so we will see. Nonetheless, I’m still planning to attend the mission trip and support the work that Handsfuls of Hope continues to provide to the villages of Catalina.
– Future Dr. Jones ❤