We arrived safely back in Roanoke on February 16th around 9:00 pm. Thank you for your comments, thoughts, prayers and warm welcome home. What an amazing trip! I already miss saying hola to our Domican friends.
Much was accomplished on the trip and here are some of the numbers behind a lot of hard work:

50 surgeries
1530 Barrio patients seen
140 cinder blocks laid
2 loads of sand mixed for cement and concrete
1 load of gravel shoveld in place
12x12x25 footers for the kitchen

Although productivity is very important, this trip is not just about the numbers. It's about meeting and working with people. Making new friendships and deepening existing ones.
Sharing tears and laughter with your team and with people that don't even speak the same language - everyone understands a smile, a hug and duck duck goose! (we could not of done it without our interpreters) It's about working together and reaching out to care for those that truly need help. But at the end of the week, you discover that it is the Dominican people that helped you. The New Testament scripture read at Youth Sunday says it so well - Luke 12:22-34

The CCED School flag raising

The Barrios behind the Clinic

We are all God's children

All dressed up for school

How about that foundation!!
Kathryn and Jeanette taking blood pressures
Team II taking a barrio break

Over the past two days, each of the barrio teams have seen approx. 400 hundred patients. The first day, Team 1 went out to SOSA, Jinova, and Team 2 went to Los Montones, Jinova. The second day, there were the same teams. Team 1 went to La Meseta, Elias Pina, and Team 2 went to Guayabo, Elias Pina. After the day was finished, we got on the bus and were fortunate enough to be taken to the Hatti border. The yellow concrete marker designates the official border line. We were in two countries at once!

The construction team finished the footers, and are ahead of schedule! They were lucky to have some Dominican help! Some of us are going from mixing Amoxicillin, to mixing mortar at the kitchen site Wednesday.

The doctors and nurses in the Clinic have had a very rigorous schedule. Monday, they saw 70-80 patients, 25 of those were children. Tuesday, they didn't finish their last surgery until 9:45 P.M. Wednesday will also be a very busy day for the doctors...if only we could get those roosters to sleep through the night so the doctors and nurses could too.

Bath time!
Ann Claire with some children in Elias Pina.
Barrios team 2 examining an infant with suspected scabies.
Our exuberant patients waiting for their chewable multi-vitamins and worm pills.

The completed classrooms at El Rosario.
Digging footers for the new kitchen at El Rosario.

Bob and an El Rosario student in front of the classrooms.
See Fred work. Fred works hard.
See Fred smile. (Must have been early in the day!)
El Rosario contruction team.

Some local kids at the ice cream stop.
The children were fasinated with the camera.
We toured the newly renovated Catholic Cathedral.
Open for business - Monday February 11, 2008

More pictures...

- Mary Page and Annie
Putting vitamins in baggies for children in the Barrios.

Pictures - beginning of trip

Kathyrn packing the drugs.

Packing the bus.

Breakfast at Gran Lina.

Lunch at Bienvenidos on the way to San Juan.
-Jeanette, Ramiro, Gabriel, Joe
-Ramiro, Gabriel, Joe, Kipper

Miguelina and George at breakfast

We all arrived safely to Santo Domingo-including all of our duffles! Romario Ross missed his connection into Miami, so Bob and Rod drove back to the airport in Santo Domingo and arrived back at the Gran Lina around midnight. After a nice dinner, we retired to bed after a long day of traveling. After breakfast the next morning, we left the hotel around 9:30 A.M. and took our 3 hour bus ride to San Juan. It was shocking to see such a difference in poverty along the way, but what a beautiful place. We unpacked all of the duffle bags, put away all surgical supplies, and organized all the medicine for our first day tomorrow. Adios amigos!

Packing Night

Our Fearless Leaders