Rob goes to the D.R.

In November I had the opportunity to go on a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic. I went there with an organization called International Aid Serving Kids (IASK). There were about 40 of us in the group and we went for 10 days. There were 3 doctors, 3 dentists, many nurses and students. We were mainly there to provide medications, dental work and treatment for children. We saw about 2000 medical patients during the week. It was a great experience. We were on the eastern side of the island. We mainly went to see the children whose parents worked in the sugar cane fields. Sugar cane is one of the major exports of the Dominican Republic. Most of the people that work in the sugar cane fields are from Haiti. The owners have built "homes" in the sugar cane fields for the workers. These small towns are called "Bateys". The home is 15 ft wide and 15 ft long. It has concrete walls and a roof. They can stay there why they work but once they get too old to work then they have to leave. They get paid about 20 dollars a week. I think that it is basically modern day slavery. There is no electricity in the area. Needless to say, there is a lot of sickness in the area. There are a lot of skin infections, allergies and parasites. Here are some pictures from the trip.

This is a picture of all the people lining up to be seen. It was chaotic sometimes but overall the people were very calm and civil.

Here's a picture of a whole row of the "houses."

Me in action seeing a little girl.

This is the view from our hotel. In the background is a Catholic Basicilica. This is in the town of Higuey.

These guys were so proud of their motorcycle and were begging me to take a picture of them so I did.

We divided up into 2 groups and went to different locations. Here is a picture of my group of doctors, dentists, nurses and support people.

The trip was mostly work but there was some play. On the last day we stayed at a resort near Punta Cana. On the left is a view from my hotel room. The water was clear and very warm. In beauty it is comparable to Hawaii but much cheaper.

Here is a stand close to our hotel. I guess this is the Dominican's version of Viagra. They were selling some type of sausage that is supposed to give you energy. I was not brave enough to try it as the meat was in the open air all day.

Overall this was a great experience. This is the reason that I went into medicine. Hopefully I was able to help some of these kids in the D.R. I look forward to going on many more trips like this in the future.