2011 VOSH Trip: Batee San Gonzalo, Dominican Republic
VOSH 2011 Group working in Batee San Gonzalo, Dominican Republic. Shown here is our group of 15 Optometry Students and 5 optometrists who spent the week performing eye exams for displaced Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.
About the trip:
On April 9, 2011, 15 optometry students and five optometrists departed Boston for an 8 day mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Thousands of glasses were packed, artificial tears and medications collected, and hand held equipment gathered as we prepared to travel to an area in desperate need of health services. Batey Gonzalo is a very poor village in Monte Plata whose primary source of income is sugar cane and cattle farming. The population includes field laborers well into their seventies, still forced to work to feed themselves and their families. Malnutrition and poor access to health care are both serious problems affecting the residents of this village year round.
The group collaborated with the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) for our fifth mission to the Domincan Republic. The BRA is a non-profit organization that was established 10 years ago to help eliminate the longstanding disparities in healthcare & education present throughout the bateys of the Dominican Republic. The bateys are essentially refugee villages, where many who have fled from Haiti in addition to Dominicans reside. Due to a lack of important resources such as running water and electricity, these populations suffer a greater risk for developing morbidities that would otherwise be preventable. The BRA played an integral role in helping us organize the clinic site, gathering the patient base, and providing accommodations for internal ground transportation.
The clinic site was a community building in the batey located a 1 hour bus ride away from the hotel. In this building with no electricity, we were able to create a functional clinic with four stations: an entrance-testing station, six refracting lanes, an ocular disease station, and an optical dispensary. It would be organized so everyone involved would be able to spend time at every station before the week was over.
On Thursday afternoon, the village received its usual afternoon rain. But this rain was accompanied by some strong winds, which unfortunately ripped a large section of the building's roof off as we were giving exams. Rain began to pour in on all the students and the patients, but because of everyone's quick thinking and the cooperation of the villagers, all the students and doctors were able to grab the equipment and quickly run to the vans to prevent any water damage to supplies. It was quite an intense experience, and I'm sure that none of the students will forget it. The villagers worked hard to clean all the water and mud out of the building after the rain stopped so we were able to finish giving exams on Friday, our last day.
Over the course of the week, the group examined approximately 1000 patients, from infants to the very elderly. People also traveled hours from the surrounding villages to be seen and lined up well before we arrived to ensure they received an exam form. The student VOSH mission to the Dominican Republic 2011 proved to be a great success. Through teamwork and dedication, the group was able to accomplish our mission of providing quality eye care to those that needed it the most. We experienced a great sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction in knowing we were able to provide the gift of sight for many people, a gift that is truly priceless.
The group collaborated with the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) for our fifth mission to the Domincan Republic. The BRA is a non-profit organization that was established 10 years ago to help eliminate the longstanding disparities in healthcare & education present throughout the bateys of the Dominican Republic. The bateys are essentially refugee villages, where many who have fled from Haiti in addition to Dominicans reside. Due to a lack of important resources such as running water and electricity, these populations suffer a greater risk for developing morbidities that would otherwise be preventable. The BRA played an integral role in helping us organize the clinic site, gathering the patient base, and providing accommodations for internal ground transportation.
The clinic site was a community building in the batey located a 1 hour bus ride away from the hotel. In this building with no electricity, we were able to create a functional clinic with four stations: an entrance-testing station, six refracting lanes, an ocular disease station, and an optical dispensary. It would be organized so everyone involved would be able to spend time at every station before the week was over.
On Thursday afternoon, the village received its usual afternoon rain. But this rain was accompanied by some strong winds, which unfortunately ripped a large section of the building's roof off as we were giving exams. Rain began to pour in on all the students and the patients, but because of everyone's quick thinking and the cooperation of the villagers, all the students and doctors were able to grab the equipment and quickly run to the vans to prevent any water damage to supplies. It was quite an intense experience, and I'm sure that none of the students will forget it. The villagers worked hard to clean all the water and mud out of the building after the rain stopped so we were able to finish giving exams on Friday, our last day.
Over the course of the week, the group examined approximately 1000 patients, from infants to the very elderly. People also traveled hours from the surrounding villages to be seen and lined up well before we arrived to ensure they received an exam form. The student VOSH mission to the Dominican Republic 2011 proved to be a great success. Through teamwork and dedication, the group was able to accomplish our mission of providing quality eye care to those that needed it the most. We experienced a great sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction in knowing we were able to provide the gift of sight for many people, a gift that is truly priceless.