NY Meets NJ in DR

September 13, 2010

Day 9

Monday was pretty uneventful and routine.  I spent a lot of time doing research at the Project HOPE office.  There is so much material that I want to read about various aspects of community health and general health topics.  I am gathering information so I can work on a few different projects while I am here.  I am really interested in children’s health so that is where I am focusing my research right now.  I also worked on a project that someone else in the office had started about maternal mortality.  I posted a picture from one of the interviews the other day.  Carter, the guy who I was working with, left for Haiti today so I will continue working on it tomorrow.

September 14, 2010

Day 10

Today was a lot more exciting than yesterday.  In the morning I worked on my maternal mortality interview summary.  The responses were so informative and definitely eye-opening.  One new mother spoke of cockroaches and mosquitoes in the maternal ward.  The same woman told us that she had to share a bed with two other women following her delivery.  We spoke with the mother of a girl who died 10 days after giving birth to her first baby at age 15.  The young girl didn’t receive enough blood during the c-section and when the mother asked the doctors, they told her that the family would have to find blood for their daughter.  We also interviewed two doctors and a nurse from the clinic.  Those interviews were important because we need to understand how the doctors are being prepared for their respective fields.  We learned that there is a lot missing from the medical school curriculum in the Dominican Republic.  The general consensus was that there needs to be more practical training and better learning facilities.   

This afternoon we went to a lunch meeting at a hotel called Melia Santo Domingo to discuss plans for a conference the first week in December.  The conference is called “Counseling & Treating People of Colour: A International Perspective” and it seems like it is going to be a really great conference.  Project HOPE is the host sponsor so we are helping to coordinate some logistics with the other sponsor, Stony Brook University.  The two women who came to the meeting were from the university and it was great to have a meeting where I could understand EVERYTHING that was going on.  It was also nice to chat with people from Long Island in the middle of Santo Domingo.  Just one of those “small world” moments I guess.   Ruben, a friend of my aunt and uncle aka T&Z, was working with the women from Stony Brook so he was there as well.  Ruben lives in Santiago and my cousin Grace went there with T& Z this spring to build a chicken coop as part of her Bat Mitzvah project.  Grace makes beautiful jewelry and she was able to sell some of this jewelry to pay for her project.  An interesting note: At home in NJ I am “Ken’s sister” or “Frank’s daughter” or “Claire’s daughter” and here I am “Grace’s cousin” or “Zoe’s/Susi’s niece”.  No worries T, they love you too here.  After the meeting we walked around the block to show them the neighborhood and a great place where the conference attendees could eat.  This restaurant was actually the first place I went in Santo Domingo on the way back from the airport but I hadn’t noticed that it was actually about 5 different sections of a huge establishment all in one building.  I only remembered the little place we ate.  See how much can change in one week? 

Later in the afternoon I worked a on my interview project and finally completed my part. Woohoo for my first assignment completion! ::bows::  Another successful part of my day was the conversation I had with Teresa at the office.  Around 6:00pm we started chatting (in Spanish) about the clinic and Project HOPE and a bunch of things and we didn’t stop until approximately 8:00pm.  She taught me so much many things in those two hours and I was really glad I was able to understand so much.  Teresa is a wealth of information and I want to learn as much as possible from her while I can.  Needless to say, today was a long day because we didn’t get home until 9:00pm.  I think I am going to the Herrera clinic tomorrow but I am not 100% sure yet. I will update again tomorrow.

Fun Facts:

1.       Yogun Fruz aka frozen yogurt is so delicious here.  You pick the fruit you want and then they mix it with plain frozen yogurt in a machine and it is just great.  Helados Bon is the ice cream chain around here and that is where they have Yogun Fruz.  I actually had little Yogun Fruz candies from Whole Foods once but I just noticed the connection today when I saw the familiar little metal candy container.  FYI At home I eat ice cream (frozen yogurt usually) with my mom most nights of the week. It is my weakness.  My mom can officially visit me here now that I have scoped out the ice cream situation.  OK enough about the ice cream.

2.       The Project HOPE office hosted people in transit to Haiti after the earthquake.  Teresa showed me the mattresses in the back of the office and then remembered my uncle T was one of the people who stayed there.

3.       One of the street vendors in the middle of the street (yes the middle, not on the side where he could be safe from the crazy traffic) was selling laminated maps and learning posters for children.  Well isn’t that nice, during your commute to work you can buy a phone card from the Orange Guy (Orange is the big phone company here. Claro is also a communications company but they don’t have people dressed in cool outfits on the street), a banana from the Banana Guy, a toothbrush from the Toothbrush Vendor and learning accessories for your children from the Laminated Poster Guy. 

Peace,
Jaclyn

Great view from the hotel but it is hard to take pictures without cars in Santo Domingo. I probably could have taken a better one from across the street but that would have been risky.  Did I mention the crazy driving?