Home Again

I totally agree with the sentiments expressed in Bev's post of yesterday.  Being home and in my own comfortable bed with no noise....in Ocoa, the partying lasted well into the night sometimes waking me up at 3 am.  Considering the roosters started crowing at 4:30 am, there was little quiet time for the light sleepers like me. Apart from the other comforts of home, that is the one that I really appreciate!!

As I stated before, I am totally pleased with the ways in which our team functioned.  My experience in the DR was interesting and stimulating.  Not only did I have the pleasure of helping others, I was treated to our students from CVCEC strutting their knowledge and showing what they were made of on the proving grounds of real life.

I am also so please at how well our blog turned out.  There was great buy-in from the students and our larger community of family, friends and school was pleased to have the insights each of us could offer through the forum of the blog.  In fact, at last look, we have have 5058 hit on the site, so that more than surpasses my wildest expectations!

Congrats to the whole Ocoan team, from the administrators of the School Board (Bonnie and Caroline), our supportive colleagues from CVCEC (especially Debbie and Danielle) and the rest of the school community including students who checked out our efforts on the blog.

Thanks to everyone for their support!

Home Sweet Home

Tonight we are all back to the luxuries of our Canadian homes.( lots of food, good drinking water, hot showers, flush toilets, electricity , comfortable beds and lots of room).

Tonight we will look at what we have through different eyes and appreciate how lucky we are to be born in Canada.

Congratulations to our students who made us proud ( Lisa Davis, Eric Blair, Daphne Carpentier,  Sandra  Laird, Beatha Kayitesi and Stephaine Robson.)

They worked many hours in the heat, poor conditions and with little equipment.

They bought smiles and hope to the Dominican people. They held the hands of the elderly, carried around the babies and gave medical help to thoses who needed it. They did an amazing job.

I would like to thank my colleges Kim Tannahill, John Hodges and Tamara Niven.

They worked side by side with the students to guide them, encourage them and helping them to get though long hard days. What a great team!

Also a big thanks to Sheila Wojcik and Rosie Healy from Georgian College who welcome us to join them and work with their students. Many friendships grew from this experience.

Thanks to all of you who supported us. You are the reason we reached our goals.

To all a good night!

Supper

Last supper together!

Heading home tomorrow!

The Pink House

Today we went to a orphanage for HIV/AIDS children called "The Pink House". We took a taxi out of the "Old City" into the less touristy parts of Santo Domingo, crossed the river and found ourselves watching the activities of the average Dominican through the car windows as we drove past.  It is certainly a very busy place with all sorts of economic activities being carried out from mechanic shops, fruit sellers, metal recycling, barbers, garbage sorting, and other things that you might expect to see on any street in Montreal with the exception that everything happens right on the street and that there is no seeming rhyme or reason to the organization of the businesses. Apparently, there were no town planners when the city was set up!

We arrived at the Pink House without event, but I have to say the taxi was quite modern and I used a seat belt for the first time while being here.  It felt good! 

The pink house is a refuge for the children of AIDS parents (specifically, mothers) who give them up for adoption because of their own circumstances. The "house" is actually a rather large compound which boasts its own dental clinic, medical examination room, school, library, basketball court, festival area, sleeping dorms, outside play area, computer room, etcetera.  It was build entirely from donations and is run with the help of the church, but there are paid employees who deal with the day to day operations. We brought a large hockey bag filled with gifts for the kids that was most graciously accepted.

I have no photos from inside the compound, as that is a strict rule.....children are not to be photographed under any circumstances. I took two shots of the outside before we left:

These pics should give you an idea of how large the place is - and it has to be as they care for 228 children at a time.  Architecturally, it is a very impressive structure with areas designed to give maximum light and airiness and a sense of being out side.  This is because the children stay in the building until they are 18 so as to protect them from the rough and tumble world outside the house. Attitudes regarding AIDS are improving, but it is tough in this environment to get a fair shake at life.  The children are hopfully adopted by people willing to take up the challenge of providing a decent life for the innocent in the hopes they can provide a stable home environment. A really impressive place!!!!

Bird-Nerd Alert, May 12

Those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of a bird nerd; actually those of you who really know me, know that I am A LOT of a bird nerd! I knew that on this trip, I would not be able to satisfy my nerdiness because I knew that we would be occupied most of each and every day and there would be little time left over for that activity.

The Dominican Republic is actually not a great bird watching destination, especially at this time of the year.  This is because:

1) the population pressures are pretty hard on the natural environment, and the indigenous bird population is under pressure from agricultural practices and other human endeavours like hunting and habitat destruction; and,

2) a great deal of the resident birds have gone north to their breeding grounds at this time of the year.  In fact, Canada is the place you want to be in May if you like to watch birds. Nonetheless, I brought my binoculars with me "au cas où" ("in case of", in French - pronounced "oka-zoo").  

(Selfie alert!!!)

I fortunately was able observe in passing a number of species and I was also lucky to discover that there were a lot of birds in a little forested area behind our compound in Ocoa.  I was also pleased to discover another person in our group who was interested in hanging out the window with me - thanks, Susan!!!! 

For those of you interested (read: nerdy, like me) here is a list of what we saw:

Antillean Mango 

Hispanolan Emerald

Hispanolan Woodpecker

Antillean Piculet 

Loggerhead Kingbird

Hispanolan Pewee

White-Necked Crow

Starling

House sparrow

Cave Swallow

Palmchat 

Northern Mockingbird

Rufous-throated Solitaire

Red-legged Thrush

Bananaquit

Black-crowned Palm-tanager

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Greater Antillean Bullfinch

White-collared Swift

Antillean Palm Swift

Black Swift

Antillean Nighthawk

Hispaniolan Lizard-cuckoo

Hispaniolan Parakeet

Hispaniolan Parrot

Mourning Dove

Common Ground-dove

White-winged Dove

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Turkey Vulture

American Kestrel

Cattle Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

Magnificent Frigatebird

Brown Pelican

And a lot of "sp" meaning I saw a bird but, whatever....

Not too bad for occasional birding!

Santo Domingo

Today we are waking up in Santo Domingo, having been dropped off at our hotel by the gang from Ontario before they made their way to the airport.

We spent the day recovering, resting and relaxing.....and of course, buying gifts for family and friends back home.  Here are a few pics that give you a sense of the old part of the city where we are located.

 

 

Today is our last day of our trip and we will all have the morning free.  This afternoon we head up to the "Pink House", an orphanage for girls who have HIV/AIDS. We will bring gifts and messages of support and see the way the place is organized.  I will write a post about that experience later.

Our team is relaxed and peaceful. There are a lot of laughs and jokes as we make fun of one another and as we debrief our experiences of the trip to Ocoa, even when Tamara launched her glass of wine at me over dinner yesterday! I am so pleased with each and every student who fully engaged in this special opportunity and who gave of themselves, their skills and personalities. Although I am not a health care teacher, I have felt included in the entire experience and have had no regrets while I have been here.  

I have to admit I was quite conflicted in the weeks and days leading up to our departure from Montreal, partly due to sense of being overwhelmed by the business of life (lots going on in my personal life), and I have to admit, a sense that the students as a team were not ready.....Well, when you are wrong, you have to admit it, so here it is Sandra, Eric, Daphne, Lisa, Beatha and Stephanie:  

You pulled the whole thing together, congratulations!  You have shown what you are really made of. You were emotionally, professionally, spiritually and SOCIALLY ready for the trip.  You conducted yourselves in a mature, competent, humerous manner.  You chose to dedicate yourselves to the business at hand with enthusiasm and grace.  You showed that you have learned the skills necessary for this trip and were able to use them as needed.  You have been great team members.  You included me in your time here, and taught me a lot about your profession, you shared of yourselves and proved yourselves to me. 

WARNING: Do not let these accolades go to your head.....keep your eyes on the prize and do not let the feeling of having been successful tempt you to be less dedicated to your education.  Still lots of work to do.  I will be watching you all and cheering you on......and giving you a hard time when needed!

Reflections

It was a somber morning as our group went separate ways from the Ontario group. 

A bittersweet moment as everyone hugged and said their goodbyes, but I am leaving San Jose de Ocoa with fond memories that lead to an experience of a life time. I'm going to miss all the wonderful faces and  beautiful souls that I got to work with, converse with and have a great time with. 

This experience has really pushed us to our limits to use our skills to the best of our ability for we assessed and treated a few hundred in the span of 5-7 hours. Seeing how Ocoans live, eat and overall survive has put a new perspective on everything and I can honestly say we shouldn't complain about the services we receive, regardless if we have to wait in the emerg for 12 hours because some of these people get seen once a year and it's probably when these humanitarian groups roll around. And we have to realize how very fortunate we are to be able to afford what we get. 

I'm very proud of the group and I believe we're all going to come home having a different vision of the world around us. 

And finally, a big thank you to everyone who could make this dream a reality!! 

San Jose de Ocoa, I'll be back!!!