The transition to life in the Dominican Republic can be challenging for students, especially when the visit occurs longer-term. Living conditions and comforts they were accustomed to in the US were likely gone: their diet changed significantly, they couldn’t communicate in their native language, and the new cultural norms could feel awkward or uncomfortable. I helped each student with acclimating and understanding some of these changes, as I went through the same transition two years ago.
One of my friends in the campo operates a feed mill and is constantly running alimentos (feed) up and down the hill by motorcycle or truck. One day, however, he was coming back up the hill on his motorcycle, probably too fast, and hit one of the many potholes that litter the road. He was thrown from his bike and landed on his elbows and knees. The cut on his right elbow was large enough that he had to get stitches at the hospital in Cabrera. It was the next day when I saw him, and his other scrapes needed attention. His entire left knee and calf were scraped, a small scrape under his right knee, and larger scrapes under his arms and elbows. Without any antibiotic cream on me, nor my first aid kit, I had to improvise quickly. One of the students had her first aid kit on her with some gauze pads; the professors had a roll of gauze and tape. I remembered there was a bunch of savila (similar to aloe vera) growing behind the professors' house. It is known by the community to be a natural antibiotic, as well as soothing for wounds not limited to sunburns, so I thought it would be the next best thing for his injuries. With a large knife, I cut a segment off of the plant, sliced the sides with thorns off, then sliced off one side of the plant's skin so that I had exposed a wet, sticky bar of savila. While Jeancarlos sat down, I rubbed the savila bar all over his wounds, generously applying the medicinal gel that squeezes out from the plant. I then placed the gauze pads on the most severely gouged areas and wrapped the injuries in the gauze bandaging. Although he came out looking like an incompletely-wrapped mummy, I was satisfied with the job done and optimistic it would help mend his injuries.
One of my friends in the campo operates a feed mill and is constantly running alimentos (feed) up and down the hill by motorcycle or truck. One day, however, he was coming back up the hill on his motorcycle, probably too fast, and hit one of the many potholes that litter the road. He was thrown from his bike and landed on his elbows and knees. The cut on his right elbow was large enough that he had to get stitches at the hospital in Cabrera. It was the next day when I saw him, and his other scrapes needed attention. His entire left knee and calf were scraped, a small scrape under his right knee, and larger scrapes under his arms and elbows. Without any antibiotic cream on me, nor my first aid kit, I had to improvise quickly. One of the students had her first aid kit on her with some gauze pads; the professors had a roll of gauze and tape. I remembered there was a bunch of savila (similar to aloe vera) growing behind the professors' house. It is known by the community to be a natural antibiotic, as well as soothing for wounds not limited to sunburns, so I thought it would be the next best thing for his injuries. With a large knife, I cut a segment off of the plant, sliced the sides with thorns off, then sliced off one side of the plant's skin so that I had exposed a wet, sticky bar of savila. While Jeancarlos sat down, I rubbed the savila bar all over his wounds, generously applying the medicinal gel that squeezes out from the plant. I then placed the gauze pads on the most severely gouged areas and wrapped the injuries in the gauze bandaging. Although he came out looking like an incompletely-wrapped mummy, I was satisfied with the job done and optimistic it would help mend his injuries.
A friend of mine in the campo travels early every Saturday morning to Nagua, about a 45-minute trip, studying to become a teacher - all while raising her 4-year-old son. She is learning English as a second language but is struggling with committing words to memory, working with verb conjugations, and pronouncing words whose spelling can appear quite different; if English had come as a second language for me, I know I would have struggled the same. I stopped by, as usual, to say hi on my way down to La Esquina and saw her working on her homework but without much progress. I offered my help and she gladly accepted. I taught her new animals that she didn't know how to say in English, and I helped her understand how to write sentences using the verbs do, does and did. Beginning to better understand the language and with her homework finished, she maintains her positive attitude in learning more.
Like I said before, English is not easy to learn as a second language (let alone one's first language). The only way one can learn any language to become fluent in speaking is to speak with other fluent/native speakers and hear them speak. My host cousin in Jarabacoa, Bernalis, and the sister of a friend in the campo, Patricia, are both studying English and already know a good amount. But, they were in need of practice to learn more vocabulary, phrases, and conjugations. All I had to do to help was have a conversation, so that's exactly what I would do. Although I was only around for a short period of time, that little bit of experience speaking with a native speaker helped reinforce what they already knew and added to their memory bank.
Students setting up shadowing: A few of the students on the program are working to become physician's assistants. Part of that process involves getting a lot of patient contact hours. I had relationships already with the staff in both hospitals, Jarabacoa and Cabrera, so it was only natural that I should introduce them, accompanied by a letter from the professor, to the directors and set up shadowing time for them. All went very smoothly, and they had the opportunity to shadow in ER, tour the hospital, and spend a considerable amount of time observing surgeries.
I look forward to the next opportunity that comes my way to help another.
Like I said before, English is not easy to learn as a second language (let alone one's first language). The only way one can learn any language to become fluent in speaking is to speak with other fluent/native speakers and hear them speak. My host cousin in Jarabacoa, Bernalis, and the sister of a friend in the campo, Patricia, are both studying English and already know a good amount. But, they were in need of practice to learn more vocabulary, phrases, and conjugations. All I had to do to help was have a conversation, so that's exactly what I would do. Although I was only around for a short period of time, that little bit of experience speaking with a native speaker helped reinforce what they already knew and added to their memory bank.
Students setting up shadowing: A few of the students on the program are working to become physician's assistants. Part of that process involves getting a lot of patient contact hours. I had relationships already with the staff in both hospitals, Jarabacoa and Cabrera, so it was only natural that I should introduce them, accompanied by a letter from the professor, to the directors and set up shadowing time for them. All went very smoothly, and they had the opportunity to shadow in ER, tour the hospital, and spend a considerable amount of time observing surgeries.
I look forward to the next opportunity that comes my way to help another.