The "DR '11 Team" has recently returned from an eleven day study tour of the Dominican Republic where we learned about the Dominican health care delivery system and built latrines in the city of Neyba close to the Haitian border. This was an outstanding team of students with a wide range of experience and skills. We ranged in age from 19 (Alexandra or "Alex" as she preferred) to 68 (guess who?) and we were a group of undergrads as well as Master's and Doctoral level public health students (and one international business major). We spent the first few days in Santo Domingo where the principals of Community Service Alliance (one of whom, Elizabeth Conklin, is a graduate of our MPH program) provided a program that included the history and culture of Dominica as well as an overview of the health care system. We also toured the capital's colonial zone and even had a Latin dance class (which came in handy later in the trip!).
Then we took a four hour journey to Neyba where we began working with a team from World Vision related to the latrine building and serving as mentors to a group of teens who are trained as peer educators in a number of important public health issues. The focus of the training was on parasitic diseases and dengue (there has been a number of outbreaks in the DR lately and while we were there the local newspapers reported 100 new cases a day seen at city hospitals). Our team, working along side the World Vision trainers, was responsible for coming up with new and engaging ways to educate members of the community on basic sanitation and disease prevention. We also, of course, got our hands--and everything else--dirty on the latrine building project. But what a team! They were wonderful. Without the benefit of any power tools, they were successful with saws, hammers, pick axes, and shovels--they are now experts in mixing cement and creating "throne rooms."
We stayed at the World Vision's retreat center high in the mountains above the city of Neyba in a cloud forest where it was cool and very serene, much cooler and quieter than the city which was on the plain and very hot. It was good to retreat to a cooler climate even if the showers were only cold water showers and we slept on bunkbeds under mosquito nets. The food was delicious, all of it locally grown--free range chickens and an extensive garden which gave us the most delicious salads I think I've ever had.
One day early in our stay in Neyba we had the opportunity to visit a community of sugar cane workers where a women's cooperative is producing a nutritious mixture of grains and other ingredients that can be used to bake any number of items including breads and cakes (a nutritious form of Bisquick). We left there expecting to visit a regional hospital only to be stopped by a strike among workers, primarily bus drivers, upset about the high price of gasoline. The road was completely blocked and, although the police had been summoned, it was felt they had been paid off to let the strike continue. When our colleagues grew concerned there might be violence, we took a wild ride over some unpaved and often flooded back roads to reach Neyba. It was an excellent lesson in the local political situation.
We were treated especially well on our last day with a trip to a beautiful island, Isla Saona. We travelled by catamaran to reach the island (the dance lessons came in handy) and spent the day on the beach, returning to the mainland by power boat and stopping on the way to jump off the boat and into the "hole in the ocean," a fascinating geological oddity that has shallow waters four to five feet deep in the midst of the ocean.
This was an excellent learning and service experience and we'll look forward to returning to the Dominican Republic in March next year with another team of students.
