Jeanne B. Lillie went to La Romana, D.R. for one week in March with 24 other volunteers.  While there, the group split into 3 groups, to install water filters in different sugar cane villages – called “Batey”s, do construction at The Good Samaritan Hospital, and worked on a new, solid, home for a family.  The medical team went to 5 different areas either in the sugar cane bateys or the inner city “barrios”(poor sections) where we saw anywhere from 90 – 140 people a day.  I would check people for reading, distance or bifocal glasses, check their eye pressure for glaucoma and refer them for cataract surgery when necessary.

In one of photos – where Jeanne is standing facing a woman, she is holding a portable phoropter – Jeanne was refracting her to find the best prescription for her.v

Another photo is of one of our doctors examining a child, another is of our “pharmacy” set up at the front of a church, with pre-counted bags of medicine that are given to almost every “patient” that comes through(such as antacids, Tylenol, multivitamins), the bunk beds are where we sleep – dorm room style, men’s and women’s, with the glasses above my bunk to re-stock for the following day.

After being seen by doctors, the people would get their medications, toiletries if we hadn’t run out yet, and fortified rice, and fortified, dried potatoes that we also purchased to give each family.

We also had a team of people to play with the children and make crafts.  A team of women also taught the groups of women in a program called “Days for Girls”.  They would teach them about physical aspects of becoming women… and provide them with a washable, hand-made package to help them during their cycle so they would not have to miss school or work.  They taught them about birth control as well.

The name of the mission group is headed by “The Good Samaritan Mission Council” out of Holden, MA.  The group Jeanne travelled with is organized out of The First Church In Sterling.