We were able to bring with us, not only the surgical supplies needed but also bags of donated medicines, stuffed animals, vitamins, soaps, lotions, toothbrushes and paste. Each day, Marie and I would pack the suitcases with the medicines and supplies we needed and hop into a pickup truck with our physician colleagues and travel to the villages. These villages were not far from our home base of Jarabacoa, but they were worlds away. This was farm country, and these villages were built around the fields that the men worked. There were no indoor bathrooms, many homes did not have running water.
Electricity is intermittent at best.
Most homes were a mix of wood and stone, barely providing shelter for the occupants. I could only imagine that not many of them would be standing if a hurricane blew by. The people we met along the way, were truly a special people. Even though they may have nothing for themselves, they were generous with us. Our first day we set up clinic in a small church in the village of Lescote.