This was the first time that we were able to bring our 16 yr old twins on a medical mission with us for a full week. We had only done a one-day local trip in Mexico with the missionary friends when they were 10 years old so they were much more involved. So many blessings were bestowed on all of us there! A recap was we saw 1355 patients in 4.5 days and did a medical, dental, and eyeglass clinic in one of the poor outlying villages in the Dominican Republic where they don't get much medical care. Most importantly there were 98 new professions of faith that the local church will follow up with!
We were all able to participate in the home visits and help install the personal water systems. We all were able to use our Spanish skills so that was fun! Rex spent most of his time in triage with the nurses as he's had a lot of experience with that as a Ski patroller and helping in the ski clinic the last few years so that's been a blessing and he saw many hundreds of patients that way-but was also able to use his civil engineering skills.
Aiden was the right-hand man for the dentist and was in charge of sterilizing all the instruments and assisting as appropriate. Grandpa Hal, Rex's dad, was the longest-practicing dentist in Idaho with a practice of 56 years so he would be proud.
Brenna was able to help out seeing patients with me for a day, in dental, and eyeglasses, and then she did a children's ministry the last few days with singing, dancing, and face painting. I was blessed to be able to see precious patients, teach medical students and physician assistants, use my osteopathic skills, and pray with lots of patients. I even got to do some village group patient education in Spanish!
The whole team could totally sense the prayers and support coming from people back in the States and from family and friends, so we thank you! Rex and I have been on many other medical mission trips but we hadn't been on one in 5 years since moving to Utah, so this was such a blessing to be with our kiddos as well!
We were all able to participate in the home visits and help install the personal water systems. We all were able to use our Spanish skills so that was fun! Rex spent most of his time in triage with the nurses as he's had a lot of experience with that as a Ski patroller and helping in the ski clinic the last few years so that's been a blessing and he saw many hundreds of patients that way-but was also able to use his civil engineering skills.
Aiden was the right-hand man for the dentist and was in charge of sterilizing all the instruments and assisting as appropriate. Grandpa Hal, Rex's dad, was the longest-practicing dentist in Idaho with a practice of 56 years so he would be proud.
Brenna was able to help out seeing patients with me for a day, in dental, and eyeglasses, and then she did a children's ministry the last few days with singing, dancing, and face painting. I was blessed to be able to see precious patients, teach medical students and physician assistants, use my osteopathic skills, and pray with lots of patients. I even got to do some village group patient education in Spanish!
The whole team could totally sense the prayers and support coming from people back in the States and from family and friends, so we thank you! Rex and I have been on many other medical mission trips but we hadn't been on one in 5 years since moving to Utah, so this was such a blessing to be with our kiddos as well!