Let's Get Back on Track | rachael

Let’s get back on track, shall we?

FYI: this post is longer than the others.

Let’s see...at one point I had sent a Sabana construction update. Well, that didn’t last very long :D

Friday was Independence Day. We started work by 8:15 BUT the students were told to work diligently until they saw the parade starting. They worked for maybe half an hour (but they didn’t really work because there’s always that time-consuming set up stuff to do first). It is 8:45 or so when I notice a bunch of Dominican students clad in pink/purple/white matching outfits and others in their independence day dress (a variety of red/white/blue attire) and still others with batons and flags and I thought to myself, “something fishy is going on here” and pretty much hollered to the students to get their butts outside and follow the Dominicans! What happened next I can not say. That was dramatic, right? I can not say because I did not go. The other chaps went with them and Max, Kina and I went to a meeting with a prospective client. That was formal and official, right? The students were out and about the town celebrating Dominican Independence, being exposed to cultural dancing (much of which they did not endorse or agree with) and soaking up DR culture. More than two hours later, just before 11:30, they returned to the base, right in time for a solid half hour of work and followed by lunch.

In the morning Max, Kina and I met with a man in another town to see if we could partner with him. He is involved in organizing youth events/does youth work with many local church folk. He is a mover and a shaker. He has started his own carpentry business in his back yard (and by back yard I mean back tiny square with a wood shop consisting of a small table and a tin roof). He makes intricately designed concrete forms out of...I can’t remember...and sells them. And he is in law school. And he supports his parents, wife and two children. Oh, and he is an engineer of sorts because he showed us a stove/oven that he created which retains the heat so a) they do not need to use as much charcoal or firewood b) their house (shacks?) do not get so hot. I’m hoping we are able to help this guy out as Max, Kina and I all seek to support locals who take initiative and do more than sit and hope for handouts.

On Friday afternoon I am certain that meaningful work happened but I can not picture it/remember that afternoon. We were likely semi-productive. We likely continued to lay block, fix the trailer, fix desks and..oh yeah, we finished pouring the floor of a new classroom. And by ‘we’ I mean Albertico and another local guy did the thinking and actual pouring but we mixed and hauled. Oh, now I remember, we worked late on Friday: until about 6:45 because we were bound and determined to get a form poured so we could continue work on that area of the base right away the next day. I just lied: most of us worked until 6:45 but Jesse worked until after 9 as he helped Albertico and the other Dominican finish pouring the floor. There is no electricity in the new classroom so Jesse jimmy-rigged a light/extension cord thing and held it for hours so they could see what they were doing. If there were bonus points in this program, Jesse would be winning.

Saturday morning brought regular routine. I feel like some students were surprised that we worked on Saturdays. They managed.

At 11:30 Lauren and Makayla were on the basketball court trying to clean the rods so we could use them to make new forms. Kina walked by them (having just returned from a visit at a Dominican’s home). They told Kina to smile and she didn’t, she kind of scowled at them. I happened to walk by just after Kina and Lauren asked if something was wrong with Kina and told me the story; that’s not like Kina. She’s usually beaming! I told the girls not to worry about it. I went inside to the dining area and Lauren came a minute or two later and said, “Rachael, I really think there is something wrong with Kina”. I looked up at 11:34 and saw her passed out in Pierre’s arms (a Dominican who runs the base where we were staying). He was carrying her to the van. I ran and followed. I asked Max if he wanted me to go along. He did not speak but just slightly nodded his head. Thankfully Brian noticed this as well and also came to the van. I told Brian I was leaving, it was serious, I had no idea when I’d be back and, essentially, I peaced out.

On the way to the hospital Kina came to but did not know who I was and didn’t stay alert for long. She was out again by the time we got to the hospital. We put her in a wheelchair and got her a bed. She was attended to and stabilized. At 12:34 I looked at Max and offered to go back to the base to get some food as we would likely be there for a while. I said I’d run back (we’re in a small town, the base is not far from the hospital at all). “Do you want to drive?” he said. ‘YES!” “Do you know how?” “If I don’t, I’ll figure it out”. So off I went to the big 16+ seater van and drove back to the base, got some lunch, gave some folks a quick update and headed back to the hospital. I was back at the hospital by 12:51. As I walked in Max told me Kina had been walking around and she wanted to go home and the doctor discharged her. I thought that was odd but I did not question it. But at this point Kina was on the bed and refused to move. Then she seizured just after 1:00 and life got very interesting. By 5:00 we were in an ambulance to take her to the best hospital in the country, in the capital. After a terrifying 1.5 hour drive she was in triage and being looked at by 6:45. By 10pm she was sedated and Max and I took a taxi back to the base.

We went back to the hospital after breakfast the next day and spent the entire day there (9-6ish). In the afternoon I left the room so Max could take his necessary daily nap :D and I was thrilled to be able to take a walk. I walked for an hour to get to the Blue Mall (that Hannah and, I think, Sarah wrote about in their blog post(s)) so I could get WiFi and talk to someone back home to let them know the situation. After a very lovely chat where I was able to verbally process and organize all that I had seen in the past 24 hours, I began walking back to the hospital. In the evening a Dominican friend came and spent the night with Kina so Max and I could return for the base for a couple of hours.

Monday, Tuesday and today, Wednesday, have been the same routine: I’ve been at the hospital with Kina by day and Max is here by night. Between the two of us (and the one night shift by the family friend), Kina has had someone here 24 hours a day. It will be nice when she is released as she’ll be closer and Max and I can attend to her AND to other things :D

On another front: the students finished up some construction projects, participated in the annual soccer game against a local team (we have played against them for the past three years at least, possibly more), experienced a different kind of Dominican church service and packed up and moved bases. I hesitate to write much about what they experienced in case one of them wants to write a post.

Last night we did have a party: it was Hannah’s birthday and it was an incredible time. Again, I am not sure if a student wants to describe it but, in a nutshell, there was a 25 person game of Twister, “pin the dimple on hannah”, Headbands Dominican style (ie with mini chalkboards) and hilarious presents. Stay tuned.

Know that we are well. We are safe. We are, for the most part, having fun. Many have been sick, but all have, or seem to be, recovering.

I am writing this from the chair in Kina’s hospital room. Evidence of her spunk emerged today. A doctor came in and gave her a bag containing all her files and test results, including a CD with the images from various ultrasounds, ECGs and EEGs. Without missing a beat she said, “we’re going to need to print those out and hang them on the wall”. And then she went back to sleep.

Thanks all. 

rachael