Local Doc Fulfills Mission at Home and Abroad
Dr. Howard McNair, a Little Company of Mary Family Medicine Physician, recently returned from a missionary trip with his church, New Life Covenant, to the Dominic Republic in June. It was a life altering experience for him to view the devastation, and the population that are far less fortunate than one could imagine. He visited La Bambita, Bora Hana, which was 45 minutes away from border of Haiti. People spoke Creole and Spanish - as most individuals were native Haitian and Dominican.
With much of the land undeveloped and no sanitation system or running Water, people bathed in a creek, which flowed with dirty water incapacitated with all sorts of feces and human waste. There was overflowing trash and waste and when there were downpours of rain, the ground was incredibly muddy and the majority of people didnt have shoes, so they would risk cutting their feet.
Medical care was very scarce and could be 15 to 20 minutes away, Dr. McNair recounted.
There were limited or archaic medical resources, as they are not equipped like in the United States. Items such as saline in bottles or infusion pumps were not readily available. Their ICU only had three beds and Dr. McNairs team was at the mercy of what the Hospital had available.
Dr. McNair says, This trip made me grateful for the items as simple as over-the-counter medications. We were able to give what we had, but Im more sensitive than I was to people who are not as fortunate to have medical insurance. I had to sit back and appreciate little stuff that I had. Even just a breath of fresh air as the temperatures easily hit 90s and were very humid...
Prior to arriving, church members had taken up a collection for medications, sports equipment, clothes and food. They collected enough items to fill an entire truck. It was shipped weeks before they left as the team had heard the delivery and screening process was lengthy, however, when Dr. McNair arrived, the items had not arrived. Their goal was to help build a makeshift filtration system for the people, but by the time their shipment was released from customs, they were already four days behind schedule. They were luckily to be able to continue to build four filtration systems in the town. Once started, the system was fed the dirty water, and through the filtration system, it came out clear. And, since they didnt have bathrooms, were also were able to build a latrine for the communitys use.
Dr. McNairs team also worked on a local field that was originally overflowing with trash. They used tree branches and barbed wire to ward off part of that field, to limit the animals from entering or excavating there. Baseball is the most favored sport, so they were ultimately able to use the field to play there. The items that were collected from the church were given to the children so they were able to receive new baseball equipment and uniforms.
I would say that today, the conditions remain to be very poor. This trip taught me many things and most notably moved me, and I would encourage everyone during this holiday season to give of their time for any charitable cause, Dr. McNair said in a statement.
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