We had the privilege of hosting “Optica Popular L.” for a Vision Fair on November 30, 2011.  Natividad Reyes and her co-worker were able to evaluate 54 patients from 10 AM – 5 PM. Patients were then able to view many options of frames. The frames were provided free and the cost of lenses reduced. We hope to provide these services every three months in the future.

On November 10, 2011 ADR had a successful meeting with parents of the Early Intervention Program to explain how their insurances would be billed for services. Over 50 mothers and fathers showed up! An amazing turn out for the population that we are working with. Those present represented over 50% of the patients in the program.

Mission Emanuel and ADR are in the process of installing equipment, setting up an electronic record system and hiring a person to process paperwork and bill insurances. When everything is ready, a full-time insurance administration assistant will be available to assist patient’s families in acquiring insurances as well as bill insurances that many patients already possess.

Insurance monies will be divided between the two partners and the added income will ensure sustainability of the program over the long-term.

A well known Mission Emanuel worker, Marcos, added two tiny members to his family recently. His twins, Diana and Davidson (pictured), were born a month ago, weighing in at 4 and 2 lbs. respectively. Their big brother, Lovensky and big sister, Lovmilka are excited about the new additions.

The twins, though born underweight are healthy and doing well. They now weigh in at 5 lbs (Davidson), and 7 lbs (Diana). At the clinic we worked with Guerda, their mother, to teach her how to breastfeed the babies properly — underweight babies need special help. And we worked with the babies to stimulate suctioning.

As the rain came down, flooding their house with a foot or more of water, Mission Emanuel’s Medical Center temporarily provided shelter to Marcos, Guerda, the twins and their siblings as well as Guerda’s sister. The twins are more likely to become sick from the dampness and contract respiratory illnesses, so we urged the parents to wait to return the children to their home until it had dried out well enough to receive the babies.

The twins now receive biweekly checkups with the Early Intervention Program to ensure that their development continues on track.

A look at what its like to be a sick child here…

Children are the most vulnerable populations, especially when living in poverty. When children become sick, they are at the mercy of others for treatment. Habitually, for lack of money and/or belief in wive’s tales or natural remedies that are not correctly applied, many people do not take sick children to hospitals for treatment.

When they do go to a public hospital, the most affordable option for many without insurance coverage, they encounter overcrowdedness, apathetic doctors, and a lack of medical supplies. Often, they are asked to buy basic items such as gloves, syringes, and bandages before a medical consultation can begin. Laboratory equipment, x-ray machines and sonograms are frequently out of service or producing false positives or false negatives.

Parents leave many times without even a diagnosis for the symptoms that their child is experiencing. They receive prescriptions for medicines that they cannot afford and children may or may not get better.

That is why it is so important that we are present in the community of Bayona. Parents can come to our clinic, pay a nominal fee and receive a consultation from a doctor that cares. Most basic medicines are available at our pharmacy and given to patients for a very small fee and sometimes free depending on the economic situation of the family. Lines are not long, equipment works and if their children do not feel better, they can come back and receive more treatment. The Mission Emanuel Medical Center is a vital resource for the health of the community of Bayona, especially its children.

Jack Larson and Mary Marranzini cut the ribbon at the opening of our new Early Intervention Program. The program opened with much fanfare on August 18, 2011. The program offers assistance to children 0-6 years old with special needs. Mission Emanuel is excited about the opportunities and resources that will now be available to many children and families in need.

For those of you who receive regular dental care, it might be hard to fathom, but we recently had to extract 7 teeth from one adult mouth. Yikes! Dr. Mark Johnson who was here visiting his adopted Dominican family with his wife Heather, came into the clinic and encountered a woman whose mouth had a world of problems.

Mark had to extract 7 of her teeth. If only this were a rarity! Unfortunately, most people in the community do not have access to dental care, nor the financial resources to pay for it. What does this mean? It means that people do not go for annual cleanings. It means that the only time a child or adult will see a dentist is when they have severe cavities accompanied by swelling and pain.

What is the Mission Emanuel Medical Center doing about it? The Medical Center is committed to not only treating, but also educating people about major health issues. Every child in the Mission Emanuel sponsorship program has access to the Medical Clinic’s dentist. The children are taught how to brush and floss their teeth, are given a cleaning and if needed, fillings and extractions. With only one dentist and over 600 children, we are not able to take care of all the needs of all children, but we do our best.

Adults in the community receive assistance once yearly during a special dental trip in October. If dentists come at other times throughout the year, the community is invited to our clinic to see them. Are you or anyone you know interested in serving in the dental clinic during a missions trip? If so, please contact us.

Are you interested in supporting the dental ministry? Donations can be made on our “Donate” page.

We are so excited to welcome additional staff from the Dominican Association for Rehabilitation! Yuvelys is our new physical therapist, Keren, our new psychologist, and Marie, our new learning disabilities teacher for children 7-16 years old.

We have now welcomed as well Odris, an occupational therapist, and Doris, a special education teacher for children 0-6 years old.

Pictures of each one are on our staff page, pictures of Odris and Doris will be forthcoming.

During the month of June, we had the privilege of welcoming 3 groups and a full summer staff. In June, the Mission welcomed over 300 American visitors! We had a great time and had several volunteers in the clinic. If you would like to share about your recent visit to the medical center, please send us a short testimonial on our contact page. Please contact us with your favorite photos as well!

Update — July 2011

The Early Intervention Program has started and is going strong. We currently have a learning disabilities teacher working M-F, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She is already seeing over 40 children a week. We also have a psychologist working Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She started on July 1st and is evaluating all of the children in the program.

In addition, we have a physical therapist who has about 15 regular patients in her part-time schedule. We look forward to her starting full-time soon. In August, we will welcome additional members to the team, including an occupational therapist, speech therapist, and a teacher for the children from 0-6 years old.