Haiti

24 years ago I got on a plane to Port au Prince, Haiti for 10 days.   I slept on an army cot and dug rocks out of creek beds and used a pick to help make footers for a school and cried my eyes out.   I saw men with big guns and garbage burning and sewage running in the streets and stunning green mountains.  I saw tarantulas in the outhouse and watched the Jesus movie in Creole or French and held a little girl named Milla in my arms.   She had fathoms of stories in her eyes and I wrote poems about it.    I spoke with great drama at my church when I returned…and gasped at how great and white and clean the airports were when we got back to the States.   

It was my first mission trip and it wrecked me forever…. in a good way.  It blew open the perimeters of my “life” vision and filled me with a desire for MORE.   More life.  More culture.  More travel.  More Jesus.  More dirt under my feet in different lands.  More different stuff.  More DIFFERENT overall.   And I guess anyone who knows me knows that I kinda march to the beat of my own drum….that maybe I haven’t done the things that folks have expected… that maybe  I’ve taken a chance here and there….and maybe it’s been the long way home sometimes.    There has always been Jesus in it.   There has always been this hunger.   And Haiti opened it up.

And after 24 years, yesterday I went back.   I went back because I’m going to marry someone from this very same island and I needed a new stamp in my passport.   I went back because I’m trying to beat the system and get this paperwork on my own terms.   But the Feelings ROLLED over me at I crossed that border.   The goodness and faithfulness of God overwhelmed me as I drove on these roads with mountains and plantains on either side.  Girls with hair ribbons walking home from school, motorcycles flying by me churning up dust.   Not so different than THIS side of island, is it?  But 24 years later……  24 years later and here I am.  I live on this same land.   I am loved (still) by the same God who brought me here, who showed me His Face in another language so many years ago.   I am loved by and I’m going to marry a man who was raised on this tierra.    How Good Has God Been To Me!   It felt like coming full circle, this quick trip to Haiti.  It felt like I could see His Hand over me, guiding me through college and nursing school and travels to Europe and living in Florida and California and Pennsylvania, in working in so many different hospitals and holding new mama’s hands and crying tears of joy and sadness and agony and celebration all through these years.  

It felt like God was bringing me back to the beginning…the reminder.  I love DIFFERENT.  I love God’s face on laughing 10 year girls with bright green hair ribbons.    I love God’s voice in Sandy Valdez when he’s preaching.   I love God’s teaching heart in Kari mentoring the young ladies at church.  I love God’s healing in our patients.   I love God’s patience in Laura working with her mamas and babies in the Nutrition Program.  I love God’s servant-heart in Dan preparing special coffee drinks for us in the Guesthouse.  I love God’s hand on Dr. Caceres when he’s doing surgery.   I love God’s calling on my life.   I feel so grateful for the opportunities that I have had….both in the past 24 years of my life…and in those to come.    It takes my breathe away, to recall where I have been, where I have come from, and how FAITHFUL My God Is.   It makes me laugh to think of the young girl (me!) who went to Haiti…who was afraid to eat the food, who hated sleeping on her soggy cot, who wore pajama pants nearly every day and cried at the poverty that she saw.     I laugh at her now during my cold showers, when I carry buckets outside to get water, when I drive my pasola to work,  when I light candles because we don’t have electricity, when I take parasite medicine, when I play dominos with my neighbors in the light of the afternoon sun under the mango tree.    

I think of that young girl, anxious to be like her friends and do the traditional scene…..work/money/marriage/kids.   I think about her now that I am preparing for this new step, this new Sharing of Life.  Monchy and I are about to marry.  24 years later, I am going to become part of a team, The Team Rodriguez.   God has been faithful and surprised me when I least expected it.   His goodness has not ended.   I am praying that I will learn to be a godly wife, that God’s goodness can be seen in our marriage.    I think about who I was and who I am and I am so GRATEFUL that God’s timing was not mine.   I’m so grateful that I can relish every minute of this.   I’m so grateful that this man, this marriage, this job, this ministry, this calling……came when it did.  

And I’m grateful as always to be here.  THANK you for supporting me.   THANK YOU for praying.   My cup is overflowing and although I think sometimes that I have some words, they just can’t explain what it feels like to SEE GOD’S GOODNESS.  Through you.  With you.  Because of you.  Because of Him.   

I’m including a copy of our wedding invitation so that you can see and remember to pray for us  (It doesn't actually look like this but you can see the photo and the info and the verse!)   We covet prayer.   We covet your words of encouragement.   We covet your wisdom shared with us.   THANK YOU.   Dios Te Bendiga Mucho! 

Love, Nicole

Monchy & Nicole

The Wedding:  December 14th at Camp Bethel in San Juan de La Maguana, DR at 10 am

Philippians 1: 9 And this is my prayer:  that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and understanding, so that you may be able to discern what is best….

*Please be on time.  We will start at 10 am

*Bring casual clothes to play baseball or dominos and a bathing suit for the pool

*No alcohol please

         

Dominicans loving Dominicans

So you guys have seen lots of photos of the American teams in action here, correct?   And I think perhaps I've done a poor job of showing you some of the awesome folks that work with us here in San Juan de la Maguana.   This past week I've been blown away by how many hands we have in our surgery pot here.   The nurses, the doctors, the translators, the guys who clean the floor and take out the trash, Matilde who does all the laundry, Cixta and Nieve who run the lab single-handedly and do ALL the blood draws and analysis.    I don't have pix of everyone...but here ya go.   Photos of Dominicans loving on Dominicans.    When the North American teams pack up and leave, these guys keep the ball rolling.   And they do a most excellent job!

This is translator Randy and nurse Andry Omar checking in some of the patients for the day.  They review the consents, weigh the kiddies, give out some pre-op Tylenol, check vital signs, and verify the labs.  

Oh and they give out crayons and coloring pages for the kiddies to "make us beautiful pictures".  Please note the wall behind them.  :)  

Nurse Jarolyn with a post op patient and his mommy.  

Randy and Andry Omar have the parents of the surgical patients outside the pre-op room for a little educational chat of expectations for after surgery.   We like to give the parents an idea of how little ones wake up from anesthesia and what "normal" looks like.   Otherwise, when the parents see their babies crying with oxygen masks on....they tend to panic.   We hold "charlas" in the morning for each group of parents to be sure they understand what will happen throughout the day.  

Nef with a little one and her mama after surgery.  

Neivi helping one of our patients make a beautiful drawing for the pre-op wall before his surgery.   

This is my favorite moment of the day.  Nurse Luisanna is praying with all the patients and their families before surgery.   Again, we are the Clinica Cristiana de Salud Integral.  Salud Integral means integral health.   Health of the body, mind and SPIRIT.  Jesus reigns in this place and we want everyone to know it.    Imagine being able to pray with all your patients (out loud!) in North America before surgery.......   

Nurse Jarolyn with another post op patient.  Lots of love, hugs and kisses come out of this place.  

Translator Nef and Nurse Jarolyn reviewing discharge instructions with the patients and their families.    After surgery our Dominican doctors, Dr. Sandy Valdez and Dr. Osvaldo Canario, do all the follow up on the patients.  The patients generally return in 1-2 weeks for their follow visit with the physicians here.    Our discharge instructions are always given out by the translators and Dominican nurses to prevent any language misunderstandings.    Each patient is also sent home with pain medications provided by the North American surgical teams.  

Nurse Andry Omar putting oxygen on a fresh post-op arrival.  The "little" patients are monitored on a one-to-one basis for at least the first hour of their arrival to the post-surgical unit.  

Parents are welcomed into the post-operative room as soon as their little ones are stable.  They are also welcomed to participate in the care of holding oxygen masks, untangling IV lines, giving sips of water, etc.  Parents are very active participants here.  Dominican families expect to do the majority of care after surgery, counting on the nurses to handle the medication and stabilization portion of care.  It's a little bit different than the States!  :)  

The nurses reviewing discharge instructions and plan of care with family members.  

Nurse Luisanna receiving a patient into PACU and placing the monitors.   Translator Nef is behind her helping with the monitor wires.  :)  

Instrument king Moises is washing all the instruments from every single surgery, wrapping them, and autoclaving them.   Even the little jobs here (and instruments certainly aren't little jobs) are so very important to the success of a surgical team.    His work was very very appreciated this week.   And his great attitude is infectious.   We don't have one single complainer in this bunch.  

Head Nurse Livida is a multi-tasker.   She's here encouraging a cranky little guy to drink his water before discharge while she cuts, folds, wraps, and autoclaves all the gauze that the Dominican surgeon will need for surgery next week.    

And of course besides surgery, the clinic has their daily scheduled AND unscheduled patients to be seen.  Here is Livida with a teeny 3 month old who needed a nebulizer treatment.    He was sent down from the mountains by the current barrio team.   Livida bounces between patients, cutting and folding gauze, overseeing the surgical suites,  guiding the nurses, and ensuring that the North American teams have everything that they need.    She has been in our clinic over 2o years and I'm pretty sure she could do surgery all by herself at this point.  We value her TREMENDOUSLY.   

An integrated team of Americans and Dominicans......  We're missing most of the Dominican nurses in this shot because they are caring for all the post-op patients!    We couldn't do surgery without the amazing Dominicans who live here, work here, and love their people.   They are a tremendous encouragement to me and I love that I get a chance to watch them shine!    

INCOMING!

I have had the most fabulous time over the last 2-3 weeks.   I may have mentioned earlier that I adore meetings?  Yes- I'm a nerd.    I LOVE meetings.   I love planning.  I love dreaming of the future.   I love taking notes and making lists and checking things off and emailing people from my sofa.  

So you can imagine that I have been REVELING in the planning meetings and behind-the-scenes stuff that we've been a part of for the last month.    Dreaming of ground breaking days, medical coordinator meetings, team meetings,  Skype meetings, emails, phone calls,  organizing,  cleaning, renovating, reorganizing, patient visiting, patient phone calls and emails,  and more.   I love typing up minutes of meetings and reviewing them and checking in and having them available on my desktop.   I love receiving 10 billion emails in my inbox and look forward to responding to them.  I think I'm just a geek that way.  

In addition, in preparation for this week's surgical team, things have been humming along in the clinic.   Head Nurse Livida has been hard at work over the last month having things "just right" in the operating rooms and I've enjoyed setting up some of our American "toys" to have ready for today and this week.   I am always amazed at what I find hidden away in the clinic's corners and crevices.   Due to our "orderly storage" system, I often find treasures hidden away.   This week I found some surgical eye shields,  EKG pads, glucometers,  speculums, otoscopes, and pregnancy tests that I had been searching for earlier and finally found!   Livida is a an amazing nurse who has been at the clinic over 20 years.  She knows where EVERYTHING is in the clinic and I believe she could easily perform surgery on her own.  :)

The pharmacy has also undergone an overhaul over these past 3 weeks.   Expired medications were purged in preparation for visits from Public Health in the barrios this week.    Scrubs were folded and reordered and the medication shelves were organized and cleaned.   I think we can almost actually see what we have available now!   Labels for medications have been printed out and printed out and printed out and the intake forms have been copied and cut and copied and cut and copied and cut.   Whew- I MIGHT be almost ready?

Anyway,  I am more excited than ever for this next team to come.  It's been a wonderful quiet refreshing time to catch up on office and administrative work, but I'm also ready to bring on the surgical patients!  Bring on the consults and scheduling and bovies and suction machines.  Bring on the anesthesia drugs and post op pain medication.  Bring on the teaching and sharing and loving-on folks.   I've missed it.

I want to share also that I've been ESPECIALLY encouraged in a few ways over the last few months. I've been attending (ummm on-line obviously) Northcoast Church and I have been challenged through the study of James.   It has been difficult for me to feel encouraged/challenged with the language barrier in the churches here and although I LOVE the community of our Dominican churches and partnerships,   my aching soul has been FILLED with the passionate Bible teachings that I've been able to listen to and watch and understand and process on Sunday mornings through my computer feed.   Please know that I have previously poo-pooed all podcasts and online streaming stuff because I am a technological idiot.   I was so very, very wrong.  This morning's message on Exodus has me all atwitter, able to see God pushing me, burning me,  and molding me through His Word.    I so look forward to this "church time" every week now.  

I also would like to thank you guys, my crew, for your kind encouragement to Monchy and I as we are planning our wedding.    There just are no words.  Thanks, guys.  We feel super loved.  Oh, and excited!  December is in, ummmmmm, less than 3 months.   Right...... so one of us likes to plan and be organized and have everything settled...and the other one likes to....fly by the seat of his pants.   :)      IT'S BEEN GREAT (actually, it's really been a blast!)    :)  Thanks for your prayers....

Each one teach one....

Each one teach one.  You've heard that, right?  Show somebody something...then have them show someone else...and on and on and on and on.  And soon everybody knows.     The whole crew has caught on.

I write these words because I recently had the opportunity to sit in on another continuing education class.   I will say that there are a million humbling moments for me here in the DR (well, actually...in my LIFE) but sometimes the moments given to share with/educate others just slay me.  Michael Trompak and Bill Neiss and Jen Lacey (Paramedic and EMTs) were here with a recent team and given an opportunity to teach some Emergency Medical Response at the hospital.   On  Wednesday we were given a fabulous tour of the hospital by our hospitalist friend Dr. Ranfis and thought that was it for our week...and then suddenly Ranfis invited them to teach a last minute "emergency response class" on Thursday.    You see, here in San Juan your ambulance driver may be your "paramedic" or your "EMT"...without training.   The majority of the time- your ambulance driver is the only one in the ambulance with you except your family members and he's the one driving like crazy to get you to the capital 3 hours away.  Oxygen is a privilege, not a right.    There is no 911.  At least not yet.    In certain cases a nurse or doctor can go with you in the ambulance but it's often difficult and there may not be anyone available.  

Needless to say, our EMS class was full of Ambulance "Chofers" (drivers), along with some nurses, a firefighter, and 2 doctors.   Everyone wanted to participate and ask questions and tell stories.   One driver brought me nearly to tears with statements like "we want to save lives...we want to have the knowledge to help the people in our ambulances...we just don't know what to do".    They were given a LOT of very basic information on stretchers, using oxygen, lifting techniques, using the monitors,  bedside manners, appropriate siren use (hahahahah!), etc.    Some of the chofers had come to the class on less than 24 hour notice from at least 2 hours away.    The information was THAT important to them.      I am ashamed of every single time I have yawned or snored in any class that I ever taken in my whole life.  EDUCATION IS SUCH A PRIVILEGE.

Again, it just humbles me at the hunger that folks have for knowledge.   I'm still not exactly sure what our next steps are to continue to build Educational and EMS/Paramedic programs but it's on our Future List and Prayer List.   Dr. Canario had GOOSEBUMPS on his arms talking about the potential for further education.    In my mind I also think about Childbirth Education classes or Breastfeeding Classes in the future and I just get beyond excited.   Granted, it's probably a few years away.  But it Could.  Be.  On.  The.  Way.

One day.   The New clinic.   The Revolution is coming!   I'm psyched.  We are closer and closer and closer!    Check out the pix below of Michael, Bill, Jen Lacey, Star translator Nefthali, our skeleton model Stan, and our torso model Wilson plus all the wonderful attendees of the class.

So below here is Baby Nicole's newest niece!  YUP- you read that correctly.   Nicolita is the youngest of 8 (or 9?) so she's got some older siblings who have their own children.  This is 4 month old Maria Christina.  I could just kiss her squishy cheeks all day.  

And below is Miss Sneaky Pants, Nicolita herself.   Her great joy is to ride in the truck with us when we visit.   She's hiding behind the seat giggling here.  :)

And as promised, El Gordo has to make the blog.   I promise that he's laughing and grinning every second that I do NOT have my phone camera on me.  Happiest kid EVER.  

Back in it....

I woke up this morning in complete peace.   I didn't have to be at the Guesthouse early so I wandered out to the kitchen and put on the coffee (always always always the first thing to do).   There was milk in the fridge for the coffee which instantly makes everything the best ever.

I opened up the doors to both balconies and watched the sun stream in through the trees with the ever looming mountains in the background.  I could hear the dogs downstairs and the neighbors hooting to each other and the guy who sells yucca pedaling by on his bike contraption shouting YUCCA YUCCA YUCCA way too early.   I could hear the cars and motorcycles buzzing by on the big bridge.    I could smell the neighbors starting to cook already (what is it- 730 here?  wow!) when the scent of garlic and onions sizzling rises to my 3rd floor apartment.   Ufff it makes me hungry.  Good good stuff.   I'm smiling thinking about last night.   Monchi and I went with our current team to play softball.   He plays ball and I play dominos with the non-softball-playing-guys that show up there.   I'm laughing because I'm still not THAT great playing dominos but I've been accepted enough that the crew feels comfortable yelling at me when I make a dumb move.   Of course it's beyond humiliating that 10 year olds know more than I do....but at the same time refreshing to not always be seen as the untouchable/unrelatable American.    Monday night dominos while cheering on my softball-playin' man has become one of my favorite moments of the week.   I feel like one of THEM...which feels good.  Plus the American teams always love playing there too and it's so great watching them dig in with the locals and come home sweating and laughing and telling stories.   Sports seem to have a universal language here.  

I sit down on the new (new to us anyway!) pink fuchsia couch that Monchi finished putting together Sunday and have my quiet time.    Then I start digging through my referrals to update my referral list.   When teams go out to the barrios and see potential surgical candidates or patients who need further follow up, they give me the phone numbers/names/info and I try to categorize the patients and refer them out to others who can help or American surgical teams.    I keep stacks of these papers around and then have massive "referral" days when I type them up and then send them to the Dominican doctors to check/refer to as well.   It helps us know how many potential surgical candidates we might have and what interesting cases might be "out there" for the surgical teams.   I spent pretty much my entire morning on the referral list and STILL have other names to add.     Yesterday was another office day as I reviewed Order forms to see which equipment/supplies could be potentially purchased for the clinic and brought down with American teams in their suitcases.  Sometimes that seems like Christmas!  

These quiet days (office days) are great for me.   I've loved my time here since I got back from the States.  We've had amazing groups and are currently hosting a youth team from Hesston, Kansas.   One of the leaders was a missionary here years ago and has the coolest stories to share.  Watching Dr. Canario embrace him yesterday afternoon and hearing them relive history together gave me such joy. I love sitting in on these moments when folks "come home" in one sense,  hearing that spanish tumble from their mouths once again, watching them greet old friends and wander familiar streets.   I know I don't take it for granted ...living here and having opportunity to see and experience the world here.   The gang from ONU last week dove in full tilt- throwing down dominos every night and practicing spanish in the barrio clinics and loving on the people completely and wholly.     I watched their eyes and hearts open up and I remember so vividly my first time here, my first barrio clinic here, my first patients and friends and rice and beans and chinola juice and bus rides....and I fall in love with everything again just from living vicariously through them this one week.  And the next week.  And the next.   I say it to the groups sometimes when I'm in orientation or even finishing out the week.    We live it all over again through you guys.  Watching THEM reminds me of how it was when I first saw it.  

I still giggle at the ridiculousness of running out of gas on the pasola and getting pushed by Monch to the gas station (pushed by HIM driving another pasola...straight-legged with one leg on the back on my pasola and me desperately trying NOT to steer into a ditch).   I still gulp down the chinola juice like it's the best thing going (it IS!).   I still think kenepas (limoncillos) are a novelty to eat.   I still want to cover my ears at the majority of the sound systems in this country as the blaring and static is usually louder than the speaker or the music ( I've been known to pray that the sound systems won't work and that the person preaching or singing will just have to speak in normal speaking tone. )   There are a billion things that I still think are the coolest here- it hasn't become rote or boring.    And it looks like I will be able to stay as I intended to- since I WILL HAVE TENANTS IN MY HOUSE IN A MERE 6 DAYS.  God is so faithful...and I can feel my trust deepening in Him as He continues to prove His care to me.   Thank you, dear friends, for praying for this with me.    I feel your love and support always and appreciate so much the encouragement I receive from both old and new friends and family.  

Below are a few photos to sum up the past several weeks.   My favorite of course is of me on a pasola being pushed by Monch to the gas station, the quintessential Dominican experience.  

This is a pic of some of our barrio patients waiting to be seen.  The lady with the white kerchief is 102 years old.   

I'm not sure if this video will load or not but it's of Dr. Canario seeing patients and teaching the ONU students in the barrio clinics.  

Being pushed in the pasola to the gas station!  Please note Monch's foot on the back of my pasola shoving me down the road.......GO ME!

I just can't get enough of the El Gordo.   He's just the cutest and might need to be in every single blog that I ever write.   

Working in the barrio pharmacy!  This was a first for me and I LOVED IT.  

The ONU group loved dominos almost as much as we do!  

Hector preaching and teaching to the crowds in Elias Pina....

Ahhhhh this was just the MOST FUN.  Tubing down the irrigation canal!  I love my peeps!  

The ONU team.  I wish they could come every week.  Phenom crew.  I'll remember those barrio clinics for a long long while.  :)  THANK YOU dear friends!  I hope you all bought dominos in the capital......

July 2014 Update Newsletter

News from Nik- July 2014 

I’ve just spent a few weeks in the Homeland resting, reading, and stuffing my face and it’s been beautiful.    This is the most peaceful trip home that I have had in at least 3 years and I’ve enjoyed every minute (except for missing Monchi and my Dominican peoples!).    Red Robin, nephews (see Donavon and I together at the 50s Diner here above!),  late night chats with dear friends, mountain trips,  Isaac’s Sandwiches,  Eby and Umble reunions, Turkey Hill Ice Cream,  homemade pickles, (much of this apparently resolves around food?) swimming in pools and ponds and lakes and mountain creeks,  precious time with Bud and Sue (my beloved parents), and just quiet moments reflecting on my life and all the fullness that it is.    

I took in a lot and I hopefully let go of a lot.   I hope I let go of the stress and anxiety and pressure that comes along with serving in another country sometimes.  I hope I let go of the idea that I often can’t fit my square peg in a round hole and sometimes wonder which world I fit in.  I hope I am letting go of the idea that I’m not good enough ,thin enough, spiritual enough,  talented enough, enough, enough, enough, and all the enemy thoughts that attack me.    Sometimes I have to let go of these thoughts multiple times and know that I will continue to WANT TO BE ENOUGH and struggle with feeling it and finding it in HIM WHO KNOWS ME BY NAME.   (I Love you Jesus!) 

BUT I TOOK IN FAR MORE THAN I LET GO OF.  I took in the unconditional love of my family, the ever-present support of my besties, the trust that I have in my friends, the truth that needed to be heard from my soul sister, the prayers of my people, the open-arms of my church, the tears in a sad movie, the story of a good book, the tight hugs of my nephews, the sun on Pine Creek, the peace of a park as I plod heavily on a running path, the rain hitting the roof of my parent’s home, the quilt that I love on my old bed (just like always!), the GOODNESS OF THE LORD.   I saw the face of Jesus in every single person who served me here…and it happened every single day.  

I feel refreshed.  I feel ready.  This was exactly what I needed.  I am enveloped in love and I remember THE CALL.  I remember why God sent me to the DR.   I had been feeling like I have a job, like I’ve been working, like it’s an employment when IT IS NOT.  It’s always been about God.  It’s always been Him calling me there, sustaining me there, fulfilling me there,   It’s always been a privilege and an honor and I’m-the-luckiest-girl-in-the-world feeling.  And I’ve got it again.  

I’m not going to say this is ever a walk in the park.  I’ve got major prayer requests.  I was denied a Residency Visa to the DR.  That hurts.  My man was denied a visitor’s visa to the States.  Ouch again.    My passport and Visa paperwork is lost in the US postal system (since May) and I need it to continue on in my search for legal life in the DR.   My tenants are leaving my home and I have no new tenants lined up as of yet to pay the mortgage.  Sigh.  Pray.  Just pray for me.  

And yet….. I’m ready.   I’m confident that God already has these things in His Big Schedule Book.  He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands.   Back to the DR I go……  THANK YOU my wonderful people for supporting me, for making all this possible, for praying, sending money and notes and encouragement and fresh strawberries and chocolate ice cream.  Thanks for sharing the vision!    

* If you would like to support me (tax deductible!) , please check out the Missionary Support page on www.solidrockinternational.org and follow me on the Solid Rock International blog (same webpage)  

Photo journalism at its best!

When I don't know what to write I think that maybe photos can cover it up for me.    It's been a great couple months;  winding down the medical/surgical season until July and ushering in the construction, youth group, and vacation Bible school groups.   Our pharmacy is as tight as I can get it.  Scary Room is under control.   Next surgical team is September.   I guess that  I'm gonna head to my passport country soon and visit my peoples for a while.    Blessings to all!

We all love Braegan so very much.  But this is one of my favorite pix of her OF ALL TIME.  She is shoving broccoli in her mouth at the speed of light, sitting on a huge bag of coffee, right between the Monch and I.  Just good times all around.  Our lives at Solid Rock are so very very much brighter with Braegan running around and saying funny things in Spanish/English/Braeganish.  :)  

To be honest, I'm not even sure what this dear little guy's name really is . We all call him Gordo ("chubby", "fatty"- it's a compliment here, really).   Although this photo doesn't show it, he is the jolliest of jollies in the barrio.   

We have found some beautiful sites while taking "lunch walks" from our mobile clinics.  This is a beautiful river near Cabeza de Toro with a sweet swimming hole.

Seriously!  You won't believe it but this guy is a twin!  He and his brother were equally squalling, snotting and crying nearly the entire day that we spent with them in Elias Pina at a mobile clinic.  They clung to their 6 year old brother very tightly and wailed whenever we even APPROACHED them.  But wow- how precious!

I have repeatedly mentioned that the DR has over 30 different kinds of mangos, right?  Only 30 billion times.   Never gets old.  And look how beautiful.  

I work with the greatest fellas.  And we have great times in the barrios.  3 of these brothers are some of my oldest friends in the DR..... way back from the Pueblo Nuevo days.   How cool that we get to connect and work together now!   God is so good!

A room with a view.  If you want to know more about this place...check out my blog from about a year ago called Casa Abandonado.   I still wander through these roofless walls wondering how I can live here one day.

They just don't get any cuter (or rowdier!) than the kids in Bastida.  Baby Nicole's brothers are included in this pic!  We held a WONDERFUL mobile clinic in Bastida and were able to see my beautiful baby, her family and many others in this place that I love!