Providing Health Care in the Dominican Republic

Thursday, February 3, A.D. 2006

Sugar cane and pineapples grow in abundance in the Dominican Republic, where, historically, Haitian migrant workers have worked the plantations. The Dominican government housed these migrant workers in areas known as bateys. As I walked through one of these rural, poverty-stricken communities in the Dominican Republic, I was struck at how difficult it must be to love God in the midst of so much misery. Yet what I witnessed was just that: the poorest of the poor relying on and living for God. The connection between poverty and health, or lack thereof, is clear. The poverty that has consumed the lives of these Haitian (and Dominican) laborers has also consumed their bodies.

When one of the Pharisees asked which commandment in the law is the greatest, Jesus said, ìYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.î But how can members of the body of Christ love God fully and wholeheartedly if their own bodies are in such great need?

Week of Compassion supports the development work of Batey Relief Alliance (BRA). BRA serves the residents of these bateys by offering them medical assistance and care. From BRAís mobile health clinic, their doctors give check-ups, grant medical advice, distribute medicines and treat HIV/AIDS patients. One of their volunteer doctors shared that there are, on average, three to four diagnoses of HIV (some full-blown AIDS cases) per week. Other common complaints include headaches and diarrhea. As treatable as headaches and diarrhea are, the mobile health clinic has made a dramatic impact on the batey where it is now parked. And as life threatening as HIV/AIDS can be, the clinic is discovering, diagnosing and treating HIV/AIDS patients, as well as preventing HIV/AIDS through awareness-raising and public education.

Along with our partner organization, BRA, we are helping to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in these bateys. The health care provided by BRAís mobile medical clinic, as well as their brand new Centro de Salud Integral (Center for Essential Health) in a batey south of Santo Domingo, is the only source of medical attention available to them. We are assisting BRA in offering free access to sustainable health care, reducing the mortality rate among children and those suffering from HIV/AIDS, and improving the quality and duration of life for all those living in the impoverished bateys.

Thank you for your partnership as we meet the most basic needs of human health and life. Let us, together, love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds ñ and with all of the strength our bodies can muster so that other bodies may be healed.


For those of you using our interactive map poster, this week we have responded to:

DISASTER RESPONSES:

Sudan, Darfur refugee emergency
Pakistan, earthquake relief
Liberia, post-war relief and recovery

DEVELOPMENT RESPONSES:

Vietnam, Water Supply Project

Previous responses in '06:

DISASTER RESPONSES:

Pakistan, earthquake relief
Mississippi, additional hurricane assistance
California, additional flood relief
Oklahoma, wildfires
California, floods
Mississippi, hurricane assistance
Texas, hurricane assistance
India, tsunami recovery
Malawi, floods
Uganda, refugee assistance
Florida, hurricane assistance
Louisiana, hurricane assistance
Mississippi, hurricane assistance

DEVELOPMENT RESPONSES:

Central Africa Republic, food security project
Palestine, trauma counseling project
Armenia, food security project
Cambodia, food security project
Bosnia, food security project
Dominican Republic, health care
Egypt, health care for refugees
Bolivia, food security
Bosnia, women's income generation