Individual M-Term 2025: Dominican Republic and Houston Hospital

     Today was my last day at the hospital. This morning, I shadowed a doctor in the clinic. He specializes in noses, so I saw a lot of deviated septums and nasal congestion issues. The appointments were very similar to the ones I saw yesterday.  In the afternoon, I shadowed an audiologist. Audiologists specialize in hearing and ear health. I observed three hearing tests, each done slightly differently depending on the patient's age. The goal of a hearing test is to determine if a patient can hear different pitches at different decibel levels. A hearing test may be conducted if a patient has hearing aids, trouble hearing, or has recently had a severe ear infection. During a hearing test, the audiologist puts the patient in a soundproof room and measures their response to different beeps. For really young kids, a picture lights up on one side of the room while a sound is played to get them to turn their heads. Slightly older children hold a block and place it in a buc...

       Today, I shadowed two otolaryngologists (ear, nose, and throat specialists) in the clinic. All day, I observed appointments about various issues such as ear infections, earwax blockages, eustachian tube problems, sinus infections, deviated septums, congestion, tonsillitis, laryngitis, sleep apnea, thyroid nodules, Graves' Disease, tumors, facial deformities, and aplastic anemia. A lot of the appointments were to follow up after surgeries, so I got to see the aftermath of the surgeries I witnessed yesterday. The most interesting issue I saw today was aplastic anemia, which is a disorder that occurs when the bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells. Aplastic anemia increases the patient's risk of getting cancer, so it requires biannual checkups. A common symptom of aplastic anemia and aplastic anemia medications is bleeding gums, so that was one of the things that the doctor checked for.       During lunch today, I sat in on a Zoom meeti...

     Today was my first day shadowing Dr. Chelius, an ENT, at Texas Children's Hospital. Today, I observed two surgeries in the operating room. The first surgery was a thyroid removal (thyroidectomy). It took two and a half hours and was very complex. First, the patient was put under anesthesia, and then an incision was made across the front of the neck. The doctors removed the thyroid, carefully avoiding the parathyroid glands and the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The parathyroid glands control calcium levels, and the recurrent laryngeal nerve controls the vocal cords. The doctors avoid the nerve with intraoperative nerve monitoring, a machine that beeps when a tool touches the nerve. Finally, the patient's neck was stitched shut. After the first surgery, Dr. Chelius met with a patient who had hard lumps in their neck. In the second surgery, the doctors removed a tumor from a patient's parotid gland (parotidectomy). The parotid glands are salivary glands in front of and bel...

       Today, I slept in until 9 AM and finished packing for my flight. I had pineapple for breakfast, and it was delicious! The place we stayed last night had an adorable cat that I got to pet for a few minutes. I was flying out of Punta Cana, so I had to drive two hours to the airport. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop to go to the bathroom, and I was amazed by how many different things they were selling. The airport was really busy, but we managed to get there three hours before our flight, so I had time to walk around. The majority of our group flew out of Santo Domingo, which was only twenty minutes away from where we stayed last night, so they got to stay longer and explore the retreat center. They went hiking and played basketball. My flight was long, but I made it back to Houston safely and my mother met me at the airport with balloons and a sign. The retreat center The cat The view from the plane leaving Punta Cana My mom and I at the Houston airport

     Today was my last full day in the Dominican Republic. This morning, we went to the church for the sabbath service. The service was extremely long and included music, a children's story, a sermon, and prayer. Everything was translated so both English and Spanish speakers could understand. After sabbath, we gave the members of the church the gift bags we prepared on Thursday. The pastor presented us with keychains that had our names on them and charms. He also presented Corbin and Ashton, the group's leaders, with a trophy commemorating their hard work. We drove back to where we were staying at noon to pack and eat a quick lunch. Once we were all ready, we boarded the bus and drove three hours to Santo Domingo. We got to go to the beach for an hour and a half before dinner! The water was really warm, and the sunset was beautiful. We found over fifteen starfish, a few hermit crabs and sea slugs, and a sea urchin! We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach, and I had a d...

    T his morning, our group worked on construction. However, a few of us, including me, stayed back until lunch. At around 11 AM, we drove to the work site and joined the rest of the group. After lunch, we cleaned up the church for sabbath tomorrow. We washed the chairs, cleaned the trowels and mortar boards, took down the scaffolding and put it in the shed, swept the dust off the floor, and washed it. This process took two hours, but the church looked really polished when we finished. After we cleaned, we each wrote a note on a slip of paper and put it in a water bottle. Corbin, the group leader, gave me the honor of placing the bottle into a block and cementing it so that it would stay in the building we dedicated so much time and effort to. Next, we walked around the community to invite people to church and hand them medical information pamphlets. I was part of a group with five other people, including the pastor, who was very excited to share the new church with his ...

     Early this morning, our head doctor, Adrienne, had to leave because she had just graduated from med school and got matched, so we all said goodbye to her. Today, we worked on construction again and got a lot of progress done. In the morning, I built half of a layer, but after lunch, I was much faster and completed two layers! We have almost completed all of the walls. I was in the sun all day and got a heat rash! Anyways, after construction, we drove back to where we are staying and ate dinner. After dinner, we all wrote notes in Spanish to the members of the community and put them in baggies with candy. We plan to give them out at the church service on sabbath. Tonight, a fire started on the property next to where we are staying and burned down three trees! The smoke made my eyes water and polluted the air, but luckily, the fire department came before it became dangerous. Me building the wall Our progress so far The fire tonight The candy and note bags we made for t...

Today was our excursion day, so we did not work. Instead, we went to 27 Charcos de Damajagua (27 Waterfalls of Damajagua). We drove about an hour and a half to the waterfalls and began our guided experience at 10:30 AM. I could not bring my phone because I did not have a waterproof cover for it, so I was unable to take pictures. However, one of our group members could! Our experience began with a 30-minute uphill hike from the base camp, which I really enjoyed. Then, we put on harnesses and ziplined through the jungle. After five ziplines, we arrived at the waterfalls and pools. The waterfalls have been made into slides, so we got to slide down three of them. Since the slides were made of rock, it was slightly painful (for me, at least). A massive group from a cruise ship was also on the experience, so the water was really crowded, and we had to wait an extremely long time between each slide. There was also an eighteen-foot jump into the water at one point, which was my favorite part o...

     Today, our entire group worked on construction. I have laid block for other Maranatha projects before, so I was able to teach others from the medical team how to do it. To lay a block, you have to pick up mortar on the back of a trowel and put it around the edges of the previous row of blocks that were laid. Then, you have to put mortar on the sides of a new block, hoist it over the rebar, and place it on top of the mortar you put on the previous row of blocks. The next part is the most tedious and important part of the process: leveling the block. You must tap down all sides of the block so that it is evenly laid according to a leveling tool. There is a string that marks how high the blocks are supposed to reach, so you must also ensure that the block sits perfectly under it. Finally, you must put mortar in the cracks between the bricks, which is tricky because mortar tends to fall when placed vertically. We completed four layers of block all around the building tod...

  Today was our second day of work. Once again, most of our group went to build the church while the rest of us did medical work. Today, the medical team went to a school to educate the students on health! We set up the education stations around their basketball court and cafeteria. Groups of 18 kids cycled through each of the six stations: exercise, relationships, triage (which covered the importance of basic health practices such as teeth brushing and washing hands), substances and self-control, nutrition, and sleep and stress. I started by helping with triage and then moved to the exercise station, where we educated the children on the importance of being active, talked about fun ways to stay active, and played volleyball. Overall, we talked to over 200 children! Sadly, we did not have enough translators for each station, so sometimes, we had to improvise and communicate with the children to the best of our ability. I had a lot of fun at the school today; I think it was my fav...

     Today was our first day of work, so we got up extra early. Most of our group went to start construction on the church, but some of us, including me, set up a clinic for the community. Initially, we were going to have to set up our clinic outdoors, which would have been awful because of the heat and UV. However, one of the houses on the block was abandoned, and we got permission to set up in there. Our clinic was open, for free, to anyone who wanted/needed medical care. Our clinic had three sections: education, triage, and appointments. The education section comprised five booths, one for each system of the body and how to take care of it. In the triage section, we took each patient’s vitals, such as blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, blood glucose levels, heart rate, weight, and temperature. We also spoke to the patients (with the help of a translator) about what they needed to talk to the doctor about. Finally, the appointments section was where the patients got t...

     Today was Sabbath, a day of rest, so we started the morning by eating breakfast and reading the Bible. We prepared for the church service, which was at the location of the church that we are going to build this week. The church members currently worship under an awning outside. The pastor told us they have been praying for a church building for fifteen years! Both members of our group and their congregation contributed to the service. Also, we had people who translated the service from English to Spanish and vice versa. After church, we mingled with the community members and helped clean up. Then, we went back to where we are staying and ate a quick lunch. After lunch, we visited Jardín Botánico de Santiago (The Botanical Gardens of Santiago). We walked around the gardens and saw many interesting plants and animals (including turtles and an owl!) I really enjoyed the gardens. Next, we went to the Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración (the Monument of the Heroes o...

       Today, we woke up at 7 am and ate breakfast. For breakfast, we had fruit, cereal, and eggs. After breakfast, we met in the convent’s chapel to discuss our group's mission and purpose. We loaded into the van and drove thirty minutes to Maranatha’s shop. Maranatha has many shops worldwide in places such as India, Kenya, and, of course, the Dominican Republic. This shop has 10 workers who weld doors, windows, support beams, and vents for the buildings that Maranatha constructs. Maranatha hires local people to give them jobs and teach them skills that will be useful for their future. After we toured the shop, we drove to the Ciudad del Cielo campus, a school Maranatha has been building for the past three years. The school is almost entirely constructed, and they aim to finish construction by June! I was really impressed by the quality of the structures. We ate lunch near the school, a woman who owns a restaurant in Santo Domingo made incredible food for us. After ...

       Today has been an extremely long day for me. Last night, I flew back to Texas from Colorado and packed for the Dominican Republic. At 2:45 AM, my grandmother and I headed to the airport. We flew to Miami and waited two hours before boarding our flight to Santo Domingo. When we arrived in Santo Domingo, we met up with the rest of the Maranatha group (Maranatha is the volunteer organization that put this trip together). We all boarded a large pink bus and drove for an hour to the convent where we are staying for the night. After settling in, the group met for dinner at 5 PM. For dinner, we had rice and beans, salad, a vegetable dish, avocado, and an eggplant dish. I really enjoyed the food tonight! After dinner, we ate dessert, which was raspberry sorbet, introduced ourselves to each other, and discussed our plans for the coming week. Finally, a small group of us ended the night by playing Egyptian Rat Slap, which is a card game.