Dominican Republic/Haiti August 2005

IMA took another trip to the Dominican Republic/Haitian frontier during the heat of August 8 th – 18 th, both to supply the Dominican rural health clinics and our Haitian-Dominican affiliate, La Bon Samaritain, with much needed medications and again to bring a year’s supply of chronic medication to our longstanding diabetics and hypertensives. The team of 5 carried over $300,000 worth of medication, most of which was left behind for future use. In four Dominican towns, Guyabal, La Descubierta, Duverge and Batey #7, and one Haitian, Batey #39, 1402 patients were seen, including 897 child and adult medical and 463 eyeglass patients. We arrived back home early in the morning of August 23 rd, unaware that a tropical wave, soon to become a depression, was forming on that very day 175 miles SE of Nassau in the Bahamas. It would be named Katrina, a form of Katherine, meaning “pure.”