Day 5
Today I cried at breakfast. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to go to work, or because I was sad or mad. It was because I was happy. And more specifically moved. What a way to start off the day. During our morning meeting we were discussing what was going in our clinics and PJ asked if anyone had something outstanding to talk about. Lori raised her hand. She and her team have been working in the Barrettown clinic. The clinic is in a rural, somewhat unfinished church with no running water or electricity. Thank you for portable bathrooms and generators!! Anyways, the church is always filled with old Jamaican church ladies, along with some Ministry of Health nurses. Yesterday they broke out in song, as they are reported to have a tendency to do) and they were singing a simple song about being blessed. This moved Lori. Here she is in such an amazing setting, helping people with what is such a bid deal in their lives and she is feeling so blessed. In turn, these people are reaping the benefits of what Great Shape has to offer and then in turn are feeling blessed to have our awesome group be here to help meet their needs. So Lori shared with us their simple song about being blessed, and it just moved me to tears over my coffee. Now that is a way to start a day!
We were reminded this morning that just about 1% of the adult Jamaican population has access to dental care, also another re-affirmation about why we are all here. I left our morning meeting with a sense of pride and purpose.
Unfortunately it had continued to rain overnight and our drive to work this morning started with a 45 min. traffic jam in downtown Montego Bay. I think it took near 2 hrs to get to the clinic today. This actually was just fine with us. With the iPod speakers charged it was 2 hrs of singing along with one another to everything from Karen Carpenter to Gnarls Barkley to Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. I’m surprised our driver did not jump out of the window! He seems very tolerable to our sing-songyness, and remains the most talented slick windey road driver ever!
Once we got there we started into action, but it was a slow start. The tarps needed to be put up around the generators again, we were having some suction issues, along with Monica’s unit having a power issue also. But, at the end of the day we saw just about as many patients as we normally would, even despite our time set backs.
The remainder of our day was uneventful.. Drove back home, then directly to the bar it was for our team. One of my favorite memories of 1000 Smiles is the team bonding, which usually happens at the bar after work. With our team it also happens in the 3-4 hrs a day we spend getting to and from work. I can’t say again how awesome I think they all are!
We had some dinner and a few more drinks. Took in a little of the show going on at the resort; an African drum and dance performance that really was quite impressive. Foollowing that we hit up the sports bar, again. Just in time to watch the Giants close in and take te win. Heck yeah!
Tina and I hung out a bit more. The game ended. Karaoke continued. Tina’s crush, Ricardo, was non relenting in his pursuit. Back up to the room we are. We ran into the African drum team in the hall and realized they are staying next to us. Oh torn between going to be early, and rocking out with those awesome peeps! Being responsible (and slightly tipsy) is winning, and here I am.
Really a great day all around. Good feelings, great people, an amazing trip!
Quotes from today:
“I already took my shirt off.” Susan. In response to NY Long Islanders asking why she wasn’t dressed like the rest of us. The rest of the team responded, “She’s a dirty girl!” Hey, did I say I loved my team or what!!
{Server} Just to let you know, the Miso soup is made with soybean products.
{Tina} I’ll have the Miso soup.
{Server} We’re out of Miso soup. We have shrimp broth instead.
{Tina} [confused..] Um. I’ll have the chicken corn chowder.
{Me} Pino grigio out my nose a lil.
Happy Hump Day!!
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