On the morning of October 2, 2004, before the roosters even began to sounds, we were up and moving putting our luggage on Marcelo’s van. Then our trek began. After picking up 11 passengers, Marcello took us to the Quito airport where we boarded our plane for Panama City, our connector flight to the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. We finally arrived at 5p.m. in Santo Domingo at a LDS chapel where we had our first team meeting with all who would be coordinating and helping in our grand expedition. Our staff consisted of two doctors, two dentists, three surgeons, three assistants, and an equipment technician. The doctors are Dr Fernando Zurita , Dr Washington Zambrano, Dr. Ivan Ramirez, Dra. Jenny Naranjo, Dr Fernando Córdova, Dr. Victor Malquin, Dra. María Luisa Miranda, Jennifer Haynie, Abby Caldwell, Juan Zambrano, Mesías Celin.

Sunday we toured the city and investigated hospitals in the area. We also had the opportunity to rest a little while. That night we had a large dinner involving all those who would help in the course of the week, i.e. drivers, coordinators, wives, etc. Gordon Carter met us there along with two documentarians and another volunteer from the United States. We had the chance to associate and introduce one another.

Monday is when our week of work began. We went to a different LDS church by the name of San Geronimo. After setting up our equipment and getting situated, we dove into our work! Person after person filed in, each in need of some sort of help. The doctors treated 100 patients, the surgeons completed over 50 operations, and the dentists assisted over 150 people on that day alone!

Each day was very similar to the first. Hundreds of people in desperate need lining up outside the church building waiting for our assistance. We went to three other churches in the Dominican Republic including: San Cristobal, Estaca Este, and Estaca Ozama. Altogether the four days of work we helped 947 people.

What an incredible experience it was to see these people and to have opportunity to help them. I personally had the chance to work with both the surgeons and the dentists. I saw miracles occur before my very eyes. One young boy was given the gift of being able to use his hands more fully. His fingers were webbed together, making it very difficult for him to complete tasks that required coordination with his fingers. With this simple surgery he is now able to use his fingers and hands more fully. What a miracle it was to witness.

On Friday we took a day to do a little touring. We loaded up in the van and went to Boca Chica beach. It was sunny and heavenly. We played all day in the warm sun and later that night had a final meeting with our staff and the coordinators. We talked about the events of the past week and the things that needed to be done in order for the patients to heal properly. After concluding our week of success, we packed up and began our journey back to Quito. We traveled most of the day Saturday and each of us were back in our homes late that night.

Going to the Dominican Republic was truly an incredible and humbling experience. How sweet it was to help make a difference in the lives of those beautiful people. We would also like to say a special thanks to Elder Castro-area seventy president, Candido Fortuna-the stake president, brother Tommy-from public affairs of the church, José Luis-general coordinator, and Katty Paulino for the great accommodations and support in this; and future expeditions. The door is now open for CAF in the Dominican Republic.