Fall 2007
Vol. 14/ No. 2

The Mizzou nursing connection remains strong throughout the year in the Dominican Republic with Master's student Kristy Engel.

She is in charge of coordinating all the medical mission teams around La Romana, the 130 villages on the island's southeastern corner.

Before the healthcare teams arrive in the country, one individual visits the bateyes (sugarcane worker villages located throughout the countryside in the middle of sugarcane fields) and distributes the tickets to a health promoter in that village.

The promoter sells the tickets for the Good Samaritan General Hospital , Engel's employer, for 20 pesos (one dollar is the equivalent of 32 pesos). The tickets allow patients to see the medical team in sequential order — it also covers all their pharmacy needs.

“Depending on the size of the health-care team, we can see anywhere between 100 to 300 patients in a day,” Engel says. “And there are still individuals that are left waiting. However, those who need immediate attention are never left out.”

The trip to the batey can take 30 minutes to an hour driving mostly through unmarked roads in the sugarcane fields. “We are lucky to have a driver who knows almost every road in the area around La Romana,” says this lifetime commissioned missionary with the American Baptist Churches, International Ministries.

However, even with the 100 tickets sold per village, it doesn't stop the people without tickets from arriving and forming a line—just in case.

“Everyone wants inside at the same time and no one wants to wait,” she says. “One of the most critical parts of the clinic is our ‘bouncer' at the front door who tries to keep people in order and also weigh the patients as they come inside.”

Most of the people the teams see are not critically ill, but many suffer from hypertension and diabetes. Often, these illnesses lead to more serious complications. The basic premise of their work in the bateyes is to relieve the suffering that they can at that moment.

“Many medical personnel can become frustrated or bothered by the fact that we may not be able to do anymore than alleviate some pain,” Engel says. “You accept what you can do for your patients, and sometimes all you can do is care and pray with them. The key is to remember that these interventions have increased the level of health on the bateys.”

Engel is a pediatric nurse and worked in Haiti prior to her work in the Dominican Republic . She is currently in Mizzou's Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program with a graduation date of 2009. The on-line Master's program has made getting a higher degree possible for Engel.

Engel has also brought two Golden Retrievers to the Dominican with her to act as companions and teaching aids. She teaches the children how to brush their teeth, maintain good hygiene and to treat animals nicely.

“It is a lot of fun watching the children stare in awe as I brush Kobe 's teeth and talk about hygiene,” Engel says. “Many of the children in the bateyes have never seen such a large, healthy and friendly dog. He even goes swimming with them.”

Learn more about Engel and her mission in the Dominican Republic.