Our Trip to Jimani

We left the White’s house at 7am on Wednesday, which was really 5 am Austin time, somewhat short on sleep.  Fermin, our driver, showed up with the guagua, the normal Dominican form of transportation, which is a 15 passenger van, though not nearly as big as the ones we have here.  We had 8 people plus four bags of supplies, a big box of food, lots of bottled water, and all our stuff.  Needless to say, it was a bit cramped.  We then embarked on our 8 hour journey from Santiago south to Santo Domingo and then west to Jimani.  The road was good for the first part, and then lots of pothole dodging from then on.  The absolute best part of the trip down was seeing the Dominican countryside. This is such a beautiful country, diverse with mountains, rolling hills, large lakes and ocean views, all within one small island.

Everything is a beautiful green, and the plant life is wonderful and new and diverse.  We passed people selling buckets of mangos on the road for RD$100 (about 3 US dollars), along with huge banana stalks and other produce.  Some of the small towns had people selling bags of flatbread, jars of cashews and other food products that one could buy as we drove down the road.

The road to Jimani winds through some small towns, often with turns down small roads in these towns to continue on our way.  One such turn was marked with a sign that simply said “Haiti” with an arrow pointing the correct direction.  The whole country, that way.  As we were driving, we would occasionally stop and Fermin would simply ask “Jimani” and people would give directions.  We went through many small batey towns on the south side of the island, where we saw sugar cane being harvested for the rum plants.  The houses in these towns are simple, made of cinder blocks with corrugated tin roofs, perhaps with running water and electricity, perhaps not. Along the way, we were looking for a place to stay the night that wasn’t too far from Jimani, and also for food.  Most of the comedors (small restaurants) were closed after lunch by the time we made it to them, and so we were not successful in finding food for lunch.  One hotel we stopped at didn’t have rooms, but did have a large pavilion we could sleep on, with mosquito nets, all for 200 pesos per person.  We passed this town by and headed to Jimani, where we found the hospital we were bringing supplies to.  According to the Snapps, who had been there a few days previously with a load of supplies, the hospital was improved in its organization, though people were spread out throughout the hallways and on the floor, with IV’s and amputations and surgery dressings.

We gave out our supplies, but were told that we would have to put our name down on the list to help, as they had many volunteers.  This was rather disheartening, to hear that we had come all this way and they didn’t need us.  We had heard of an orphanage that had many extra kids, so we tried to find it that first day. We did find an orphanage, which had about 30 dominican orphans, but no refugee orphans.

After staying there for a while, we headed back to the town of Duverge, about 30 minutes away, where we were hoping to find a hotel and food.  Upon arriving at the town, we were directed to Hotel Ana, which had rooms for $9 a night.  We had all five rooms on the second floor with one bathroom to share.  The bathroom consisted of a toilet with a 50 gallon drum filled with water under a pipe sticking out of the wall.  After using the restroom, you dip a container into the barrel and pour it into the toilet to imitate a flush.  The pipe in the wall was for a shower if we really wanted it.  You can use the pipe to get yourself wet, and then use the bucket water to do the rest.  I don’t think anyone used the shower that night.

But we did get dinner!  We were introduced to our first “plato del dia”, the normal Dominican diet.  The meal consists of rice and beans, plus a meat of some sort.  We were offered salami or eggs, and eggs were chosen as who knows what is in salami.  The rice and beans we were served were magnificent, along with salad, cut up mango, and grilled onions.  A feast, for about $4 per person.  We slept that night serenaded by dogs, roosters and music outside; the typical Dominican soundtrack.

More to come about our time at the hospital in Jimani.