Chillin' in Jamaica: No Worries, Mon

Sunset in Montego Bay


Slow down.

Relax.

No worries.


The culture in Jamaica moves at a much slower pace than it does in the United States, and as our work team has learned over the years, it's important to embrace that culture.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post about the work, we DO work. And we work hard. We work very long days, trying to see as many patients as we can possibly fit in, as we don't want to have to turn anyone away from the clinic. With that said, however, it's also important to take some time to just chill…relax…recharge the batteries, so to speak.


Our team is based in Falmouth, which if you look at the map below, you'll find it on the north central coast of the island. We're not quite halfway between Montego Bay (to the west) and Ochos Rios (to the east.)



In 2009, when I first visited Falmouth, it was a sleepy little village with not much going on, recreationally. We thought that would all change when the mega-cruise ship company, Royal Caribbean, built a HUGE pier in order to dock their two largest ships (which happen to be the 2 largest ships in the world, to date) in Falmouth. They chose Falmouth simply because the water there was deep enough to accommodate their ships. However, it soon became evident that although the ships still dock at the pier, the officials in Falmouth still haven't quite figured out what to do with the thousands of passengers that dump into their town every week. Soooooo…a lot of passengers don't even bother anymore getting off the ship while in Falmouth…which is too bad. I'll show you what WE do to chill out…



One of the best things to do is to raft down the Martha Brae River, which is truly a unique experience. Where else do you get to board a 30-foot long bamboo raft, and be guided down a 3-mile stretch of a gorgeous, green river by a local Jamaican raft captain?? Supposedly, HRH Queen of England II herself has done this, so it must be royally fun, right??!!



The first time I did this was on my first trip, back in 2009. At some point along the river, the raft captain will give you the opportunity to guide the boat - and I must be the worst captain in the world, because I found it kinda' difficult.

2009

When I went back in 2010, I vowed that I would be much better, but I still sorta' sucked:

2010

Last year was no better:

2014

At some point last year, I just gave up and enjoyed the ride with my buddy, Kristin:





Before the ride, you can indulge in some wonderful rum punch…good stuff:


Indulging in 2010…these ladies are still going every year on the trip, as well...



In 2014, I'm just making sure the punch is as good as before…it was.



Some times, just a nice walk around Falmouth can be relaxing…for the past couple of years, we love to walk down around the pier and the local fishing village:


Me in 2010…the fisherman are always happy to share their catch with you for a photo...



This was from 2014…I hope to God those aren't the same fish I'm holding.


Scenes from this year's visit to the fishing village:





On days when the cruise ship is in town, you'll get a different view:





Sometimes, we'll take a 5-minute walk into the center of town…either to pick up some cold Red Stripe beer, or other delights:


From 2014…a rum-filled coconut…yum.



This year, for a WHOLE $1, I got a boot-legged copy of "Cinderella" from a guy on the street…shhhhhhh….don't tell anyone…and note I'm wearing the SAME shirt this year as I was wearing in 2014. I obviously have wardrobe limitations…!!



Every year, we'll take an afternoon and head east to Ochos Rios for some shopping…along the way, though, we always make a pilgrimage to Columbus Park, an open air museum with some stunning scenery:




This year, I was "King of the World"…!!!



Last year, I was just demure on the bow of the same ship…



In 2010, I found myself in Jamaican jail. Okay, not really - this is actually a cage used to hold bananas so they could be weighed, or "tallied"…as in the famous song, "Come, Mr. Tally Man, Tally Me Bananas…"



It's 2015, and I find myself still in the same jail...




I've totally become addicted to the television series, "Black Sails," so anything related to pirates is really, really cool:






Sometimes, all we need is a good restaurant to chill out…and there are several in the area. We like to hang out at the Chill Out Bar, Scotchies (for good jerk chicken & pork), and the ever-popular and ever-touristy Margaritaville.


Last year, we visited the Ochos Rios location of Margaritaville...


This year, we visited the Montego Bay location...




So…there you go. Lots of ways to relax in Jamaica and live the Bob Marley dream of "no worries."

Peace.

Jamaica Jammin': The Medical & Dental Clinic

My blog has been a bit neglected lately - but no worries, mon….

I've been in Jamaica - for my annual dental/medical clinic mission trip, and as Bob Marley says, "every little thing is gonna' be alright."


Pardon me if I throw more Bob Marley at you, because he's pretty much STUCK IN MY BRAIN - and has been for the past week. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Bob Marley…but 24 hours a day, pretty much, for seven days in a row…gah. Over and over and over and over again…Jamaica LOVES to play their beloved Bob Marley at every opportunity, and so I'm soon headed to a Bob Marley detox program to get him OUT OF MY HEAD.

Until then, I'm not going to worry about a thing…cuz every little thing is gonna' be all right.

Ack.


Anyway.

The trip. Let's talk about the trip.

Today, I want to talk about the work, because, really, that's why we go. The work.

The team this year consisted of approximately twelve people…and Jesus.



Well, in full disclosure, that's not REALLY Jesus, duh, but that's what some of the local Jamaicans called him. I guess he sorta' bears a resemblance. He's actually a nurse, so in a way, he DOES heal…right?


A doctor, a dentist, nurses, and a dental assistant and hygienist…and the pharmacist. I can't forget the pharmacist, because #1. she's very important, and #2. she's reading this, so she'd kill me if I forgot to mention her, and so that's why I threw in the part about her being very important. She's my roommate when I go on these trips, so I gotta' do what I gotta' do to keep her happy, or there could be hell to pay next year. Snicker.

Anyway…here's a photo of the pharmacist and I from LAST year's trip:



We pretty much look the same THIS year, so no worries.

Ack. More Bob. Sorry.


After we've gathered our medical professionals, we head to a small clinic located in Falmouth, Jamaica…on the northern side of the island, midway between Montego Bay and Ochos Rios:






I managed to find a pretty cool (and short) tour of the clinic on YouTube that another team did…it will give you a walk-through of the facilities with good explanations of what goes on in each room:

Tour of the Clinic on YouTube

In case you don't want to watch the video (and really, you should…#1. it's a great tour, and #2. it's short. Win-win.) here's a quick photo tour of the clinic:


Intake Room/Triage Area…height, weight, vitals are checked here...


The patients are then moved to the Waiting area:




They are then assigned to either one of these three examination rooms for medical treatment:




…or they go back to the Dental clinic:



Their last stop, if necessary, is the Pharmacy, where they can pick up antibiotics or diabetes medications:



As you can see, it's pretty basic. The equipment is basic, as a lot of it has been donated by previous medical teams, but we do what we can with what we have. Once you've worked here, you get a HUGE appreciation for medical services back in the States…trust me.


We usually open the clinic around 7:30 or so each morning…and by the time we arrive, there will be dozens and dozens of Jamaicans lined up on the outside porch, as it's a first-come, first-served operation. Some of the patients will tell us that they arrived at the clinic as early as 5:00 a.m. in the morning to insure that they were seen. Wow. I can't even imagine.

It's not a free clinic. Oh, our services are free - we donate them - but the local church who runs the clinic charges small fees to the patient to pay for the water, electricity and taxes on the building. This is a snapshot of the fees from last year; rumor has it that the fees were increased this year, but I didn't get to take a photo to confirm:



Keep in mind that this sign is in Jamaican currency…divide the numbers by 100 and you'll get a fair idea of the costs…$3 for an office visit, $10 to pull a tooth, etc.


When the patient arrives, they are met in a Triage area, where our nurses do a quick intake - obtaining their chief complaint, their vitals, and medication allergies. They're then directed into one of the examining rooms to be seen by a physician or nurse, or back to the dental clinic for a cleaning, filling or extraction. We knew we were in for an extraction when a patient complained of the "shaky teeth" - which meant that a tooth was really, really loose and needed to come out. We love shaky teeth. They come out quick and clean. It's when a tooth needs to come out and it's imbedded that can lead to loads of fun. Not. There was a gentleman, Bunny, who took over 2 hours to get a tooth out. Yowza. Bunny wasn't so hoppy when he left, poor guy.

As far as the medical team, their biggest population are folks who come in complaining of "the sugar" or the "pressure" - i.e., diabetes or high blood pressure. When you see the diet that some of these folks have (and I'll be doing a post on that later), you really see why they have medical conditions. Eep. The diet is horrible.

Anyway.


We'll see as many patients as we can until we break for lunch, usually around noon…and after a quick bite to eat, we're back to work until 5:00 pm or so. However, there was one evening this year when the dental clinic stayed open late, not finishing up until 9:00 pm. I was beat.


Some have asked what it is that I do, in particular, as I'm NOT a medical professional. Well, I assist in the Dental clinic…my primary job is to sterilize and sort the tools and instruments, but I also comfort patients, entertain children, assemble the dental goodie bags, keep the music playing so everyone can relax, and take photographs of everyone so we have a record of what we did.

Here's a photo of my area, which shows the Autoclave (pressure chamber) that I use for sterilization, although I like to call it the Easy Bake Oven:



I swear I'm going to put a cake mix in that thing one of these days, just to see what would happen.

Here's a photo from last year of me at work…and again, I pretty much look the same this year (even the same scrubs), so it will give you an idea of what I do:




Here are some photos of the folks hard at work during the week, along with some of our AWESOME patients:


Our dentist, Pam and her assistant, Trish, would either pull or fill the teeth...



Our hygienist, Mary K, calming the fears of a young patient before a cleaning…



The Pink Sunglasses provided great eye protection for our patients…as well as a few smiles and giggles...



There's not one, but TWO air-conditioner units in the dental clinic, and Pam and Trish like to use them to their full advantage. I swear that the temperature every day was 50 degrees in that clinic; I not only froze, but our patients would chill up with "the bumps" (goosebumps) when they walked in. We managed to get our hands on some blankets, and I spent a lot of time draping the patients in them so they wouldn't get the bumps. I think I had a permanent case of the bumps before the trip was over; I DO know that I got a terrible cold during the week.

I mentioned music earlier…I brought a Bluetooth speaker this year, and played music in the clinic for everyone's enjoyment. It became increasingly evident that Bob Marley was much more popular with the Jamaicans than, say, Eric Clapton or the Moody Blues. Go figure. So, when we had a particularly nervous patient in the clinic, I'd pop in Bob and we'd be jammin'. Toes would be tappin', and some patients sang along - all while dental tools and dentist hands were in their mouth. No worries.


The hours were long, the work was hard, but the smiles and hugs were what made it all worthwhile. Sleep was easy to come by at night, when you're exhausted…although for some strange reason, my dreams were jammin' to Bob Marley all night long.

Peace.

Jamaica: The Medical Clinic

So, I'm back from Jamaica, and as I'm all ready to sit down and write some totally amazing, totally inspiring, blog posts about my work there - the unthinkable happened.

As I was uploading my photos from the trip - all 872 of them, by the way - my laptop decided to go into cardiac arrest. It basically crapped out.

ACK!!!

Which, of course, meant that now, I, myself, went into cardiac arrest, as one is prone to do when faced with the Blue Screen of Death on one's laptop.

I immediately rushed it to the nearest "hospital", where it was diagnosed with a serious - but NOT terminal, thank God - disease…that a little bit of time, effort and new parts…would be as good as new. And thank goodness I had insurance, as this little hospital stay would have cost me over $700. Gah.

The good news is that my laptop is now home from the Apple hospital.

The bad news is that I now have to attempt to re-upload all my pics, and go back to square one on writing amazing and inspiring blog posts about my trip - more than two weeks out.

Crap.

Oh well.

So…let's start at the very beginning…a very good place to start…at least according to Julie Andrews, aka "Maria", in "The Sound of Music."

So…I went to Jamaica for about a week or so…in late March. It was a WORK trip, so it's not like we had fun or anything.

Nope.

Not at all.

Ahem.

We went to work in a Methodist medical clinic in Falmouth, Jamaica. Falmouth is a small town on the north side of Jamaica, about an hour east of Montego Bay - which is where we fly in/out of.




The clinic was started in 1990, when a doctor and his wife first began taking medical teams to the Methodist church there. Initially, they provided free - or low cost - treatment in the rooms of the church, but eventually, a small clinic was built about a block away from the church.



The clinic is surrounded by a covered porch - with benches - that are deceivingly empty in the above picture. The people of Jamaica - somehow, some way - get wind of the fact that a medical/dental team is in town…and they will begin arriving to fill up those benches hours before we will open. We begin work every day at 8:00 am, and some people will come down from the surrounding hills and mountainside as early as 5:00 am…they want to be "first" in line, and be assured that they will be seen that day. We don't take appointments. It is first come, first serve…and it can be a little overwhelming, walking into the clinic the first morning, to see a hundred or so men, women and children, all sitting patiently on the front porch, waiting for us to arrive.


I worked with these lovely ladies…the dental team…but more about that in a later post!!!




Inside the clinic, the patient will check in with the ladies in the file room…the patient's file is pulled, and the ladies (local Jamaican women, hired by the Methodist church) will collect the fees from the patient, based on their financial situation.



The fees vary…keep in mind that this is in Jamaican dollars, so divide everything by 100…which is the approximate exchange rate at the moment.




Once they've paid, the patients are asked to take a seat in this same room - which doubles as a waiting room. This room is NOT air-conditioned…the temperatures can be brutal, especially when in close quarters. And here, the patients will wait…and wait…for up to a couple of hours, sometimes, if we are busy in the back with other patients.

No a/c. No televisions to keep them entertained. Heck, not even magazines on little tables to read.

I'm never going to complain again about waiting in a doctor's office back home. Ever.



Of course, while they're waiting, they can take time to read THIS sign, which is posted on the door into the actual clinic. Yowza. That has to make them feel all comfortable as they're about to head in to see the doctor, right??!!



Soon, one of the nursing students will step outside to the waiting room and bring in the next patient, to our "Intake" area. For this particular trip, we had two nurses, who would write down the patient's chief complaint, as well as obtain vitals from them, such as height, weight, and blood pressure. I once worked here a few years ago, and it was really interesting - although I had a difficult time, sometimes, understanding the Jamaican accent.


There are three medical exam rooms available, as well as a small dental room with two exam chairs. For this particular trip, we had three medical doctors - so all medical rooms were busy. We also had a dentist and a dental hygienist, so our dental clinic was busy, as well:


The dental clinic



Exam Room #1



Exam Room #2



Exam Room #3


If the patient is need of medication (antibiotics, diabetes medication, etc), we have a small pharmacy within the clinic. We are fortunate to bring down a pharmacist with us who can dispense whatever the doctor/dentist prescribes:


Please note that we are NOT open for business in the above picture…this was taken when we were setting things up before we opened. For a normal business day, we'd be dressed in our medical scrubs.



So…that's the clinic. Very basic. Very crude. Loaded with lots and lots of junk, supplies and unknown objects brought down by previous medical mission teams. We try to clean it out as best we can when we visit, but more often than not, our time is spent seeing patients - which is as it should be - rather than cleaning and organizing. We always say we're going to come down and spend 2-3 days doing nothing but organizing, but it never happens. There's just too much of a need elsewhere.

We can never see all the people who need help. Never. And even when we are unwinding in the evening - perhaps taking a walk to downtown Falmouth, to visit the market or shop - people will approach us and beg to be seen. "Doctor, doctor!! I need to see you tomorrow! Will you be there??!!" is often heard as we walk through the town. The most common question, though, is "Doctor! Doctor! Do you have a dentist with you this time??!! I need to see a dentist!!!"

I always joke that I'm going to wear a shirt in town that says, "Yes, we have a dentist!" And on the back it will say, "Come to the clinic EARLY!!! Or you will NOT be seen!!!" That will save me a heck of a lot of talking. Hee hee.

The next few posts, over the next few days, will be spent talking about each day - notes from my journal, with photos, of course. The food…the work…the relaxation…the sight-seeing…the culture…the people…

…everything that makes Jamaica so unique and so special.

And hopefully…my laptop won't go into cardiac arrest again…because THIS "doctor" doesn't sign death certificates, EITHER!!!

Peace.