Mission to Dominican Republic

Uvoh Onoriobe March 30, 2024 0 Comment Uncategorized

Mission to La Romana , Dominican Republic

During the outreach we will help many of the sick and hurting who would otherwise go without the treatment they need. We will set up a general medical/dental clinic and treat the patients’ needs as they present.

We will also pray with all our patients and give them an opportunity to receive Christ. The target area is Batey outskirts of La Romana.

We will serve with Giving Hands Ministry led by Carlos Silvestre.

Together, let’s unite and shine light into the lives of those longing for it the most.

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We will be lodging at Mission House in Barrio George (About 1 hour drive from the airport in Santo Domingo or Punta Cana). Clinics will be held in the nearby sugar cane bateys 30 minutes to an hour away.

The Mission House is run by Pastor Isidro Mejia of Ministerio Casa de Restauracion in Barrio George in La Romana

We will be providing medical clinics for impoverished children and adults. The medical clinics will address physical & spiritual needs. Primary care medicine for acute and chronic illnesses will be treated.

The word batey is a Haitian Creole word that is translated into English as battle, struggle or fight (Batey in English, (n.d.). Haitians immigrate to the Dominican Republic with the hope of improving their standard of living. However, Jonas Pierre, a Haitian immigrant and cane cutter in Latey Los Pelao stated it this way: “Life here should be better than in Haiti,” he says, “but the work isn’t good. They don’t treat us well in this country. Sometimes you go a week without enough to eat” (Bracken, A. 2015).

Haitians and the people of the Dominican Republic have a long history of contentious relationships, commonly referred to as antihaitianismo. It is most evident in the treatment towards Haitian sugar cane workers in the Dominican Republic (Lemione, M. 1985). “Today, Haitian laborers reside in overcrowded “bateys” (the Spanish translation of the word is “residential communities for workers”), lack of access to healthcare, and continue to be denied basic rights under the law” (Jung, Y. 2006, May 9).