We arrived in La Romana after 20 hours of flying, waiting and napping.
Our team was greeted by Emilio, Rudolfo and Luis who are our local guides, interpreters, bus drivers and on-site trip support team. Their anticipation of our needs is excellent and they are very patient with our requests.
Today we scouted the El Buen Samaritano hospital in La Romana and made preparations for the surgeries to come. The hospital leadership are serving us well in this preparation phase as we prepare for the patient evaluation and procedure planning set for tomorrow. We understand that we're in the calm before the storm that will happen on Wednesday.
The types of surgeries we'll perform have changed somewhat as it is now likely that we'll see more burn victims than cleft palate/lip patients. Our trip motto is "Be Flexible". That, we will be.
Our clinic and evaluation day is tomorrow with surgeries to start on Thursday.
Carl Cilker
Photojournalist