[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 39 (Monday, April 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE 16 DEDICATED NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEERS OF THE DOMINICAN 
                     REPUBLIC MEDICAL MISSION TEAM

 Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise today to pay 
tribute to 16 dedicated volunteers from New Hampshire who willingly 
devoted countless hours and tremendous energy to provide free medical 
and dental care to the people of the Dominican Republic. Last month, 
the volunteers of the Medical Mission Team traveled to the Dominican 
Republic where they operated free medical and dental clinics for a week 
and treated numerous people who normally cannot afford medical care. I 
commend all 16 volunteers for their genuine concern and true commitment 
to such an honorable cause. I am very proud of their unending support 
for the needy people of the Dominican Republic.
  Months of careful planning and preparation allowed the Medical 
Mission Team to venture into different areas of the Dominican Republic 
to treat a variety of patients. The team members included: Dr. Mark 
McDonald; his wife, Ruth; and daughter, Jill; Jack Meibaum; his wife, 
Joanne Parkington; and son, David Parkington; Dr. Marianne Hopkins; and 
her husband, Dr. Andrew Hopkins; Werner Muller; and David Gabrielli, 
all from Concord; Claire Roberge, of Epsom; Don Gagne, of Penacook; 
Doug Tabor, of Boscawen; Gordon Barrett, of West Swanzey; and Lisa Ann 
Wiener and George Rogers, both from Bow.
  Prior to the February mission trip, the volunteers met regularly in 
the evenings to learn minor medical care, repair pieces of dental 
equipment, build specially designed dental units, and plan the details 
of the clinics. Jack Meibaum, a contractor; Dr. Mark McDonald, a 
Concord dentist; and others salvaged old dental equipment and spent 
many hours in their basements updating and improving the equipment for 
the medical work they would perform.
  After discussing the trip with New Hampshire businesses and 
organizations, and several pharmaceutical companies, Jack and Mark 
solicited critical donations for the trip. The Bow Rotary Club donated 
funds for a dental equipment compressor, A & B Lumber in Concord sold 
the compressor to the team at cost, and the Concord Tire Co. generously 
gave donated money for medical and dental supplies. Siemens X-ray Co. 
also donated a portable dental x-ray machine and numerous national 
pharmaceutical companies provided free or discounted medical and dental 
supplies. In the end, the team had so many supplies that they even had 
difficulty getting the large, overstuffed suitcases of supplies through 
customs with the local officials at the Puerta Plata Airport in the 
Dominican Republic.
  Five of the volunteers--Mark, Jack, Doug Tabor, Don Gagne, and Claire 
Roberge--made up the first team to arrive. During their first 3 days, 
the team made daily trips to a small church in Moca where they worked 
tirelessly unpacking bulky dental equipment that had been shipped 
separately in a crate from New Hampshire. I was honored to have helped 
get this crate shipped to the Dominican Republic after the team asked 
for my assistance.
  In addition to numerous other tasks, Jack and Mark set up the 
portable dental units making certain the air and water pumps worked on 
the dental units while Don, Claire, and Doug constructed a stand for 
the indispensable dental light. Doug's construction expertise was very 
helpful, Jack and Mark demonstrated their engineering brilliance in 
building equipment, and Claire and Don were energetic and happy to do 
even the most mundane tasks. All five volunteers worked until they were 
exhausted to ensure the equipment would run efficiently when used for 
the clinics the following week.

  The remaining team members arrived on Friday, February 21, bringing 
more medical supplies, and helped make the final preparations for the 
long-awaited clinics.
  For an entire week, the medical and dental teams treated the needs of 
numerous Dominican patients. Jack cleaned teeth for hours, Mark and Don 
filled cavities, and Jill, Lisa, and David sterilized dental equipment 
and developed dental x rays. At the medical clinic locations, Marianne, 
a pediatrician, and her husband, Andrew, who is also a doctor, treated 
endless lines of needy patients rarely taking a break even for lunch. 
Mothers came in with babies that had parasites, an elderly man 
complained of arthritis, a young boy's cut and infected feet were 
cleaned, two little girls were treated for asthma, and other sick 
Dominicans asked for assistance. Joanne, Claire, Werner, and George 
worked quickly to compile each patient's medical history and check 
their temperature and blood pressure. The medical team had prepared so 
thoroughly that they even brought preprinted medical charts. Lisa, 
Jill, David, and Ruth performed a puppet show for the waiting children 
and Gordon, a professional photographer, documented everyone's efforts. 
The demand for dental and medical care was truly overwhelming. The team 
worked long hours each day to ease the pain and anxiety of so many 
people.
  On the first day of the medical clinic, a young woman came in with 
her very sick 2-year-old boy. According to his mother, the little boy 
had cut his head while playing in one of the typically filthy ditches 
that carried trash and sewage. He was sick from an infection. Twice 
during the next 2 days, Marianne treated the little boy for the 
terrible infection that had spread through his body. The medical team 
was very concerned that he would not be able to fight off the infection 
until Tuesday morning when Marianne could hook him up to an IV. They 
had witnessed their worst fear--a dying child.
  Just 2 days later in the morning, as the medical team had just set up 
a second clinic in Moca, the little boy made an appearance. He walked 
into the clinic with his mother following behind. Upon seeing the 
phenomenal progress the little boy had made, the entire medical team 
began clapping exuberantly. Soon the clapping changed to cheers and 
words of relief that echoed their greatest feeling of accomplishment--
saving a life. I was very impressed with this story, relayed to me by 
one of my staffers, Anna Matz, who volunteered her time to participate 
in the mission.
  For a over a week, these New Hampshire volunteers poured endless 
energy into helping the many Dominicans that ventured into the clinics. 
Their work was exhausting but very fulfilling. Toward the end of the 
week, the dental and medical clinics became mobile and operated in 
neighborhoods where children and families were the most sick. At one 
point, the medical team went into a barrio, a very poor neighborhood, 
and knocked on each door asking if any family members needed medical 
care.
  While the 16 New Hampshire volunteers worked day after day, several 
American missionaries and a few native Dominicans provided support and 
assistance. Paul and Eileen Allyn, American missionaries in Santa 
Domingo, oversaw the teams' every need with Marge and John Gudmunsun, 
other missionaries. Denny, Rafael, and Vladimir, young Dominican men, 
accompanied the team as translators and provided an occasional laugh.
  Many Dominicans, for whom pain is a way of life, got a little relief 
last month as these dedicated New Hampshire citizens gave their time, 
devotion and compassion to the needy people of this Caribbean island. I 
am proud of their work and congratulate them on a job well done. They 
truly embody the real spirit of voluntarism, and I am proud and honored 
to represent them in the U.S. Senate.

                          ____________________