We are HOME!

We got home late last night after a 3 hour delay in JFK! It is good to be home but the last 10 days were full of blessings so I was also sad to leave!! There are so many new kids in the therapy program, all needing more equipment and more therapy but the gym looks AMAZING!

Lindsey did such an awesome job with the mural and I am so lucky that Deanna was there to help with all the equipment and training. Here are just some of the MANY pictures. More stories and pictures to come later! Here is a BEFORE and AFTER picture:

This is me with Martin. He was one of the first kids I met on summer staff in 2006. He is doing great!

This is sweet Jyaibel. Deanna rebuilt this chair to fit him and he obviously liked it (he slept the whole time!)

This is sweet Christopher using a walker for the first time. He did great!

This is a picture of part of the groups of parents and kids who have special needs. The secodn picture is me with Jack after the dedication on Friday. It is so exciting for the project to be completed (or at least the first stage!). There are so many kids who need therapy and who can't otherwise get it because this is the only clinic that provides free therapy. There was a father who drove from 3 1/2 hours away because he heard that there were physical therapists giving out walkers. It was such a humbling experience that he came for something that is so accessible to us.

There were close to 20 kids who came in while we were there. About 16 of them need ongoing therapy. More to come later! Thanks again to everyone for your support, the trip was amazing and such a success!!!

On our way!

Well, it is 11:30 and I leave my house in 4 hours for the airport after we pick up Lindsey!! I am so excited and filled with anticipation about all that is going on! Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed for us and given so much support!! It is very appreciated. Photos and stories to come as we return (10 days from now!).

Packing...

...So tonight Deanna and Lindsey came over to help pack. 5 huge duffle bags and 1 large suitcase are packed and ready to go!-not to mention we each a have a roller suitcase and a large (probably too big!) "personal item" each. I am so thankful everything fit in our bags even though we will definitely be paying overweight fees.

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed, I anticipate so much seeing the gym finished and it will be so soon! The families and the kids who will be receiving services there have no idea what is coming!-I can't wait to see their faces.

Prayer requests include: safe travel (including our bags making it with us!), allowing us to meet with all/majority of the kids in the program (sometimes transportation is a problem!) so that we can get them fitted for other equipment they might need and get a therapy program ready for them, overall blessing on our communication with the dominican people, safety and health for all of us and for the completion of the mural project.

I can't wait to post before/after pictures. I'll update this when I get back towards the end of the month

We leave on the 5:40 AM flight on 10/15th and come home on 10/24th.

Watch out Cielo, here we come!

Almost here!

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. Things have been coming along great and I have really exciting news!! One of my favorite physical therapists, Deanna, will be coming on the trip. This is a HUGE blessing because Deanna is so talented at putting things together and she is super handy with tools. She will be a great help and I am so lucky to be going with her and sharing this experience with her.

I am starting to pack tonight..our little team of 3 leave one week from Thursday on the 5 am flight! Pray for smooth travels because we only have a 50 minute layover in Atlanta and there is only 1 flight/day to Santo Domingo.

Lots of other donations have come in and I just spoke with a coordinator for ME who was asking about final touches for some of the equipment being built (stairs, balance beam, etc). I can't believe years of planning is coming down to just a little more then 1 week away.

Last little bit of info...I tracked down a PT from the DR who I met 4 years ago when I was working with one of the children. He is a great PT who was so eager to learn what we did here for PT. I left a message where he works now and I am excited to hopefully get to bring him to our clinic to maybe help out a little bit. I think it will be great to have a PT contact in the DR! He is the one in the scrubs in this picture.

If you would like to make last minute donations, please do so through the paypal tab because I can access that much faster than waiting for the target toys to get here.

Thank you everyone for your support and I will update when we return!!!

The Mural Project

The blank walls of the therapy gym need some help!!...so Lindsey Meyer will be coming along to lead a group to give the walls some life!! She is in the process of designing the mural and getting the supplies together.  It is going to be such a blessing for all the children and families.  

A little history...

Lindsey and I met during the first week at U of A when we pledged Kappa together.  Years later, we both ended up marrying guys from the same high school in Dallas.  So, we are lucky to be back together living in Dallas!! 

 

I am thrilled that we will be traveling together and working on this project together. 

Here is her support letter.  If you would like to support her, you can send the support to 4122 Herschel Ave, Dallas, TX 75219.

     Hello friends and family! I am really excited to tell each of you about an opportunity that I feel the Lord has placed before me. About two weeks ago, Anna Harper approached me about joining her on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. For the past six years, Anna has been teamed up with a ministry called Mission Emanuel whose purpose is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ while improving the lives of the Dominican people. Since 1995, Mission Emanuel has built a church, two medical clinics, a dental clinic, a water purification system, many homes for surrounding communities and two schools where over 500 students currently attend. 

    As a physical therapist, Anna is passionate about children with disabilities. While serving Mission Emanuel, she noticed the need for an updated treatment center and equipment to help the children in the community. It has only been ten years since the majority of Dominican children with special needs were institutionalized. We are excited to announce that the pediatric rehabilitation center for children is in its last stages of completion! The goal of this center is to provide an educational, loving and joyful refuge for the children and parents of those with disabilities. My role in the trip is to lead a group in an art project designing and painting a mural for the therapy gym in the center. I am so excited to bring to life the blank walls of the facility with the message of Jesus Christ!

     I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve and use the gifts the Lord has given me to bring Him glory. I ask you to join me in this ministry as I seek your support and prayers. If you are able to assist me, I would ask that you forward any donation in the enclosed envelope with the check payable to Mission Emanuel-Lindsey Meyer. The mission is being funded entirely through donations and by those serving. Every penny collected will be used to directly benefit the outreach to the Dominican people and the missionaries. Because the days of the trip are October 15^th-23^rd, my goaI is that all fundraising is completed by September 30^th. 

I thank you in advance for your prayers and your financial support! 

Sincerely, 

Lindsey Meyer

 

Get Excited!!

UPDATE!

 I will be going to the Dominican Republic from October 15th-23rd.  If you have been wanting to contribute but haven't got around to it, the countdown begins.   I will be leaving in 7 1/2 weeks!!!

On the move!

I got an e-mail from Matthew Bonk and Nelson Nafziger from Medical Ministries International with the official news that the crate has been loaded in Philadelphia and is on the way to Baltimore.  It will leave Baltimore on August 5 and arrive in Santo Domingo on August 17th!! 

Here are some pictures of the crate being filled.  

There is approximately 7,500 pounds of equipment on this crate.  Most is for Mission Emanuel but about 35% is for another hospital in the DR.  

A must read

Here is a story I received from one of the staff members from this summer, what a beautiful picture of God's perfect plan!

A few weeks into the summer, we met the mother of a young girl who is deaf. As Jack, the director of Mission Emanuel, met with her to discuss ways ME could help, the mission director from a church in Florida happened to be with us in the DR and in ear-shot of the conversation. She got excited about the possibility of her church helping this little girl, and promised to head back to the States and start working on connections to get hearing aids to help her.
A few weeks went by, and as this mother came to ME everyday to ask Jack if there was any news, it got harder and harder for him to say each day that there was yet again no news. Each day, Jack struggled to look her in the eye and confess that so far, there had been no change.
As our next group arrived from Janesville, Wisconsin, Jack was getting to the point of wondering what God's plan might be for this family.
Each group that visits Mission Emanuel brings suitcases full of donations such as clothes, school supplies, toys, and medicine. Our staff then takes the donations, sorts them, and sends the suitcases of medicine to the clinic for our doctor to sort and put into her medicine supply cabinet. As she started to unload the suitcases we sent down that day from Janesville, she found a box at the bottom of a suitcase. It said Miracle Ear on the top, and contained two hearing aids, which just so happened to be the exact type this little girl needed! She came running out of the clinic to tell Jack the incredible news, with tears streaming down her face.
Over the next several days, we had the pleasure of sharing with this mother the news that her prayers for her daughter had been answered. I watched her sit and cry tears of joy as Jack introduced her to the woman who had been given the hearing aids to bring down to the DR as a donation. Without any work on the part of Mission Emanuel or anyone who knew about this need, God answered this mother's prayers. None of us did anything to make this miracle happen...we just got to sit back and watch the benefits of God's great work and provision, and it was an incredibly beautiful sight. I love this story, because it shows God's great love for us, and it shows that God does his great works in ways we never expect or plan. But I think the other thing I love it that my time in the DR is full of stories like this. I have never worked with Mission Emanuel when there has not been some incredible display of God's glory during my time there. That is why I continue to be a part of the work they are doing, and why I am continually drawn back to this incredible ministry. Thank you so much for the support you have given and continue to give. Everyone who shares in the work Mission Emanuel is doing is a part of this miracle, and is a way God provides and cares for his people in the DR. Gloria a Dios

THANK YOU to Megan and Jay Leftwich and Mike Cambardella for your toy donation!

Reminder---There are items on the wishlist for as small amount as $4.99! Go to the second page of the registry to see more items you can order online.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Stories from the Summer...and other news

I spoke with the mission director last week and was able to hear just a few of the amazing things that happened during the month of June and July when there were hundreds of people spending week-long trips working in Cielo and Nazaret.  I'm sure there are so many more.  If you were on one of these trips and have pictures or stories, please send them to me!!! I would love to post some updated pictures and share some of what is going on there that isn't directly related to the therapy gym!  

Here are a few pictures I borrowed from DeeDee Porter who was on staff this summer.  Thanks, DeeDee!

In other news:  

1. Of course, there are still items that need to be bought from the wish list (link to the right!)

2.  We have an anonymous gift of airline miles for the orthotist trip, thank you so much!!  If you are interested in donating for other team members, please contact me.

3. God willing, there will be at least one artist going with me on one of the next trips to work on the mural for the therapy gym wall.  So far, Lindsey Meyer is planning on organizing the mural project.  She is so talented, I can't wait to see how it turns out! 

4.  Thank you to Julia and Blake Schwarz for your toy donation!

A pretty sunset at Club Bamboo:

At the party for the neighborhood kids (organized by one of the groups):

New Button and New Toys!!

Notice the new button to the right!! That's right, you can now make a monetary donation. Keep in mind that any amount will help!!-even $10 :)

You can still purchase items off the wishlist. I have added more as the donations have continued to come in.

Thank you to the following people who have donated over the past week!!!

Marcy Dodge

Angela Grisham

Amy and Craig Dunlap

Christen and Mary Kaye Quinters

Tawny and Stephen Cooper

I appreciate you so much!

The toys are continuing to arrive and take over our guest room!!

Meet Angel and Wish list update

WISHLIST UPDATE!!!!

Almost all of the items that can be purchased and shipped online are bought!! Great job everybody! Thanks to the following people who I received their donations yesterday: 

Lindsey and Drew Childers

Kristen Sebastian

Carole and Tom Kelley again!

Matt Avery

Because there aren't many items left that can be shipped from online ordering, if you would still like to contribute, please do one of the following:

1. Send a Target GIFT CARD, wishlist item or in-store item -make sure you put who it is from!

2. Donate funds to help cover the cost of the team's trip expenses (without a plane ticket, this is close to $900).

3. Donate airline miles to help cover the cost of the team's travel (Tickets are between 35,000-70,000 miles)

You can e-mail me at annaharper@gmail.com with any questions about donations other than target items!!

Meet Angel.....

This is Angel. He is 7 years old and has cerebral palsy. He doesn't walk, talk, sit or roll over but he has a precious smile that is almost constant!! I worked with him when I was on summer staff in 2006. He hasn't changed much which, for his diagnosis, is actually a good thing. He still has great range of motion and no deformities!  In this picture is his father on the right and the therapist, Aquilino, is on his left. 

 

Aquilino works in the mission clinic 3 days a week and often goes to the children's houses that are unable to get transportation to the clinic.

Angel was one of the children that received a pair of the donated braces.  They are to keep his ankles stretched out and prevent deformities.  

This is a sweet picture of Angel the first time I met him in 2006.

And another one of us together...

Gracious Giving! And....meet Justin

Hello all.  Thank you so much for those of you who are continuing to give support!  The items from the wish-list are continuing to come in but there are still lots of things that need to be bought.  

I have had a couple questions about where to send them, but please send all items to my house.  The address is on the target website (if you are shipping directly from them).  If you get something in the store and would like to send it, contact me and I will get you my address.

Thanks to the following for giving so generously:

Carole and Tom Kelley

Tawny and Stephen Cooper

Brandie and Jason Means

Ryan Boughan

Carolyn and Randy Allen

Laura Caldwell-again!

Yanira Brown

Leanne and Hunter Deweese

Here is one of the families who will benefit from your sweet giving!:

This is Justin (Americanized pronunciation) :) 

His mother is Rosa.  He has cerebral palsy and has difficulty sitting by himself and is unable to walk.  His mom is a single mother and has unstable work because of her commitment to caring for him.  She is wonderful and was so eager to learn new things to help her son make progress.  

I look forward to working with her more in the future.  I know he will love the toys that light up and sing!

Mystery Item

I received another item today-the red, yellow and blue basketball BUT it did not come with a packing slip.  So, if this was you, I would love to thank you!! If it was meant to be anonymous, then no worries-thank you so much!  It looks like things are continuing to be bought so keep it up!  

 

Here are a few pictures of typical Dominican scenes:

Rainy Day in Cielo (the town where we spend most of our time):

 

Just hanging out:

Andrew goofing around with Jesus:

The first item has arrived!!!.....

It was so exciting to get home from work with a box waiting for me at the front door!! Thanks Laura Caldwell for the Baby Walker :)  There have currently been 19 items purchased...Sorry I can't see who they are from until they arrive.  Happy Tuesday!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to Whitney Warfield, Craig and Corrie Inman and Brandie Means (and more that I won't be able to see until the Target packages arrive) who have already contributed!! 

Wish List

You can help buy things for the Dominican clinic through this target wishlist: 

https://www.target.com/lists/38K5DTKNEWE34. 

I am really excited because I just discovered Target wish lists-they are just like wedding/baby registries but this will benefit the therapy gym!! I  have set-up a wishlist through Target that has all the "extras" that will really make the clinic whole.   It ranges from baby rattles to basketball hoops and also includes the necessities like disinfectant wipes and ziploc storage pieces.  This clinic will have most of the up-to-date equipment that a typical US pediatric clinic will have.  What we are missing are the things that bring it to life and allow the children to enjoy their therapy.  Thank you so much to those of you who have offered loyal support in the past and welcome to those of you who are just starting the rewarding involvement in changing the lives of special children in the Dominican Republic :) If you would like to contribute, please visit the wish list and order some items. https://www.target.com/lists/38K5DTKNEWE34.  The items range from $1.99 to $55.99. I will be updating the blog with toys/other donations as they come in.  

Quick Updates

Exciting things are happening in the continued development of the pediatric physical therapy gym!!  

-Air conditioning is installed

-1,000 pounds of equipment will be arriving in about a month
-3 new kids have been added to the program since my last trip in January
-There will be 2 additional team members on the next trip.  The first is an orthotist who will be using old braces and, with his equipment, adapting them to make them custom fit for the children.  These braces typically fit 8 months to a year so this will be a great project with a lasting impact.  There will also be an occupational therapist who owns his own pediatric clinic.  He will be helping with setting up all the equipment and consulting on different ways to make it run efficiently and serve the kids in the most effective way!  

Once the equipment arrives in the DR (it is leaving from a port in philadelphia and will be on the water for 2 weeks, then in customs for 2-4 weeks)  our team will go. 

The Latest Adventure

The latest challenge was figuring out a way to get the donated equipment down the DR.  As you may or may not know, the DR has a horrible postal service and getting oddly shaped and really heavy items on the plane is close to impossible.  The best I have done is getting a wheelchair to the DR for Joel and that required me telling the airline staff that it was my wheelchair.  One of Jack Larson's contacts (Exec. Dir. of Mission Emanuel in the US) works for MMI-www.mmint.org. This is a ministry that ships medical equipment to many different countries to help their missionaries provide better health care.  They currently have our equipment in their warehouse.  Here are some of the parts of this adventure:

In order to get this set-up correctly to weather more than a month long journey, it had to be loaded onto pallets and shrink wrapped.  Thank you to all the people who donated and discounted items!!  Thank you Callie and Garrett Griffin for letting us store over 1,000 pounds of equipment in your garage for o

ver a month :)  We couldn't have made this happen without your help!  Also, thank you to Tawny Cooper and her father, Jorge for helping us with shipping so that the price of shipping was MUCH less than what I could have found on my own.  It cost a little less than $900 for the shipping. 

For just one instance of God's humor and presence in this whole operation was that I was required to use paypal to pay for the shipping. For some reason, my paypal account would not let me use credit-I had to pay with an echeck.  BUT this takes 3-5 days to process.  So, thankfully, the shipping company was in FAYETTEVILLE!!  My mom, in her typical fashion, drove the check right over 2 hours before the pick-up in Dallas and everything was on time! Thanks Mom :) 

Brett DeVore, my boss from the clinic where I worked in Atlanta (Kiddos' Clubhouse), and his wife Nell graciously donated gym mats for the clinic.   They will be used daily and add a ton of color to the now empty room.  Thank you Nell and Brett!!  Hopefully Brett will be joining me on my next trip!

The piece I am most excited about now is the LiteGait.  It is a body-weight supported system that goes over a treadmill that allows us to help kids learn or re-learn to walk with much less effort from the therapist.  These units usually cost about $4500.  Thank you Kevin!!-who sold me one for only $800.  The final item that will arrive next week is a treadmill to complete the system.  Here is a picture of how it works: 

Hopefully, the finalized gym will look something like this:

*Thank you to the following people/places that donated equipment, their time and resources for this most recent project:

Kevin 

Jorge Guiloff-North American Trade Corp

Mike Walker-Case Stack, Inc.

Lisa Higgins and Family

Callie and Garrett Griffin

Nell and Brett Devore

Amanda Burnett-Medical City

Cara Smith-Texas Scottish Rite

Cari Copeland Dixon

Katie Peglow-Adaptivemall.com

Franck Vautrin

Anne Butt

Our history with the mission

I have to preface this with the statement that none of this has been done because of my doing.  I give all the credit to our great God who has put people in my life that have been able to support me and lead me to other people that are able to give advice, donations and contacts to make everything happen.  It has been amazing already and I feel so lucky that I am getting to be even a small part in the great story!

I became involved with Mission Emanuel-missionemanuel.org-(which is still the organization that I go through) when I was a sophomore at Wake Forest.  It was an amazing, eye-opening experience and I was hopeful that I would be able to return sometime.  The following year I was able to go through a Wake Forest scholarship and had another amazing week-long experience.  From that time until I graduated from PT school I thought about the families I had met and constantly desired to return.

In January of 2005, Andrew and I began talking about how neat it would be to go on a trip

 together during one of the 5 trips that is there through the month of June and July.  We called First Pres (our Wintson-Salem church that sends multiple groups each year) and said we were interested in going on the family trip. 

 Through prayer and discussion, we ended up committing to be on summer staff for the entire 5 weeks.  Many of you were involved in offering support for that trip-thank you so much! 

During this time, I worked in the clinic daily.  I provided therapy to the many kids with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, prematurity and other unknown syndromes.  One child I worked with specifically is named Joel.  I will tell his story in another post.  Andrew helped with the many construction projects that were in progress during that time.  It was so neat to be able to share this experience in 2 completely different roles.  

We were able to go again and 

visit friends in July of 2007 and I was able to take another short trip in January of this year.  Between July 2007 and January 2009, another building had been completed.  It is a large pediatric health care center that sits on a hillside and looks over beautiful, lush land.  In the future, it will house a pharmacy, audiology suites, a conference room for coordination of care meetings and parent education, and dental suites (I know I am leaving out more).   It also houses the completed room for the therapy gym. It is currently the only mission building that is air conditioned!! You can read about what the current status is of this in another post. 

Mission Emanuel's main activity involving Americans is sending groups on week-long short-term mission trips in which the team participates in building houses, working on community projects like building basketball courts, baseball fields, playgrounds, etc. and assisting with the multiple ongoing projects including a women's coop, a water purification plant, 2 schools, 2 churches-both Haitian and Dominican, a dental clinic and a medical clinic.  There are many families who have been visiting the DR through Mission Emanuel for more than 10 years!  Each year, the mission continues to reach out to the community to provide improved education, discipleship, medical care and overall quality of life.  You can visit the website to get more information on what Mission Emanuel does. 

Mission Emanuel is always looking for people to both serve on one of these trips and support those that do serve on one of these trips.  If you have any desire to support Mission Emanuel, please let me know and I will let you know about the many opportunities available. 

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my new blog for updates on Mission Emanuel.  As many of you may or may not know, Andrew and I have been involved in this mission in the Dominican Republic for the last 7 years.  I wanted to start this blog because we are working on completing the pediatric therapy center that will offer the best pediatric therapy on the island (our hopes!!).  This blog will help keep you updated! 

Enjoy!