Dominican Republic

In December 2007, The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles sent a sea container of medical supplies, food, clothing, toys and educational materials from New York to Dominican Republic. Within three days of its arrival the container was released from the port to our consignee, the Stepping Stones Ministries. The goods were distributed to Hospital Ramon, Quanamethe Haitian Clinic, Salud Publica and Policia Nacional Clinic, as well as to an orphanage and a senior center medical clinic.

The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles sent out by sea from the United States a 45-foot container with 36 hospital beds in addition to many boxes of medical and surgical supplies, medications, clothing and toys for Dominican people who experienced catastrophic consequences from the severe floods that took place on the island at the end of May 2004. We were informed by our consignee organization, Stepping Stones Ministries, that some hospitals in the Dominican Republic are lacking in hospital beds and patients are being positioned on the floor.

In the Dominican Republic, which is situated on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, floods, triggered by days of torrential rains, swamped entire villages during the week of May 25. Over 3,300 people died on the island, with thousands more reported missing. Doctors were fighting to prevent multiple epidemics among survivors. Apart from malaria and dengue fever, doctors reported a high incidence of diarrhea, respiratory failure and scabies.