WEBVTT 00:00.440 --> 00:03.877 - Vanessa Santiago, volunteer coordinator. 00:03.877 --> 00:05.328 I'm originally from Boston, 00:05.328 --> 00:08.326 but right now I live in Winchester, Virginia, 00:08.326 --> 00:11.227 which is about 20 minutes away from headquarters 00:11.227 --> 00:12.644 for Project Hope. 00:13.069 --> 00:16.069 We have identified several locations 00:16.171 --> 00:18.171 as a medical mobile unit 00:18.502 --> 00:20.184 of where we can reach people 00:20.184 --> 00:22.459 who have the most needs for medical care, 00:22.459 --> 00:24.292 so we're Project Hope. 00:24.960 --> 00:27.293 Right now I'm a staff member 00:27.636 --> 00:30.311 and the rest of the team's volunteers. 00:30.311 --> 00:33.644 So, we have four providers, two doctors, 00:33.872 --> 00:37.372 two nurse practitioners, and a pharmacist. 00:37.516 --> 00:40.826 Jayuya is up in the mountains in Puerto Rico 00:40.826 --> 00:44.032 and so this has been on of the hardest hit areas, 00:44.032 --> 00:46.782 and so we've worked with a church 00:47.376 --> 00:49.122 and also the national guard 00:49.122 --> 00:52.872 to help identify some locations around Ponce, 00:53.652 --> 00:55.763 and so the national guard, 00:55.763 --> 00:58.846 they were distributing food and water 00:59.019 --> 01:01.676 at this school just down the road, 01:01.676 --> 01:04.038 and they welcomed us to come, 01:04.038 --> 01:06.410 so that can kind of be a one stop shop for everyone 01:06.410 --> 01:07.812 to get their food, get their water, 01:07.812 --> 01:09.446 and get their medical care. 01:09.446 --> 01:12.442 Another location, the municipality of Jayuya, 01:12.442 --> 01:16.442 identified is kind of like a recreational center 01:17.060 --> 01:18.643 for elderly people, 01:18.764 --> 01:21.347 so that's ages 60 plus as well, 01:22.305 --> 01:25.773 and so they usually have their breakfast there, 01:25.773 --> 01:27.744 then kind of hang out, play dominoes, 01:27.744 --> 01:28.897 just spend time with one another, 01:28.897 --> 01:30.351 and then they have a lunch, 01:30.351 --> 01:33.418 so they invited us to come right after breakfast, 01:33.418 --> 01:37.585 and so we set up there to refill peoples' medication. 01:39.066 --> 01:41.727 What we're seeing a lot here is a lot of diabetes, 01:41.727 --> 01:45.894 a lot of hypertension, so we're giving a lot of insulin. 01:46.117 --> 01:47.518 That's been one problem. 01:47.518 --> 01:49.588 So I've been helping one of my volunteers 01:49.588 --> 01:51.072 kind of fill the medications 01:51.072 --> 01:53.764 to kind of keep the patient flow going, 01:53.764 --> 01:56.446 but one patient said, the insulin's cold, 01:56.446 --> 01:57.788 how am I supposed to keep this cold? 01:57.788 --> 01:58.889 And we're like, put it in your fridge, 01:58.889 --> 02:01.472 he's like, but I have no power, 02:01.900 --> 02:06.067 so that's definitely a barrier for a lot of our patients, 02:06.620 --> 02:09.953 being unable to keep their insulin cool. 02:10.427 --> 02:13.457 So we suggest them either putting it in cool water 02:13.457 --> 02:15.374 or keeping it with ice, 02:15.789 --> 02:19.956 and so another need we've identified is mental health. 02:20.471 --> 02:23.136 And so we've been seeing that for a few days now, 02:23.136 --> 02:26.879 and so we're looking to recruit somebody, a psychologist, 02:26.879 --> 02:30.234 to come and go with our medical mobile unit, 02:30.234 --> 02:33.567 because a lot of people are facing PTSD, 02:33.567 --> 02:35.208 a lot of depression, 02:35.208 --> 02:38.500 or people were already depressed and don't have their meds, 02:38.500 --> 02:41.013 don't have access to their medication, 02:41.013 --> 02:44.199 and so that's another need we're seeing here. 02:44.199 --> 02:47.463 And so we really wanna identify what other locations, 02:47.463 --> 02:50.713 what other NGO's or other organizations 02:50.777 --> 02:53.239 have met the medical need of that population 02:53.239 --> 02:55.228 and then try to fill in the gaps 02:55.228 --> 02:57.543 and they do that vice versa. 02:57.543 --> 02:59.543 And so we're just hoping 03:00.300 --> 03:03.095 to just bring a little bit of joy to these people, 03:03.095 --> 03:06.178 just a little less headache and worry 03:06.338 --> 03:10.078 that they have to worry about of refilling their medication, 03:10.078 --> 03:12.495 and being able to be healthy. 03:12.680 --> 03:14.413 One location we went to, 03:14.413 --> 03:17.676 one woman told us that we were her angels, 03:17.676 --> 03:20.328 she was on her last dose of insulin that day 03:20.328 --> 03:21.328 and we came, 03:22.037 --> 03:23.958 and insulin's extremely expensive 03:23.958 --> 03:27.958 so she was spending $500 a month to buy insulin, 03:28.152 --> 03:30.881 and so that's what these people are having to deal with 03:30.881 --> 03:35.048 after having already lost everything that they have. 03:36.291 --> 03:38.124 We have a great group, 03:38.210 --> 03:41.197 and so I don't even feel like this is work. 03:41.197 --> 03:44.114 This has honestly been just so fun, 03:44.887 --> 03:47.856 and I think that's what happens when you're with a team, 03:47.856 --> 03:51.012 and everybody's motivated, and everybody wants to do this, 03:51.012 --> 03:52.998 and everybody's passionate. 03:52.998 --> 03:54.892 It's not about anybody's ego, 03:54.892 --> 03:57.862 it's just about going out and serving people, 03:57.862 --> 04:00.139 and we have fun while we're doing it. 04:00.139 --> 04:03.027 So I think it's just a love for humanity, 04:03.027 --> 04:07.095 and I think that's what we all in our team have in common, 04:07.095 --> 04:10.718 we just wanna help people any way that we can, 04:10.718 --> 04:14.885 and I see the way that our providers treat the patients. 04:15.959 --> 04:17.731 They're not trying to just 04:17.731 --> 04:19.435 go through patient through patient, 04:19.435 --> 04:21.542 and try to reach numbers or whatever, 04:21.542 --> 04:22.728 and I keep reminding them, 04:22.728 --> 04:25.584 it's not about the numbers, how many patients you see, 04:25.584 --> 04:27.090 it's about the quality of work, 04:27.090 --> 04:29.547 and they sit down, they listen to the patients, 04:29.547 --> 04:32.797 they talk to them, so just seeing that, 04:33.725 --> 04:35.509 we're able to do that during the day, 04:35.509 --> 04:37.752 then at night we're able to have dinner 04:37.752 --> 04:39.349 and just kind of spend time with each other 04:39.349 --> 04:42.849 so every day is just the most perfect day.