Franklin's Home

Franklin enjoying some coconut.

I'm in the Dominican Republic with my husband John. He comes here frequently for Haitian Hearts work. I join him every two years or so to see in person some of the work we do. 

Yesterday we traveled about two hours from Santo Domingo, the capital, to the home of one of John's patients, 13-year-old Franklin, who has a big heart problem. Ten years ago or longer, Franklin got strep throat, which developed into rheumatic fever, which has severely damaged the mitral valve in his heart. I will talk more about Franklin in a future post. John wanted to examine Franklin in his home (you learn a lot about a patient when you see him in his home environment).

A driver took us through the city of Santo Domingo out into the country, to the little settlement where Franklin and his family live. Fortunately for us, yesterday was a national holiday, Constitution Day, so while there was traffic, it wasn't nearly as heavy as a typical Monday.

Perhaps traffic accidents are not the first thing that come to mind when assessing risk in visiting a developing country, but the Dominican Republic has the world's highest rate of fatal traffic accidents. It's hard to describe the traffic flow, if flow is the right word. As John says, lane demarcations and traffic signals are more suggestions than hard fast rules. Motorcycles dart in between the "lanes" of cars in unpredictable fashion. Fortunately, William, our driver, is excellent.

The outside of Franklin's home.

From left to right: Franklin's sister who is eight-months pregnant, his mother, Franklin, and his father who is holding Franklin's niece. Franklin and his family are Haitian. They have fled Haiti because of the violence. They are not welcome in the Dominican Republic, and Franklin's mother has been deported once. His sister will not give birth in a hospital because they don't have money for a private hospital and if they went to a public hospital, they could be deported by the immigration officials who wait outside of hospitals to arrest Haitians. 

Franklin's younger brother, who is in a wheelchair due to his handicap.

John examines Franklin. His heart is extremely enlarged and John hears a loud murmur due to his damaged mitral valve. Franklin is on several medications for heart failure.

Their home has a few rooms with a dirt and stone floor. Chickens are nearby.

  

The kitchen. On the day we visited, Franklin's mom told us she didn't have any propane gas or charcoal for cooking.

The other part of the kitchen.

Curled up in a nook in the living room floor.

The family pays $50 a month to rent the house. The father works in the fields. Neither of the parents can read, though they are bilingual in Haitian Creole and Spanish. Franklin has gone to school for five years and can read some. 

The father is building a house next to their house. He is standing on a ladder he constructed. The family is from the Jacmel-area in Haiti. He told us that the family left because the area is "hot," meaning there is a lot of violence, at least partially political in nature. If the area becomes safe, they want to return to Haiti.

John enjoys some coconut milk the family offered him. William, our driver, is in the background.

Coming from such an environment, I am amazed at how good the family's clothes look. They take care to keep them clean, seemingly an impossible task. One of the missions of Haitian Hearts is to support our families who have a member with a heart problems. We will send Franklin's family some money via Western Union for basic life necessities.

Coffee beans.

A next door neighbor does laundry.

A boy watches us as we leave the neighborhood.