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Retired Greensboro physician David Sillmon’s ninth trip to the Dominican Republic was different from any of his other trips to serve medically with Dream Ministries at the Good Samaritan Clinic.

“This was my hardest mission trip,” Sillmon said, “because of the major earthquake which struck Haiti and the aftermath of the quake.

He was with his daughter, Sandy Cook, a Durham pharmacist, who has accompanied her dad on six other medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic.

They were out for a brisk evening power walk when Cook turned to her dad and asked, “Did you feel it?”

At that time, they did not know what had happened or that they were only 70 miles away from the epicenter of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that would later be described as the strongest one in the area of Haiti since 1770. Nor did they know that possibly 3 million people would need medical help after the quake.

Returning to the village, they were warned about the major earthquake and the staggering numbers of victims who would need medical help.

“When we learned the extent of the disaster,” Sillmon said, “we were sure we would be involved but did not know how much.”

They called their loved ones in the U.S. to assure them they were safe, although a tsunami warning had been issued for their coastal village.

Sillmon believes the Dream Ministries were fortunate and privileged to be where they were to help earthquake victims who were slowly brought over rough roads and terrain from Haiti to The Good Samaritan Clinic in the Dominican Republic.

This clinic is the main outreach program of the Volunteers in Mission Medical Committee of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Beginning as a dream in 2000, the clinic has been fully functional and growing since 2002.

The clinic was built primarily to serve the medical needs of an impoverished rural community of 1,200 people.

Staffed with a full-time physician and health care support staff, the clinic now sees more than 120 patients a week.

Sillmon and his medical mission team are part of three medical teams that go to the Dominican Republic each year.

The team’s first trip was in 2002. Sillmon was one of 15 members of the surgical/building team who went to the city of Barahona and began ministering to the people who needed health care there and in surrounding villages.

In 2010, 110 to 120 physicians, surgeons, nurses and other medical personnel paid their own air expenses to go and help these less fortunate people.

The cost of medical supplies brought or shipped to the area is paid for by Dream Ministries. Upon leaving the Dominican Republic, all supplies and medical instruments are left to be used by local physicians and health care support staff at the clinic.

Sillmon and his medical team usually spend one day seeing patients at the Good Samaritan Clinic, then they see more patients in other small villages, called bateys.

“I believe Sandy and I will continue to go each year to help the people in this region as long as we can breathe,” Sillmon said.
“Only Sandy’s work schedule and my health will keep us away,” he said.

“I know it is trite to say, but we do get more than we give.”

“Can you imagine spending a week working side by side with your adult daughter?” Sillmon said. “That’s one of the reasons I love to go.”

Dream Ministries plans to continue sending three medical teams each year to the Dominican Republic, along with support and building teams as needed.

Sillmon believes that perhaps even more important than the three trips will be the continued financial support of the Good Samaritan Clinic.

A donation of $100 covers one day’s total clinic costs, including the salaries of the health care providers, all medications and supplies for the patients and other operating costs of the clinic.

The recent disaster in Haiti has already increased the clinic’s patient load. Haitians from Port au Prince, with no home to which they may return, are now moving into the homes of relatives in the bateys. They continue to need medical care.

During Sillmon’s trip in January, 88 surgical procedures were done by the medical team, 650 patients were seen, and 2,100 prescriptions were written.

When Cook recently told a group of her experiences in the Dominican Republic and with victims of the earthquake, she read a poem titled “I Learned I Will Never Be the Same.”

In part it said: “I learned God is fluent — in every language. I learned why I need reminding from time to time that I am such a small part — of a bigger picture and God is the painter.”

Like her father, Cook has great faith and a commitment to helping others.

“I learned that God does not always call the well-equipped,” she said, “but he does well equip those that he calls.”

To suggest a person or organization that is “Making a Difference” in Guilford County, contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.rr.com or 288-9040.