January 23, 2015 - Jones Beaupierre Primary School Visit

Today's activities included the visit to Jones Beaupierre Primary School and making castor oil at Raphael's.

What was most significant about our involvement in community service as pharmacists?

The most priceless part of this experience was seeing the smiles on the faces of the children at Jones Beaupierre Primary School. It was an extremely eye opening experience to see how much they appreciate the little we could do for them. Days like these let us realize that becoming a pharmacist not only enables us to help our sick patients, but anyone in our reach. While talking with the children, we started the conversation asking if anyone wanted to be a pharmacist, and through talking about our paths and the career options that a pharmacy degree entails, the number of hands raised vastly increased by the end of our visit with them. It was satisfying to teach young people about pharmacy and help them become aware of the field as a career option.

 

How was this experience significant to you?   

Living in a rural community, we can't imagine that the children there have all the necessary resources to be aware of the endless careers options possible. For us, this was one of the most meaningful parts of the rotation because we had the chance to plant a seed by talking with the children about career possibilities with pharmacy. We hope that this will grow to increase the number of pharmacists in Dominica.

 

What did you learn about caring for others and improving lives?

Sometimes we tend to spend a little more than necessary because we have the money available. However, we need to take a step back sometimes and realize we can live without some of the luxurious things in life; we need to think about someone else for a change. Other times we complain about how bad our life appears, but there is always someone else in a worse situation. Next time we have some money to spare, hopefully we think to use it to help someone in need, and when we have time to spare, we can give our time to greater causes.