MCC LNA students reflect on medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic

MANCHESTER, NH – Nursing students at Manchester Community College spent their 2024-2025 winter break running a mobile clinic in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic through the nonprofit Foundation for Peace.

Ajla Mustafic, Manchester resident and LNA student at MCC, spoke last month about her experience on the trip.

“My experience helping at the clinics was great!” said Mustafic. “We did things like check vital signs, take temperatures, give pregnancy tests, skin checks and more.”

MCC Medical Mission trips are held every year. The most recent one was Mustafic’s second.

“I cannot wait to go on another one,” Mustafic said.

Nursing students that go on medical mission trips seek to gain more experience in the field and to help people who do not have easy access to healthcare.

Mustafic recalled a woman who could not receive the proper care she needed; she went on to tell her story:

“We had this one woman who could not take her blood pressure medications due to not having them as easy, not having the money to buy them, and not remembering to take them. I asked her if maybe she would remember taking them in the morning when she had her breakfast so she does not forget, and she looked at me with eyes full of tears and said, ‘I don’t always have something to eat.’”

Mustafic said the trip made her grateful for what she has. “A lot of us take things for granted, like having a toothbrush. These people were so happy to have a toothbrush or new lotion and shampoo.”

According to the US Department of State, the Dominican Republic is the second largest economy (behind Cuba) in the Caribbean, and the third largest country in terms of population (behind Cuba and Haiti). The DR is a representative democracy in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Author Irma Podzik is a student at Manchester Community College.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the student author and do not reflect the opinions or endorsements of any affiliated or mentioned high school or college.

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