January 19th Trip Information

Where to meet:

On the 19th, please be at Ministry Office 2 lot at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, by 3:15AM for loading; the bus will leave promptly at 3:45AM. Use the main Saddleback Parkway entrance and make the first left. The charter bus will be there waiting for you. Your cars will be secure as long as you lock the doors. We will be returning to the lot sometime between 10PM and 12AM barring anything unforeseen.

Personal items: The following items are suggested:

• Small backpack – for personal items: camera, sunscreen, chapstick, travel pillow
• Layer your clothing – Temps can vary from 40 to 90 degrees in the same day. Light jacket and comfortable tennis shoes recommended…it gets dirty out there.
• photo ID is required to cross back over into the States. Passports will be required for future trips to ANY other country, even Canada and Mexico, beginning Jan 23^rd, 2008.

Food:

• Breakfast – snacks, pastries and drinks will be provided on the bus ride
• Lunch – chicken stew, beans, rice and tortillas are served to us by the local townsfolk. Bring your own lunch (use a personal sized ice chest) if you have special dietary needs.
• Dinner – Bring a few dollars for McDonalds on the way back at the border. We will also take up an optional collection to tip the bus driver; usually $2-3 per person.
• Snacks and drinks will be stocked on the bus.

Medications:

Bring only what you will need for the day, in the original packaging (unpackaged drugs may look suspicious at customs)

• Car sickness: If you’re susceptible to car sickness, bring Dramamine or Meclizine; part of our journey goes through mountain roads.
• Stomach: Pepto-bismol (Bismuth Sulfate) tablets and Immodium (Loperamide) tablets
• Allergies: Some may have reaction to the dust and pollens down there.

Things to do:

All of you need to email me with what area you would like to work in, or if there’s something specific you'd like to do. If you're not sure what you would like to do, and you're willing to work wherever the need is, I'll assign you to an area where we're short handed.

• Children's team: 6-8 people to assist the kids with arts/crafts and games, face painting, balloons, etc.
• Medical clinic: 6-8 nurses for locating charts, triaging patients and checking vitals and blood sugars as needed, helping our docs and assisting patients in finding where they need to go next.
• Dental clinic: dentists, assistants and hygienists, and some volunteers for sterilizing.
• Interpreters: at least four Spanish interpreters each in dental and medical areas. At least two people who speak Spanish to assist in the pharmacy and one or two interpreters for the optometrist's clinic. Yes, that’s 12 interpreters needed per trip!
• Home Improvement: There are usually property improvement projects if you happen to be good with your hands.

To quote Pastor Rick, "It's not about you.” It’s all about serving the people of this small town. Please don't go down with expectations as to how you think things will go, but stay open to what the Lord has for you to experience. You won't be disappointed.

I am having great difficulty getting emails to everyone, due to spam blocking software. Adding my email address to your address book would help a lot. Please go to peacetrip.org and subscribe to our announcements there.

I look forward to seeing all of you on the 23^rd. Invite others, and beat some bushes and turn over some rocks to help us find enough interpreters to do the clinic smoothly and adequately.