How LIG Global Is Continuing To Help The Community of Dajabon During the COVID Pandemic

LIG Global joins director, Dr. Angela Arias Castro in her mission to provide the beds of Hospital Ramon Matias Mella de Dajabón with enough bed sheets to ensure the comfort and safety of recovering patients.

LIG Global joins director, Dr. Angela Arias Castro in her mission to provide the beds of Hospital Ramon Matias Mella de Dajabón with enough bed sheets to ensure the comfort and safety of recovering patients.

Join the LIG Global team as they assist Dr. Arias in her ambitious goal for the community of Dajabón. All you need is a minute, a browser, and a carrier service.

Nestled on the Dominican/Haitian border, Dajabón is famous for its vibrant market. Open to both Hatian and Dominican shop owners, this biweekly (every Monday and Friday) market is where the locals shop. This vibrant community is filled with thousands of hard-working and underserved families.

Despite limited access to resources, supplies, and specialized healthcare, the medical professionals of Dajabón continue to adapt and respond to the needs of their community.

In LIG’s 11 years of partnership with Hospital Ramón Matías Mella, we have provided: countless hours of continuing medical education, upgraded medical equipment, and specialized care to patients across the area. No patient is ever turned away, regardless of income, nationality, or illness.

Unlike the United States, several countries and cities around the world, including Dajabón, require patients to provide their own bed sheets when they receive care. Oftentimes, patients in these underserved communities do not have the luxury of extra bed sheets. Leaving dozens and dozens of patients to recover bare rubber hospital beds.

Patient recovers from childbirth without a bed sheet. She protects her newborn with extra blankets.

While this has been an ever present need for Hospital Ramón Matías Mella, and thousands of hospitals around the world, this new push and initiative is the brainchild of newly appointed director, Dr. Angela Arias Castro. A long time supporter and partner of LIG Global and Waves of Health, Dr. Arias will be familiar to volunteers who have joined us on past LIG missions to Dajabón. We are proud to assist her in her goal of obtaining new bed sheets for every hospital bed.

In our continued discussions with our colleagues in Dajabón, we were moved to action by Dr. Arias’ goal. Our founding principles of integrity, sharing, and service urges us to continue providing compassion and comfort to communities around the world despite the global pandemic. We feel it is our duty as citizens of the global community to make positive changes wherever and whenever possible.

In order to ensure that every bed in Hospital Ramón Matias Mella has at least two sets of sheets, we are seeking support in the form of monetary donations. We have set a minimum goal of $1,500 that will allow us to outfit each bed in the hospital in either a twin or twin XL sheet set. However, we seek to exceed our minimum goal by receiving enough donations to guarantee every bed has at least two sheets. Accomplishing this will allow patients to recover peacefully and comfortably. Especially during these difficult times.

Dr. Angela Arias Castro (R? L?) and colleague.

We encourage donations in the following amounts:

• $25 Donation would outfit one hospital bed with a set of twin bed sheets.
• $50 Donation would outfit two hospital beds with twin bed sheets.
• $100 Donation would outfit an entire recovery room with bed sheets.
• $250 Donation would outfit an entire unit of the hospital with bed sheets.

All donations will be used to purchase the necessary sheets and then promptly sent to Dr. Arias directly. We will be collecting donations from now through the end of November. This is an urgent need for the patients and staff at Hospital Ramón Matías Mella and any amount is greatly appreciated.

Donors can donate through our website, ad campaign, newsletter, or via check.

From Top Left: A make shift sheet covers a hospital bed. Doctors Sylvester, Sadural, and Keegan pose for a photo.

From Bottom Left: Patient recovers after childbirth. A doctor passes through a courtyard in Hospital Ramón Matías Mella.

We look forward to our continuing partnership with Hospital Ramón Matías Mella and Dr. Angela Arias Castro and other upcoming initiatives to help the people of Dajabón, Dominican Republic.

Through this initiative, we are able to provide essential help and supplies to our brothers and sisters in Dajabon, even during a global pandemic. While bed sheets may seem like a small drop in a large bucket, it's the small things we take for granted that mean so much to those in need. 

Together with Dr. Arias, our goal is to ensure a comfortable, cozy bed for recovering patients - whether or not they can provide their own sheets.

While bare hospital beds may seem strange to Americans, it is a common occurance to the rest of the world. Patients do not always have access to extra bed sheets, leaving them to lay on uncovered hospital beds and rubber mattresses.