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JARAMIJO - MANTA, APRIL 8, 2006 |
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GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, APRIL 27 - MAYO 7, 2006 |
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For the Galapagos expedition, a team of pre-dental students, pre-medical students, physicians, and dentists provided non-profit health and dental care for the people of Santa Rosa.
After landing on the island, a short ferry trip and a bus ride, everyone got to settle in their ocean-side accommodations. We then went to Santa Rosa to prepare the buildings that we would be working in. In 45 minutes we weeded, cleaned the floors, and set-up all of the work stations. Having so many helpers made the work smooth and quick.
One building became the dental clinic with restorative, prophylaxis, cavitron, education, fluoride, and sterilization stations. A small clinic became the medical and oral surgery building. One building adjacent to the dental building housed all of the medications and became the make-shift pharmacy.
The first day that we opened the clinics we had a constant flow of patients with varied needs. Many of the dental patients had several years of decay and tartar that needed to be treated. The students had the opportunity to assist in the excavation of decay and restoring tooth structure with dental materials. Other students learned and practiced routine hygiene duties such as, cleanings, tartar and calculus removal. We all also improved on our Spanish, Abra su boca. Each student spent some time in the oral surgery department and learned how to administer anesthetic and extract teeth.
In the course of the week, we got to give dental kits to the elementary students, teach them proper oral hygiene, and administer fluoride. The students seemed excited to learn how to better take care of their teeth and they were very appreciative of our services.
The medical team saw over two hundred patients, treating a myriad of diseases. Many of the patients suffered from parasites, regular flu-like symptoms, some STD’s and a variety of other complaints. |
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Overall, the dental department saw over two-hundred patients as did the medical department. The people of Santa Rosa fed us lunch as a token of their appreciation. They also had a representative express the thanks of the people for our willingness to travel so far to assist their town. They said this project reminded them of the goodness that still exists in our world and that their desire to serve others with kindness and charity was rekindled.
Besides just providing medical and dental help to the people of Santa Rosa we also gave school kits, provided by the LDS Church, to the children at a local school. These kits contained essentials such as notebooks and pens, and were well received by about 50 smiling young students.
We worked a lot on this trip, but we also made time to play. While still in Quito we got to visit the equator and an Indian market. Once we got to Santa Cruz we got some once in a life time opportunities. The first thing we did was go to the Darwin Center where we learned about the wildlife of the island and also got saw tortoises. We also got to go to the beach a few times and saw amazing wildlife such as swimming iguanas, blue footed boobies, sea lions, sharks, and manna rays. We also visited many other interesting sites such as the lava tubes, caves created by lava, giant volcano formed creators. The wildlife of the island is abundant and we could see sea lions, iguanas, and crabs by the hundreds by simply looking outside of our hotel window.
The last part of this amazing trip that needs to be mentioned is of course the chocolate. Every morning we would get the most amazing hot chocolate to wake us up, and after dinner most of the group would convene at a local restaurant that served some of the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve tasted a lot of ice cream).
This trip was an amazing opportunity and was a great mix of hard work, rewarding service, unique opportunities, and fun. We will remember it for the rest of our live (and if you’d like to know where to get the great ice cream just contact us). |
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ESMERALDAS, MAY 13, 2006 |
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For this expedition, the Charity Anywhere Foundation team joined with the missionaries of the LDS church in Esmereldas to administer medical and dental care to the people of that region.
The local church was transformed to house a two doctors’ offices, a dental office, a small pharmacy, and an educational room. Each worker was busy for the whole day seeing the hundreds of patients that were waiting to receive free medical and dental care.
Many patients were seen by a physician and received medications that would be most helpful for their ailments. As many patients as possible were seen to have cavities filled, trouble teeth pulled, and receive cleanings from the coolest hygienist in the world. Most of the children had an opportunity to receive oral-hygiene education and to receive toothbrushes with paste.
At the end of the day the hall was still full of people that needed to be seen by either the dentist or the physician. |
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