What a Greeting!

This was the greeting that our team received as we arrived at the Mission on the Move compound on the last day of our trip.  We were able to play with these beautiful children and instruct them on teeth brushing as well.  Thank you, Ernesto y Allison, for a great week!

On the ground in Augusta

   What a great experience this has been. From the early planning stages

to the work being done, 

from the morning and evening devotions 

to our last meal together 

and planning to come home. 

This has been a great team to work with. Thank you, Ernesto and Allison, for your leadership and preparation to get things ready for us on the ground. Thank you, Scott, for coordinating the dental supplies and equipment and directing our clinics. Thank you, David for pulling this great team together. Thank you, dentists and assistants for giving us time away from your practice, your job, and your family. And thank you, to our families for allowing us this time to be away. It has really been an amazing week!

     The final tally is in. I don't mean to insult your intelligence as I'm sure you could and many of you already have added up the figures from the week. But, I want to do that here to show just how hard this team has worked. Over the course of this week we saw 307 patients. Our team performed 146 fillings, 387 extractions, 98 cleanings, and 36 teeth brushing instructions. There were an additional 37 patients seen (9 cleanings and 30 brushing instructions) seen at the Mission on the Move facility. Ruth cleaned the teeth of the staff and the team demonstrated for and taught the children how to brush their teeth.

     I hope you have been blessed by the pictures and the stories found here. To God be the Glory!

Missio en Movimiento, day 5

   Today was our final day at Honduyate. After breakfast we loaded up the bus and headed up to the MOM mission.  When we arrived at the mission the children greeted us by lining both sides off the driveway and singing to welcome us.

      Ruth cleaned the teeth of the workers and some of the others were teaching the kids how to brush their teeth. While that was going on we were also repacking the team trunks so as to better redistribute the weight.  It was a very relaxing day. We were glad not to have another full or even partial day of all out clinics. We spent time with the kids, shared a pizza lunch with them, and got to play with them for awhile.

     There were two different swing sets and different ones of our team took turns pushing the children. Of course there was soccer to be played and just good ole attempts at verbal communication. But hugs reigned supreme as the international language of love and there were plenty to go around.

     No, Bill was not the only one to have this problem. But, the kids were quick to offer a helping hand and free the chair.  Also, while we were there the adventurous among us decided to try a lemon that was growing from a tree on the property. Yes, I said lemon.

     After our morning and lunch with the kids we loaded up the bus again to ride to the National Cloud Forest, PANACAM.  There we hiked in to a waterfall and got to take a dip. It was a cold, refreshing plunge. A very nice way to end the week. 

     Tonight we are in San Pedro Sula. We are about to go to dinner. We will be up and at'em in the morning to head to the airport. We expect a long process to get through security and all.  We look forward to our arrival in Augusta tomorrow night!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Orependelos clinic, day 4

     Today was a good day. Today was a bad day. Today was a trying day and a miraculous day all rolled into one. We saw our highest number of patients (85), completed 49 fillings, performed 90 extractions, and 38 cleanings.  The numbers alone show a banner day. But, numbers alone do not tell the whole story. Our set up was good in that we were all in one room with an area for restorative, an area for surgical, and an area for cleaning and triage. Being all in one room also led to confusion at times when trying to determine who was next to be seen.

 

                Let me take this time to share a few of our up and down stories of the day.  

     The brother of one of our interpreters, Anibal, brought some of his family and friends. They were among the first to be seen. One of them was a very beautiful girl of around twenty who was wearing a nice church dress for the occasion. As it turns out she needed to have two lower molars pulled. I could see the tears well up in her eyes as she was receiving the numbing medication. It certainly could have been from the pain, but I think it also was from the realization that she was about to have two teeth pulled at such a young age.  She stayed around much of the day as she was waiting for the rest of her party to have their procedures done. I had a clear view of her the whole time she was there. All day long she had a very sullen, downcast look.

     On the bright side we had another young lady about the same age who entered the clinic with her hand covering her mouth. She was very careful not to show her teeth. Her top four front teeth were in very bad shape and in need of some serious dental work. Boy did she ever come to the right place! Randy Arnold and Ryan Galey spent two and a half hours working on her. When she left not only did she have a brand new smile, but she also had a brand new countenance. 

     We saw another lady in the triage chair who needed to have her front two top teeth extracted. They were beyond repair. However, she refused the service due to lack of funds to pay for the plate that could replace those teeth. It would have cost a grand total of $25 for the plate. Anyone of us would have given that money in a heartbeat. Scott, Ernie, and I wrestled with the outcomes for several minutes and finally decided we could not do for her what we would have been unable to do for everyone. Neither did we want to cause any trouble for the Sizemores or future MOM dental teams.

     This was also a day for the grunts among us to pull some teeth. I pulled two teeth and David Dekle pulled one. I regret that I do not have a picture of the tooth that Kay Simpson pulled yesterday.

     For me this was an emotionally draining day. It seems that we had a harder time with many of the children today in getting them numb. We had to really explain the benefits of what was being done and help them fight through the tears and the pain of the shots. But, it was also a day to celebrate. We saw 85 people! We relieved pain and improved smiles. All in all it was a great day!

Pulling teeth will take a lot out of you! Praise God for a great team, great hosts, and great work.

Las Vegas clinic, Day 3

     Before I write anything about today I need to show you a picture of last night's birthday celebration. Ernie's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with cake at dinner last night.

     Today we had the wonderful privilege of serving a community across the lake from our hotel. Ernie and Allison have only recently been introduced to this community by the owner of the Honduyate, Richard. We were the first outreach into that community by Mission on the Move. We were told that there has not been a dentist to see the village in about two years. Unfortunately, that showed today. Out of the approximately 200 people in the little village we saw 50 patients.  For those patients our dentists did 106 extractions, 19 fillings, and 13 cleanings. Fortunately, of the extractions from young people most were of baby teeth. We were also able to treat the pastor and the mayor.

     We started our journey by loading the boat with our supplies. It was about a 45 min boat ride to the village. At which point we walked our equipment about 500 yards to the school where we would be holding the clinic. Reluctantly, Marvin decided to stay at the hotel today. But, we all determined as we were carrying equipment up the "beach" and dry creek bank that it had been a good decision.  Richard even let David captain the boat some on our way back this afternoon.

     Once we got to the clinic it was business as usual. We each have our roles down pretty well in terms of setting up and settling in for the day. Today we had a slight change where Bobby Turner with Nan Watson was doing the triage and Scott Wingard with David Dekle set up a second surgical (extraction) chair beside Bill Trotter and Kay Simpson. Julie Brooks continued doing some cleanings alongside Ruth Crews. We also had two restorative units going: Kim Willingham with Mia Williams and Randy Arnold with Ryan Galey. Each of the dentists also did their own triage from time to time if Bobby got backed up.  Rebecca Elkin and Laura Altman continued doing crafts and Erin Willingham held down the fort at registration (sometimes with an interpreter and sometimes without).

      So you won't get board with seeing the same dental shots over and over because let's face it if you've seen one mouth you've seen them all (right, dentists?) I will post some flora and fawna shots from the week. These first ones are taken from the MOM property where we did our clinic yesterday.

In the center of the picture below you can barely make out the sillouhettes of two birds. These are large black birds that look like crows or ravens but sound a lot like a parrot or macaw.

     This is a view of the lake from MOM property.

     Again on MOM property, but notice the growth out of the pine tree.  You see this a lot all over the place. Different plants thriving high in trees.

     This one was taken on our walk from the lake to Las Vegas

    Just a reminder that missions at FBC Augusta is a family affair. We'd love to have you and your family on our next trip!