The November 2004 Visit

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Some of the children and Sister Noemi visited a group of American men at their hotel. After a slide show and introduction, the Americans donated $812 to help fund the dental visits.

The girls were amused by the large plastic teeth.

The children were given instructions on proper oral health.

The children were also given specific instructions on how to brush and floss their teeth.

Several of the girls, including Cristina in this photo, received certificates for good oral health care and NO cavities.

Some of the visiting American men visited the orphanage at various times.

The girls always enjoy photos with their new friends.

We began the second year of dental visits on this trip. Several more local dentists volunteered their services at no charge. We wish to thank Dr. Marina Molina Bustos and Dr. Karen Bustos (011-57-5-360-7873) for their help. We also took some of the girls to our original dentist volunteer, Dr. Fabian Moncayo Gracia (011-57-5-356-3398). We appreciate their volunteer efforts, however, we must still pay for dental materials. During this visit we able to treat only 38 girls. Some of them had never visited a dentist in their lives and it was apparent by the number of cavities. One girl had 15 cavities and many girls had 10+ cavities. Unfortunately, because of limited funds we were unable to treat the remaining 35+ children. Their dental problems will have to wait.

To view the specific expenses of the November 2004 dental visit, please click the preceeding link.

We are making progress with dental care. However we are battling ignorance on the part of the administrators. They do not fully appreciate the value of good oral health care. They failed to purchase additional floss when the original supply was consumed in the early part of this year. And it is apparent that they are not supervising the dental care efforts well enough. Although I blame much of the problem on ignorance, they also have a lack of overall funding and a lack of manpower.

 
November 2004 Visit
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