All smiles. Clowns Lizzie and Kirsty brought smiles to hundreds of worried little faces.
Team effort. Marie from The Family assists Lotte at the free dental clinic held in Cebu, Philippines.
Make ’em smile! Clown Lizzie (Elisabet) and puppets Jack and Marie have fun with children waiting for dental work.
On-the-job training. It was only after Lotte and Jens had both volunteered for the clinic that they met and realized that she is a student at the same dental college in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he teaches.
In July of this year, we organized a five-day free dental clinic in Cebu, Philippines. This was a first for us, but members of the Cebu Missionary Foundation, an Australia-based Christian organization that had previously been involved in similar missions, explained in detail what to expect.
The first obstacle was funding. As the organizers, it was our responsibility to see to it that all the equipment, medicine, and other materials were in place.
Leonard, a dentist we know, gave us a list of the medicines and other supplies we would need—a total of 20,000 pesos (about US$400) worth. Now that might not seem like a lot of money, but to full-time volunteers operating on a shoestring budget it was a small fortune. We prayed for a miracle and went to work.
I wrote a request letter to one of our supporters, and he gave 5,000 pesos. That was a big help, but we were still far from our goal.
I left a phone message for another friend that said, "We're having a dental mission next week and wanted to ask if you would consider sponsoring such an event."
She replied immediately. "Sure. What are we talking about?"
We discussed the need, and the next day she and her husband offered to sponsor the entire mission. In addition to the basics we had asked for, they offered to send helpers, food and drink every day for the whole team, gift bags for the children who would be treated (toothbrushes, toothpaste, pens, and towels), and even a professionally painted banner to advertise the project.
Two Danish dentists, Jens and Camilla, and a dental student, Lotte, also from Denmark, volunteered their services. Things were quickly taking shape!
Jens and Camilla met with Marjorie, the resident dentist at the hospital where part of the project was to be held, and the three of them clicked immediately. It was touching to watch people from two completely different backgrounds and cultures get excited about all they could do together to help the poor children of this city.
The next morning we took Jens and Camilla to a dental supply shop to stock up, and when we presented our work to the owner, she got so excited that she gave us loads of the needed medicines for free. The final bill came to only a fraction of what we had expected.
Three of the five days we conducted the free clinic in places where the Cebu Missionary Foundation has ongoing community projects—two slum areas and the women's prison. That was great, as we all especially wanted to help those who didn't have the means to help themselves.
On Monday, the makeshift clinic was set up in the playground of an elementary school in a poor section of town. Each young patient sat on a normal chair, while one helper stood behind and steadied the child's head. Another helper translated. These poor children had never been taught the importance of dental hygiene, so most of their mouths were full of rotten teeth. Children who were in pain were whisked to the front of the line. That day we treated 66 patients!
On Tuesday and Thursday, the clinic was set up at the Lapu-Lapu District Hospital, where Marjorie is the resident dentist. The two dental chairs there made things easier, and we were able to establish a routine. Each child sat on a normal chair while being examined by one of the dentists and receiving whatever anesthetic was needed, then was moved to another chair while waiting for the anesthetic to take effect, and finally to one of the dental chairs where the work was done. Since there were only two chairs, one dentist followed the procedure we had used the previous day on the playground. One day we treated almost 150 patients, mostly poor children.
On Wednesday, the clinic moved to the squatter area next to the city dump.
On Friday, it was held in the women's ward of the local prison, where we treated about 40 women, or one third of the inmates.
Each day members of our Family community assisted the dentists, served as translators, entertained the waiting children with puppet and clown shows, encouraged the children afterwards, and did whatever else needed to be done.
The project was a big success, and we were able to treat about 400 patients. The dentists did a fantastic job! They were also very thankful to be part of a work that is genuinely doing something to help others. Our sponsors said afterwards that what they gave had been returned many times over in terms of satisfaction and fulfillment, and they are already talking about doing other projects with us.