1000Smiles2010 Day 11

Day 11

Today is day two of the second week of clinic. Jim had an idea yesterday that we should stop at one of the schools that we pass along the way and do a little dental education and hand out toothbrushes. It was a lot of fun, and a really eye opening experience.

We arrived at what is snack time for the kids. There were several tables set up outside with snacks for them to buy. Every thing was candy, chips, and sugary drinks! Everything! Every child had a handful of candy. I had heard someone from the education team talk about this, but I had no idea the extent. Here we are to give out tooth brushes, and they are trading me handfuls of candy – which, I secretly enjoyed as well ;) I got to walk around their classrooms and see what they were learning. Each class had a large partitioned area and lessons on the board seemed to be on par with what kids in the States are learning. I think the visit was fun for the kids too. They were super excited when we got there, and immediately open and loving and trusting. I don’t think they have ever seen too many white people. I had a lot of boys and girls touching my skin and my hair. As I was walking through the school and the playground area I would feel little hands grasping mine and swinging along. It was all very touching. They were so expressive and hardly a shy child to be found. Along with not seeing too many white folk I don’t think they had ever met anyone who was Asian. They found Lok to be of particular interest. They were at first following him around referring to him as the Chinnaman, and then as Jackie Chan. He got a kick out of and had fun busting out some Karate Kid for the kids. What an amazing, bright, loving, energetic group of our future!

Today I only saw a few patients, and the procedure of the day was restoring #’s 8&9. These are the most rewarding procedures for me. First of all the patients are all really nervous, well, most of them, say a high 90 percentile are really nervous. Second, they have decay or stain that is impeding their smile. I think that smiling is important for anyone around the world, but it is particularly important for a Jamaican. Again, the full of life and love and laughter quality.
My second patient fell into the category of really, really scared, and really ashamed to have decay and discoloration on her front teeth. Leslie did a fabulous job going slowly, explaining the procedure, and restoring #’s 7&8. The whole thing took a lot longer than planed; restorative materials set differently in the heat and humidity here, so there were a few repairers to be made after the initial restoration. The result was worth the wait. The woman had tears of joy in her eyes, and a HUGE smile on her face. She hugged us all and thanked us profusely. She said that she was so proud to be herself again, and that she would never stop smiling. This warmed me to no end. I love smiling. I think my smile is my finest asset. I could not imagine being ashamed of it, and that shame ruling my outward appearance and mirroring to my internal emotions. I am so happy for her, and so glad to be a part of it!
Today I am so thankful for Papa Joe, Great Shape, Inc. Mama G and the other founding members, LIS for helping promote the fabulousness that is this fine, fine project and all of the volunteers that make this thing happen. Today we changed lives. My own included. Thank you!

1000Smiles2010 Day 10

Day 10

Today was our first day with the new group in the Maroon Town clinic. I felt a bit disheartened because we saw quite a few less patients today. The bottom line was that on a new day, in what was a new clinic for most everyone aside from Tina and I, it takes a minute to acclimate yourself to your new surroundings and new people . And it was also the first volunteer trip for a lot of the people in our group. I was just so used to the AWESOME groove that TEAM AWESOME had :) :) :)

Sandy and Steph are rockin the sterilization duties, I’m working with Leslie doing restorative work, Tina is teamed up with Jim doing the complicated/ surgical extractions and the Ohio State guys, Ben, Brandt, Brad, Jon and Loc are working with each other doing a little bit of everything. They’ll be joined by a faculty from OSU tomorrow. Again we have the FABULOUS Nurse Winsome and the lovely Ministry of Health ladies. And those ladies seem to be extra chipper today with the addition of the guys to the clinic :)

It took a while to get re-established after last week, then we started and the flow felt good again. Music, singing, super loud generator, teeth shuckin’, composite a’ flowin.

The dental nurse and the ladies of the Ministry of Health were super excited to have us back again this week. I had some time to sit down with them and they told me how truly happy they are that we are up in Maroon Town providing care for people who are in such need. It made me really emotional to hear her tell of all the people she knows personally that go through so much pain when they have had dental problems. Debbie, from the Ministry of Health told me how excited all of her friends were that we were going to be staffing the clinic for one more week. The word definitely got around over the weekend, and as a result our waiting rooms were packed and then some when we arrived today.

On the way home the ladies shared with us some salted banana chips and fresh picked avocado from Maroon Town. Seriously the best avocado I’ve ever had J These went really well with our Red Strips J While we were in the store buying beer for the trip home there was a bolt of lightning and a loud crash of thunder. The woman behind the counter literally dropped to the floor. Unfortunate to know that even in the distant hills of Maroon Town fear of gun shots are still a concern. The good ending to that story is that we had a laugh about it with the woman, then she pointed out that she had a broken front tooth that she really wanted to have fixed. We told her to stop in tomorrow.

Back at home it was beach party night, food and drinks on the beach, some entertainment, then an early night for me. Although we didn’t see a ton of patients the days are exhausting none the less.

There is a feeling of constantly being ‘on’ and around people all the time. Not having some personal space and quiet moments to myself can feel really taxing. So tonight I’m tucking in early :)

1000 Smiles 2010 Days 7, 8, & 9

Days 7 & 8 & 9

Ahhh finally the weekend. It has been hectic, good, bad, happy, sad, just about every emotion rolled up into three days.

Friday was a short and bitter sweet day in clinic. We had an early day because we needed to pack up the gear that belongs to Greg, Jim, Monica, Julia, and Sue. L L L We saw a few less patients then we normally would and had some celebratory Red Strips on the trip home.

Friday night was the going away cocktail party for the peeps who were leaving from week one. Before the cocktails my team and I had delivery from Scotchies, (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147311-d1516484-Reviews-Scotchies-Montego_Bay_Jamaica.html) which I’ve mentioned before has FAB jerk chicken, rice n peas and such. Then we had our goodbyes. Jolyn put together an awesome slide show and video with highlights from the week. It was so super to get to see what everyone else had been experiencing, and hear their stories of how awesome their experiences have been over the past week.

I cry so much! Just about every time someone talks about what they went through, the people they have helped, the people that have helped them it just gets me. I’m so not normally an emotional person, but this place just does it to me! It felt so great when it was my team, TEAM AWESOME’s turn to get up in front of everyone and just gush about how great the week was, how much we instantly bonded with one another, how much we grew to love our 1.5 hr commute each way b/c it meant that we sang along and shared stories about our lives. I’ve learned a lot from Sista, Monica, Greg, Jim, Julia and Susan and MAN, am I going to miss them!!

Saturday was a bit of a free day. I was excited to get up in the morning and see the sun shining. I wanted to have beautiful weather for when Sandy and Steph arrived in the afternoon. We got some beach and pool time in during the a.m. then it got dark and stormy, as things tend to do in the tropics.

Saturday ended up feeling like a really stressful day for me. We had been planning on a room switch b/c we were going to have two more rooming with us, but things around the resort seems to be a logistical nightmare. We were locked out of our room from 11 a.m. on, and were told that the new room would be ready at 2 p.m. Well, long story short, we ended up in the same room, I was locked out in my swimsuit and dress for four hours, Sandy and Steph had transit issues and didn’t arrive until around 9 - missing the nice weather and the Sat. night meet n greet cocktails.

On top of all this, Peters birthday was Saturday. He turned 40. Being here on this particular day felt like a really big sacrifice. I really wanted to be with him on this day. We all leave things behind to come on this trip. We leave families, dogs, cats, our practices, our friends and loved ones. It’s the one thing to me that really feels taxing while being on the project. I could see patients all day until my feet gave out and I would survive. What I really miss is being around my loved ones to help boost me back up when I have spent all of my own energy on caring for someone else. Or, in this case caring for many other someone elses. I’m doing my best to eat well, stay hydrated, rest when I need to and express my needs as best I can to those around me to be able to energize myself to enable me to keep on providing care and support to those who need it so desperately here.

Saturday night we had the next get to know ya cocktails for the new group for week two. It is definitely a different dynamic this time around. We have fewer veteran dentist and hygienists and more dental students. I think we have around 30 from Temple and Ohio State. I am super excited to see how much they grow emotionally/ professionally/ spiritually in the next seven days!!

Finally, today is Sunday! I can’t believe we have been here for just over a week, with a week to go!! Tina and I made a point to get up early today and get some beach/ pool time in before mandatory meetings began. I’m really happy we did. Our free time, and even more specifically free time in the sun is so few and far between. After that we went to the meeting where we found out what our assignments will be for the next week. Tina and I will be in Maroon Town again. There are benefits to it, we know whats what, where things are and can help everyone get acclimated with whats going on in the area. The downfall is that we are not getting to experience a new place. Either way, we are serving the same purpose, and shall do so with a smile J

We are joined by two other dentists who were in a different clinic this week, as well as Stephanie and Sandy, plus 5 dental students from the Univ. of Ohio. Its definitely going to be a different experience in that way. We don’t have any hygienists, so the students will be doing some hygene as well as surgical/ restorative work, trading off working and assisting one another. Tina and I will be assisting the two veteran docs. They have a different speed and philosophy than our previous group did. One doc is going to do strictly extractions, and Tina will be assisting him, the other will be doing strictly restorative, and I will be assisting them.

The downside; I think we’ll be treating fewer patients than we did in the previous week, the upside is that there may be more connecting time with the patients that we do see.

That fact is a little ironic. At the meet n greet Sat. night my advice to the newbees was to take time to slow down, talk to people, connect with them, relate to them. I had said it along the lines of that process was something that I was going to try and focus on this week, as opposed to wanting to be an uber-assistant and see as many people as possible. Well, I think I may just be getting my wish.

Quote of the day:

“Be careful what you wish for.” From Tina, in regards to experiencing spending more time on individual patients translating into seeing less patients overall.

1000 Smiles 2010 Day 6

Day 6

Time has been just flying by, and our days here have been so busy! Today the rain began to let up and we were able to venture out from the clinic at least a little during our lunch break. We have been consistently seeing a high number of patients, and the clinic was as full today just as any other.

I think Tina’s experience has been getting better. She had several really nervous patients today, and her rockstar bedside manner saved the day. She had one patient who was so nervous that she worked herself up to vomiting. For a sassy ER nurse this is no big deal. Jim dealt really well, just grabbing a cup, and then walking through the clinic to dispose of the cup offering to people, ‘cup o’ vomit? cup o’ vomit? ‘ All of this was happening right behind me and they were so suave about it that I never even noticed. Although, with all the noise in the clinics it is really easy to just space out and work. Head full of Rolling Stones thanks to Monica, foot tapping, working away.

After we were done for the day we were about to get on the van to go home and Preacher was mumbling something about Van no go. Van no battery. Say Wha Mon?? We’re in the middle of no where! There is no Kragen Auto Parts to get a lift to! And no one to lift you there either. So I took the opportunity to walk around the area with some of the other ladies. We came across what could have been the largest pig I had ever seen. And the funny thing was he was lying in a mud pit and so camouflaged in red clay that I nearly tripped over him.. I startled her, then she startled me. I had never been afraid or ran away from a pig before. Well, I have now! She was tied to a tree and I wasn’t about to see how long the rope was! But as pigs are, she was just itchy and after I startled her she just walked over to an orange tree and scratched her booty on it then relieved herself and went back to lying in the mud. Ahh the life of a pig :D

Tonight we decided to have a group dinner in town. It was a smashing idea. We went to Scotchies, and sat at a big round wooden table and sat of kegs with cushions on top. The food was local Jamaican, and it was fabulous. We were also introduced to a new rum, white over proof. It was lovely! It had an aged almost whiskey flavor to it, but that was just its strength. After drinking half a glass Greg said, “hey, I like this” he was grinning and a little flush. It was awesome! Go Team Awesome. Papa Joe met us out at the restaurant and I thanked him again for putting us together with such a great group. It has really been a really great week with some really great people! The pics from last night are going to be Awesome I’m sure :D

Tomorrow is our last day in Maroontown. Last long drive up and back from the clinic. Last day with Team Awesome. We’ll only see patients for half of the day since we also have to pack up a lot of gear. Next week there will be another team (just nearly as Awesome, I’m sure!!) and they will bring in some of their own gear and have another kick ass week up in the hills.

Thought for the day: Don’t judge. I find myself doing this all the time. Sometimes it just silly little things that amuse my mind, like, OMG LOOK at that shirt! WTF is she thinking?? But sometimes it runs deeper. I allow myself to judge and then create a character based on those judgments. When I’ve done this recently I’ve been wrong, and it leaves me feeling so ignorant. But how do you go about not forming opinions of others constantly? We’ll I guess I’m just going to have to work that out. {Pushes soap box back under bed}

Thank you and goodnight.

1000 Smiles 2010 Day 5

Day 5

Today I cried at breakfast. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to go to work, or because I was sad or mad. It was because I was happy. And more specifically moved. What a way to start off the day. During our morning meeting we were discussing what was going in our clinics and PJ asked if anyone had something outstanding to talk about. Lori raised her hand. She and her team have been working in the Barrettown clinic. The clinic is in a rural, somewhat unfinished church with no running water or electricity. Thank you for portable bathrooms and generators!! Anyways, the church is always filled with old Jamaican church ladies, along with some Ministry of Health nurses. Yesterday they broke out in song, as they are reported to have a tendency to do) and they were singing a simple song about being blessed. This moved Lori. Here she is in such an amazing setting, helping people with what is such a bid deal in their lives and she is feeling so blessed. In turn, these people are reaping the benefits of what Great Shape has to offer and then in turn are feeling blessed to have our awesome group be here to help meet their needs. So Lori shared with us their simple song about being blessed, and it just moved me to tears over my coffee. Now that is a way to start a day!

We were reminded this morning that just about 1% of the adult Jamaican population has access to dental care, also another re-affirmation about why we are all here. I left our morning meeting with a sense of pride and purpose.

Unfortunately it had continued to rain overnight and our drive to work this morning started with a 45 min. traffic jam in downtown Montego Bay. I think it took near 2 hrs to get to the clinic today. This actually was just fine with us. With the iPod speakers charged it was 2 hrs of singing along with one another to everything from Karen Carpenter to Gnarls Barkley to Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. I’m surprised our driver did not jump out of the window! He seems very tolerable to our sing-songyness, and remains the most talented slick windey road driver ever!

Once we got there we started into action, but it was a slow start. The tarps needed to be put up around the generators again, we were having some suction issues, along with Monica’s unit having a power issue also. But, at the end of the day we saw just about as many patients as we normally would, even despite our time set backs.

The remainder of our day was uneventful.. Drove back home, then directly to the bar it was for our team. One of my favorite memories of 1000 Smiles is the team bonding, which usually happens at the bar after work. With our team it also happens in the 3-4 hrs a day we spend getting to and from work. I can’t say again how awesome I think they all are!

We had some dinner and a few more drinks. Took in a little of the show going on at the resort; an African drum and dance performance that really was quite impressive. Foollowing that we hit up the sports bar, again. Just in time to watch the Giants close in and take te win. Heck yeah!

Tina and I hung out a bit more. The game ended. Karaoke continued. Tina’s crush, Ricardo, was non relenting in his pursuit. Back up to the room we are. We ran into the African drum team in the hall and realized they are staying next to us. Oh torn between going to be early, and rocking out with those awesome peeps! Being responsible (and slightly tipsy) is winning, and here I am.

Really a great day all around. Good feelings, great people, an amazing trip!

Quotes from today:

“I already took my shirt off.” Susan. In response to NY Long Islanders asking why she wasn’t dressed like the rest of us. The rest of the team responded, “She’s a dirty girl!” Hey, did I say I loved my team or what!!

{Server} Just to let you know, the Miso soup is made with soybean products.

{Tina} I’ll have the Miso soup.

{Server} We’re out of Miso soup. We have shrimp broth instead.

{Tina} [confused..] Um. I’ll have the chicken corn chowder.

{Me} Pino grigio out my nose a lil.

Happy Hump Day!!

1000 Smiles 2010 Day 4

Day 3

Holy crap! Has it really only been 3 days? Wowza, so much going on, no wonder I’m tired :D *strike that.. Tina just came in and reminded me that its actually day 4* Today began as any other, meeting in the morning, drive up the mountain, yada yada.. You know, just your normal Tuesday :D

Today Tina switched to assisting Jim, and I think it’s a better fit all around. I think she thought it was too until she got a bit blood splattered, and then it was a little less cool. But regardless, big ups to her for diving in!

Today was a really warm day in the morning, then, just like yesterday we had thunderstorms in the afternoon with a lot of rain. I have never been so thankful for rain before. While I knew that it would thwart my dip in the ocean on arrival back home, and that it would make our drive down the mountain just that much longer and tedious, it was a cool rain with a cool breeze. And that felt GOOD! Well, good to all except Jim and whomever was helping him get the tent up over the generator. No generator means much more difficult work. So I’m also thankful for Jim getting soaked to get the tarps in order. Also on my list while I’m feeling thanky is Preacher, who again did a stellar job getting us to and from the Maroontown clinic safely.

Today in the clinic things seemed to go really well. Greg and I saw 16 patients, did 16 extractions and 6 (I think, fillings) All in all a great day. We got into each others grooves a bit more, and the time just seemed to fly by. In total the clinic saw around 50 or so patients, that makes our total just above a hundred for the first two days. Heck yeah.!

Right now the steel drum band is playing “Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night” and I think they’re right!

Quote of the day:

Tina – “I’m not going to be a statistic!” Said while walking down wet, slick terra cotta steps in strappy heels. In reference to the fact that there have been two people on the project so far that have seriously busted ass on slippery terra cotta surfaces.

Cheers to tomorrow!

1000 Smiles 2010 Day 3

Day 3 (Day 1 in our new clinic home)

I’m going to try to blog every day. My intention is to not only hold onto my memories for as long as possible, but also to share my story with others and encourage you to take part in something so wonderful and giving, something that you feel passionate about that warms you from within, whether it be 1000 Smiles or any other humanitarian project home or abroad.

It gets to sound a little cheesy after a bit, you get so much more than you give back, you touch someone’s life, you make friends that will last a lifetime. But, its all true and then some. Every person I come into contact with fills me up spiritually, teaches me tolerance and humility, energizes my spirit, and perpetuates my love. It NEVER gets old.

So today, we have our morning breakfast meeting, and off to work we go. This trip up the mountain was particularly painful as I was trying to take pictures of all of the fantastic things we come across, and in the end I was getting a little car sick. So, that being said, today pics may be my only from the drive to or from work. Luckily Tina is a picture documenting feign, so there will be no lack of photographic evidence of our journeys!

Today was the smoothest day one of a project that I have ever been on. There were no major equipment issues, we all quickly got right into an awesome groove of patient flow, and the day flew by. I think between the three hygienists and two DDS we treated around 60 patients. Greg and I did extractions on 14 patients, and saw a few others for restorations. GO US! I felt in synch with our routine and we were able to leave at the end of the day having to tell only 5 patients that they had to come back another day. Of course all of this couldn’t have been done without the support from Tina backing us up and keeping us going as well as Nurse Winsome, although she was a pain in the butt sometimes, she is very familiar with the Parish and its people and the clinic facility itself.

This afternoon we had an awesome thunderstorm. Huge drops of rain fell on the top of our world that is Maroontown. Thunder, lightning, streams of thick muddy water running down the mountain. Our drive back tonight took a little longer than usual, I felt a little more pukey than usual :D

Back at our home away from home Tina and I recap our day and what things can be done to alleviate some of the stress she was feeling today from being pulled in too many directions. I’m concerned, I want this to be a good experience, and not feel like another day at the ER. We run into our team at dinner and we discuss some ways to implement those concerns. I’m confident that we will come to a good place that works for all of us.

Following dinner we checked out a craft fair that was going on. It was a little bit frustrating to deal with the merchants pushy tactics for enticing us to buy their necklaces, art and handbags. It really had the opposite effect. We walked on down the beach.

Tonight was an early night (or was supposed to be, oops, its already after midnight!) I’m really happy to be here for two weeks on this project. I feel like I don’t have to jam pack every minute to feel like I’m getting the most of it. I still have 14 more days or so!

At the end of the night tonight I got to talk to Peter for a few minutes. I am very grateful for the phone that is provided to the volunteers to contact our loved ones back home. I missed him a lot today. We realized before I left that we really hadn’t been away from one another for more than three days since we’ve been dating. I’m thankful for so many things in my life, and he’s one of them. His patient and giving nature with me allows me to be the best that I can, and give to my fullest without feeling taxed from a toxic relationship. Too much sugar? I can’t help it, I’ve got a sweet life!