Our first official, inaugural mission took place on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua where we treated in the areas of Villa El Carmen and in a couple of remote villages in the area.
We travelled with a team of (12) volunteers, many of whom are employed at Weaver, Reckner, & Reinhart Dental Associates in Souderton, PA, and transported more than two dozen crates full of equipment, supplies and donations. We also partnered with The Help Them Help Themselves Foundation and the Gran Pacifica Resort and treated nearly (400) patients and performed around (1000) dental procedures.
Although we had some initial issues getting through customs, this was not deterring us from doing what we had planned to do, and the team rose above the adversity and put their skills to use none the less.
Extractions, hand cleanings and scalings, and other more primitive procedures were the plan of action for our first (2) days of treatment where we set up a dental office on a local’s porch and went to work. Once our remaining supplies cleared through customs, it was dentistry, full speed ahead. We added restorations, proper cleanings and could perform dentistry as we do in the states. We then moved to the clinic in Villa El Carmen and spent the rest of our week there, treating as many as we could, in the best manner we could and working long days.
Emphasis was put on educating the local professionals so they could better treat their fellow Nicaraguans when we were back in the states. We also spent some time educating the locals on the importance of dental hygiene and diet.
We donated and installed various water filtration systems in some of the communal areas of a few villages, and throughout the clinic and communal areas in Villa El Carmen.
It was an incredible week and experience for the team, most of which had never been to a 3rd world country or had been part of anything like this before. We are all looking forward to heading back to Nicaragua and continuing our work there, seeing our new friends we made along the way, and continuing our partnerships to help the people of Nicaragua. Our 2018 mission dates are already set and planning the mission has already started.
Mission Trip Photo Gallery
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