Day 6

A day in the life of a
Crown Council Humanitarian
Team Member

All of these pictures where taken today - Wednesday March 11th, 2009

Alarm goes of in the Dominican Republic

Some early risers get an early jog in on a small path that runs along the San Pedro Beach. Unfortunately you can’t swim here – the city dumps its sewage into the ocean by the beach. The sewage situation is also why they brush their teeth with bottled water and keep their mouth’s shut in the shower.

Breakfast is served at 6:30AM. Any kind of eggs, local fruit, fresh juice, cheese sandwiches, cold cereal, ham, sausage, and backed bananas.

The room fills with the Crown Council group, and by 7:15 everyone is done and ready to load up on the bus.

The Crown Council teams fills up two vans and a huge bus every morning. They carry with them all of their equipment including generators, compressors, supplies (all provided by the Henry Schein Corp), tables, chairs, portable dental equipment, dental tools, food and water.

Here they are loading the bus for a day of service.

Everyone wears custom made Smiles for Life scrubs and carries all of their important “stuff” in their Smiles for Life backpack.

And there off for the day…

After a 95 minute drive the team arrives at Mata Vaca Guerra.

They set up in a local community center. It takes about 45 minutes to set up the clinic with portable stations for 10 doctors (each with an assistant with three Dominican dental students) 8 hygienist stations (4 training from the Dominican) and others supporting in sterilization and crowd management and control.

Henry Schein Corporation contributed all of the dental supplies for our Humanitarian Trips.
Thanks Henry Schein.

Plenty of friends from the village waiting for help.

Keeping the instruments sterile.

Taking a break at noon for lunch. By this time the team had seen 63 patients. The weather on Wednesday (as you can see) was 80 degrees, partly cloudy with a slight and enjoyable breeze.
Before lunch...

AFTER lunch!!! (two new front teeth)

Working hard all day…122 patients.

Clean up begins 8 hours after set-up started...Two doctors still finishing the last of the patients.

Clean up almost complete...Dr Blackwood (shown on the left) can feel the good about the 46 extractions he finished today.

Greg Anderson at the end of the day on his way to the bus.

Heading back to the hotel.

After a shower everyone meets for dinner together.

After dinner teams, individual members of the group, our Dominican dental students and new hygiene theripists were recognized in an "official" awards and recognition ceremony.

And as the last, and very unofficial recognition of the evening, the director of the Crown Council (Greg Anderson) was presented an official Honorary Doctor of Dentistry certificate by Dean of the Dental School in San Pedro (who as become a great friend to the Crown Council and Smiles for Life).

And there day concluded...To begin tomorrow to be done all over again