Day 2--Santo Domingo Norte

Day 2 has been a great day! We had our first day of clinic in northern Santo Domingo at a school. The first day of clinic is always a little slower as we are learning how we work as a team. But I really love this team! All are willing to work together and work hard to accomplish our objective.

We started off with some words about Esperanza and the work they do in the D.R. and Haiti. Marisa introduced us to an associate of Esperanza named Elena. Elena is the perfect example of an Esperanza associate and has recruited around 220 other associates to be a part of Esperanza. She is a natural leader and so was rewarded by being the first person worked on by Dr. Roy Hammond.

At our daily team huddle

Setting up for our first clinic

Elena´s before shot

Elena´s after shot

The crowd waiting for dentistry was a bit disorganized and unruly at the beginning, so we thought ¨What would Greg Anderson do?¨ We knew the answer and put it into action.There were few problems after that! 

 We had some emotional moments today as some of these patients saw their new smiles for the first time. Dr. Ed White gave Nelson a new smile. He was missing some front teeth and had been waiting around all day as the 4 o´clock hour approached, just patiently reading his Bible. Dr. White and team were happy to work on Nelson and he was so appreciative. His smile looks amazing!

Nelson with Dr. White and team

This man had his teeth fixed by Dr. Roy at the very end of the day and was overcome by emotion when he looked in the mirror. Sorry, we didn´t get a good shot of his teeth, but he made a few of us cry! It´s amazing to see the light in their eyes as they see themselves with a new smile for the first time.

Tadd with one of Dr. Dale Behners patients

Dr. Dale Schisler and Bonnie hard at work

Kristin cleaning some teeth

Carli, Thomas, Catie, Afton, Sophie and Brenly

After our first clinic, we showered up and headed over to Provocon, one of our favorite restaurants, for a family style meal filled with salad, rice, yuka, plantain, fries, chicken, arepas, and much more. Delish! Until tomorrow...our day of rest!