Dental Mission March 2011
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Three days in Yanahuara ..... An international team of dentists and volunteers lead by Dr Michael Houk (Siox Falls SD) touched the lives of hundreds of people in the Sacred Valley of Peru. This year's Desana Dental Mission really ran smoothly and the team was able to treat more people and perform more proceedures than last year. One of the biggest differences from last year's mission was the translators that Leander Hollings (www.mysmallhelp.org) had lined up. Having this group of people helping ease the fears of the patients allowed the team dental students to focus on the treatments. Our good friend Nelly Mejia from Cusco arranged much of the behind the scenes preperation. She lined up lunches for the workers, visited the communities to advertise the dental mission, was one of two people that could speak Quechuan. Our local friend and dentist Vladimir Oblitas was a huge help.... he helped Desana purchase additional dental equipment so we would have 6 operatories. Four for restoration and two for extractions. Vladi arranged for the clinic in Yanahuara, transported the equipment to the clinic, set it up, and took it back to Cusco to store until it is needed again. Vladi is part of Dentists without Borders and Desanan helps with their big campaign in July and August.
Dr Mike Houk will be posting his report on the dental mission soon. There were so many compliments on the way he ran the mission..... each patient was given the best possible care. His team of dentists provided dental care that will help these people for years to come. It was not about the speed.... it was about doing the right treatment. I know the people of Paucarbamba and Yanahuara appreciated what his team provided.
Enjoy the pictures from the dental mission (our video will be posted soon - check back)....