Friday, April 11, 2014

Relaxing in Roatan!

We all made it safely to Roatan and have been enjoying this beautiful island and everything it has to offer. Stephanie and Laura have already been on three dives and Tom and Tyler are half way done with their open water certification. Savannah and Matt are enjoying some well deserved R&R on the beach and plan to snorkel tomorrow. We are all so proud of everything we accomplished at the mission and are excited to have a few more days in this gorgeous country to just enjoy ourselves! 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday: Clinic Day 3

As the clinical portion of the trip comes to a close we ended with a very successful day. We started off with another great breakfast at hotel la cascada. Afterwards, we headed to the girls school for a tour. The school is absolutely beautiful. It is an oasis for these sweet beautiful girls that would have otherwise never had the opportunity to go to school past age 10. The school also had the BEST view in Guaimaca. We purchased some bracelets that the girls sell in order to pay for their graduation and we got to watch their play about saying no to drugs. 
The clinic had another very productive day and everyone pitched in on the dental side so we could see as many patients as we could before we leave. We were able to get through 70 fillings, 11 extractions and 39 patients. The team worked so efficiently and was able to save 70 teeth which is an amazing accomplishment. We all feel so humbled to be able to work on individuals who without us would not receive care. It is amazing what six people can accomplish in 3-4 days. The  people of guiamaca are so appreciative which makes all our efforts worthwhile.

We are sad to leave Guaimaca and all of our new friends, but are excited to head to Roatan tomorrow. We hope you've enjoyed all the stories and photos so far. We will post more when we get better internet on the island. 

-Laura Sandretti

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Tuesday: Day 2 of Clinic

The day started with another wonderful breakfast at la cascada.  We made our way to the clinic and set up for another strong day.  Today was a very impressive display of teamwork.  We overcame several impediments to our success including fixing handpieces, suction lines and consoles.  We relied on the diversity of our group and our ability to adapt to difficult situations who knew that Matt's background working in a paint store would be such a great asset.  He has fixed more things in the clinic then I can remember.  We had similar production to yesterday with 50 fillings and 20 extractions, however we spearheaded some very difficult cases.  Tom and steph took on the most anxious ninos of Honduras.  Savannah proved invaluable again with her relentless work which and attention to detail helping multiple doctors at a time without waiver.  Laura has been working double time as well as Mackenzie who had both been working in the nursing clinic in the morning and the dental clinic by night.  The smiles and joy in the children and adults we have seen have more than paid for the hard work and sweat put in today.