Third day of treatment in the dental clinic

The crowds keep increasing every day in the dental clinic at Lamothe. Today 24 patients received treatment. Once again many extractions. One person had 23 teeth removed! We also treated a 10 year old boy with cerebral palsy who needed six teeth removed.

The walls have started going up on the addition to the school building. Renovation of the school office is almost complete.

Two team members spent the day at the House of Children of Faith orphanage in Carrefour. The orphanage is being forced to move from its current location of 37 years. Our two team members also visited the land where the new orphanage.

Second day of treatment in the dental clinic

Today was the second day for the dental clinic. The patients were much braver today! About 20 more patients were treated today. We were experiencing issues with patients having no place to rest their heads. We creatively rigged up headrests for the three chairs out of crutches, duct tape and tee shirts. Problem solved!

Most patients today required extractions but several patients were provided with hygienic and restorative services.

Excavation work progressed quickly today for an expansion of two classrooms for the elementary school building.

In the classrooms today we celebrated Valentines Day with Valentines cards and snacks. Haiti does celebrate Valentines Day like we do in America.

We also provided dental hygiene education to the students and applied fluoride treatments to prevent tooth decay.

There are almost 60 children in the school and a very high percentage of them have never had the opportunity to attend school before. As a result some of the students are as young as 15 or 16 years old and are at an elementary level of education.

Tomorrow is Day 3 of the dental clinic. Additional work will be made on the school construction project. A couple team members will be travelling to an orphanage in Carrefour.

First day of treatment in the dental clinic

Today was the first day of treatment in the dental clinic. Roughly 15 patients received treatment. Most patients had never seen a dentist before and as a result things were pretty bad. Many of the patients required multiple extractions, including one woman who needed 6 teeth pulled.

One of the more serious cases involved a woman who had an infected wisdom tooth which affected rhe jaw muscle and joint. Her condition had become so severe that she was barely able to open her mouth to eat. After providing an anesthetic, the tooth was extracted and the woman was able to open her mouth again. Antibiotics were also prescribed to battle the infection.

We also made progress on the elementary school construction project. Supplies were purchased and renovation of the school office was started.

Today’s activity with the children in the school was arts and crafts projects.

We are amazed and truly thankful for the team that is volunteering in Lamothe this week. Each team member brings unique giftings and experiences that are perfectly suited to the multiple purposes of this mission.

Please continue to pray for our work. We need more word of mouth promotion of the dental clinic and prayer for the kids who need teeth extraction. One young boy was so frightened by his experience that he sobbed that he thought he was going to die!

Dental Clinic Comes to Haiti

Sunday, February 12, 2012

This week a team of 7 people from Chicago, IL and Nashville, TN are volunteering their time and talents in Lamothe, Haiti. The focus of the team is to have a dental clinic, construction projects for the elementary school building and outreach programs to the children in the village of Lamothe.

Today the team visited Lamothe to prepare for the week ahead and to develop relationships with the people of Lamothe.

Hope Outreach International is excited to offer much needed dental care to the people of Lamothe for the very first time. The team of dentists very quickly discovered the reality of dental health in this community when they encountered two boys roughtly age 8 or 9 who were in major need of dental care for infected teeth.

We are very pleased to have Gary, owner of a home construction business, as part of the team. Gary is heading up the construction projects for the elementary school building. By the end of the day today, Gary completed a rough schematic of the drawings for the project.

Much of our day today was also spent on interacting with the children and adults in the village. Please pray for the team, that we may express the love of Jesus in both practical and spiritual ways this week to the people of Lamothe.