bring on the smiles...

it was one of those days when you do so much that you realize how much more you could possibly do. when we got to the clinic this morning we found the entire place crowded out the door with people wanting to see the dentist. news had travelled fast! people with swollen mouths, bleeding gums, rotting teeth, painful abcesses. i can't even begin to imagine how painful it must be to learn to live with some of the problems i saw.

one of my favorite cases involved gabby. i think i mentioned him before, by he is the 22 yr old boy with sickle cell anemia who has huge painful ulcers down both legs that won't heal...he comes to the clinic every single day to get his bandages changed and his wounds cleaned. his disease prevents the ulcers from ever healing, so he is at the point that he can no longer stand and is confined to a wheelchair. the changing of his bandages is traumatizing to say the least...he screams and writhes in pain throughout the entire agonizing process...often he has to sleep on a stretcher afterwards bc the whole process is so draining on him. gabby in his wheelchair is a common site to see in the clinic and, without exception, he always has a huge grin on his face. just one of those smiles that is sincere every single time. the dentist made it a point to take a break from pulling teeth and draining abscesses to inspect gabby's mouth...then he took special care to fix all of his teeth and as an added bonus he went ahead and whitened all of gabby's teeth. i thought that his smile could light up the room before his teeth were fixed, but now he had a smile that amplified an alreadyinspiring personality. it may not seem like much, but if you could see him in his wheelchair with that huge radiant grin, then you would understand right away.

as many as the people we helped, there were many more that we were just unable to get to. we worked for 9 straight hours and the dentist pulled tooth after tooth after tooth....everyone was so thankful, it was like they were gonna start kissing his feet! one man had 6 teeth pulled. the dentist was unbelievable...his name is dr. craig and he is young and energetic. not a single air about him. he had brought cases upon cases of medical supplies, and he worked with a dental hygienist named Mckenna who was straight out of hygeinist school. they were both so amazing. i noticed that dr. craig took about 4 minutes to eat his entire lunch before he headed back to the room. he sweat through multiple shirts throughout the day and even continued working when the power went out for about an hour and a half. he truly wanted to do as much as he could possibly do in the time that he was there. yet despite having done so much, you could tell that he was so heartbroken by the fact that we had to turn people away. he would have worked straight through the night if it wasn't so dangerous to drive at night or if we actually were able to keep the generator running long enough. the type of guy you wanna hang around.

i learned a lot about dentistry and was surprised about how artistic the whole process actually is. i also learned that haitians DO NOT like needles! one 14 year old girl almost broke my hand with her grip before the needle even penetrated her skin....the poor girl's entire body was shaking the entire time she was getting worked on! almost everyone was as stiff as a board when they sat down with pure fear in their eyes. i think the kids were better than the adults! it's funny how people can come in with bones poking through their skin and there is barely a wince, yet get near their mouth and they're scared to death! though i'd be freaked out too if machines were coming towards my face when i had scarcely had even been around electricity.

the two girls from Good Samaritan, rosena and carnesise, arrived with the medical team, and they both had a tooth pulled. poor carnesise was crying so hard and every time i came near the

chair she would reach her arms up to me like "save me!" i felt so bad for her, the procedure looked really rough. i had to rock her for like 25 minutes after she was done just to try and calm her down. there was a lot of blood everywhere so i think she was pretty freaked out. another boy got so freaked out by the blood that he puked everywhere.

i told one lady that i liked her shoes and she said "i will give them to you!" and started to take them off. so poor in the first place, yet she tried to give me her shoes to show her appreciation. just one of those things that makes me say wow.

dr. cheryl's phone died, so i had to tackle the hills in the blazing sun whenever we needed something or to contact someone...it wore me out! in fact, i am half falling asleep as i write this now...

by the end of the day there was a garbage full of teeth, blood everywhere, and a whole lot of patients who had conquered years of pain after 30 minutes in a dental chair. i am so grateful that i was able to be part of that experience.

today was such a whirlwind that i'm having a hard time remembering all that happened. when i took the girls to the bathroom they were both in awe of the toilet...i guess i hadn't thought about the fact that they probably hadn't seen one before....it was so funny, at first they were scared and grabbed onto me, and then they just stared at the water getting sucked down. it was so cute. i lost my favorite necklace, but i figure one of the kids snapped it while hanging on my neck...i'm sure someone will find it and be very happy. one man in the waiting room asked me if i was an indian. another man had an abcess on his foot that basically exploded all over the floor. i got bit by 1000 mosquitos today and i smell really bad. i learned a little more haitian history and was recommended to read "written in blood" for more. i also wanna see the movie "cite soleil" about one of the neighborhoods in port-au prince. i practiced my french with sadrak and jr.

two of the haitian guys told me "i lost a friend yesterday"....in reference to mj.

it was hard saying goodbye to dr. craig, nurse jennifer, and mckenna. i always think about all the people who have been in and out of my life, and it is difficult knowing that this will be them as well. the relationships that i have formed here are short, but like so many others in my life are far from superficial. it is a whole different environment here, a mini chapter randomly inserted into my life...i've gone from being a complete stranger to a part of a family...i am able to be myself entirely here...there's no drama, no pettiness, no superficiality...just people united by the same vision and working hard for the right reasons. there are so many ups and downs that we are forced to ride together... we've all learned to roll with the tide and keep things in perspective. the reality of the fact that i probably won't see most of these people again is scary and makes my stomach turn. i know i should appreciate the fact that i was able to build these relationships at all, but it doesn't make it any easier. it doesn't seem right that you can open yourself entirely to someone else, be entwined in someone else's life for a period of time, and then never see them again. NEVER is a long time. i will be gone and all this will be going on without me just as before i came.

.........

can you tell i'm already trying to prepare myself to leave? haha. gulp. tomorrow i have a much needed day off and me and some others are going to the beach for the day...it will be a nice break. maybe i will have a beer and read a book.

peace and bonswa.