By Sandy Kemper RDH | Director of Smiles Forever
Coming Attractions:
In September of 2015, fourteeen nursing and dental hygiene students will be headed to Bolivia for an experience of a lifetime. Nurses and hygienists will together prepare health fairs, open to the indigenous low income folks on the street, that will include dental and medical checks together. Blood pressure, diabetes checks, as well as tooth brushing techniques and free dental exams will be included. The goal of this trip is to not only provide hands on experience for students in a developing country, but also to incorporate medical and dental health. The oral cavity is connected to the rest of the body and can determine and give hints to general body health. After assessing many patients and viewing the Smiles Forever dental hygiene program in Cochabamba and nursing programs in the area, the students (nurses and hygienists) will be asked to create a training program scenario for a nurse/hygienist professional to work in rural areas where there is little or no access to medical and dental care. Rosie Bellert director of the Smiles Forever dental hygiene program and Lisa Libassi director of the Nursing program at Shoreline college will be heading this project together.
“ I am anxious to see how others live and work together in a developing country. I want to work with the other dental hygiene students and help them with their studies,” exclaimed one of the eager students.
Call to Action: Reaching out to our Wonderful Donors
You may be a part of this joint effort by helping fund our lunches. We estimate there will be another $2,000 in expenses which is not covered under a grant. Especially important is to feed everyone during the workday. Some of Bolivia's fun foods to taste are pique macho traditional meat and vegetable dish, silpancho (rice, egg, and, meat), and tacos. Join us at the table vicariously. Please contribute to our lunch money fund.
Further down the pike at sometime this year:
I'm considering using this total project for a Microproject Youthspark eligible bonus program, likely coming this July. Stay tuned for the opportunity to help us earn bonus money!
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