Physical Health Bolivia Project #17807

Provide Dental Care for 67,000 Bolivian Children!

by Smiles Forever

Project Report | Jun 13, 2018
Empowering Hygienists with University Partnership

By Sandy Kemper | Founder & Executive Director of Smiles Forever

Smiles Forever Signs Education Agreement with Bolivian University:https://www.facebook.com/UPALBolivia/videos/944866015594773/On May seventeen of 2018, the SMILES FOREVER FOUNDATION and UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA ABIERTA LATINOAMERICANA (UPAL) signed an inter-institutional cooperation agreement that would allow both organizations to expand their fields of social action in favor of the most needy.

In such a way that the Smiles Foundation will have access to the UPAL
public dental clinic in which hundreds of patients are provided each year
with basic dental care and who will be able to count on dental cleaning services
carried out by the dental hygienists of the Smiles Forever Foundation.
Joint actions such as scientific research, development of the dental hygiene career
and others of social interest which will be focused on education and prevention.
Smiles Forever is very proud to exhibit an agreement of such magnitude
and with such a recognized institution which has the same social values.
Announcement by Clinic Director Alejandro Beckrich

Smiles Forever has been committed since 2000 to educating & thus empowering Bolivian women. This program to educate indigenous young women in the field of dental hygiene has been the core of our mission. Our focus has broadened to a full service low cost clinic .Also, we bring our dental help to special children's homes and to people with disabilities or crippling poverty. The dental care from the state ranges in the areas we serve from little to non-existent. Your unwavering support has supplied this missing link thereby giving much-needed dental care to thousands!

Continuing the Conversation with UPAL University:

Our vision has always been to develop and perfect a program that will be self-sustaining for highest and longest impact. We have had years to see what works and to predict what might work even better. This has brought our Founder Sandy Kemper and the Smiles Forever Clinic Director Alejandro Beckrich to map out an agreement with the university. These talks and all the planning, with input from everyone involved, has now borne fruit.

Dental Hygienist Education Pilot 3-year Program Agreement Signed May 17th

Alejandro Beckrich Executive Director of Smiles Forever Bolivia

Patricia Miranda Dean of UPAL

Smiles Forever Foundation and UPAL Will Educate Women in Tandom:

Curriculum has been specially designed towards providing a top-quality hands-on degree. Students will have a rigorous practical training and internship coupled with some added university instruction. This will guarantee certification & licensing by the Bolivian government. Potentially, more women can be educated per year. Ultimately, the Foundation's mission can still provide excellence in dental hygiene education, even after some of the key personalities involved retire from daily first-hand instruction.

Congratulations to All Who Made This Smiles Forever Dream a Reality!

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Mar 15, 2018
Smiles Forever Helping to Bridge the Gap

By Sandy Kemper | Director and Founder of Smiles Forever

Our Smiles Forever charity has been helping indigenous Bolivian people bridge the gap between the hopelessness of poverty and the brighter future of having a marketable job skill to break from the yoke of poverty.

VISION

“Poverty and gender inequality go hand in hand. Addressing gender gaps in poor countries is not only a moral imperative but also a practical one, given the growing body of evidence which supports the idea that targeting investments in girls and women can help lift entire families and communities out of poverty.”

GOALS

To continue to develop and grow our community service clinic that provides quality preventative and restorative dental care to impoverished children in South America.
To expand to our Smiles Forever two- year vocational training Dental Hygiene program for indigenous women, to a three-year curriculum which includes university accreditation. This action will make our program more sustainable and will continue to support the community service clinic.
To continue to advance the general health of children in South America through the practice of preventative dentistry.
To increase the economic self reliance of indigenous young women in South America.
To share our dental hygiene educational program and community service model with developing countries.

Vision

Smiles Forever believes the only way to break the cycle of poverty in developing nations such as Bolivia is to educate young women and girls. The culture may relegate females to second-class status, yet there is no denying that the woman is the primary socializing force of the family. An educated woman practices family planning. An educated woman knows that equal opportunity should be afforded to both male and female children. An educated woman understands and values the importance of prevention when it comes to both medical and dental care. She is less likely to accept domestic violence as a situation she must tolerate. She has self esteem, which allows her to make appropriate decisions within her household, community and country.

YOUR VISION OF A BETTER, HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER WORLD SUPPORTS OUR WORK. SMILES FOREVER IS SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT.

On April 9th begins a GlobalGiving contest backed by $50,000 which will match your donations of up to $50 by 50%! Please put Monday April 9th through Friday April 13th on your calendar and invite your kind friends to join this fundraiser where "Little by Little" we can bridge the gap to a better world.

Muchas Gracias,

Sandy has been the executive director of Smiles Forever for the last 15 years. She lives in Cochabamba, Bolivia the majority of the year. sandykemper@smilesforever.org

SANDY KEMPER, RDH
FOUNDER/FOUNDATION MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

After 28 some years in the U.S. as a clinical Dental Hygienist, Sandy Kemper founded the Smiles Forever Foundation in Cochabamba Bolivia in 2000. Her first trip to South America was as a participant in a yearly dental humanitarian trip to Cochabamba in 1999. She was taken by the struggle of impoverished woman in Bolivia and the lack of dental prevention for children. The Smiles Forever Foundation was established in 2000 to address these causes. She is one of the recipients of the 2009 RDH Sunstar Award of Distinction and grand prize winner in 2016!

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Dec 28, 2017
Signpost ahead: Dental Care for 40,000 Bolivians

By Sandy Kemper | Smiles Forever Founder & Executive Director

Chapare children in a tree

Signpost Just Up Ahead: Smiles Forever will reach our goal of treating 40,000 Bolivians in 2018!

I would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you who has sustained Smiles Forever's ground-breaking dental work in Bolivia these past 17 years. We can now change the headline to 'Provide Dental Care for 40,000 Bolivian Children!' Every one of your gifts helps ensure that we can go on helping our community with our upgraded dental clinic in Cochabama where we continue to give optimal care. We are excited to add out-patient treatment centers as we visit shelters and special needs group homes and orphanages.

Bolivian Children Sending you the Joy of the Season

New Recurring Donations to Smiles Forever's GlobalGiving projects will receive 100% donations for amounts up to $200 with a 4-month commitment. This is the easy way to take a minute now to set up monthly payments. We especially invite our Smiles Forever supporters from our early days to return as faithful partners in this amazing dental charity.

The holiday season is upon us and another successful year at Smiles Forever is coming to a close. Our unique Sliver Diamine fluoride project for 350 children in the Chapare region is heading into its second year. Negotiations to take the Smiles Forever dental hygiene program to the University level are currently under way. The impoverished children for whom we are providing free dental care will reach over 40,000 this next year. We have contracted with over 30 other organizations of children in need. The last 17 years of commitment have made great changes in the lives of the children and young women of Bolivia.

As you are gathering with your friends and family during the holidays, please know just how much your kindness counts in giving better dental health to so many,

'Muchas Gracias'
Sandy Kemper

Chapare boy brushing outside

Chapare youngster with cute hair

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