Physical Health Bolivia Project #17807

Provide Dental Care for 67,000 Bolivian Children!

by Smiles Forever

Project Report | Jun 13, 2017
Smiles Forever Relocates Dental Clinic & More News

By Sandy Kemper | Founder & Director of Smiles Forever

Bolivian boy with yellow tassel on hat

Read All About Our New Dental Clinic and Exciting Upgrades to Our Dental Hygienist Curriculum

To Our Donors and Supporters:

First of all, thanks once again for your continuous support and commitment to Smiles Forever. Your generosity allows us to provide so many far-reaching dental services to the Bolivian community we have come to love over seventeen years. Here is a brief report of our ongoing activities and projects:

New Location, New Clinic, New Goals

1. This year we took a great step as an institution by relocating our Cochabamba dental clinic. The objective of our move is to obtain greater productivity and efficiency by unifying our community service and general public clinic. With these changes we will be able to have our staff of hygienists and doctors work together as a single team. In short, our idea is now to try to work as a unified whole where all staff will seek to raise the productivity of Smiles Forever. Together we move forward contributing our all with our commitment, seriousness, responsibility and full knowledge of our mission of service to the indigenous community.

Dr. Nayda Apata becomes full time at our new clinic

2. As you know, Dr. Apata was a graduate student in the Smiles Forever Dental Hygienists program, who, after completing her studies at the institution, sought personal and academic success when she entered the university and graduated successfully from the dental school. For some years now she has been a part of the dental establishment of the institution, working part time at our community service clinic. Fortunately, now Dr. Apata will be working full time in our institution giving us all her commitment and predisposition to advance this project. Currently, Dr. Apata is taking a course in Maxial facial surgery at the dental school of Cochabamba. This curriculum is endorsed by the UPAL (open private Latin American university). This course is sponsored by our institution, so that in the future we will not need to depend on an oral surgeon from outside the Smiles Forever clinic.

I am filled with joy and proud I will be working all my time at the new Smiles Forever clinic----------Dr. Nayda Apata

A new curriculum of 3 years and 3000 hours--An Ambitious Upgrade of Training

3. We will now undertake a new challenge to create an upgraded curriculum with the help of Sharon Golighltly, RDH. This more comprehensive instruction will be updated and raised from 2000 hours to 3000 hours, with an extension of the career from 2 years to 3 years.

More news will be coming soon as we develop and test our new program.

By increasing the level of skill to give our students the best credentials, we will assure their secure employment in the dental hygiene field---Sandy Kemper, Founder & Director of Smiles Forever

Shoreline Community College dental hygiene students arrive in Bolivia in August!

4. Once again and as part of our community service project in the Chapare province in the tropics of Cochabamba, the dental hygiene students from Shoreline Community College of Seattle will come to Bolivia as part of a learning exchange. On August 28, we will jointly form part of the project of prevention and application of SDF in Maria del Rosario school. Here hundreds of children benefit from the help we provide in caries prevention, a project where not only caries prevention is offered to all the children in the school, but we also offer our services for free in our clinic in Cochabamba to the cases that require of specialized attention. This project has been carried out since 2015, and year after year we have been able to increase the number of children who benefit. We have also reduced the number of caries due to preventive dental care and the application of SDF that we do together with the people of Shoreline.

I am excited to have another opportunity to bring students to Bolivia to work with the Smiles Forever service projects. Every student will have their life and outlook changed forever with this international field experience--- Katie Fleming, Shoreline Community College dental hygiene instructor

Plan Ahead for Wednesday July 12th Global Giving 50% Bonus Day Starting at 6:00 A.M. EDT

Please join our Superstar Organization early on the 12th of July to help make your dollars go further with this substantial match from our friends at Global Giving. Reminders will follow both at our in-person get-to-gether Saturday June 24th between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at a family-friendly event in West Seattle, and also check for updates on our Smiles Forever Facebook site.

I am flying into Seattle from Florida where I have been with my two young adopted Bolivian children who are receiving age-appropriate facial reconstruction for congenital conditions. Our family is so fortunate to receive the care and love from the Miami hospital for children. Let us all try to be together on what promises to be a sunny day in Seattle to further the family of Smiles Forever and get the word out about our big fall auction coming October 14th at the Queen City Yacht Club--Save the Date!

Sincerely, Sandy

Bolivian Chapare schoolgirls

Chapare girl being treated by Sandy

Overflowing with gratitude for dental care

Making mud cakes & pies-universal fun

Toothbrushes & a ponytail

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