Our good friends, Tod and Rebecca Beaulne have been on these trips multiple times...and now I know why. It's so addictive! Tod is a dentist and Rebecca a Hygienist. They have given their time, talents and resources, along with about 120 others in various medical/dental fields to help prospective missionaries in Central America. To serve a mission, these kids must have proper medical and dental care/treatment and in these countries, most of them have never been to a dentist and only rarely to a doctor. This is a volunteer organization out of the states that have been making these trips twice annually for nearly 20 years. Dennis and I applied to go on the November trip back in May. We found out that we were going in August. The timing has been so perfect to be able to come to Managua and offer our services to others. In the end, I know I will have been helped more than I helped anyone else!
So my job is, you guessed it, the Photographer. I take each and every pre-missionary photo and the group photos. I will also be taking photos tomorrow of the families at church...when they come out of church, we will be handing them a printed family portrait in a frame for them to take home. Many of these people have never had a family photo taken.
Within the 5 or 6 days of work here, there are 800 to 1000 young men and women who are helped.
Here are some of the snapshots so far...and we've just had 2 days worth...
so more to come!
Finally made it to Houston...on to Managua.
Hilton in Managua.
On the bus to the clinic (the 'clinic' is in a church building in the area--some of the key planners for Smiles trips have been here longer than the rest of us, setting up the whole church as a medical centre/lab/hair salon/photography studio/sterilizing and washing facility/oral surgical facility/dental facility/recovery room/humanitarian aid facility to name a few. The locals are key in helping things get set up and organized ahead of time as well.
Friday morning...here we go~
This is Dennis' domain. Autoclaves and pressure cookers. It's hot. Did I mention it's hot?
Air compressors in the atrium/courtyard for all the drills etc.
Dentist's chair waiting to be repaired by the technician.
The Gym in the church where the dentists/hygienist/oral surgeons are set up. There are 25 dentist on this trip. 8 Oral surgeons and one Endodontist.
Today, Saturday, we were scheduled in for our turn on a humanitarian excursion. These include orphanages, newborn hospitals, cancer hospitals and family homes...we got to go to the homes of 2 local families and deliver food/hygiene and comfort gifts/donations. These people live very simply. Yet, they have incredible gratitude. It's a humbling experience. In Nicaragua, the average family ANNUAL income is between 2,500 to 6,000 dollars. That's per YEAR.
This woman was the 4th convert to the church in the whole of Nicaragua back in the early 70's. She served a mission in 1972 in Honduras and Guatemala. Here is her mission letter assignment she kept in a scrapbook...signed by Joseph Fielding Smith, the President of the church at that time.
A couple of her granddaughters quickly made their way to me in the corner of the room...funny how that happens...and it made my day.
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