Central American Dental Team - Panama 2009
For some 15 years now, I have had the privilege and honor to serve indigent populations throughout Central America as a member of VIM Dental Team. And each year, the team and I experience the joy of seeing happy, thankful people with smiling faces.
For those of you unfamiliar with this mission activity, let me introduce you to the team, how it began, and what it's been able to accomplish over the years as a result of the support from Covenant UMC and many other individuals and organizations.
In 1991, Arthur Krzeminski, D.D.S., a retired endodontist from the Annapolis area, was approached and asked if he would be willing to organize a dental team to do mission work in Costa Rica. The question came after a VIM team from the Baltimore conference had traveled to Quesada, Costa Rica, where team members helped on construction and Bible School projects. While there, the VIM team members saw an undeniable need for community oral health care and communicated their observations that a dental mission team would be a blessed addition to the mission work in Costa Rica.
Dr. Krzeminski accepted the challenge and formed a small group of dentists on the original team. What became immediately evident to the freshly-assembled team once they arrived in Costa Rica was that their patients desired not just extraction of teeth but any dental treatment that would save their teeth. What at first was a vexing dilemma, due to lack of equipment and supplies to restore teeth, quickly changed into a larger opportunity to serve. Fortuitously, a local dentist befriended the team and graciously offered the use of his dental equipment and supplies. Whether divinely inspired or sheer coincidence, that one kindly act enabled the U.S. dental team to provide a wider range of preventive and restorative care.
The following year saw the team's make-up become more diverse. More dental professionals and volunteers with no dental training signed on, thereby increasing the team's capacity to treat more patients and a host of oral health care problems. As team leader, Dr. Krzeminski quickly learned his group of volunteers could be put to greater use if it was mobile and traveled to outlying areas of the country where the greatest needs existed. This also afforded dentistry to local inhabitants who were unable to travel the greater distances to get to our clinic.
In the years since, building on the original core group, the team has grown in size and in the ability to function as an effective unit in a full-service dental clinic atmosphere. This evolution has been possible for two reasons: (1) the esprit de corps in responding to what many view as both a humanitarian and a public health calling, and (2) the continuing generosity of individuals, organizations and churches, such as Covenant.
Covenant's Mission Committee donated funds in 2003 and 2004 that were used to purchase two new Portavac suction machines, enabling team dentists and hygienists to offer patients more comfortable and efficient service. In 2005 the Mission Committee extended its support even further, making it possible to build another complete "dental unit" to accommodate an additional dentist. The obvious benefit of this is that the team can provide preventive and restorative dental care to an increasingly larger number of patients. And again this past spring, Covenant donated $500.00 from the "Pennies from Heaven" to the dental team for supplies. Covenant's ongoing support is not just appreciated by the team members, but is clearly evidenced on the smiles of those we serve.
he team will be returning to Panama for the 6th year, January 30 through February 7. The team in years past has provided oral health care services to indigent communities in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
Covenant has been a faithful partner in this mission, as it has in so many other outreach programs locally, nationally, and internationally. I invite you to share in this wonderful experience of missions; of doing our Lord's work. I can promise you many "mountain-top moments” you will hold in your heart for a lifetime. Planning for the next dental mission trip generally begins around June. Mark your calendars for 2010!
Yours in Christ, Marsha J. Eccleston, R.D.H.
Central American Dental Team - Panama 2007
IMPROVING ORAL HEALTH IN CENTRAL AMERICA: A COVENANT MISSIONAgain this year, from January 26 through February 3, I made my annual pilgrimage to Central America as a member of a Volunteer In Missions dental team. As in the past three years, the team traveled to Panama, the fourth country I have visited in my 14 consecutive years of mission service (Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua were the others).
Organized on the ground by a local Jaycees organization known as the "20-30 Club", the team spent the week in the remote mountain-top village of Chepo. Surrounded by the lush ElMontuoso Forest Reserve with a breathtaking panoramic vista, Chepo is a desolate, and starkly impoverished community in Panama's Herrera Province, some seven hours by bus and truck from Panama City, the country's capital.
Chepo's school was converted to a dental clinic where our team of nine dentists, two hygienists, four dental assistants and ten volunteers, aided by two Spanish-speaking interpreters, treated roughly 700 children and adults. Many patients arrived on foot or by four-legged transports, some from as far as four hours. Most were badly in need of dental care. All were deeply appreciative of the services they received. The school also provided our dormitory housing for the week; quite a challenge at the onset, but we adjusted.
Two patients stand out in my mind. One was a little girl whose dental decay was so pervasive and advanced that, pointing to her mouth, she tearfully told a dentist ,"It hurts". The other -- a patient of mine -- was a middle-aged gentleman who could have easily qualified for the Guinness World Records as the person with the greatest build-up of dental calculus. At first glance, I thought a jackhammer rather than my dental instruments would be a more effective treatment device. After two hours of scaling, the man left in considerably better shape than when he arrived despite his mid-treatment pleas of "no mas" (no more).
The week's crisis was a 20 year old man who walked an hour to the clinic with a nearly-severed hand, the result of a machete accident. Fortunately, one of our first-time volunteers was a retired urologist who teamed up with a still-practicing nurse volunteer (and former member of our Covenant congregation, Sharyl Corsetto) to mend the mangled hand and administer antibiotics. Another example of how God's work, through human servants, is truly miraculous. He returned to the school two days later with his Mother, proudly showing us how well he was keeping the area clean, and to express again his deep appreciation for the care given him.
As always, I want to thank you Covenant for your financial and prayerful support of my mission service which will continue next year in Panama. It is making a real difference in the lives of people who otherwise would not benefit from the kind of professional services that we can provide and which all of us here at home are so blessed to have in abundance. Most of all, I thank our Heavenly Father for enabling me and all the VIM team members to use our talents and skills to serve others.
Yours in Christ, Marsha J. Eccleston, R.D.H.
Central American Dental Team - Panama 2005
Destination: Panama
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are trifles, to be sure;
but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." - Joseph Addison
You've seen them… we've all seem them. TV spot ads and photos in the print media showing impoverished families surviving in desolate, squalid conditions. Invariably, the children are malnourished, homeless, isolated. Their faces look forlorn; seldom do they appear happy or smiling. You can't help but feel their despair and hopelessness.
Once a year, for a week at least, that situation changes. For some 12 years now, I have had the privilege and honor to serve indigent populations throughout Central America as a member of a Volunteers In Mission (VIM) dental team. And each year, the team and I experience the joy of seeing happy, thankful people with smiling faces.
For those of you unfamiliar with this missions activity, let me introduce you to the team, how it got started, and what it's been able to accomplish over the years as a result of the support from Covenant United Methodist Church and many others.
In 1991, Arthur Krzeminski, D.D.S., an endodontist from the Annapolis area, was approached and asked if he'd be willing to organize a dental team to do missions work in Costa Rica. The question came after a VIM team from the Baltimore conference had traveled to Quesada, Costa Rica, where team members helped on construction projects and with Vacation Bible School for local residents. While there, the VIM team members saw an undeniable need for community oral health care and communicated their observations that a dental mission team would be a blessed addition to their mission work.
Dr. Krzeminski accepted the challenge and formed a small group of dentists. What became immediately evident to the freshly-assembled team, once they arrived in Costa Rica, was that their patients not only needed tooth extractions, but wanted full-service dental treatment in order to save their teeth. What at first was a vexing dilemma, because the team had brought dental instruments only for extractions, was quickly transformed into a larger opportunity to serve. Fortuitously, a local dentist befriended the dental team and graciously offered the use of his dental equipment. Whether divinely inspired or sheer coincidence, that one kindly act enabled the U.S. dental team to provide a wider range of preventive and restorative care than just tooth extractions.
The following year saw the team's make-up become more diverse. More dental professionals, dental care specialists and volunteers with no dental training signed on, thereby increasing the team's capacity to treat more patients and a host of oral health care problems. As team leader, Dr. Krzeminski quickly learned his group of volunteers could be put to greater use if it was mobile and traveled to outlying areas of the country where the greatest needs existed and where many of the local inhabitants were unable to travel to our makeshift clinic.
In the years since, building on the original core group, the team has grown in size and in the ability to function as an effective unit in a full-service dental clinic atmosphere. This evolution has been possible for two reasons: (1) the esprit de corps in responding to what many view as both a humanitarian and a public health calling, and (2) the continuing generosity of individuals, organizations and churches, such as Covenant. Covenant's Missions Committee donated funds in 2003 and 2004 that were used to purchase two new Portavac suction machines, enabling team dentists and hygienists to offer patients more comfortable and efficient service.
In 2004, the Missions Committee extended its support even further, making it possible to build another complete “dental unit” to accommodate an additional dentist. The obvious benefit of this growth -- in team size, diversity and available equipment -- is that the team can provide preventive and restorative dental care to increasingly larger numbers of patients.
Although Panama is this year's destination, the team in years past has provided oral health care services to indigent communities in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The 2006 trip to Panama, the third in as many years, takes place January 20-28.
Covenant has been a faithful partner in this mission, as it has in so many other outreach programs -- nationally and internationally. I invite you to share in this wonderful experience of missions, of doing our Lord's work, at home and abroad. Learn about opportunities offered by our church, our community, our nation and our world. Make a difference! If you have specific interest in the work of the dental team I've described, please contact Dr. Krzeminski by email. Planning for the team's annual outreach visits in Central America begins every June.
On a personal note, heartfelt thanks to my Covenant family and to my friends in our community for their support and encouragement, as well as to my husband, Bob, for his loving support. Most of all, I am thankful for the blessings from our Heavenly Father, who has given me the opportunity to serve the needy of this world in His name.
Yours in Christ,
Marsha J. Eccleston, R.D.H.
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