CHANGING LIVES AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE
CONSTRUCTION TEAM: After dealing with water pressure problems at Eden Garden Orphanage, the team installed five toilets for the school bathrooms and some sinks, too. They installed two ceiling fans and lights in the medical clinic as well. The team disconnected the old defective sewer and installed the new line is being run from the dorm rooms to the new septic tank. Although the children were told not to use the toilet during this period, when you gotta go, you gotta go! When Scott Kramer heard the water rushing through the pipes, he anxiously awaited what was to come…he discovered two little presents just for him!
MEDICAL AND DENTAL TEAMS: At the request of one of the nuns operating a rural mission outside Montrouis, we left Eden Garden and held a clinic in the middle of nowhere, but with a spectacular view of the ocean! We held a clinic at the same place last January. The people in this village have very little, with some children running around completely naked. We set up our clinic in an open area that was part of the mission, but didn’t have any chairs with us. As a solution, the director of the mission school negotiated a deal that allowed us to use the school's chairs for our clinic on condition that we examine and treat about 40 students from the school.
The medical team examined a little girl whose mother explained that she was eating dirt. After listening to her other symptoms, she was diagnosed with a niacin and nitrate deficiency, which stimulates the impulse to eat dirt. We gave her some vitamins which will help her condition.
Our dental team also examined and treated a number of patients. One lady was so scared about getting a tooth pulled that she got up out of the chair in the middle of being numbed, stayed away for about 15 minutes and then slowly inched her way back to the seat where she had a reassuring talk with Glenn about how much better she will feel after the tooth is taken out. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for many to receive any kind of dental care, so when they come, they are often suffering from many problems.
