It almost made me want to go home.... Not! Ok.. It was hard but not so hard that I would pack up and leave.
We were working very late and had very difficult extractions. Seeing over 60 patients a day. It was every other patient we saw needed a surgical extraction.. Or 2 or 3. Many times we did surgical extractions. I think every night we came back we were all so dead tired.. The thing is there is so much going on, on the ship that you still don't slow down once you get home.. So many meetings and fun and that stuff.. I guess it's my own fault for going to bed late? :D
The dream team photo above. AKA the nerd herd. :)
So now 3 dentists left us last weekend! We had so much fun working with them(even through the difficult times). Sad to see them go but also happy to welcome new dentists and friends and DENTAL ASSISTANTS!!! Most of my time here there has only been 1 other dental assistant.. For 4-5 dentists. Our day workers have been working hard and keeping up real well. But now we have 3 Dental assistants to 5 dentists!
I now know that I was needed here! Shortage of dental assistants these days. So many months contemplating to come to the ship or not. I feel like God really wants me to be here.
I've learned how to hold peoples hands and speak words of encouragement in another language. A smile goes a long way too. :-) And when a patient looks me in the eye when we are done and says thank you.. It's so amazing and confirms to me.. This is where God wants me to be right at this moment.
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And now.. Something I've learned. We are here doing dental work.. And yeah.. It does not sound glamorous at all. We are just extracting teeth and doing some fillings, when the tooth is saveable. We can't treat everyone but we try to treat as many as possible. We have a screening line 2 days a week where hundreds of people line up with great big swellings on their faces. And horrible toothaches that have lasted weeks. Maybe longer.
The bottom line ,that not many people realize is.. We are saving lives here in Africa. It blows me away. Because in a developed country(like USA) when someone has a toothache you can go to the emergency room and get help. It may take a while to be seen but most people can and will be seen by a doctor. The patient can get antibiotics. And go on with life
Here, people do not have this option. If they have no money. They will not be seen. They will not get antibiotics. They could die very easily from the infection in their tooth. Or if they do eventually get help for their infection they could have problems in their mouth for the rest of their life because the infection went on so long it destroyed bone or what not.
So, we see patients with major infections. Yes it's gross and we help them get rid of the infection. In the end we could be saving their life. The end. :)
Oh! Last weekend we had a ship holiday and that means.. We did not work Friday! Whoohoo!! So a group of 9 of us traveled by bus 4 hours to go to Dolosie. It is the 3rd largest city in Congo! Super cute city/village. We had a great adventure.. Almost camping conditions.. Bathroom left much to be desired..But we did have a roof over our heads and running water. So yep! It was good and hey! This is Africa! :)
We traveled to a little tiny village outside of Dolosie to see some waterfalls. Hiked about an hour to get to them through the most beautiful terrain! Also had to brings gifts to the chief of the village and pay a tribute kind of fee to see the waterfalls.. Quite interesting all these happenings as only 2 of us had much knowledge of French to communicate. But it all worked out well and the waterfalls were nice!
Got stung by a bee and scratched up nice by bushes and weeds.. But yes. Great adventure! :)
This week we have a whole new team at the clinic! A husband and wife team of dentists and 2 new dental assistants! yay! I'm working with the long term dentist(with Mercy ships) now and it's going great!
Today was sooooo much better than the days last week. :) I'm hoping to see very few wisdom teeth and premolars! Please and thank you. :)
Now I'm getting ready to start the sad goodbyes. A very good friend is going home this weekend. :( So far I've only had a few goodbyes. This is the worst part on the ship.. Saying goodbye.
Then some other news.. This weekend my friend and I are traveling by train(12 hours) to Brazzaville. The capital of Congo. We will be going to a wedding potentially. :) We are becoming "wedding crashers". Should be interesting! A Congolese wedding! :) We then fly back Sunday night. It's going to be another adventure.
And my cough of 4 weeks is mostly gone! Thanks for the prayers!
And I'm off to bed!
Good night!
Don't mind the grammar errors. I did not proof read this. I maybe need to come back to read later and edit. :)
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