Rachel Chapman a servant of the Living God Dental Clinic by the numbers
We had 1 endodontist and 1 dentist.
We treated 84 patients representing 11 communities (For most of the people, this was the 1st time they had come to a clinic that we have hosted. Actually, for most people, this was the 1st time they’ve been to a dentist EVER!)
We treated 3 indigenous groups (mostly Nahuatl but some neighboring groups als0).
1 couple (below) walked for 1 full day up and down through the mountains to see the dentist. They arrived at the end of our second to last day. It was already to late to see them, and we had already told about 10 people to come the following day because more showed up than we could see that day. We told them if they were the first, they’d see the doctor first, so they should get to the clinic when the sun was coming up. When we arrived early for the last day, they were there waiting! Between them they had 4 extractions, 5 fillings, and 1 root canal. That walk was worth it! They should be pain free for a while, now. They are wearing the traditional clothes of their group. They are from a people group that has been very resistant to the Gospel, and we hope that in some way their contact with us will create an opening in the future for someone to share God’s Good News in their language.
We did 423 procedures. This included 149 fillings, 19 root canals, 65 extractions, and 4 surgeries. The doctors removed 1 tumor from a lady’s mouth.
We saw patients for 5.5 days, and then spent the other .5 day cleaning up and packing everything away.
Tags: clinic, community development, dentist, medical, relationships
Hosting a good dental clinic requires teamwork
To run a dental clinic well, it takes a team working together. We of course, need a dentist! (or two!)
Dr. Carr & Dr. Lovdahl
Then, there is someone who works as the dental assistant.
Dan assisting Dr. Lovdahl
Another person takes all the tools used after each patient and sterilizes them
Washing and sterilizing dental tools
and gets them back where they belong so the dentists can access them easily.
Then, someone else stays back at the house, doing food preparation, clean up, and running errands to the clinic with things we might need.
Kitchen girls
This is a very important job. The girls always have the food ready when we come up for lunch or supper. We can dig in and eat and have a few minutes of rest before we head back to the clinic.
Resting
And, then there is my job, which I guess you could call “Receptionist/Prep girl”. I greet each person as they come in, figure out what their complain is, register them, pull up their patient chart or create a new chart, and ask them to wait.
View from Front Desk
When the patient’s turn comes, I take them to the bathroom, give them a toothbrush and toothpaste to take home with them, teach them to brush their teeth, and give them oral hygiene instructions.
One of many daily teeth brushings
Then, I take them back to the dentist.
In between patients, sometimes I sit and wait with the ladies, listening to them chatter in their language, sometimes learning a new word, and sometimes communicating in Spanish.
At times, I accompany the women and children who are really scared throughout the exam and procedure.
This little girl was really brave and giggled as the dentist cleaned her teeth.
Except for the dentists, we rotate jobs sometimes depending on who is available to help in the clinic. I know how to clean and sterilize and the receptionist job. I get a little queasy assisting the dentist, so I don’t get too involved in that job!
May 2011 Dental Team
Life in Las Moras
Tags: house, language & culture study, medical, nahuatl people, partners, Video, village life
what’s our team up to?
L-R: Katie Moore, Me, Tom & Teresa Elkins, Dan & Sarah Alkire and Josiah
Our team has shrunk! The Davis family has moved back to Northern Mexico to fill a ministry need there, so they are no longer a part of our church-planting team. We miss them and they leave a hole on our team. Please pray with us as we trust the Lord to fill that hole with whoever He chooses.
Tom & Teresa continue to be a blessing to our team based in the city. They make trips out to the village, hauling materials, supplies, dentists, etc… They are also our guest house when we are in the city! It’s quite a house-ful!
Katie is almost finished teaching Josiah 6th grade. They’ve worked hard and will finish early. Now, with fewer kids to teach, she will be able to spend more time learning the Nahuatl language and culture.
Dan & Sarah are still lacking half the adobes they need for their house. Pray they might be finished soon! Their hope and goal is to get a roof on their place before rainy season. They both are beginning to study the Nahuatl language and culture a few hours a day.
I have just begun studying the Nahuatl language and culture full-time. That means a lot of time spent out with the people and the rest of the time at my desk! Pray for patience, diligence, and aptitude!
Tags: adobes, language & culture study, team
all I wanted was ice-cream and a hot shower…
I woke up early on my birthday so I could go running with a doctor who visits the village for a few days each month. We were just getting to know her, and I was excited to find a running partner.
When I got back from running, we girls ate some yummy muffins Sarah made special for my birthday. She took Dan breakfast in his bed (Dan had caught a nasty bug, and after a round of strong antibiotics, he felt worse. So, the visiting doctor started him on a series of penicillin shots.) and gave him his 3rd shot of penicillin.
I was in my room planning for a language session I was about to have with a friend on the other side of the village. Sarah was going to go with me.
All of a sudden, Sarah, sticks her head in my room and says in a deadly serious voice, “Rachel, run for the doctor. Dan isn’t responding to me.”
I jumped out of my chair and told her, “The doctor is leaving for our neighboring town today. She usually leaves about this time.”
As I ran, I prayed she would be at the clinic still. As I got close, I saw the truck was still there, Thank you, Lord!! The doctor, nurse, and health promoter were loading the truck and about to leave.
After I told them the message, the doctor ran back into the clinic and grabbed some medicine from the pharmacy; we all piled into their truck and raced back to our house.
Dan had gone into anaphylactic shock immediately after the penicillin shot. His heart was racing, his blood pressure was really high. His extremities were numb and he couldn’t move his body. He stared at the ceiling and tried to speak, but his lips only quivered. He was having difficulty breathing as his throat was closing up. He was VERY pale, and we were very scared.
The doctor quickly injected him with hydro-cortisone that she had grabbed at the clinic and monitored his vitals as he began to stabilize.
We praised God that the doctor was still in the village when Dan went into shock. We praised Him that the doctor had correctly anticipated the dilemma and grabbed the appropriate medicine. We praised God that Dan was ALIVE!!
After 2 days, Dan was still extremely weak. Upon the recommendation of the doctor in the village (who was leaving herself) and a fellow missionary doctor and considering the continued gravity of the situation, a mission plane flew Dan, Sarah, and Josiah Alkire to the city so Dan could get tests done to check his lungs and heart and be close to medical care.
Medical evacuation to the big city
Since Katie and I cannot stay in the village by ourselves for security reasons at this time, a co-worker flew in with the plane and drove us out.
So, now we are in the city. Dan is recovering. Yesterday he was up and around a bit and talking! He is still very weak and has no energy. But, there is improvement!! We thank God!
And, now that we are in the city, I was able to enjoy some late-birthday ice-cream! And, I am enjoying a hot shower EVERY DAY!!!
Tags: airplane, doctor, evacuation, medical, village life
My Tupperware lady!
There are several trucks that make it to our village periodically selling fresh produce among other things.
The first time they came by our house after the rainy season, we had gone a long time without fresh fruit, fresh veggies, and eggs. We stocked up on tomatoes, oranges, bananas, cucumbers, carrots! It was great!
They had come directly from the coast and had a cooler. We bought some yogurt and some sour cream. And, we found out they had COLD COKES!! We each bought one and popped them open right away.
We chatted with the vendors, beginning to get to know them. All of a sudden, the lady asks…
“Do you want to buy some Tupperware?”
I said, “What?”
She said, “They’re plastic containers that are really good quality and seal well. They are a bit more expensive, but they are so good that is what I use now. And, I have some to sell. Do you want to buy some?
I said, “I know what Tupperware is. My mom has used it ever since I was little. I was just surprised to find it for sale out here in the mountains!”
We looked at her supply and bought one that fit our storage needs!
Who would have though!?!!
My Tupperware lady and me
Tags: Fun, village life
FAQ: Do you have electricity?
Yes! We have “free power”! The electric lines don’t reach out as far as we live into the mountains. So, we live off the grid!
Some friends helped us wire the house
and put up our panels.
And, now we can enjoy light at night, process language on our computers, and watch an occasional movie at night!
Tags: FAQ, house, village life
FAQ: Is your house done?
It’s not done, but it’s live-able!
We have a roof, solid walls, and even a kitchen sink!
We’re lacking a bathroom and running water. But, it will come eventually! Right now, this is our “facility.”
And, I have my own room.
I’ve got a little table rigged up like a desk for the moment. Since I took the picture, we were able to move in my bed. All of us are sleeping on regular beds now instead of cots!
Tags: FAQ, house, village life
Wet & Dry
The rain starts in mid-June and it rains everyday until the beginning of October. It get very humid, and sometimes we had several days where we lived “in a cloud” literally! There was so much moisture, we were finding mold EVERYWHERE!
Our neighbors’ house in August – the middle of rainy season.
This year, the rains stopped abruptly, as if someone just “turned off the faucet.” By the first week of October, you could feel the dryness in the air again. I had to get out lotion and lip balm, daily necessities of the dry season.
This picture is from November – 1.5 months after the rains ended. There’s just barely a tinge of green left.
Most likely it won’t rain again until the middle to end of June! What extremes!
Our best Nahuatl so far…
To kinda give you an idea of what we know so far, I’ll let you listen in on a conversation my co-workers and I had with one of our friends…
Visiting our Nahuatl friends
We spoke in Spanish, Nahuatl, and English.
Here’s how it went…
My co-workers and me:
Our Nahuatl friend:
Hi! How are you?
I’m fine.
Come in. Child, go get some chairs.
Sit down.
What have you been up to?
Nothing much.
What have you been up to?
I am teaching. (home-schooling Josiah)
What else can we say? Eat!
I eat. Sleep! How do you say sleep again?
We slep. No. We seep. No, we sleep!
You all sleep together? or separately?
SEPARATELY!!
If you sleep together, you say “We sleep (together.)”
If you sleep by yourself, you say “We sleep (apart.)”
That’s a huge difference! We need to learn that!
Can I record you?
We sleep (together.) We sleep (apart.)
I bathed really early this morning. The water was freezing! Cold water.
Do you say cold water or water cold?
Water cold.
That’s what I thought!
Your pig is really big! Big pig.
Here’s some corn from our garden.
How much?
Nothing. It’s a gift.
Thank you.
Well, we’re going now.
Go ahead!
See you later.
I’m waiting here for your return.
