In the News: The California Aggie 01/28/2008

UC Davis students change lives in Bolivia

Spreading Smiles provides dental and health care for thousands

Original Article
By: THUY TRAN
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Campus News

A group of 16 UC Davis students traveled to Bolivia during winter break in 2007 to provide dental and health care for over 3,000 people.

The trip took place from Dec. 17 to 23 and was the second trip to Bolivia organized by Spreading Smiles, a nonprofit campus organization composed of UCD students dedicated to improving health care for the local and global community.

During their first trip in March 2007, seven students provided dental care for 1,000 people through donations from local dentists and businesses. For their trip in December, Spreading Smiles was officially sponsored by major dental supplier Henry Schein and was gifted over $4,500 of dental materials and equipment.

The plans ran smoothly but the trip almost didn't take place, said Cedric Papa, senior exercise biology major, expedition leader and founder of Spreading Smiles.

"Four days [before departure] we got news that there was political unrest going on in Bolivia and a warning was sent out that Americans should not come to Bolivia until Jan. 11," he said.

A Bolivian ethnic group called Camba decided to secede from the Bolivian government and as a result, the president of Bolivia sent a police force to take over the airport where Spreading Smiles was to land, Papa said.

Papa called an emergency meeting with the trip-goers at his house that night to relay the message.

At first the majority were really scared, he said, but by the end of the day the unanimous vote was to continue with the trip.

"I had to put aside all my worries and follow my heart and faith that this would be a successful trip," said Elizabeth Mannor, senior clinical nutrition major and meals coordinator for Spreading Smiles.

Spreading Smiles left San Francisco at 2 a.m. on Dec. 17 and landed in Santa Cruz, Bolivia after a six-hour flight. The following morning, they took a one-hour flight to Montero, Bolivia and worked for the next 12 hours.

The Spreading Smiles program took place in four Bolivian cities: Montero, Guayaramerin, Trinidad and Santa Cruz.

"During this trip, meals were prepared and people took shifts to eat but some still worked right through their lunch breaks and skipped meals," Papa said.

In each city, the students set up their work stations at a church offered for use by local missionaries. There were four workstations where the students dispelled myths, taught proper brushing techniques, provided oral exams and gave medical care along with nutrition lessons.

At the first station, Papa dispelled Bolivian myths of the benefits of using feces as a cure, withholding water from someone with diarrhea and enlarging wounds further for air exposure.

"By teaching them about myths, they're going to turn around and teach their friends and family and break the chain of ignorance that [could] keep them from endangering their lives," Papa said.

After learning about the falsity of these myths, patients moved on to the second station where they were given free toothbrushes and taught how to brush their teeth properly. They then went to the third station to get their teeth cleaned individually.

Before the trip, dental hygienist Cheryl Taylor trained the students to use 18 different hand tools to remove tartar, plaque and other tooth residue.

Some patients who were seen during the first trip had improved dental hygiene but many others still needed a lot of help, said Manjeet Singh, senior exercise biology major and fundraising coordinator for Spreading Smiles.

"In the U.S. it's considered bad if you have three or four cavities," he said. "In Bolivia, most people had three or four cavities in each tooth."

Following the teeth cleaning, patients went to the last station to learn and receive medical treatments and lessons on nutrition.

The pre-medical students addressed problems such as diarrhea, dehydration, skin diseases and malaria, as well as treated wounds, Papa said. The students also took money out of their own pockets to buy antibiotics.

As a pre-nutrition student, Mannor measured the children's weight and height and advised people on what to eat according to what was available to them.

"It's hard to advise them on what to eat when they can't afford to buy what they need to be healthy," she said. "Food is so hard to come by that they'll eat whatever is affordable."

At the end of the four stations, each family received a hygiene kit donated by Red Cross, clothing and a balloon made out of latex gloves.

Spreading Smiles donated suitcases full of clothing and some students even gave away their own clothes brought for the trip.

"I wanted the feeling of giving them everything possible," Mannor said.

The students continued to set up the stations and gave donations at the other three cities.

At Guayaramerin, a surprise interrupted their sessions but could not stop them from their work.

The students experienced a blackout for three hours, but lit candles and held flashlights to continue what they could.

"We were teaching in the dark and the kids kept listening because they really wanted to learn how to brush their teeth," said Judy Liu, senior biotechnology major and public relations chair for Spreading Smiles.

Many children were looking up with really sad faces as if they still wanted to have their teeth cleaned, said Celia Sommer, junior neurobiology, physiology and behavior major and vice president of Spreading Smiles.

So that's what Sommer did - she continued to clean teeth under a flashlight for the next few hours.

"I still wanted to reach these people no matter what the conditions were," she said.

Before the students left Bolivia, many people came to express their gratitude. A local band skipped their gig at another engagement to perform for them with hand-made guitars. They also received many hugs and kisses.

Papa said the students were glad that they could spend an hour with a person and change their quality of life for the better.

"The people became more than a number or statistic," he said. "We came to love them in just a few hours."

When Spreading Smiles returned to San Francisco, they were glad to be back in a safe place, but couldn't help thinking back to the Bolivians they left behind, Papa said.

"We remembered that the people we left in Bolivia don't have an escape - that was their life," he said.

Spreading Smiles hopes to return to Bolivia every year, with more people and resources to continue their services.

"In the end, we realized that these people were our equals just born in a different country," Papa said. "The only difference is between our birth place and theirs."

To donate or take part in Spreading Smiles, visit spreadingsmiles.org or e-mail Celia Sommers at cmsommer@ucdavis.edu.



THUY TRAN can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com. ©

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