We had our first mini Spike project! For four days Team Green/GangGreen went to Newton, IA near Des Moines to serve at an Iowa Mission of Mercy (IMOM). The IMOM is a two-day free dental clinic for any child or adult that needs dental services. MOMs occur in 10 states across the U.S. The clinic was held at the Iowa speedway, and while I didn't get to race on the track, I drove golf carts around at breakneck speeds. The project was great and we did everything from escorting patients, to conducting exit surveys, to childcare, translating, and supply runs. I loved working in "Restorative" (fillings) because I got to talk to the patients and try to keep them happy as they waited in 8 hour lines. Also, my teammate and I organized a huge line of patients in doing the wave. Patients were able to receive hygiene, fillings, root canals, impressions, and partials- all for free! A few of our members even got to have work done. At some points it was difficult because we were all very tired. We woke up at 4:30 to leave to start work at 5:15 and often didn't stop working until 8 or 9pm, aka 15 hour work days. However, it was worth it to escort patients into the doors in the morning and then encounter them again that afternoon and see how happy they were to receive care. There was even a story of a woman who was talking about selling her wedding ring to pay for dental care. Then she heard about IMOM and was able to get everything done for free. Overall, 1558 patients were seen and $843,000 of free dental care was provided!! Even more amazing was that an entire dental clinic with 90 stations fit into a SINGLE tractor trailer.
I swear that last photo wasn't posed....
ok I lied.
In other news, I am still enjoying my uniform. Except that I got some sort of dental gunk on my sweatshirt and I think it bleached it. Now I am prepping for another week of training. I'm really tired because even when we got back yesterday, I did homework (completing project reports and getting ready for our debrief this morning) until very late. I'm really glad I got to see the interworkings of a project though so that I can be a better Team Leader when the Corps Members get here. Tomorrow is diversity training!! I hope they ask for my World of Difference expertise.
OH. Last week I made falafel for everyone!! We had hummus, pita, Israeli salad, tahini, tzadziki sauce, falafel balls, and chicken. I don't think anyone really knew what to do with it. But it was delicious! I also taught them to say Shana Tova. We're working on it.
awesome.
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