#goingabroad

Entre amigos was started under a mango tree years ago in hopes of bringing arts to the people of San Pancho and now it has become so much more. This place not only teaches women and children practical skills they employ to start their own businesses but it also empowers women to take charge. It supports the youth and adults alike in pursuing higher education and doing things they once thought was impossible. It has made computers accessible to people of San Pancho and made a huge impact by bringing forth a recycling and reuse program. The coolest thing about this place besides all the amazing things listed above is the fact that everything in the building is made of recycled or reused materials. The walls are made of plastic bottles, they repurpose glass bottles into cups, bowls etc. and sell them in the gift shop and anything that can be reused is made available to the public to “buy” from entre amigos with entre amigos pesos. Volunteers at entre amigos get paid in these entre amigo pesos that they can later use to “buy” things from them. I can seriously go on and on and on about this place. My hope is to one day play a role in making a difference in the lives of the people of San Pancho through entre amigos. Also did I mention that was the place where we held our clinics?  Yes pretty cool I’d say.  And this place is a public library for the people of San Pancho.

 My next favorite place was Circo de la ninos. This place was actually started by one ot the producers of cirque du soleil. If you know me at all….you know how much I love cirque du soleil. This place is special because it empowers young children and youth to take part in something outside of school and it inspires them to work towards to things that may seem impossible at first. Glades who works closely with Circo de la ninos was telling us how the main goal for this place to make all kids feel they are all on the same playing field. Whether their parents are rich or poor, white or Mexican. The Circus makes this program available to everyone from every background. It is definitely not a traditional circus school where you kids grow up to joining cirque du soleil. It is more of a place to bring the young minds of the community together and help build their confidence and push their limits.

The next fours days were spent in clinic seeing patients from all around the town. We had set up the clinic in entre amigos and we worked 10 hours everyday for 4 days in a make shift clinic where beach chairs were client chairs, fold up wood kids chairs were the clinician chairs and the “cart” for all our equipment was a storage box from the entre amigos community center gym. The whole clinic experience was challenging yet rewarding. We had to work with the resources available and the situation was not ideal. It was extremely hot and we had less than ideal ergonomics during the clinic hours. It was inspiring to see our team show up everyday ready to make a difference. Overall it was a great experience even with all the ups and downs throughout our day... happy and grateful clients at the end of the day made the whole experience worthwhile. It definitely inspired us to take more of an active part in community service and giving back to the people who need the dental care most. Leading up to the clinic we had the opportunity to go see kids at kindergarten schools and the casa clue to teach all the kids about prevention and dental care. Especially since they are the future. The kids were so eager to learn and happy to have us there. Can’t wait to go to more schools next week and do some more health promotion.

   The first few days in San Francisco were spend getting settled and climatizing to our new home for the next two weeks. We shopped, ate and lounged on the beach. We also went on a bird tour which was very interesting. The bird tour isn’t something I would normally signed up for, but I’m glad I got to go. A few of us went to yoga one morning, which I really enjoyed.

   Once we settled in, we went to a few schools and did presentations about the importance of oral hygiene to kids. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip! Teaching kids how to brush properly, helping them take better take of their teeth, and teaching them the importance of oral care. They were so cute and loving, it was hard to leave! After 5 or 6 days, we set up for clinic days. Our clinic days were long and very hot, but very rewarding!! My clients were so thankful and appreciative with the finished results, which made the long, hot days worth every minute!

    I had such a great time in San Francisco. I got to meet so many wonderful people. San Francisco, Mexico is truly an amazing place! I feel so grateful for this opportunity to help people in need of oral care. I am so happy for this opportunity, and I definitely want to go again next year.