June, 2010 Pilot Project

We trained 2 nurses from Kinigi Health Center and 2 nurses from Mayange Health Center.  The following are reports sent back by the team during the training.

Due to some health problems, Dr. Reckmeyer was unable to go this June but here is a report from Marcus Gottlieb (“Griss”), one of the volunteers who went:


6/5/10

Dick, just wanted to touch base and say hi from Kigali. All is well and the trip really has been great so far, although we were not able to get a hold of the ambassador for this evening. Kept calling but no response. But that does not detract from the great time that Larry and I are having so far. Cecile has been wonderful and a real pleasure. The memorial was fabulous and very moving, we went to the Village of Hope and had a great time, the kids were incredibly adorable and I wanted to take one home with me. We went to Heaven last night and met Josh Ruxin and his wife. He seems like a very intelligent person, it was great to meet him. We had a fine meal. And today we went to see mama and of course that is Arlene Brown. The facility is amazing but she is even more incredible. What unbelievable will and determination she has. She has big plans for Urukundu and of course the kids were beyond cute. The country is beautiful and we love being here so far, so I wanted to reassure you that all is well and thank you again for all your hard work in putting the trip together. This cannot be emphasized enough. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I guess we will be Skyping tomorrow night so talk to you then. Take good care of yourself, Griss

6/7/10

Skype call with Larry

Larry is sick today but Marcus, John, and Jean Claude did a great job of teaching. It took them most of the morning to set up clinic and they did a lot of didactic in the afternoon. Re: to John and Jean Claude, Larry said “we couldn’t do it without these guys.” The nurses are 3 men and 1 woman and none speak English and the Mayange nurses just showed up today – it’s a long trip for them.

6/9/10

Dick, greetings from Musanze. The teaching is going well, we have started to pull some teeth and I really enjoy the teaching. John and Jean Claude have been unbelievably helpful and we certainly could not do this without them. I hope you are feeling well and again Larry and I cannot thank you enough for all your hard work in putting this trip together. Take good care of yourself and I will stay in touch. Griss

6/10/10

From one of our Rwandan dental therapists:

Hello Dr Rick,

We enjoyed the training and we thank you for your courage and organization we found in you and the other American dream Team Dr Larry and Dr Marcus.

Keep in touch and Love from Rwanda.

Kind regards,

Jean Claude RUKUNDO

6/12/10

From one of our students:

I am very happy for the training. There is very very good

Sekomine Emmanuel

6/12/10

I talked to Larry via Skype. He and Marcus “love their students” who are Emmanuel (the administrator) and Innocent from Kinigi. Emmanuel is very definite and asks probing questions. Of the two students from Mayange, one is especially self-confident. Larry and Marcus have been invited to Jean Claude’s house sometime this week. Jean Claude has a lot of good ideas including using the radio media to get the word out on prevention. Larry asked my help in sending Jean Claude some resource information. The training is in both the dental department and the room we reserved. The method of sterilization is new to them and is done in the room we reserved. John worked all day, skipped lunch, to help triage, etc. showing the spirit of teamwork. They met the new Peace Corps volunteer working with Bertin. Everyone has been great – Bertin, John, John Claude, Cecile, etc.

Today was the trekking day - he said the “gorillas are cool – way cool” and that it was an easy hike. They saw the biggest silverback and the family had a 2 week old baby

6/15/10

From Larry:

Hi Dick and Jan:

I feel remiss about not being able to contact you sooner and more often. I think I finally solved the communication problem by purchasing a Rwandtel modem and some air time. I am therefore limited in the amount of data that I can send. I want to send you my daily diary but that would not be possible due to limitations of the modem.

Good news. Marcus and I are very happy with the students. Today I think they turned the corner and finally had the opportunity they needed to show us how well they can do. Emmanuel, Gaspard and Innocent are doing very well with extractions. Solange lacks confidence but today she actually extracted #4 and #15. That had to be a confidence builder for her and I think she will be OK. Worst case is that she has all of the knowledge and information with less manual skills and she can still reach and impact her community. They all have lots of great questions and we had 2 excellent discussions today about diagnosis, pathology and general dental questions.

Marcus and I want to commend you on everything that you have done to establish the program for RRD and for Rwanda. We are impressed with how well it was researched, the contacts that you made and the impression that you have left on the people that you worked with. Very impressive and a big thank you from us and from the people. The people are amazing. We could not ask for better. They are very nice and polite, respectful and curious. As patients they are truly stoic.

I have to leave now to go to Claude's home for dinner and to meet his friends.

Larry

6/17/10

From Larry:

We are happy to report that the students are exceeding our expectations and we are very happy with them. Today for example, we did several difficult molar extractions, discussed primary teeth, their eruption schedule, ectopic eruption, periodontitis, plaque, what a root canal treatment is, how to diagnose treatment for tramatized teeth, scaling and scaling instruments, plaque and calculus, etc. They are smart, motivated and learn fast with lots of great questions.

Everyone want to expand the program so we will come up with ideas for the future. Start thinking about fund raising as much money as possible for public radio broadcasts and the expense of sending dentists to Rwanda. We will be happy to brainstorm later.

Leaving for Akagera tomorrow.

6/17/10

From Marcus:

Dick, just wanted to drop you a line and let you know what a wonderful experience this has been for us so far. You really did an amazing job putting this together and the trip really has exceeded our expectations. One of the students even wrote us a nice email thanking us for training him. The students are great, eager and anxious to learn and I sincerely think all of them could go back to their communities and help their fellow Rwandans if they so desire. Jean Claude and John have been great, they really want the program to succeed and they have been indispensable to the success of Rural Rwanda Dental. We went to Claudes house the other night, met his family and some of his friends and his warmth and kindness was overwhelming. They also are wonderful dental techs, I have learned some techniques in removing roots after teeth crack, they are very very good. The people here have been wonderful, the Dancing Pots experience was unbelievable, almost brought tears to our eyes. The trekking was amazing. So my sincerest thanks for your hard work in making this such a memorable experience. I hope you are feeling well and Larry and I cannot thank you enough. Send our love to Jan, take care, Griss

6/22/10

From Marcus

Last week of class and everything has been great up to now. We cannot thank you enough for the incredible job you did in putting the trip together. We met Jean Paul from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary project and he sends his greetings to you. We want to try and take Claude and John out to dinner with their wives sometime this week, they have been invaluable to us, and on Friday we will take the students out to lunch and give them their certificates. They have done very well, they are learning a lot and I feel that they will be able to carry on after we are gone. It will be important however, to make sure they have enough essential supplies which they cannot get here, such as anesthetic, needles, so they can continue to treat their people. We will be going one day to a couple of schools in the Kinigi area so we can show the students how to educate the young kids in oral hygiene prevention. I do not think we will hook up with Julie Ghrist, Claude is trying to get in touch with her. We will see. But it has been a tremendous experience for us, the people are warm, kind, respectful, appreciative, and a pleasure to be with. We hope you are well and taking good care of yourself, say hi to Jan, and again we really cannot thank you enough. Griss

6/26/10

From Marcus

Dick, at Kigali Airport, has been very memorable to say the least. It was wonderful, Griss