Patrick, Dr. Garland, Vanessa his dental assitant, Oxsana (a Moldova dentist) and I were at Straseni ("Strah-SHEEN") orphanage in the countryside screening and working with children. The room I was in had only one overhead light working and an old dental chair whose suction didn't work. We made do with what we had and practiced what we call "guerilla dentistry" - having the children spit in a bowl instead of sucking out saliva, using the instruments we had efficiently and fashioning the items we needed. I was able to do a couple of fillings and a lot of sealants for the kids who are so sweet! Even when they're scared you can tell that they are grateful to receive treatment.
After helping at the orphanage all afternoon, we loaded up in the van to run home and get ready for dinner with the US Ambassador at his residence. We only had about 30 minutes to grab a quick shower, but Brittany and I found out that our hot water wasn't working! Again, when in Moldova you have to make do, so we cleaned up as well as we could and made it out the door. Unfortunately when we arrived we found out Ambassador Chaudri had the flu so he was unable to make it, but we enjoyed his delicious dinner anyway.
After the dinner, most of the team went out on the town to celebrate Dr. Mango's 40th birthday! What a great end to a good day in the field.
Wednesday
Today the entire team was at Straseni (after a quick trip through the "McDrive" at McDonald's for some coffee). The Moldovan media came and interviewed Dr. Horowitz, Col. Mix and the director of Straseni orphanage while filming us working with the children so I hope that this generates some public intrest in our cause. We practiced more Guerilla Dentistry today, but more supplies came so it made the task easier. After another long, but great day in the field we headed back to our apartment. On our way, we stopped by the grocery store and Patrick, Dr. Mango and I managed to successfully exchange money and buy dinner without a translator! Security continued to follow us up and down the aisles and we garnered more than a few staring eyes, but we made it.
Tomorrow: Ministry of Health (which in my head I keep referring to it as the "Ministry of Magic"...) and then on to Straseni and Dr. Uncuta's office to continue on our mission.
Elise working at Straseni
Brittany, Patrick and Elise in front of the US Ambassador's residence before dinner
Elise, Caroline, Brittany, Diana and VanessaThe girls at club Deja Vu celebrating Dr. Mike Mango's 40th birthday!
Patrick working at Straseni in the newly donated dental chair
Dr. Mike Mango donating a laptop to the orphanage to start keeping electronic patient records
Vanessa and Elise working at Straseni
Playing with the orphans at Straseni
Dinner of fresh bread, apples, cheese, salami, turkey and pickles at the apartment
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