The Miracles of Rotary Change Lives, Including Mine

Then I see Jose. He is a three month old, badly clefted baby. His mother brought him from the poor farming community of San Quintin, 100 miles south of our clinic in Ensenada. My heart goes out to the deformed baby and his mom. Often in these communities, cleft babies are hidden away from the public eye; unable to eat properly, and they don’t thrive. Their parents think that somebody has put a curse on their family or that God is punishing them. Many times they don’t go to school. They are teased and treated badly by other children. They have all kinds of associated problems with hearing, breathing, speaking; their teeth are all a jumble in their mouths. They are literally outcasts in their community.

Jose was screened by the doctors on Friday, and had his first surgery on Saturday at the General Hospital. This will be just the first of many in his young life. We will continue to treat him until he is as normal as we can make him. He will get thousands of dollars of care from the best medical and dental staff for free.

I also saw Carlos that morning. He has returned to the clinic with his American adoptive parents many times. He too was a badly clefted baby. His parents are young missionaries who continue to work within the community. Carlos is one of the happiest kids I have ever met! He is a constantly smiling seven year old bundle of energy now, who unfortunately is also deaf. His mom has taught him sign language, and he’s on his way to normalcy.

The day progresses well with us treating over 100 patients with specialists from UCLA, USD, Rady’s Children’s Hospital; as well as a host of other universities and dental schools. There are Rotarians working together from 4 different Rotary districts to help these kids. I get to see my long time friends from Northern California, the LA area, and from Mexico—all united with one purpose -- to help these disfigured kids.

A group of retired Americans who live in Ensenada fix our volunteers a sumptuous lunch, while another group of Rotarians from San Bernardino fix the patients and their families lunch, downstairs in the clinic. On Saturday, the Rotarians from Ensenada grill delicious marinated tuna on the bbq for the volunteers.

We have teens from several Interact Clubs, as well as the kids whose parents are doctors and dentists at the clinic, who play with the children to keep them occupied during the 2-day long events…. They do crafts, play soccer, face painting, and finger nail polishing to keep busy bouncy little bodies and minds. These teens are the future generation of Thousand Smiles, and it makes me proud to see how dedicated they are already to our project.

On Saturday, the volunteers split into two groups. Early -- 7:00 am – the nurses and surgeons head out to the General Hospital to perform miracles for our kids like Jose, while the dentists and other volunteers continue to labor at the clinic with the more mundane chores.

I spend the day making sure that the dentists, orthodontists, pediatric people have the supplies that they need; that the children in the waiting area are being entertained; that the lunches get made and are served on time. I talk to first-time volunteers and visitors, explaining how what looks like chaos actually does work with one hundred people all moving rapidly in different directions to accomplish all that we do in only two days… I travel to the hospital to check on the lunches going on the patio; taking some forgotten supplies to the surgical team; showing some new volunteers what happens there…

In the afternoon, back at the clinic, there is still much to do…. I supervise clean up after lunches; check on supplies for the dental clinic; up and down those two flights of stairs so many times that my legs will hurt for days afterwards. There are new t-shirts to bag and inventory; nutrition and tooth brushing lessons for the patients and their families (with bags of tooth brushes, tooth paste and floss to hand out). On and on, all afternoon it continues.

Finally, late Saturday afternoon, the chartered buses come to pick up our volunteers who ride them from San Diego and back each clinic. I supervise the loading of them; ordering their pizza (very important!) for the ride home, thank them and see them off.

Friday lunch at TSF clinic

There are still a few patients left to see; the clinic will close about 5:30 that afternoon. I sit for a minute and talk to my friend Gloria, who I’ve only seen as a passing smile for these two days… One of the last patients comes down into the waiting area and sits next to me. She is about ten or eleven years old; another cleft palate kid—getting to be a very pretty young lady. She asks me how I am. I tell her that I am a very tired old lady… With a big, radiant smile on her face, she shows me her new braces! She is so excited to have them!  Her mother comes to get her to go home then. But first, she comes back to kiss me on the cheek and say thank you… I think to myself— so this is why I do this four times a year…

I continue to be amazed at how well Thousand Smiles has worked with so little monies spent. We exist solely on grants, donations and the trust that people will help each other…

TSF clinics are held every three months—always the first Friday and Saturday of February, May, August and November at our building in Ensenada. All of our staff is volunteer. Nobody is paid. Our surgeons, dentists, and medical staff come from many universities and hospitals such as UCLA, and Rady Children’s Hospital. Our lay volunteers come from Rotary and Interact Clubs in many districts across California, as well as from other countries. Additionally, every October and April, a group of Rotarians from Northern California, who have been trained by TSF staff, hold dental-only clinics for indigenous Baja residents.

Plans have begun on a new surgery center to be added to the TSF clinic building, with the help of donations and RI grants. The TSF goal is to have the new center in use by 2019.  There are also programs in the planning stages now for monthly dental-only clinics, with the help of the local volunteer Mexican dentists, to treat needy children, and children with disabilities.

TSF has also been invited to Honduras in 2015 to start a clinic there. We are in the planning stages now for that project, with the local Rotarians in San Pedro Azul, and the Naval Hospital.

If you would like to know more about Thousand Smiles Foundation, please visit www.thousandsmiles.org to learn more about the program. Volunteers, donations and grants are always needed to provide the high quality long-term care we are known for. Our donors and volunteers help the Foundation change young lives dramatically. Children who were literally unwanted outcasts in their communities are restored to normal, healthy individuals. Your participation can help bring happiness to a child. You will be repaid with the satisfaction of a thousand smiles…

Kim Muslusky, Secretary
Thousand Smiles Foundation
www.thousandsmiles.org
858-376-2400