Dental team putting a smile back on Haiti's children

For the last nine months many organizations have travelled to Haiti to try to do just that … to try to move the mountains of devastation and rubble caused by the earthquake last January and clear the way for the Haitian people to begin to live life with a semblance of normalcy.

While life in Haiti was never easy by any standard, life in the aftermath of the earthquake is impossible to describe.

There has been so much damage throughout the country that envisioning a repair seems next to impossible, and what help one offers seems so small compared to what needs to be done.

It can be discouraging to those going to affect change — and it seems comparable to trying to move a mountain of sand with a teaspoon.

Efforts seem so inadequate, but one must remember that it is not the small act alone that brings the encouragement, but the compilation of small acts — and the perseverance of volunteers — that leads to definite change.

It is encouraging for the Haitian people to see that planes are still arriving in Port-au-Prince full of people, many of them volunteers from faith-based organizations and churches, who are coming to conduct relief work in the downtrodden country. 

Among these volunteers are numerous medical workers, and surprisingly, Haiti now has more medical clinics to care for their people than before the earthquake.

One of the greatest challenges in missions when responding to a catastrophe such as the Haitian earthquake is trying to bring about a balance between reactive and proactive programmes.

Reactive programmes are established to meet immediate needs and are absolutely necessary and inevitable. They deal with emergency cases and critical programmes that need to be implemented to accomplish a short-term goal.

Proactive programmes, however, are necessary to deal with various areas that will prevent other programmes from reoccurring.

Proactive or preventive programmes are implemented to accomplish a long-term goal. Cornerstone Foundation has been involved in both.

When we first started our relief trips to Haiti, we helped with feeding programmes, and brought in construction teams, emergency medical clinics, and supplies.

We tried to help supply the bare necessities. We are so thankful and proud of the Bermudian people who have come forward to make a difference in the lives of their fellow man who are experiencing such trauma as a result of the natural disaster.

We are fully convinced that without the partnership of various churches and businesses our mission would not have been as successful.

They have put their compassion into action for their Haitian brothers and sisters through prayers and contributions that allowed us to respond to the disaster by providing emergency provisions.

As time went on we realized some of the other needs that existed below the surface.

One of the greatest needs that had to be addressed was dental work for the children. Usually, children and teenagers just lose their teeth in time without proper dental care; however, with prevention and dental education teeth can be saved and unnecessary health issues can be avoided.

We are particularly grateful for “Smiles by Landy”, a team led by dentist Dr. Jewel Landy and her two dental assistants, Rubens Philippe and Donreith Dunigen, who have come forward to establish a proactive dental programme in Port-au Prince.

When Dr. Landy and her team arrived, they went straight to work. “I am here in Haiti to serve,” said Dr. Landy, “and my team and I are ready to work” were some of the first words she shared with me about the mission.

While there they did just that. Making the most of every day from 8am to after 7pm they examined hundreds of children and filled countless cavities.

They conducted an average of four fillings per child and as a result saved the teeth and improved the health of many youngsters.

Dr. Landy and her team used their hearts to extend their hands to touch the hearts and lives of others and those actions had a life-changing effect on her patients and their families.

The next time you consider what you can do to help someone, remember that it begins in small and very practical ways.

Just look around you and you will begin to see needs that have to be met in the lives of others. It could be a neighbour who is struggling on your street, a youth who needs your mentorship to prevent him from dropping out of school or being involved in a gang, or perhaps even travelling to and volunteering in a country like Haiti.

Whatever your desire, seek to put your compassion into action and make a difference starting with our own island, and then allow it to spread around the world.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35.

To learn more about putting your compassion into action in Haiti, Bermuda, or around the world through Cornerstone Foundation visit www.cfbermuda.org.