“The Dr. Dave Dickerson Family and Friends: 50th Wedding
Anniversary and Service
Elder Darrel L. Hammon
Room is full |
Dr. and Sister Dickerson; Sister and Elder Snow |
Then take the Dr. David Dickerson family and some of their friends.
They decided to do something special for their parents. They planned a
humanitarian dental visit to Consuelo, Dominica Republic, a small
community about 1.5 hours from Santo Domingo. The community is poor; the sugar
cane industry has almost died; and jobs are hard to come by. Going to the
dentist is not the normal every-six-month routine that many of us are
accustomed to. In fact, going to the dentist is a privilege, and not many have
the opportunity because they don’t have money.
The person who had to give the shot....Sister Rogers |
The Dickersons came with their 40-strong group, set up at the Catholic
health clinic, which is next door to Consuelo’s Catholic Church, and began
seeing patients. They started on Monday morning and did examinations,
education, oral surgery, and fillings for three days. They had to take a break
on Thursday because of the Corpus Cristi holiday, and then back to work on
Friday morning. Literally hundreds of people showed up to see Dr. Dickerson and
his friends. Most of them were in line way before the Dickerson group ever
pulled up in their guagua (bus) and
parked behind the clinic.
Ana Maria, her grandmother, and Mother (Maribel). Ana Maria helped Dr. Dickerson, and now she wants to become a dentist. |
We went out on Wednesday morning because I had visited several times
with Dr. Dickerson over the past several months. I wanted to see their
wonderful work. Plus, we helped provide rides for several people from
Quisqueya, a small community about 20 minutes away, who also needed dental work
done.
Dr. Dickerson, his daughter, and I talking to a patient. |
Dr. Dickerson involved me immediately by asking me to help translate during
his examinations, which I did for a couple of hours. Each person came and sat down in the chair. We
asked them a series of health questions, and then Dr. Dickerson looked into
their mouths, checked their teeth, made a diagnosis while one of his daughters
wrote all of the information on pre-printed slip, and then gave the slip of
paper to a “runner,” usually one of the grandchildren, who took the person to
the appropriate station to have their teeth fixed.
Very few had perfect teeth. The majority of the patients needed some
sort of care—a filling or two, a tooth or two pulled, and education on how to
clean their teeth. Dr. Dickerson’s granddaughters taught the participants how
to brush their teeth and then gave each one a dental kit, filled with a
toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and other dental accoutrements.
Using dinosaurs to teach about cleaning teeth |
While this was all going on, the Dickerson’s grandchildren and the
children of some of the other dentists were outside, keeping the children busy.
They were painting fingernails, playing baseball, chatting with their new
Dominican friends, painting pictures, etc. These young people were having a
time of their lives and experiencing things they had never experienced before.
And now, they have made friends for life.
The Dickerson grandson who had served a mission in the DR |
Sister Hammon and I doff our hats to the Dickerson Family and their
friends who spent a week doing a wonderful service to the people of Consuelo
and surrounding areas. Thank you for being the kind of people you are and have
been throughout your entire lives. You are the epitome of the wise words of
King Benjamin in his speech to his people in the Book of Mormon: “…that when ye
are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God”
(Mosiah 3:17).
1 comment:
This is a great write-up on some great people. I echo your comments after seeing their first day at work. Thanks for sharing!
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