Making a Difference - Henderson, NV
Making A
Change
Want to change the world for the better, but don’t know where to get started? Neither did we.
Ever since Dr. Noorda first became a dentist, he has donated his and his team’s time, expertise, and supplies to helping hundreds of people in our community get dental care that they otherwise wouldn’t receive. Last year the giving back reached new levels when he expanded his service efforts to Africa. Dr. Noorda and his wife Valerie traveled to Kenya with 100 Humanitarians to not only do service, but also to help them scout locations, meet local contacts, and more in an effort to bring dental education and urgent care to several villages.
Some of the stops during the week were to different villages where we evaluated buildings that 100 Humanitarians is hoping to use for temporary dental clinics to see what is available/needed (ie electricity, generators, water access, space for treatment chairs, safe storage for supplies, etc). One site we went to make contacts was a privately run clinic in the middle of what seemed like nowhere called the Maasai Dental Clinic, and Dr. Noorda just had to stay and work the rest of the day because the need was so great.
We toured locations run by 100 Humanitarians’ where they have hired and trained locals to maintain and grow their resources: garden fabric to sew into tubes that will become garden towers, gardens maintained to provide seedlings or seeds for the garden towers they help build in villages, animals that are kept for the purpose of giving them to families who earn them through their successful efforts with the gardens (they can earn chickens first, then goats, then cows as they grow in their abilities to be successful caretakers), water collection tanks, beehives, trees, bore holes and a cystern for clean water (water is a whole story in itself), and so on.
Some of the stops during the week were to different villages where we evaluated buildings that 100 Humanitarians is hoping to use for temporary dental clinics to see what is available/needed (ie electricity, generators, water access, space for treatment chairs, safe storage for supplies, etc). One site we went to make contacts was a privately run clinic in the middle of what seemed like nowhere called the Maasai Dental Clinic, and Dr. Noorda just had to stay and work the rest of the day because the need was so great.
We toured locations run by 100 Humanitarians’ where they have hired and trained locals to maintain and grow their resources: garden fabric to sew into tubes that will become garden towers, gardens maintained to provide seedlings or seeds for the garden towers they help build in villages, animals that are kept for the purpose of giving them to families who earn them through their successful efforts with the gardens (they can earn chickens first, then goats, then cows as they grow in their abilities to be successful caretakers), water collection tanks, beehives, trees, bore holes and a cystern for clean water (water is a whole story in itself), and so on.
If you’d like to make a difference, please consider making a donation. We sincerely thank you because every every little bit makes a difference.
Our Specific Dental Needs for Kenya:
- gauze
- anesthetics
- syringes
- portable dental units
- general dental tools
- toothbrushes & toothpastes & floss
- dental care charts
- and more
100 Humanitarians fundraises for:
- school funds to pay for children and teens to go to school
- dental equipment to keep in Kenya
- water collection barrels
- foot-pedal sewing machines
- sewing thread and needles
- bore-hole drilling for clean water access
- and more
We have learned that when you look for service opportunities, they find you. We met a representative of 100 Humanitarians at a Dental Conference in August, and by a miracle or two, we were in Kenya in October. We knew we wanted to make a positive impact someday, and here was a solid way to start. If you had asked us in July if we had big plans for the fall, we would have answered no. (We’re still amazed about it). As a result of our efforts, many lives have been made better—ours included.