Written by President, Ate Te Candano and Core Team Leader Kuya Richard Yatar
Another session of dental mission was held last May 14, 2016 in International Teams Tender Ministry in National Road, Alabang, Muntinlupa. It was attended by 30 children age ranging from 7-14 years old. Of course, the event would be possible without our good-hearted volunteer dentists. Field clinics were set up in the center’s small yet clean rooms on the second floor to attend to the children’s dental needs.
But how about children’s perception to dentists? We all know that they always have a fear of dentists. Aside from the smooth and friendly approach of our volunteer dentists, we also have our Ates and Kuyas from Adventist University of the Philippines located in Cavite to divert the attention of the kids while waiting. The group of volunteers were headed by Ate Sophia who brought along her friends from the same school. Core members of U! Happy filled the waiting time with happiness and laughter. The group was divided into 5 teams with Ates and Kuyas leading each team. We played Pass the Items and How Far Can You Go. In Pass The Items, we had 2 random items being passed within the group. When the music stops and the item is with still with you, you have to do the shapes that the host tells you to do. We had 4 shapes for them to do: cross, heart, bible and smile. Since the groups were getting good as the game was progressing, we had a little twist in the end where aside from the shape they had to do, they had to do another action. So we had a dancing heart and jumping smile in one round. Everyone had fun playing the game and momentarily forgot their anxieties while waiting for their turn with the dentists.
Apart from the games that kept everyone entertained, one of the kids from IT Tender, Jericho, also serenaded the crowd with the songs Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka and Flashlight. In the song Flashlight, an Ate even accompanied him for an impromptu duet. He was truly talented as he sang in acapella. We were told by the social worker in IT Tender that they were really cultivating the talent of Jericho so that he can share his talent to everyone. Great job to Jericho and we can’t wait to hear him sing for us again on our next visit.
As the afternoon was winding down, we found out that majority of children have never seen a dentist before and there were amounts of untreated cavities. The treatment provided involved checkups and dental extractions. Some were crying back to their parents but most were strong enough to continue playing after the extraction, as if nothing ever happened! Others had an easier time as after their dental check up, they were in their usual self as they were lucky to have healthy teeth!
We hope this mission helped them to be free from their toothaches. We will surely visit them again for another happy event.
