Dental Missions Team
We returned late last night, and are regrouping today, processing a lot of what we saw and did.
The Ukrainian people were very stoic, kind of depressed, but maintaining a certain dignity and gratitude. Despite thousands of people on cots in a Polish convention center, trying to use communal bath rooms, showers and limited laundry facilities, they kept the place clean and were very well behaved.
We started a dental clinic from scratch inside an upgraded steel shipping container that had been converted with a couple windows and electricity. It was a pretty tight space, with no X-rays or modern dental equipment, but we made it fairly cozy. Because I had a well trained staff of 3 with me, they worked really hard and they got a pretty efficient system up and running. While we had some set backs due to the language barrier and relative chaos of a place like that, we probably treated around 20 people per day, with all kinds of issues, but mostly extracting painful, abscessed teeth.
Here’s a short story of one of the Ukrainian “guests” in the shelter, who ended up helping us a tremendous amount!
Alaina’s Story
As we began working in our dental trailer in Poland to treat Ukrainian refugees, language communication was a real problem, even with Google translator on our phones. Then Alaina showed up.
A 23 year old native of the Donbas region of east Ukraine, she has a degree in linguistics, speaking Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The complexities of her family’s plight came out over time. She came to the shelter with her fiancé’s grandmother. Her mother stayed in Donbas with her great grandmother, as she was unable to travel. Alaina’s dog had to stay with her mother, (though there are various pets in the shelter.) Her father remained in Kiev. Her younger brother is 16 , and pondering his next step.
Alaina has a fiancé in California with a green card. Her goal is to gain emigration to the US, though even with President Biden’s plan to bring 100,000 Ukrainians, it takes a long time. The fact that she speaks English is in her favor.
She tells us that her mother and great grandmother still have electricity in Donbas, but no hot water, and running water is limited to about 3 hours every 2 days, per a rationing announcement from the authorities. (And several areas have no running water.) They have also been told that all television and radio may be cut off soon.
She has a wonderfully gentle way with each patient, largely speaking Russian, explaining what we will do for them and gaining their consent. She kneels down to speak to children, in order to be a calming presence. We all wait to begin until Alaina gets the patient to say, “Da.” (“Yes”, in Russian.)
She shows up cheerfully each day, admittedly glad to have a purpose, as the boredom of the shelter would be terrible. She has earned the respect, and friendship, of our dental team. We’ve exchanged emails, as we are interested in keeping tabs on her journey. She is a remarkably resilient young woman.
(Her name has been changed for privacy in this story, and no photos were possible as she was a guest in the shelter.)
So in conclusion, I am very, very grateful for the generosity of the MACC church, you have helped in a very tangible, and meaningful way to lighten the burden of these people on their arduous journey.
Gratefully,
Jay McCarl, DDS and team