Friday, April 17, 2009

Mi Brigada Favorita

The medical brigade that I have been waiting for nearly a year now has arrived! There's a group from New York University that came down here last year with about 30 dental students and faculty with a few community health/nurse people to tag along for research and record keeping purposes. This brigade is super well organized (at least compared to others) and has a great goal in mind. They are trying to target kids in first and second grade in order to save their permanent teeth that come in. Their vision is really to impact an entire generation of Hondurans and improve their oral health. They have people keeping track of how many children have cavities, decay, etc. on their teeth. They're training local teachers in the school system to apply fluoride to kids in kindergarten through 6th grade and promote tooth brushing, etc.
I got the privilege of being the token translator for them today and I will get another opportunity tomorrow and Sunday as well. Unfortunately I have to teach all of next week and will only get one chance to go to the brigade from Monday to Friday; so I have to take advantage of the opportunity now on the weekend.
In other words...no, I'm not going to become a dentist, a public health specialist person perhaps....or maybe an EMT....or maybe an interpreter...or maybe something different. I always thought when I was younger that by the time I was old and out of college I would have a permanent career path. Here I am two years out of college with very little clue still. I promise that by the time I retire I will have a concrete idea of where my life is headed.:)

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