Midwestern University had a very busy day in the clinic. They took impressions for 9 dentures and 26 partials, did around 25 root canals and saw at least 30 patients for restorative dentistry. They said it was the busiest day they have ever had, and they’ve been coming to Tonga for 7 years (two weeks each November and one week in May).
We started at 7:30 a.m. and finished about 5:30 p.m., with a staggered lunch break. Semise, our lab tech, took the day off from his regular job at the hospital and stayed all day at the clinic, trouble-shooting problems.
We never got the vacuum working in the main clinic, so we used his 1400 watt vacuum cleaner from his house in the morning, until it overheated, and then somebody zipped into town and bought a more powerful vacuum cleaner that we used in the afternoon. Actually, it worked quite nicely, It turns out that shop vacs don’t exist in Tonga.
In the evening, we had a Tongan Feast, that Penni Tonga and his family hosted.
One uninvited guest dropped in for dinner.
They put on a terriffic show after dinner, with music, and dancing. They are all VERY talented. Their nephew demonstrated climbing a coconut tree (about 30 feet up), and Midwestern presented their daughter Dorothy with a Samsung tablet. She was so happy – she said she never dreamed that in her life she would ever have such a thing. She just graduated from Liahona High School (184 graduates) as valedictorian in her class. She wants to be a dentist – and I talked to her about working in the clinic until she receives her mission call. I think there’s a good chance that Midwestern will make it possible for her to receive her dental education.
We’ve really never had a day like this. Being able to help dozens of patients in one day was an incredible experience. When Midwestern leaves, we’ll be back to seeing patients in a linear fashion – and will only be able to help a fraction of the people who need it, but the faculty kept reminding us that something is better than nothing. I guess one or two people can make a difference……. But it sure was nice to see all seven chairs in the clinic full of patients for ten hours straight! We can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!
Phil and Jan's Adventure in Tonga 