Ensenada Dental Clinic

by Austin Wall

Dr. Tozzer and I, along with Dr. Dave Levitt and his wife, and Drs. Stephanie and Peter Dolas drove down to Maneadero to the orphanage on Friday to finish up cases that were started several weeks before at our February clinic. We were helped out  by Dave Cerrie, Dave Wills, Cindy Levitt and John Carlson. We spent about six hours at the orphanage including set up and take down and provided a great deal of dentistry in that period. Ray Sanford and Barbara Foster from the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club came by about halfway through to cheer us on. We then stopped at the (justifiably) famous "Tacos el Poblano" taco stand for a late dinner, then back to the hotel and some sleep.

Up early, we headed for the school selected for us by the Rotary Club of Ensenada Calafia where we set up the clinic in the classrooms. The roof project for the school's new library was already underway. We were joined there by Rotarians Barbara Foster, Ray Sanford, Bob Yaap, Kummar, Marla Noel and Rick Topping, along with Bharati Kummar and Marla’s friend, Joe. 

Everyone pitched in and helped where they could and things went pretty smoothly except for a couple of the younger kids (ages 3 and 4) who made things tough for some of us. Joining us in the clinic were Tristan and Megan Galloway (USC Dental and PA student at Loma Linda) who worked together well and helped carry the load along with Fabiola, a dentist from the local Ensenada club. 

Ofelia and several other members of the Ensenada club helped with translation and keeping the kids (and parents) under control. Take down went very smoothly with everyone pitching in, making it as easy as it gets. We then went to dinner at a very nice seafood restaurant named Haliotsis where everyone seemed to have a good time. We were joined there by past RI Director Paco Creo and his wife Lupita who is a PDG, a real Rotary family.

The border crossings went smoothly both ways as the Mexican customs people liked our paperwork.

Dr. Tozzer and I thank everyone who participated in the clinic and hope it was a satisfying experience for all and hope to have more participation next time, later this year.