A First Time For Everything

[Dr. Keith, the kiddos and Auntie Brenda. Thank you Brenda for cleaning teeth for 4 hours today!]

Today was a day of firsts.

My first time to take a child to the dentist. Oh wait, I took 9 children to the dentist. I somehow kept 9 children occupied for over 4 hours in a Liberian hospital. Watched 7 children get their teeth cleaned [more like sandblasted]. Told 7 children "it can't hurt you" and "it's alright" too many times to count. Held a hand of a child while he had a rotten tooth pulled. Held the hand of another child who was totally and completely freaked out by the suction thing.

A good day of firsts for me.

Today was also a day of firsts for 9 children from Childcare Foundation. The children came to Trinity Dental Clinic [thank you for offering your services to our kids for free!] today for a dental exam and a teeth cleaning. For most of the children, it was their first trip through Red Light [which is 5 minutes from their orphanage home]. It was their first trip to the junction, their first time seeing SKD Stadium. For sure, their first time in a dental clinic. FYI: there are only 4 dentists in Liberia.

About half way through our 4 hours, I took the children who were patiently waiting their turn outside for a walk. They could see the sea. I asked if they had been to the beach before and they all said no. I decided right then that as soon as we left the clinic, we were going straight to the beach!

We packed 9 kids, 1 caretaker, myself and the driver into a 5 seater taxi and went the extra block to the beach. The kids went crazy! We unloaded and snapped a photo. Then I told the kids that they couldn't come to the beach without getting their toes wet. I started taking off shoes and socks and we walked down to the water. They were all scared...most more scared of the water than the dentist. By the end of our 45 minutes or so, all of the children had stripped down and were rolling around in the water. It was absolutely priceless to see them all get so excited and have such a blast! I didn't want to make them get back in the car. I told the kids that they needed to go back to the orphanage and tell the rest of the kids that the dentist was scary and that they didn't have any fun today, haha. Too bad they were all going home soaking wet and covered in sand. Oh well! Here are a few pics: [I'll post a few more tomorrow when I'm not so sleepy]

[Brenda cleaning Varbah's teeth]

[Sarah couldn't believe her eyes...the ocean!]

[Sarah 10 minutes later. Loving every second of the ocean!]