Dennis Mihalka D.D.S. - Life Smile

World Service

Each of us is blessed with talents and capability to serve others...those in great need. The following is a brief description of activities in which we have had the opportunity to participate.

Typically, one would think that a dentist providing world service would travel to a 3rd world country to extract and fill teeth. Such was the case when a patient, who is the director of a missionary hospital in Gabon, Africa, asked me if I would consider providing such services for two weeks in Bongolo, Gabon.

After consideration of the limited value of extracting teeth we came to the conclusion that we could create much more value and impact if we met these needs through a more comprehensive approach.

Such is the case with three projects in Africa completed to date:

• Equipping a new dental clinic in Gabon.
• Development of infrastructure to enable an orphanage in Swaziland to become self-sufficient in growing food and marketing their abundance.
• Fully equipping an AIDS Clinic in Gabon.

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GABON, AFRICA

In 2001, working with Rotary International and five local Redding Rotary Clubs, a Rotary International Humanitarian Matching Grant application was approved for fully equipping a three operatory dental clinic at the Bongolo Evangelical Hospital in Gabon, Africa.

Prior to equipping this clinic, Dr. Jeff Amstutz from Ohio was teaching three Gabonese nurses to become dentists. They were in need of a clinic for training and providing care for many patients. This project created the most modern clinic in Africa and helped these three students become dentists. Two continue to serve in Bongolo while one of the dentists moved on to serve in another area of Africa. This clinic continues to meet the needs of many folks who otherwise would have no care at all.

SWAZILAND, AFRICA

AIDS in Swaziland has impacted a higher percentage of its population than anywhere in the world, leaving behind thousands of orphans each year who must learn, as little children, how to fend for themselves. An orphanage in Swaziland was established by African Leadership Partners founders Peter and Mary Jean Kopp to make a difference in this horrific situation. The orphanage consists of individual houses providing a family atmosphere of ten orphans living under the loving guidance of a house mother. The orphanage’s goal is to educate each child and also to help them to work together to become self sufficient.

Through Redding East Rotary Club and Rotary International, a Humanitarian Matching Grant was approved to provide the very important infrastructure that has enabled this orphanage to develop water sources (drilled wells), build fences and coops for raising broiler chicken and fresh eggs, raise pigs and livestock for food and grow fresh vegetables for the consumption of the orphans and sell excess to local markets. Their eggs and broiler chickens are in great demand. This orphanage has been recognized by the government of Swaziland and the UN as a model orphanage that needs to be duplicated to serve the needs of so many orphans in their country.

GABON, AFRICA

2008 was spent writing and obtaining a Humanitarian Matching Grant from Rotary International to totally equip an AIDS Clinic at the Bongolo Evangelical Hospital in Gabon, Africa.

HIV AIDS hugely impacts families. When parents die, their children are left behind without any care. This clinic, a project of the Redding East Rotary Club, has resulted in a $75,000 grant to provide expensive testing equipment, medications, all clinical furniture and supporting equipment, including the latest computer technology, to enable the clinic to sustain the function of families afflicted by HIV AIDS and care for the otherwise helpless children.

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It was once said... "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. The decision to dedicate time in pursuing these worthwhile projects fit this old adage well. "

Through the our efforts and the great support of local Rotary Clubs and the International Rotary Foundation, many children in Africa are being cared for by local dentists trained in a modern dental facility.Orphaned and abandoned children in Swaziland are growing healthy and learning the farm industry to provide food for others. The extended lives of many afflicted by HIV AIDS enables them to provide continued care for their children.

We have been given the opportunity, with much work, to multiply local funds through matching grants to do more than extract and fill teeth...we are honored to have a part in serving many in Africa in conjunction with the great work of Rotary International.

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