Global Brigades – Nicaragua - 2015

Annie Fagerlee

One part of our medical brigade was a dentistry station that was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Although the dentists we worked with were very talented we had limited resources to work with and were in an unusual setting for dentistry. We had one larger chair and one plastic lawn chair for the patients to sit in and all of the dentist’s utensils, which can be intimidating, were in clear sight. Our job was to prep the trays for each new patient and assist the dentist with whatever they needed during the procedure. This required us to pay constant attention to what they were doing and use our intuition to help them as quickly and smoothly as possible as there were large numbers of patients to attend to. We also had to find ways to communicate with the dentists and understand what they needed us to do because neither of them spoke English. I learned a lot about patient care and how to interact with patients by watching the dentists work with patients of all different ages. Something that stood out to me was how the dentists would hide the needles and tools from the younger kids to reduce their fears. One experience that was particularly memorable for me was when a mom came in with her son and her baby daughter. The son had just gotten dental work done and was still somewhat traumatized and it was the mom’s turn to get treatment. It was obvious that she was really nervous as she approached me and handed me her baby. Both of her children were crying at first and even though we didn’t speak the same language, I was able to not only calm them down but get them laughing and smiling by the time that their mom was done. She was very appreciative and it meant a lot to me that she trusted me, a perfect stranger, to watch and care for her children.

One of my favorite parts of the medical brigade was doing “charlas” with the kids in the community where we gave them floss, toothbrushes, and toothpaste and then taught them how to use it all. Most of these kids had never had a toothbrush or brushed their teeth before which was almost hard to comprehend because that seems unfathomable in the United States. All of kids were so excited to brush their teeth and we taught them a catchy song about how to do it. It was amazing to see how much less of a problem the language barrier was with the kids compared to the adults. Along with helping the kids floss and brush their teeth, we also gave them fluoride treatments to help protect their teeth. Some of the kids were nervous and unsure about the fluoride trays so I had to try to explain it to them and comfort them without being able to use words. Afterwards, the children were very proud and protective of their toothbrushes which was very interesting to watch because it is highly unlikely that you’d ever see anything like that in the US where it seems that most kids consider brushing their teeth to be a burden.

During the public health brigade one of the things we did was lay concrete flooring in people’s houses. Most families live in homes with dirt flooring, which exposes them to parasites and other potential illnesses and can cause respiratory issues. The concrete floors eliminate the dust and lower the possibility of contamination caused by something in the dirt. In order to lay the concrete, we had to mix the concrete which was a very physically tolling process especially out in the hot sun. Once the concrete was mixed we worked with a native mason to create the floors. This was challenging at first because of the language barrier but as the day went on it became easier and easier to communicate and to understand what he needed us to do. Throughout the process of pouring and spreading the concrete, the owner of the home stood and watched us the entire time. Her pride for her home was evident and it was clear that she loved her kitchen and was very excited for it to have new flooring. Once we had finished the kitchen floor, she surprised us by bringing out pieces of tile that she had been saving up to put in the floor. Witnessing her excitement about having a kitchen floor, something that we all take for granted in our daily lives, was a life changing experience for me. Not only did it show me how fortunate I am and how I need to appreciate all of the little things in life that I take for granted, but it also made me realize how passionate I am about helping other people and how I want to continue doing work like this in the future.

The other aspect of the public health brigade was building families latrines that had a shower, a toilet, and a washing station. Many families go to the bathroom outdoors and have to shower outside exposed with is both

unsanitary and at times embarrassing. This was a physically demanding process but since there was a large group of people all working on it, it was a good opportunity to get to know the other members of the group and

the people from the community who were working with us. Although everyone on the brigade also goes to DePaul, there was only one person I knew before the trip so this was a nice time to have conversations with

everyone and learn more about him or her. I also got the chance to talk with Aurora, a high school student from Nicaragua who was volunteering with us as part of her English program. She explained to me what it was like to

grow up in Nicaragua and what her schooling experience was like. It was very interesting to compare the differences between her experiences and mine but I was also somewhat surprised to learn that there were a lot

of things we have in common as well. Even though she may not have as many opportunities as I’ve had in the United States, Aurora’s passion for learning and pursuing an education was truly inspirational and has helped

me to be more appreciative of getting to go to school at DePaul.