Our first day was trying but fun! You have to remember we are running off generators and extension cords with very little water. Getting dental units and hand pieces up and running in these conditions is a challenge to say the least.

We managed though to run three dental chairs with me doing dentistry and training the young dental students. I actually worked as a dental assistant some yesterday, and I had to think that my team would have gotten a big laugh . Been a few years since I did that! The goal is, if I can teach more, than these dentists will be better able and prepared to provide care to the Hondurans after we are gone.

We worked straight through lunch (just like at home!) Opened the clinic at 8:30 and shut down at 4:30. It takes an hour to drive there. Last night we broke down all the dental units and packed them up as we head to the remote villages today. This should be interesting. The illiteracy rate is about 85% up there and the poverty quite severe.

While we have very little down time, our hotel and our host, Don Udo, are both quite nice, charming and comfortable. Our group is fantastic, and we are having a great time. I will try to blog more tomorrow and tell you about what we encounter in the mountains. In the meantime, I have learned one thing - do NOT eat stone ground tortillas they wear your teeth out VERY fast!!

Talk with you soon!

Dr. Powell