First Clinic Day

The first day we treated patients, we went to the local hospital's dental clinic. The clinic had two dental chairs. We were supposed to do fillings and show the Haitian dentists how to use the different filling materials. We thought the local dentists were going to bring their own patients; it didn't turn out as we had hoped. It was poorly organized and the Haitian dentists were the ones showing us how to do fillings. Apparently, there were some miscommunications. After the day was done, we were sitting in the hallway and one of the ladies from the clinic was sweeping up the medical waste that had ended up on the floor. She swept it out the door and we all thought that she was going to put it in the garbage can. When we walked out, she had just swept it into the grass, next to the garbage can. Anna, the resident who came with us, put on some gloves and put the trash inside the trash can. The streets of Haiti were full of trash. There was maybe one garbage can in the whole city. There is no trash removal service or sewage system. After the first day we weren't sure what the rest of the trip would hold, but we were pleasantly surprised.