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VIETNAM 2012 - Another unforgettable dental operation for DDS4Kids team! We came from Ottawa, New York, Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vietnam, together we rolled our sleeve up and served hundreds of elementary school children each day. We set up ... (0 photos)

 

VIETNAM 2011 - We came from Ottawa - Canada, North Carolina and Tennessee - USA, London - England, Cologne - Germany, Tel Aviv - Israel, and Saigon - Vietnam to join hand providing free dental care and dental education for children and families living in deep pover... (20 photos)

 

Vietnam 2010 - It was another successful dental operation for our team. We are dentists, dental students, and non-dental volunteers from the US, UK, Italy, Canada, Australia, and Vietnam. We worked side by side with the local Red Cross staff treating 200-300 chil... (20 photos)

 

Vietnam 2009 - Beyond Dental Relief - Every year when our team traveled into remote villages, we met children with different health issues who desperately need help. DDS4Kids provides financial and emotional assistance to the families so the children can get needed surgical treatment in... (4 photos)

 

Vietnam 2009 - Dental Education Program - Five year dental program given to some of the poorest elementary schools in the Mekong Delta where thousands of village children receive year round dental health education with gift of toothbrushes and school supplies. (6 photos)

 

VIETNAM 2009 - DENTAL RELIEF OPERATION - We do the same every year when we traveled to VN, in every village we reached, every child we treated, it is the same work, day after day, and year after year, yet every mission trip is filled with excitement and joy. Every year, we try to reach the... (12 photos)

 

VIETNAM 2008 - DENTAL RELIEF OPERATION - An incredible trip with 7 volunteers from the US and 1 from the UK and 4 from Saigon. We traveled on bumpy dirt roads, took long boat rides to reach very remote villages to set up our dental clinics. The first week our team were in Tien Giang provin... (15 photos)

 

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DDS4KIDS
Humanitarian Dental Relief Organization

DDS4Kids is a federal and state licensed non-profit health organization with the exclusive purpose to provide charitable dental care treatment and preventive dental health education on a long-term basis to children and adults living in deep poverty in the developing countries in the world. Dentists, health professionals, and non-health volunteers are needed on each team. While sharing our skills and resources with the underserved rural populations, team members will have an opportunity to experience the unique beauty of the country and its people that most tourists do not come to know.

 
Announcements
VOLUNTEER TRIP OPPORTUNITIES

Vietnam is a beautiful country with extremely friendly people, it was voted as one of the safest countries for tourists on Conde Nast traveling magazine in Southeast Asia.  Our team will reach remote villages by car and by boat, we will get to see the real VN and its people that most tourists do not have the opportunity to see.  The Vietnamese cuisine is a mixed between French and Chinese, the best of both world.  The best part of the trip to me is the friendship and the bond our team forms with the local Red Cross staff, with the local villagers, with the children we serve, it is the human bond that stay forever in our heart and it is what makes us want to return year after year. 

Would you like to be part of this life changing experience?  Join us in VN 2012!

* SIERRA LEONE - 2 weeks minimum - any time of the year.

* Nicaragua - 2012 - can be worked out anytime of the year.

* Vietnam - Feb 23 - March 8, 2013 - Applications accepted. 

* Vietnam - February 15 - 28, 2014 - Applications accepted.

 

Teams for Vietnam trips are kept at the maximum of 8-10 volunteers on a first come first serve basis.  Before you sign up, please look through the Question and Answer column completely and make sure this kind of volunteer trip is for you.  At times we might receive more applications than space allowed for certain trip, but we do make a serious effort to accommodate every volunteer and wish to welcome all in this extremely rewarding endeavor.  THANK YOU!

*IMPORTANT:  YOU MUST HAVE INTERNET CONNECTION AND ABLE TO COMMUNICATE THROUGH EMAIL EFFICIENTLY*

 

DO YOU HAVE THE POWER TO BE A VOLUNTEER?

Real power is about presence.  It is the energy of knowing that you are who you are, and therefore speaking and acting from your authentic self.  It doesn't matter what your work is - if you are a teacher, a dentist, a homemaker, a student, or whatever; it is your presence that is the power.  It is not power over anybody else.  Power of personal presence is in the sense of empowerment.  Love is the real power.  It brings out your creativity, and helps everyone around you flower.  Marion Woodman - Analyst and Author

 

 OUR PURPOSE:

OUR TEAMS TRAVEL TO REMOTE VILLAGES WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FREE DENTAL SERVICES TO RURAL COMMUNITIES. OUR TEAM MEMBERS ARE THOSE WHO ARE CARING, COMPASSIONATE, HARD WORKING, FLEXIBLE, EASY GOING, ENJOY HELPING OTHERS, AND BRING THE FUN WITH THEM EVERYWHERE THEY GO.

WE ARE NOT A TRAVEL AGENCY AND OUR TRIPS ARE NOT VACATIONS FOR THE REGULAR ADVENTURE SEEKERS. DDS4KIDS IS A NON-PROFIT HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION WITH NO PAID STAFF, ONLY LIFE-LONG VOLUNTEERS.


 

Froggy
FAQs
Where do the team set up clinic and what condition we work in?

 

DO I NEED EXPERIENCE IN VOLUNTEER DENTISTRY TO JOIN?

 

Is my space on the team guaranteed once I send my complete application to DDS4Kids?

 

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF DDS4KIDS BUDGET COVERS OVERHEAD? HOW MUCH DO THE CEO TAKE AS SALARY?

 

Is there any religious requirement to join?

 

WHAT IS THE COST OF THE TRIP AND HOW IS IT FUNDED?

 

Is there a limit in age to volunteer?

 

CAN I ARRIVE EARLIER OR LEAVE LATER THAN THE TRIP DATE?

 

What time of year are the trips?

 

HOW DO I MAKE MY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENT?

 

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Upcoming Events

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Dental Journal Articles
Dr. Noel Perkins -
British Dental Journal,
January 2009

 

Notes
PLEASE HELP THE CHILDREN OF SIERRA LEONE, WEST AFRICA

I grew up in poverty and war torn Vietnam, yet as a child at the tender age of 10 or 11, I knew I will grow up and help the children of Africa, because I saw on television their hunger, I felt their suffering, they were in much worse situation than I was.  So when I graduated from the University of Texas Dental School in 1985, my first month long dental volunteer trip was Africa - Sierra Leone.  It turned out that I was correct, the children I helped most hardly had any cloth to speak of, they live in huts with dirt floor and have little to eat.   That first trip was the beginning of my 25 year journey in volunteer dentistry.  I went back to Sierra Leone a few times until the civil war broke out in 1991. 

The gruesome 11 year civil war left over 50,000 dead and thousands of amputees.  Sierra Leone is a tiny nation the size of Maine, has a population of 5.7 million and 70% of the world amputees.  Sierra Leone is among the top 10 poorest countries in the world, and the least developed countries in the world. 

The whole country has 5 government dentists, the ratio is 1.14 million people per dentist, comparing to the US, 1,900 population per dentist, just imagine the basic dental needs!

Your donation will go directly toward dental treatment for the children of Sierra Leone.  Please send whatever you can to support this one of a kind project, make sure "for children of Sierra Leone" is on your donation note. 

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

 

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DDS4Kids
5601 Western Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37921-3238
Phone: (865) 584-3144  Fax: (865) 584-5901
E-mail: info@dds4kids.org
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