So because there is such a specific schedule for the dental section of the Joplin Community Clinic, I was just able to get in there again yesterday afternoon from 12:30 to 3:00. I had JUST finished a mircobiology essay-style exam, so honestly, my brain was completely fried. As I went in, I prayed that I would have a smile on my face and some joy-filled energy to help me persevere throughout the afternoon. There was a different physician this week, obviously, since it is done by volunteer dentists. He was very energetic and didn't seem to be burdened by routine like many of the others. He seemed to actually enjoy being there which is a plus for the other volunteers as well as the people IN the dental chairs waiting their turn to have teeth extracted.

We did six adults, each with different teeth extractions. The dentist made an effort to always make them comfortable and minimize their distress. He actually learned their names and got to know them personally, even in such a short amount of time. This attitude was sooooooo much easier to be around in comparison to my last visit at the clinic. It had really disturbed me.... the lack of relationship. In between paitients, I sterilized the rooms, instruments, and prepared the area for the next procedure. I might be a nerd, but I found it interesting to be able to apply my knowledge from microbiology!! Cheesy...I know. ; )

The dentist also made an effort to make me feel comfortable and was easy to talk to. He was happy to answer and explain my thoughts/questions. He gave me tips for performing different procedures. He, his father, and his brother were all practicing dentists, which I found interesting. I truly appreciated the attention he gave me.

Now, he was much more personable with the adult patients than the last dentist I had worked with, but he learned their names, and their problem, and then just listened to them. So there was still a great superficiality about the clinic. However, my favorite part of the afternoon - our last four patients were kids: 2 boys and 2 girls, all from the same family. They were ranging in age from 4-12, and were pretty nervous about being there. Riley, the youngest, timidly tried to climb in the chair, and the physician, ran over and swooped her up, and landed her in the seat. He asked her how many teeth she thought she had and she guessed 10. Hehe. He asked her to count how many, along with him, in her head, and see if she was right.

She had 20. He was soooo energetic! He made their anxiety disappear and therefore, made their trip to the "scary place," quite the opposite of what they expected.

THIS, my friends, is what I want to do.
I want to change the perspective.
I want to change the landscape.
I want to do the unexpected.
I want to care.
PERIOD.

My experience yesterday was extremely refreshing and encouraging. No more doubts. I was reminded, in time, of my purpose.......
Especially, after SURVIVING my microbiology exam. My smile was BACK.

As I mentioned in my last entry, I had assumed that the care provided at the Community Clinic would be physical, emotional, and spiritual. However, the latter left me in a state of confusion. As I entered the clinic, I noticed crosses on the walls in the entrace and different scriptures in old and tarnished picture frames. After these observations, my senses naturally focused on the attitudes of the people and their spirits. I expected a ministry.

At that point a began to distinguish between volunteerism and servant hood. What did I come to provide?
Volunteerism seems to be something that is provided in to order to benefit a person or group of people in their physical welfare, while servant hood, seems to be an act not done for a good feeling, but for the betterment of one's self and the person or persons being served.
Honestly, I struggled between these two characters. I realized that I found it difficult to do both simultaneously. Sincerity was pure only when one or the other was exhibited. Now that I have been there numerous times and have evaluated the other personel and even more so, myself, it has become evident that this is a secular organization. I've wondered if it originated as a religious organization and if so, what brought forth a transition.

The dental clinic occurs every two weeks, so I hope to return next week, prepared for another eye-opening experience. This has all been bittersweet. Servant hood is bittersweet; it requires selflessness and or the giving of one's self. It requires sacrifice and the ability to look beyond the superficialities of this world. It requires EVERY part of you.

This is in fact, SERVICE Learning......


Service to a community.

Service Learning Blog 1

HOWDY EVERYONE! This is Heidi Elizabeth Lungren, and if you haven't noticed or heard, I'm kind of crazy, especially when it comes to blogging or posting absurd things that make you wonder where in the heck I came from....... Alas, don't be too frightened, I just aim to: 1) make myself laugh, 2) make people laugh at me, 3)do the unexpected, 4)make some type of positive impact on every situation.
Like April, I shall introduce myself in order to help you integrate into my crazy thoughts and writings. I'm a sophomore, a Health Sciences/Dental Hygiene major. I chose to go into hygiene at the beginning of my senior year in high school, but have truly received affirmation through people, such as Dr. Kluthe, instances, such as this particular volunteer job, and finally, the need for some love to be within this field which is so often viewed as frightening and intimidating. I'm from OKLAHOMA - born and raised in the same town, house, church, school, etc. I am hoping to graduate with my H.S./D.H. degree and then anticipate some international travel and or mission voyages in order to use my acquired skills/knowledge in a humanitarian way.
I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer at the Joplin Community Clinic. I have now been twice, both times having an unexpected experience. After speaking with the Volunteer Organizer on the phone, she told me to arrive by 2:30 that afternoon with the application I received in the mail. The application itself was a challenge/surprise! It required two reference questionairres along with 3 pages of personal information. So, I walked in that afternoon flustered by my busy schedule and by my nervousness. We talked in Service Learning about being an outsider........... never fear, HEIDI was here. I must say that that was perhaps the most uncomfortable/frustrating/personally agrivating time period I've ever encountered. I gave the secretary my application and she proceeded to tell me that she would tell "Kathy," back in the dental clinic that I was there and had brought my application. Long story short, I sat in the waiting room full of uneasy patients, until 4:50 that afternoon. The secretary told "Kathy," that I had brought my application; "Kathy," assumed that she was incinuating that I had just dropped it off and left. Honestly, I had become very frustrated, which does not naturally occur very often for me. However, there was a reason why I sat in that waiting room. There, I was definitly foreign to the building, the system, the mood/atmosphere, and the people. I sat down in a chair, surely appearing to be clueless about my placement there. I waited.... and waited; listening to the conversations around me, seeing the fear within the children's eyes behind me, observing the other workers/volunteers and their faces/spirits of routine. This saddened me. Though this was a place of service, there was a lack of joy. Many of the patients had been a number of times before, and it saddened me to see the fear and the sense of inferiority that they just accepted for themselves. A couple sat next to me and the woman had returned from her physical examination and stated that she had lost more weight since the previous week (12 pounds). Her husband responded, "well, that's no surprise. when you can't eat, you lose weight, but I promise, once we can get some money, we'll eat." Then the woman on the other side of me leaned over and asked me how many teeth I was getting pulled that afternoon. Flabbergasted by the question, I smiled, and said that I wasn't getting any pulled. I wanted to slap myself.... I had smiled too soon. The woman's face was so... I don't know how to describe it... apologetic maybe? She turned her head and said, "oh you have a pretty smile. You don't need any pulled... a pretty pretty smile."
I walked into that clinic that afternoon with khaki slacks, a striped business shirt, heeled boots, curled hair, sunglasses, and a smile, that at the end of my waiting period, I wanted to remove from my identity. It was like I had (sorry to use the expression), stuck my foot in my mouth.
There was a lady with 3 children on the other side of the room. I watched how she interacted with them. She was very affectionate which was surprisingto me. She appeared to have characteristics of a meth addict. I know that is a horrible judgement to presume, but that is what came to mind. They had come to the dental clinic that day as well. The mother was more nervous than her children. She couldn't stand still and moaned when her name was called.
This brings me to today.
I showed up in dental scrubs at 12:30 and was welcomed by "Kathy." She showed me around the clinic of which I had not seen previously and then proceeded to show me the supply room. She showed me how to use this x-ray machine. This was all very interesting for me because when I worked at Grove Dental Associates, EVERYTHING was done digitally, and technology was elite and up-to-date. The clinic was operating on outdated supplies, techniques, and systems. To my surprise, all patients that afternoon had multiple extractions. Piece of cake right? The first patients were numbed. I stood in observation. I thought of the times I have had to be numbed; this was/is a huge deal, but at the clinic it was such a simple and routine operation. "Howard," and "Phil," both had 3 extractions. I "fetched" the next patients "Anne" and "Susan." "Anne" was to have 9 teeth removed but today, we only did four. "Susan" had 2 removed. Honestly, my observation today had more of an impact on myself than the people surrounding me. I still, felt so spoiled. I hesistated to smile.
After the first 2 patients, I went into the restroom and rinsed my face and just stared at myself as if I were looking at a stranger. I questioned my aspirations in the the dental field. I questioned my role as a person of service. I questioned my role within a ministry. How can I get to know the hearts of people when I can't even relate to them in the simplest aspect of life? How can they feel comfortable being so vulnerable in this place, much less to a 19 year old girl from Oklahoma? Is the fear of dental care a mixture of the providers and the things being provided? This doesn't really make sense, but in essence, I questioned my desire to pursue this career for the first time EVER. Could I handle it? Not necessarily the dental skills, but more so, could I handle the trust patients place in you, especially in humanitarian clinics/centers?
I got physically weak as I returned to the room. "Anne" was getting her fourth tooth removed by hammer. When extracted, some of the jaw bone was attached. I ached. "Anne" had been told the previous week that she needed to receive dental care before she was treated for a heart murmur. All needed to be done as soon as possible or the consequences could be fatal or very dangerous. She sat in that chair, eyes closed, mouth open, no words said. I thought about how much I stressed this week about surviving school. "Anne" was trying her best to find means of life survival.

I brought back the last patient. It was "Angela-" the woman that had been playing with her children in the waiting room on Monday. She was shaking. She was cringed in fear. A woman probably in her early 30s, around 4 foot 9", and scared to death. She sat and watched while awaiting her turn. I sat down next to her in curiosity and compassion. She was the only one who had sat down with such fear. We took and developed her x-rays. She would need 3 teeth extracted. One in particular, I noticed on the x-ray, was a molar, and had rotted a U-shape inbetween the root and the surface of the tooth. The physician had stated that that removal could be tricky because any pressure could snap it in half, and then he would have to dig within the jaw bone to remove the root. He asked "Angela," what that would have come from and she openly stated that she had been a meth addict, but had now been clean for a year. The doctor, by observation, not a man of religion, asked her what had changed, and she responded:
"Jesus."
I breath stopped. I thought, "one word. One word that is so precious." I truly saw the redeeming characteristic perhaps in its most pure form. My presumed judgements on Monday were accurate to some extent, but that one word, made my heart, which had beat rapidly the whole afternoon, rest. There was more said, but my afternoon of being so uneasy was reversed. I had questioned my identity all afternoon, but had forgotten where, (because of my faith), I needed to look for it. My worth is not created by how many teeth I can extract in an hour, or my clothing, or my wit/knowledge, but by love that I can offer.
I don't know if this is what should be expected, but I did almost 2 1/2 hours of community service today, but spent more time and thought about my existence. I was served today. Maybe that's how it works though?!!?!