Goodbye post from Jaime...

Being back home in Victoria makes San Pancho seem very far away.  After 28 days I was ready to come home but it was also hard to say goodbye.  I will miss the friendly people, the sun, the beaches and the food!  I really felt we were able to become a part of this amazing community during our stay. 

I applied for this field school because I wanted to experience providing dental hygiene in a whole new way.  Mission accomplished!  Having worked in the dental field for the past five years I am familiar with a private practice setting and wanted to experience something totally new.  Here at home our clinic days are preplanned, organized and structured and I appreciate the orderliness of this.  In Mexico plans change last minute, things are less organized and more chaotic.  And yet everything, well almost everything J, still gets done.  I really felt I was able to embrace this.  I have the type of personality where I always like to feel in control and have everything organized.  However, in Mexico I was able to let go of that control or feeling of control and just go with the flow.  I hope I am able to incorporate that same thing into my life here.

Spending 24 hours a day with 7 other girls can be challenging but our group pulled it off with flying colors.  Each one of us showed patience, kindness and acceptance of one another.  It’s not easy for 8 women to get ready to go out for dinner in a timely manner, even in small town Mexico.  How our group really came together to support one another was something that I will always remember and take away from this experience.  Learning how to work as part of a team has a place in both my personal and professional life.  Spending the last 28 days with my fellow classmates has taught me how to do this better.  Thank you for that friends J

Going into the dental hygiene program I had an idea that I wanted to work with people who didn’t have access to regular dental care.  My experience in Mexico has solidified that idea.  By going out into the community we were able to see people who would not otherwise have access to our services.  I hope to have my own mobile clinic one day so I can do that on a regular basis in my own community. Working in both the hospital and the community centre showed me that you don’t need much to still be able to provide comprehensive care to clients.  It was more important provide treatment and oral hygiene education than to have the right chairs or even a suction or ultrasonic. 

I hope to be able to go back to San Pancho one day and work with future field schools.  This was an amazing experience for me.  I feel very lucky to have been able to participate in the 2013 Mexico Field School.  A big thank you to Ada, my classmates and all our volunteers for making this happen!