Published February 1, 2018
One of the joys I have in dentistry is the ability to serve those in need. That is a daily
occurrence here in Orange City and is definitely a fulfilling calling, but every once in a while I am able to serve beyond our well off borders here in the US. One such opportunity was just last week as I took a trip to Haiti to serve alongside a Haitian Dentist, Jocenel Mercier. He is just beginning to practice in the medical clinic on the campus of UCI, United Christians International in the Caimen area of the central plateau in Haiti. One of the joys I have in dentistry is the ability to serve those in need. That is a daily occurrence here in Orange City and is definitely a fulfilling calling, but every once in a while I am able to serve beyond our well off borders here in the US. One such opportunity was just last week as I took a trip to Haiti to serve alongside a Haitian Dentist, Jocenel Mercier. He is just beginning to practice in the medical clinic on the campus of UCI, United Christians International in the Caimen area of the central plateau in Haiti.
He is a recent graduate and doing well to work 3 days per week. If you feel you have a tough commute, he is commuting 4 hours from Port au Prince on Sunday night and back again on Wednesday evening to be with his wife.
Doing dentistry in a foreign country is always rewarding but is also usually a challenge without many of the usual technologies and staffing I've become accustomed to here in the US. Anyway, I need to make it clear that I REALLY REALLY appreciate the team we have at Joiner and Zwart Dentistry. They make my life so much easier and allow for a high level of dentistry to be performed. I also grow to appreciate hot showers and consistent electricity but that is another subject.
You may recognize some of the equipment in the photos, we were blessed to be able to ship down equipment last summer on a bus donated by Unity Christian School in Orange City. There were many people involved in that process including Unity, Vogel Paints, and Iowa State Bank to name a few besides the numerous individuals who donated many other items to ship on the bus. A few of the individuals to call out by name are Terry Schouten of Unity, Bike Van Donge of Sioux Center who drove the bus to port, Dennis Sneider of Unity, Terry Mouw of Vogel along with those who helped them to load the bus.
He is a recent graduate and doing well to work 3 days per week. If you feel you have a tough commute, he is commuting 4 hours from Port au Prince on Sunday night and back again on Wednesday evening to be with his wife.
Doing dentistry in a foreign country is always rewarding but is also usually a challenge without many of the usual technologies and staffing I've become accustomed to here in the US. Anyway, I need to make it clear that I REALLY REALLY appreciate the team we have at
Joiner and Zwart Dentistry. They make my life so much easier and allow for a high level of dentistry to be performed. I also grow to appreciate hot showers and consistent electricity but that is another subject.
You may recognize some of the equipment in the photos, we were blessed to be able to ship down equipment last summer on a bus donated by Unity Christian School in Orange City. There were many people involved in that process including Unity, Vogel Paints, and Iowa State Bank to name a few besides the numerous individuals who donated many other items to ship on the bus. A few of the individuals to call out by name are Terry Schouten of Unity, Bike Van Donge of Sioux Center who drove the bus to port, Dennis Sneider of Unity, Terry Mouw of Vogel along with those who helped them to load the bus.
