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Israel Service Trip Report

Last August I picked up a brochure while I was attending the Academy of LDS Dentists. It told of DVI, Dental Volunteers for Israel, a charitable organization dedicated to the treatment of needy children from the ages of 5 to 18.

I just got back from two weeks spent at the clinic. It was a great experience. It felt good to donate services to children. It is the perfect place to give service and at the same time enjoy the rich culture of the Holy Land. We were located in the heart of Jerusalem and we had lots of time to savor the cultures of an exceptional city.

Living conditions were very adequate. Each volunteer and his family is put up in a furnished apartment at no cost, except to pay the cleaning lady at the end of the stay.
We celebrated the Sabbath (Saturday) at the BYU Center on Mount Scopus with the Jerusalem Branch. We visited and got to know the staff there. They were very helpful in setting up small tours and giving useful information.

The clinic consists of two buildings: one for hygiene and the other for restorative procedures. The patients are needy kids from "all the children of Abraham." The restorative part of the clinic has 5 operatories--one for the resident pedodontist and the other 4 for the volunteers.

While I was there I worked with 2 men from New Zealand and 1 from London, England. The Kiwis and I did fillings, extractions and pulpotomies. The other volunteer dentist was Peter Kurer from London. He spent most of his time building up teeth that a volunteer endodontist had worked on some time previously. The equipment in the ops worked well, the assistants spoke English, Hebrew and Palestinian, and the other staff members were friendly and helpful.

Consider this a good place to receive the blessings of volunteer dentistry.

Shalom,

Dr. David Crockett