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Dental Volunteers for Israel Report

The following is a report of a personal experience that Dr. Leon Clark (and his wife and daughter) recently had serving at the Dental Volunteers of Israel DVI .

We recently spent a month in Israel doing humanitarian dental work in a children's clinic in Jerusalem. The program is called Dental Volunteers for Israel. We are writing this email to get the word out to any others in the LDS Dental Academy who are interested in going to Israel, assuring them that we had a great experience and never felt like we were in danger or in harm's way. We have traveled to many countries doing humanitarian dental work, and we never have felt safer even though we were there a short time after the conflicts in the northern part of the country.

Trudy Birger established this children's clinic, which serves poor Israeli and Palestinian children, many years ago. She was a holocaust survivor, and she devoted her life to helping others. The director, Dr. Moti Moskovitz, is a pedodontist who also teaches at one of the dental schools in Jerusalem. The clinic is well run and supplied; each dentist has his own qualified assistant.

There are some real advantages about going to Israel under this program and going at this time. We will list them below.

1. This is the first program that we have worked with that provided the housing at no charge. We stayed in a very clean, well-furnished apartment. We had a kitchen with the necessary pots, pans, dishes, refrigerator, hot plate and microwave oven and there was a good grocery store nearby; the bathroom had a tub/shower; the bedroom was plenty big with a closet, shelves and storage space; and the living room served as another bedroom for our adult daughter who was with us the first two weeks of our stay. With the two narrow futons and sofa bed provided, although a little crowded it could accommodate a family with as many as four children.

2. There are two other apartments in a different area of the city, but we are not familiar with those. Our apartment was near the King David Hotel, southwest of, but very nearby, the walled Old City so we were able to walk there many times and saw almost everything that one would want to see including the Wailing (Western) Wall, the Temple Mount, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and all the other historical sites of the Old City.

3. We had the great opportunity to go to church at the Jerusalem Center and spend many hours with the missionary couples assigned there. They were a great help to us, and we made lifelong friends. In addition to church services, there were many other cultural activities we were able to participate in. Of course, the BYU students are now there; we're sure they bring an exciting presence.

4. The workday was not long. We worked from 9:00 a.m. until about 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. with a half-hour break for a snack. This meant that we had afternoons free to travel or sightsee. We were scheduled to work four days a week, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; the church celebrates the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. Because of major holidays while we were there, we only worked three days for two of our weeks, but this was unusual. There is nothing for a spouse to do at the clinic since it is already staffed, but the missionaries at the Jerusalem Center were able to help suggest another service project for my wife and daughter working at a hospital for handicapped Palestinian children from the West Bank.

5. With this schedule we were able to rent a car four times and traveled all over Israel. We went to the Dead Sea, Masada, the Sea of Galilee, Tiberius, Capernaum, Nazareth, Tel Aviv and Jaffa, north up the coast to Caesarea and also visited some of the national parks. Of course, this was possible because we were there a full month. The maximum amount of time the government allows one to work at the clinic is four weeks.

6. Because many tourists are avoiding Israel due to their concern about recent or possible future conflicts, it was a perfect time to go. It reminded me of the saying, "When the stock market is down, that is the time to buy." Many dentists from the United States who had signed up to go had canceled, so there is a great need for your help. The people at the clinic like to emphasize that this is a working vacation and are very happy to help make that happen. This seems to be a perfect way to experience the Holy Land, while giving something back, either as an individual, a couple or a family.

We recommend this opportunity highly and would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have. We can be reached by email at lpclarkslc@yahoo.com, by telephone at (801) 253-2141 or (801) 652-8971 or by snail mail at 12139 Lampton View Drive, Riverton, Utah 84065.

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