WANTED; DENTISTS, HYGIENISTS and ASSISTANTS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE,  MAKING SMILES!

Gema’s story: “All my life, I have wanted to go to the dentist, but I knew I could never ask for this, as we didn’t have any money. Now my dream is coming true.”

Gema is a scholarship girl with a heart full of love

OUR PURPOSE:

1. Provide low or no cost dental care to the region's poor through periodic groups of visiting dental care professionals

2. Provide dental care through San Carlos students during the remainder of the year with an emphasis on primary school students and pregnant women.

WHY COATEPEQUE- COLOMBA REGION:

• Coatepeque-Colomba  is an impoverished region with a high birth rate and decreasing economic resources. This used to be a labor intensive coffee growing area, but coffee is bing replaced by bananas and rubber, both requiring few employees. 
•  This region of Guatemala does not have any natural minerals in the water to help conserve teeth. Many people start to lose their teeth by 15 years.  Children's teeth are riddled with cavities due to poor water, poor diet and lack of hygiene knowledge and care.
• We have been working with the Coatepeque-Colomba Rotarians for four years on various projects. 
• Spirit Education Foundation, a tax deductable 501(c)3 public charity has been working in this area for 6 years.  Be a girl's Angel in the spirit of friendship. We are service oriented, not church oriented,  www.spiriteduc.org

The extensive experience and connections in the area have given us local resources to facilitate our projects and enhance the experience of our volunteers.

THE PATIENTS:

We have many impoverished young scholarship girls and a mountain of area children and adults who have teeth loaded with cavities.  By age 15, many have already lost teeth. These people need dental care to maintain their self confidence and respect. Without your help to save their teeth, they will be less effective job seekers, locked in poverty. Join Spirit Education Foundation, Rotarians and many donors like you to make a difference in the impoverished area of Coatepeque Guatemala.