Tragedy in Ladakh

The severe monsoon rains that have hammered Pakistan and China have also unleashed their destructive force on Ladakh.  Over a period of two days in early August, severe rains caused heavy flash floods in the capital of Leh, and other surrounding villages.  Hundreds of people died, including a teacher a few students from Lamdon.  We have not yet received word from the Ladakhi Nuns Association regarding whether any of them were injured.  Due to this sudden tragedy, trainings for the remainder of the summer have been cancelled in order to give people a chance to rebuild their lives.  Our hearts are with them all, and we will resume our efforts next year.  

Farewell Tom

We would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Thomas Grams, who was murdered August 5th while on a trip with International Assistant Mission, delivering dental care to the people of Afghanistan.  His energy and commitment to service were an inspiration.  Tom was scheduled to go to Ladakh in September to trek and help train the Amchis of the Ladakh Nuns Association. I spoke to him many times by phone, and he was extremely excited about the idea of teaching local people how to deliver care in the most remote areas.   We thank him for seeking us out, and introducing us to Dr. Tsering Palmo, and the Ladakhi Nuns.  His efforts will continue helping the poorest and most remote people of Ladakh for many years to come.  

Permanent Fillings in Humde

We are preparing for another trip to Humde, Nepal.  Dr. Michael Guggolz of Germany has graciously offered to spend three weeks training our Dental Health Worker, Karma Buti, this autumn.  He will be in Humde from late September until early October.  Training supplies have already been sent to Kathmandu, and are now just waiting for the long hike to Humde.  The hope is that they will be able to get the existing dental unit working quickly, and start learning how to place occlusal restorations. 

Newburg Rotary Club Donates Adec PAC I unit to Lamdon School

Thanks to the financial support of Bill Kite and the Rotary club of Newburg Oregon, Lamdon will soon have a PAC I portable dental unit from Adec (not pictured in photo to left).  With unsurpassed durability, reliability, and performance, the PAC I is the gold standard of portable dental units, and we are all extremely excited and thankful to have it.  It is currently being fitted by Myra Elliot's team (Singapore Dental Society), and will be brought with them in mid-July when they come for five days to provide extensive medical care (dermatological, opthamological, gynecological, and dental) to the people of Nubra Valley, north of Leh near the Tibetan and Pakistani border.  They will be working out Lamdon's satellite school in Diskit.  

Cathy Hsu Comes Through

Thanks to Cathy and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students at the University of Washington Dental school.  She collected close to 50 "typodont" (plastic simulation teeth) and at least as many extracted teeth from Yangchen Dolma to practice fillings.  We have been practicing using a dental drill and placing class I (chewing surface), and class II (interproximal/between) amalgam fillings.  The hope was that Yangchen become proficient at just the simple chewing surface fillings.  This is the most common site of decay in adult molars, and a great long term benefit.  She advanced so quickly that we decided to learn interproximal fillings as well.  She is doing everything technically perfect.  She just needs increased exposure to using a mouth mirror (everything is opposite), and live patients.  The latter has been a difficult task.  There is a noticeable decrease in the number of children with decayed adult molars due the everyones' (Singapore Dental Society, Vivian Levy, and Yangchen) efforts.  However, we are confident that there is enough candy here to seed at least a few cavities.