PfaP Traveler Educates and Donates Seeing Smiles Galore in Mexico

I was both thrilled and intrigued when I learned the Princess Resort I was going to be vacationing at in Mexico worked closely with Pack for a Purpose. As a dental hygienist, I was ecstatic to learn that toothbrushes and toothpaste were on the list of supplies needed, and immediately knew I could contribute more. I have always had a passion for helping others and knew this could be a great opportunity to teach children the importance of proper oral hygiene.

During my stay, I had the pleasure of educating 280 children at a local school the resort works closely with. I put together a presentation in Spanish that included demonstrations of brushing and flossing. I must have read that presentation 50 times before my visit to perfect pronunciation because I am still learning the language.

The school is one the of the only public schools in the area. Most of the children take a bus and then proceed to walk about a mile to the school on a dirt road. This just shows how dedicated the children are to achieving an education. As the children walked up to greet us while we handed out their goodie bags, they had huge smiles on their faces. For me, this was the best part of the whole experience! Knowing the positive impact the presentation had on these students gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I look forward to doing this for another group of children sometime in the near future!

A huge thanks to Global Grins Foundation for donating all the toothbrushes; Lombardi Brothers Dentistry for donating the goodie bags and additional essentials such as timers, toothbrush caps, pencils and stickers; as well as Dr. Eugene Schmidt and Newport Dental for donating tubes of toothpaste.