Smiles

      Today was a wonderful day. First thing in the morning David and I headed to Smile Africa. We went straight to the baby home and were immediately greeted by laughing, smiling babies. It is the best sight in the world. Within just a few minutes of being at the baby home, the dentist arrived! I am so grateful that he was able to come. The dentist said that he wanted to begin with the older babies, so he began with baby Ruth and saw that her teeth were in great shape! The caregivers have been doing a great job taking care of her teeth!

   The next on the list were the younger babies. These babies do not have all of their teeth yet, in fact, some of the children’s teeth were just about to come in as the dentist was looking in their mouth. A few of the smaller babies had some plaque build up. The dentist cleaned up their teeth and then he showed the caregivers how to properly take care of the younger ones teeth. Unfortunately, baby Faith has gingivitis, so she will be taken to the dentist’s office so that her teeth and gums can be properly cleaned.

   Overall, the dentist said that the caregivers have been doing a great job taking care of all the babies’ teeth. After all, there are 30 babies and that is a lot of mouths to brush! The younger babies cannot understand direction like “open your mouth”, so the dentist acknowledged that they would be harder to brush, but he commended them for their great work. The dentist is right; the caregivers have been doing great work taking care of these babies.

   After our time with the dentist had come to an end, one of the workers at Smile Africa escorted David and myself through the nearby slum, which is called Bison. David has never seen the inside of the slum before, so I thought it would be good to walk through.

   The majority of the children that come to Smile Africa during the day live in Bison. A lot of the things that you see can break your heart. But something that is really special is the children’s smile. Despite their living conditions, these children have the biggest smiles. It was very amazing to see.

   As we walked through the slum we said hello and shook hands with many of the people who live there. When the children saw David’s camera, they all came running out from behind their homes so that we could take their picture. When we took their picture and showed them, they all screamed and smiled and laughed. It was a beautiful sound.

   We ended the day with filming many different things for City of Lights International. It is time for a new video for the organization, so David and I spent many hours getting new footage. Not everyone is able to come to Uganda, so this video is important because we are able to bring Uganda to the people who cannot go. Overall, I think it was a very busy, but impactful day for both David and myself.

Good Night :)