I turned to Google and spent some quality time researching chipped teeth, broken teeth, kid's who are clumsy, etc. I needed to find encouragement that her tooth was fixable and that this was going to be okay. It was the only thing I could do from 2 hours away. I felt helpless and inadequate to help my daughter.
An hour later, I was armed with the information I needed to help my daughter long distance and called home again. I told my still crying daughter that I arranged my work day so that I could be at the dentist office first thing Monday morning, I told her they would fix it Monday then I'd take her to school after. By this time I felt 70% sure that what I was telling her was correct. If something happened and they couldn't take care of her Monday morning, I thought, we'll deal with that when we cross that bridge. My job was to help her through the next 36 hours.
Monday arrived and we were at the dentist by 9:30 and her tooth had been evaluated and was restored by 12:00. The entire time at the dentist, I was thanking God for our health system and our insurance coverage. I know how lucky we are to live in the United States and to have amazing health care coverage.
It got me thinking of Uganda, of course. What if a child chips his tooth in an orphanage in Uganda? Do people mobilize first thing on Monday morning to fix the tooth? I bet with resources scarce, if the tooth is not bothering the child, as in my daughter's case, that little would be done.
I did some research and found that there are only 100 dental surgeons in Uganda – 80 of who work in Kampala. That’s 100 surgeons for nearly 34,000,000 people. I found organizations doing compassionate charitable work in Uganda but little in the way of sustainable, ongoing, and reliable dental services that would be available to the most needy of Uganda's people.
As I walk through my daily life, I measure my life as a mother in the United States to what it must be for a mother in Uganda. I often say a prayer for my blessings and for Uganda, that as it progresses in modernization, that the basic human services that we take for granted in the US are established in Uganda so that the millions of people living there will know the security that I know. I knew Saturday night that my daughter would be well cared for today. I want every mother in Uganda to have that same security. They deserve it.
