On a mission to bring smiles to people’s faces

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

 

It was hot. It was humid. It was amazing.

“It” was the weather in Belize (see the sidebar for information on the country). And “it” was the medical mission trip 24 of us were on with HAFDRA (Humanitarian Aid for Development and Relief Agency).

Mountain resident Shellie Mundall Boydston – one of the founders of HAFDRA – is my dental hygienist. When she told me about the trip to Belize, I was intrigued – and hooked.

She founded HAFDRA in 2019 with her twin sister, pediatric nurse practitioner Sherri Mundall, and Jessica Mazakas, a fourth-grade teacher at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School. HAFDRA has been providing dental screenings and sealants to the mountain’s elementary school children.

Shellie and Sherri grew up in Belize where their father, Raymond Mundall M.D., founded La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital in Santa Elena. For years, Shellie and her family, accompanied by some friends, would return to Belize annually to conduct dental and medical clinics. Finally, dealing with the middleman became too cumbersome and they founded the nonprofit in 2019.

The Covid pandemic interrupted their mission trips but, since then, they have grown in scope and the number of volunteers.

The majority of us left from LAX on Wednesday, March 26 on a nonstop flight to Belize City. We were met there by folks who traveled from Washington and Arizona.

Like two Jenga games, we wrestled ourselves, our luggage and all the dental and medical equipment we had brought with us into two large passenger vans. On the way to our home away from home – Hill Garden Resort in San Ignacio in the Cayo district of Belize – we stopped for our first team dinner at the Black Orchid Resort.

On our first full day, we first organized and packed the supplies, dividing them into medical and dental equipment and supplies as well as toys and supplies we had brought for the Hills of Promise Primary School, which HAFDRA supports.

While in Belize, visitors must visit some of the Mayan ruins, so we once again piled into the vans and headed for the Xunantunich Archaeological Reserve. To get there, we had to cross the Mopan River on a hand-powered car ferry. We all tumbled out of the vans and walked onto the wooden deck while Sherri Mundall and Steve Boydston – our chauffeurs for the week – drove on.

It is mind boggling to witness the engineering accomplished by these engineers so many years ago. Xunantunich – which means Maiden of the Rock in the Mayan language – served as a Maya civic ceremonial center in the year 700 to 900 AD

We enjoyed a festive dinner that evening at Blancaneaux Lodge, a Francis Ford Coppola resort.

The next day – Friday, March 28 – was our first day of true work. We split into two clinics – dental at La Loma Luz hospital and medical at the Seventh Day Adventist church in Bullet Tree Falls village.

The entire team took a tour of the hospital, led by Jeffrey Cho M.D. He shared they see a lot of diabetes, obesity and heart issues at the hospital. “Diet plays a big part in these issues,” he told us. His wife, Michelle, is an architect and recently designed the newly opened imaging center at the hospital. She is also designing a new emergency room, which will be named for Dr. Mundall when built.

The dental team – three dentists, two hygienists, two dental assistants and several volunteers – saw hospital staff members and their families that day.

Meanwhile, the medical team – one doctor, two nurse practitioners, a nurse and their volunteers – drove to Bullet Tree Falls and set up their clinic there.

The first medical patient was Carlos. His young friend William came to tell us Carlos could not walk well; he helped Carlos come to the church, where he was seen by the mountain’s own Lawrence Walker M.D. After receiving steroid injections in his back, Carlos was able to walk confidently out of the church – with a huge smile on his face.

A highlight of the day for me was meeting Jayden, who had just received a certificate for his gardening expertise at his school’s graduation ceremony. He was so proud to show me the certificate.

My role at the medical clinic was to be part of the intake team with former mountain resident Lori Semeniuk – taking patients’ blood pressure, temperature and oxygen blood saturation as well as noting any medications they are taking, any current medical conditions and the chief complaint that brought them to the clinic.

Knowing that we would all need a break after an intense first clinic, Shellie and Sherri had set up two field trips for us on Saturday. I chose to go to Tikal National Park in Guatemala; others went to St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park in Belize.

We were picked up and driven to the Guatemala border, where we went through immigration and walked over the border. Our guide, Marco, met us there and we made our way to one of the most astounding places I have ever visited.

This ruin of an ancient city is one of the largest archeological sites of pre-Columbian Maya civilization. The architecture dates as far back as the 4^th century BC. It covers more than six square miles and includes about 3,000 structures. As many as have been excavated, there are many more still covered by jungle.

At Tikal, we first saw spider monkeys, then coatimundi, a scorpion, a crocodile, leaf cutter ants, a toucan and howler monkeys (and, boy, do they howl!). Marco told us the two howlers we heard toward the end of our time in Tikal were two males fighting over territory.

We stopped for a very late lunch on our way back to Belize, first stopping at Lago Peten Itza, the third largest lake in Guatemala, where two of our group waded into the water.

While traveling in Belize, there are frequent security stops; the officers are checking for the vehicle’s sticker that indicates proper registration and insurance. And there are lots of speed bumps.

On Sunday, March 30, the two clinics set up together in a church in Santa Familia village. One man had not been to a dentist in his 37 years. Dentist Bryce Jones – who came on the trip with his wife, Lora, and children from Snowflake, Ariz. – said it was like an archeological dig.

While the professionals did their work, assisted by volunteers, two of those volunteers – Mike Paganini and Steve Boydston – sterilized the instruments. They became known as Dr. Dirty and Mr. Clean.

There were lots of cleanings, fillings and extractions. One woman had seven teeth removed – without even flinching, Dr. Jones said. Meanwhile, Dr. Walker was giving pain injections to folks whose joints hurt.

A father brought in his 15-year-old son Dylan, who had been injured in a motorcycle accident. Dr. Walker said Dylan’s broken thumb should be in a cast and asked him to come to the clinic in Bullet Tree Falls on Wednesday.

Monday, March 31 found us at the Hills of Promise Primary School. The school’s prinicipal, Thiffany Salas, proved to be invaluable to us, filling out the intake forms for the patients at the clinics on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.

The children had prepared a program for us, singing the Belize national anthem, the school song and then a special song, “Welcome, Dear Friends,” to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” I had the good fortune to meet Sara, who wrote the lyrics.

Over the course of the day, we saw teachers and students whose parents had signed consent forms.

Tuesday, April 1 was a day off for us. We went to Spanish Lookout, a large Mennonite community not far from San Ignacio. To get there, we took another hand-powered car ferry. We were amazed by the Farmers Trading Center, a store with everything from clothing to hardware, groceries to souvenirs. And we enjoyed lunch and ice cream at the Western Dairies restaurant. Many of us relaxed at the Hill Garden pool when we returned to the hotel.

Our final clinic was on Wednesday, April 2, back at Bullet Tree Falls. Much to my delight, Dylan did return with his father and Dr. Walker put a cast on his thumb and lower arm.

And Dr. Walker had the last patient of the trip – a young man named Ender who received two injections to relieve his back pain.

On Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, the women in the villages and from the school made us lunch – delicious chicken, rice and beans and salad. We very much appreciated their support.

The three teens who were on the trip were incredible workers. Sixteen-year-old Brynlee Jones assisted her father as he worked on his dental patients; at home in Arizona, she works in his office one day a week. Fourteen-year-old Logan Jones said he will go out with his father on emergency calls. He spent much of his time assisting dental hygienist Sara Sater.

Fifteen-year-old Nolan Massey did not arrive in Belize with any dental experience but she gained a lot over the course of the week as she assisted Shellie Boydston. (Read about her perspective on the trip in the sidebar.)

What did I take away from this experience? The people we met in Belize were friendly, kind and patient. Not one complained about the wait at the clinics, recognizing their turn would come and they would receive the same careful care. They were grateful for the opportunity to receive both medical and dental care.

The children at Hills of Promise Primary School are beautiful, sweet and loving. No sooner had I gotten out of the van than a young boy threw himself at me in a big hug.

Over the course of the clinics, the dental team saw 163 patients. They provided 103 cleanings, 100 fluoride treatments, five deep cleanings, 94 pit and fissure dental sealants, 120 fillings, 19 x-rays and 40 extractions. The patients were organized by volunteer Danette Zuniga who kept the line flowing.

The medical team saw 143 patients with many suffering from asthma and many needing deworming medicine. Dr. Walker gave 30 injections and drained two cysts, in addition to doing the one cast (he obtained the necessary supplies from La Loma Luz hospital.)

All in all, it was an amazing week, one I will never forget and would love to repeat. HAFDRA can always use donations – they are currently raising money for the new ER at the hospital. Read more about them on their website, www.hafdra.org, where you can make a donation.