If you watched the video in the previous update, you heard our Founder, Avis, say, “I believe our children receive the best care of children in any family anywhere.”
December marks completion of the first three months of “Operation Smile”. Funded by an anonymous donor, this program is designed to provide every child at Agape with the same dental care as any child in any family anywhere. We were fortunate in enlisting the co-operation of a retired American dentist, living in Chiang Mai to come to AGAPE and give every child a baseline examination. Khun Oy is the Co-ordinator of this program and is responsible for ferrying each child to a local hospital for fillings & extractions, to a private clinic for orthodontics and in a few cases to the Chiang Mai University School of Dentistry for major dental surgery.
Many, if not most of our children suffer from a poor self-image and sometimes a bit of orthodontic work does wonders for improving self-esteem.
Somchai, 13, pictured here before and after, is a case in point. Somchai cannot be adopted. He has no surname, no ID card….but he now feels much more confident about himself. As always, this effort could use more support – prayer, volunteers, and financial. Perhaps if you have a heart for dentistry, or know someone who does, or just want to reach into the lives of the children in this way, a door will open for you. What do you think about “Operation Smile”?
