Firmage Family Dental Clinic

In 2006, Vivian, James and their two daughters Michaela and Caitlyn Firmage contacted 4Kali to see if we would be interested in receiving free dental treatment for the children on the SAC program.  This was such an amazing opportunity for the children and families we work so closely with and we were glad to accommodate them in any way we could.

 

On the 3rd of January 2007, the Firmage family arrived in Khao Lak loaded with an abundance of donated dental supplies and cuddly toys which the girls campaigned to collect to give as gifts to the Thai children.

 Early morning on the 4th of January we collected the children from their schools and met at our office where Vivian and her family introduced themselves to our children and explained the events of the day.  The first five children went with Vivian to the dental office next door and the rest of the children went to the beach.  Vivian's two daughters came too.  By lunch time more than half of the children had received their preliminary checkups and cleaning.  The morning didn't go without a few problems, the machines broke down a couple of times!  However Vivian and James took this in stride and managed in full Thai style to laugh at the glitches.  David and Wan kindly donated the use of their restaurant (Song's) for activities and a delicious lunch.  The children sat at tables of 4 and the older girls served them.  Some of the children had 4 helpings!

We had karoke set up for the children post lunch and within seconds all the boys were sitting and singing along.  Some of the boys were taking pictures with Emily's digital camera, and others were getting a spontaneous guitar lesson.  The rest of the children were gradually getting their teeth checked.

Vivian was great with the children; she was kind and gentle and even the most apprehensive child came out happy and excited to show off their shiny new smiles.  Each child was given a goody bag when they left the dentist's chair.  The bags contained dental floss and tooth paste.  they also got to choose a toothbrush from a selection.

Once all the children had been seen and received their goody bags we sat down in the office where vivian and her two daughters, with the aid of a hand puppet dinosaur with dentures, showed the children how to brush their teeth and floss properly.  As a final extra treat, as the children left the office on the way to their buses, Caitlyn and Michaela gave each child a 'Beanie Baby' toy.

The next day some of the same children came back to have fillings fitted and extra treatment done.  While they were waiting to be seen the other children went to the beach, visited the police boat and watched a movie!

Having the Firmage family here was so wonderfull.  We owe a debt of gratitude to them for coming all the way from the United States and volunteering their time to our children.  Also our thanks to Dr. Jitthiphan Thiwasphong who graciously allowed us to use his dental clinic.