One Love- Jamaica Outreach
by Justin Kammo
On January 14th 2017 a group of 11 University of Michigan dental students embarked on a trip to Jamaica, led by Dr. Elliott Hill and Dr. Kyle Pullen. This was my first time out of the United States and I must admit that I did not know what to expect. I was traveling to a tropical island nation with a group of close friends so to say the least, I was excited. Our first goal was to provide care, mainly extractions of badly decayed or painfully infected teeth, to adults and children who were in underserved, rural areas. I can say proudly that we achieved that goal. We worked long hours in very unique conditions in order to provide these individuals with relief from their dental pain. Although setting up working and sterilization stations was a challenging task, seeing the smiles of pain free children and adults was well worth the effort.
Our second goal was to connect with these patients and the surrounding community in a way that we could all remember and cherish. Speaking on behalf of all members of our group, I can honestly say that I have never been around a more dedicated and compassionate group of professionals and students than the one we were a part of. Furthermore, the patients we worked on were extremely grateful for our time with them and treated us like family, offering sincere thank yous and showing us the friendliness of the beautiful island of Jamaica. The bonds with students, faculty, and patients that were made on the 2017 Jamaica trip are ones that cannot be broken. All of our phones will continue to play reggae music, and for that, I am very thankful. As the Jamaicans say, “out of many, one people, one love.”
Justin is a D3 and enjoys relaxing and hanging out with friends.
Click here to see the whole Flickr album of their trip.
Wolverine Bytes 
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