Nicaragua!

Jennifer, here~

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, everybody! I hope your holiday season was full of love and laughter.

This winter I was fortunate enough to volunteer in Nicaragua for a week (December 18-25) with a non-profit organization called Global Medical Training. I wanted to share some pictures from my trip, but first, I’d like to thank everyone who made this journey possible for me. Without you all, I wouldn't have been able to help so many people in need and further validate my decision to pursue dentistry.

• Cory Tuzzo
• Jinju Kim
• Esther Kang
• Maryann Chan
• Min Hyung Kye
• Jong-Gil Park
• Patricia Ahn
• Hyun Lee
• Pastor Eun-Gee Jun
• Won Chang Jeong
• Hyun-Mook Kim
• Young Joo Na
• Brian Hobson
• Heeyoung Ahn
• Hee Kyung Ahn
• Dong Hee Joo
• Dongwon Joo
• Akash Tailor
• Ji Sung Ahn
• Hye Kyung Lee
• Insu Chang
• Kwang Suk Moon
• Joanna Kim: I could never repay you for spending your Christmas day waiting for me to get to the airport and for driving me and Janaki all the way home to Richmond at 3 A.M. I love you!
• Dr. JinTek Kim and Mrs. Kim
• Sung-Eun Kim
• Mom & Dad: Thank you for supporting me in all that I do. I will make you guys proud!
• Janaki Barot: Without you, I wouldn't have known about GMT, and therefore I would've missed out on an incredible experience. Thank you for being an amazing friend and leader.
• Anyone and everyone who has offered me their prayers. Thank you so much.

Messing around on orientation day

The entire UVA/VCU team!

Our small, close-knit dental family

"Yeah, we fix smiles."

Masaya Volcano

One of the churches where we set up clinic. We wanted to set up our mobile clinics in more rural areas since people living in these areas tend to be poorer and more medically-deprived, but this made it kind of difficult for us to find facilities that 1) had a reliable source of electricity for our power tools and 2) would fit all 50 of us. The only buildings that met our needs were churches and schools, so that's where we set up all of our clinics! I actually really enjoyed working in their churches and schools because I was able to learn more about their culture just by observing my surroundings.

One of the schools where we set up clinic

Inside of the school

Out to dinner!

2 of 3 dentists that I assisted during the trip. Dr. Ruben (left) is 22 years old, and Dr. Marlena (right) is 21 years old. Both started dental school at age 16 and graduated at the top of their class at age 20. They now own a private practice together and are professors at the dental school where they graduated from.... I'm 21 years old, and I can hardly remember to brush my teeth twice a day.

Dr. Ahn at your service

Where we spent our last day