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Dr. Ortinau has participated in various Dental Mission trips to
the nations.
Most recently Dr. Ortinau organized a trip with 4 dentists and
20 volunteers to Gjakova, Kosova. Gjakova is the second largest city in Kosovo,
a part of the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. The Kosovo Conflict has been well
documented in US news media, how Milosevic mobilized his Serbian army and
Kosovar ethnic Serbians (3% of the Kosovar population) to systematically
eliminate the ruling ethnic Albanian population.
In September 2000, Dr. Ortinau journeyed with Service
International to Gjakova and the surrounding villages. Service International is
a Christian humanitarian organization (recognized by the United Nations)
working globally in various disaster relief efforts."
September 2000
Dr. Ortinau accompanied a Service International ophthamological
surgery team to Gjakova. For the next week he met with various local dentists,
school directors, and government agencies to determine how he could best help
them and serve the people of Gjakova.
Dr. Ortinau learned that due to a severe lack of materials,
dental technique, and education most cases resulted in extractions. Chilren
often did not own toothpaste with which to brush, and almost none had ever
heard of floss. Gingivitis, Periodontal disease, and general decay are rampant
in Kosova making the overall condition of dental hygiene in the region very
poor.
It was decided that the best way to help the people of Gjakova
was to:
1) Establish a three chair clinic in the nearby village of
Hereq for treating patients.
2) Educate children to care for their teeth.
Dr. Ortinau began collecting equipment, materials, and dental
kits (enough brushes, floss and toothpaste to last a child one year). Just
before Christmas, all the equipment an materials collected were packed in a
large container and shipped overseas.
March 2001
Along with Dr. Bob Amond (a retired oral surgeon), and Phil Caldwell
(a dental equipment specialist) of Goetzke Dental, the dental setup team
arrived one week before the rest of the volunteers in order to establish the
clinic in Hereq. The container shipped 3 months pior arrived in Gjakova just 30
minutes before the doctors. The team secured reliable power (and generators),
assembled three chairs, an xray unit, a suction unit (from a shop vac), and an
xray development box.
During the second week of the two week mission, the clinic was
fully functional and able to treat over 175 patients from Hereq, Gjakova, and
surrounding villages.
4 teams accompanied by interpreters went into primary schools
presenting educational lessons in dental hygiene using puppets and visual aids.
All told the teams distributed 4,000 dental kits to children K-8 in 5 days.
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For more information on Service International visit
www.serviceinternational.org.
If you would be interested in participating in any way with the
clinic in Kosovo, please contact Dr. Ortinau (info@ortinau.com)
for more information. Also be sure to visit the Service International website (www.serviceinternational.org)
for current updates concerning projects in Kosovo.
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