Local dental professional to provide her expertise during April mission trip to Honduras

Brittany Coleman, Registered/Certified Dental Assistant at Waukon Dental for the past four years, will be taking the dental skills she has been performing on local patients to a more global level for a week this next month. Coleman will be joining several other dental and surgical professionals on a mission trip to Honduras through the Sharing Resources Worldwide (SRW) organization.
"I’ve always wanted to go on a mission trip and help provide for others," Coleman said of the opportunity. "I love to travel, and what a perfect opportunity to use my skills and training as a Registered and Certified Dental Assistant and go on a mission trip."
Coleman learned of the mission trip through the CEREC (One Appointment Crown) Study Club she is part of out of La Crosse, WI. She will be one of three registered dental assistants making the trip along with one dentist, three registered dental hygienists and a pediatric ocular plastic surgery team.
The group of dental experts will be providing services at the John Eaves Medical/Dental Clinic in Honduras. Coleman says her efforts during the mission trip will focus on the more routine services, such as exams, x-rays, cleanings, fillings, extractions and operative work as needed. She will also be providing dental education to children on preventive oral hygiene care with daily brushing. All of these services will be provided at no cost to the person receiving the services.
"I will meet the team in Madison, WI, then we fly to Atlanta, GA, and then to San Pedro Sula, Honduras," Coleman explained. "Once we land, then we take a bus ride into Siguatepeque, Honduras, where we will stay until we return home."
The Sharing Resources Worldwide organization was founded in 2002 by Lisa Fernandez, RN and Mary Dowling, RN to bring much needed health care to children worldwide. SRW continues today, with medical and dental teams, to deliver care in areas where there is great need. With no paid staff members, the SRW mission is only possible through the dedication and generosity of volunteers from the medical profession who pay their own expenses to travel with SRW teams and work closely with local medical personnel and community volunteers in other countries to deliver care.
In an effort to assist Coleman with her own expenses for the mission trip, staff members at Waukon Dental have organized their own fundraising efforts. For more information on how to contribute to those fundraising efforts, contact the Waukon Dental office.
Although the mission trip is certainly more of the prior (a mission) than the latter (a trip), Coleman hopes to also get an opportunity to take in some of the amenities of the area she is serving. "We will be at the dental clinic every day, but hopefully I get to take part in other things in the evenings and see parts of the city," she said.
When asked what she is looking most forward to about the trip, Coleman simply replied, "Everything! This is out of my comfort zone - first time flying, first time out of the country, first time on a mission trip. I am excited to get to know the dental team that I’m traveling with, meeting the children of Honduras, meeting the patients and knowing that I’m doing something that will benefit others and make a difference in their lives as well as my own."