I changed my project from CIS (helping children) to helping HIV/AID's infected people with their dental needs.For this, I volunteer at Bering Omega Dental Clinic's administration section. I have been here since November '11, clocking in 6 hours / week religiosly.
I wanted to do some volunteer work in Fall last year and so I started searching for a place where I can really make a difference. I also wanted it to have something to do with Dentistry as I have a liking towards this field. After applying to many places, I was awarded a few choices and decided on Bering Omega because I realised that it was different than all others.
HHH is for homeless people but I found it less helpful, its possibly due to my roots in Kenya where I have seen real poverty and the homeless here are not so in the true sense. I found many of them to be drug addicts who had run away from their homes. San Jose was another good choice but it was not different either. Bering Omega was my best choice because they are a Dental Clinic that offers a full range of oral and dental healthcare services to those with HIV/AIDS in the South-East Texas region.
For those with suppressed immune systems due to HIV/AIDS, proper dental care is of the utmost importance. HIV positive individuals can often suffer severe consequences from untreated infections that do not occur among people with healthy immune systems, many of which can ultimately be fatal if left untreated. I learnt a lot about the US system of management at Bering Omega, they have a custom database system to schedule appointments, admit patients, recording and filing patient files. They have a semi-automated system which enables them to manage some records in digital format while allowing some others to be kept manually.
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