October 13, 2011

I'm generally not one to let this much time slip between the time I do something and when I blog about it, but I wanted to get the final product out the door and then report on it.  That product was a video I produced about the Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day. 

I was asked to attend that event to document the clinic.  I wanted to showcase the organizational side by focusing on the equipment, how it was transported and assembled and then to tell the story of why this location was selected and what it meant to the local people to have this clinic available to treat the children of Spirit Lake. 

The video is twenty minutes long because I wanted more time to tell the story, rather than simply show the clinic.  I've embedded the video for youto watch below. 

In addition, I took a number of the photographs I took and put them into an ebook.  I've embedded that as well, but you can download it as a .pdf file by choosing the download link in the control bar below the ebook.



Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day

October 3, 2011

As I said last week, I traveled to North Dakota to the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation at Ft. Totten.  I had hoped to do more reporting and updating along the way, but my access to the internet was sparse and even non-existent at times. So rather than trying to find ways to report daily, I opted to wait and update you at the end of the event with a summary of the project.

I want to begin at the end.  I had spent a good two days filming the setup of the clinic and then the clinic itself, gathering a couple of hours of footage, a dozen or so interviews and was feeling pretty good about the material I had to work with.  Suddenly, this nine year old girl walks up to me and asks if I would take her picture.  I gladly grabbed my camera and noticed that she had sat down on the chair I had setup for filming interviews.  

“Would you like for me to video you?”  I asked?

“Okay,” she said with a bit of hesitancy in her voice.

I asked her who she had come with and she indicated that her aunt had brought her. I visited with her aunt, just to make certain that she understood my purpose for video taping her niece.  I began by asking her a few basic questions, just to help her become more comfortable in front of the camera and the lights.  That’s when I asked her what she had gotten done a the clinic and how important it was to her that dental volunteers had come together to give her care.

So many times when I talk with patients, it’s after hope has left them and their future is seemingly void of possibilities.  But in the eyes and the words of this little girl was a sense that because of the help the children of Spirit Lake received last week, there is hope. 

As we finished talking, I asked her if their was anything else she wanted to say.  She thanked the volunteers and spoke the words that will end my documentary on the Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day.  As she walked away, I wiped the tears from my eyes. She is the very reason I get so excited to tell these stories.

September 28, 2011

OK, cold might be an overstatement, but I did see my breath when I walked outside.  Nevertheless, we are on our way to our next stop along the way before we arrive in Ft. Totten, ND tonight.

September 26, 2011

I'm leaving in the morning for a trip to North Dakota to document (photos and video) a Mission of Mercy project on the Spirit Lake reservation.  It'll be a two day drive and I'll post updates along the way.

The Spirit Lake Tribe (Mni Wakan Oyate) is a Sioux tribe with about 6700 members, of which an estimated 6000 live on the reservation.  The reservation was established in 1867.

According to the America's Mission of Mercy, this will be smaller clinic and I understand that the care will be aimed at children.  Dr. John Fales of Olathe and his staff are traveling as well.  Look for updates throughout the week.  I'm taking my video camera, lighting, etc., along with my still camera and I'll be posting throughout the week.

I invite you to join me through the week.

September 14, 2011

I'm back after a few days of traveling, first on Monday to the Wichita District Dental Society annual meeting and then yesterday to the 2011 Regional Oral Health Summit where we discussed the role of public-private partnerships in improving oral health.  This is a nice segue into tomorrow's Oral Health Kansas annual meeting in Overland Park.  I'll be attending parts of that, but not all.

The meeting yesterday was an opportunity for Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas to come together and talk about how oral health can be improved.  Of course the focus in the Kansas breakout was about rural access, the discussions were broad and it was evident that there is not simply one solution. The KDA is already working towards most of the ideas that came out of that breakout group, including utilizing bridging loans and other funding to bring new dentists into rural areas. The breakout also gave the KDA an opportunity to talk about the need for funding to support adult Medicaid, which is an integral part of the access puzzle.

We're wrapping up our district meetings over the next few days and then on Monday, I'll be traveling to Marysville to speak to the local Rotary Club about the Kansas Mission of Mercy project.

September 6, 2011

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were exploring a new KDA member benefit we were calling the KDA.connect Classroom. It's an online CE video series we are launching this month. We filmed a short trailer with our new KDA.connect Classroom introduction.

If you are interested in giving a CE Program please let us know.  We are looking for speakers for the CE series.  We welcome other organizations, state agencies and other dentists who may want to give a 1 hour CE lecture.  Please contact greg@ksdental.org if you are intereseted.

August 31, 2011

Frustration.  That pretty much explains my feelings this morning after I have tried to upload the KDA Video Minute to Facebook.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason, Facebook handles videos differently on "business pages" than on "personal pages."  Even posting the link on the KDA page results in just a link and not the video embedded into the story post.  I know, it' probably minor, but I think it is more effective to have the video on the page, rather than linking through.

So while we have the KDA Video Minute posted on our website, here it is.  This week, we talk about the KDA's 140 Years, 140 Stories photo project.