Spicy Matter

Now we really kept you hanging for a few days! Please excuse our inconsistency.

Thursday: the morning went largely normally. We started treatments at 8 a.m. That day, we had a lot of patients. Many children with severely damaged teeth. The fact that so many permanent teeth are actually damaged at such a young age really hit us hard. I never felt so strongly before that we are doing everything but it’s just a drop in the bucket. There is so much to do that sometimes you don’t feel like you’re improving anything at all. But at least we can alleviate the pain for the moment.

However, with the help of the fantastic assistants on-site, we were able to explain a bit about brushing teeth to some kids and hope that maybe the next generation will have a little less trouble.

And since group prophylaxis works so well in Germany, on Thursday afternoon, we went to a community center in the slums with the head of Minimolars, Dr. Ulf Zuschlag, his wife, the other two interns, and an assistant, where volunteers teach local children. There we were able to explain oral hygiene, play games with the children, and distribute toothbrushes and healthy snacks. One child liked being with us so much that he immediately wanted to accompany us home until his mother came running behind him, laughing, and picked him up again.

On Friday, we worked normally again and then took the bus in the evening towards the coast to Kampot. Once there, we almost immediately fell into bed.

Today, we woke up very early and explored our resort complex and then met up in town with the other two girls from the clinic - Mara and Annalina, who we are growing fonder of. There was a brunch, and then a longer ride in a moto-remorque through the countryside to La Plantation. This is a sustainable pepper and spice plantation that also supports the education of children in the rural area by financing English teachers for the weekends and teachers and materials for the village schools. There we were able to participate in a cooking class and learned how to make curry paste and coconut milk ourselves and turn them into Amok, green curry, and green mango salad.

Afterwards, there was a tour of the plantation followed by a tasting of the different varieties of pepper and spice salts. We learned a lot about cultivation and how the different colors of pepper come about.

After shopping in the associated store, we returned to the city and ended the evening in a café, followed by a little stroll through the night market.

Tomorrow, we will probably explore the river a bit with the hotel’s kayaks. We'll report back earlier this time, promise.