Aminata had arrived before daybreak to the HOPE Center in hopes of receiving dental treatment. She joined a line of several dozen people but soon several hundred people had gathered for the bi-weekly screening. Daylight came and with it, the dental team. As they went into the compound and began preparing for the day, the crowd outside heard them singing and laughing together. When a young woman and tall man, both in scrubs, emerged from the metal gate, the crowd grew tense; the screening would now begin. The ‘doctors’ had a handful of tickets and began at opposite ends of the long line. Aminata grew hopeful as she saw the woman ‘doctor’ handing several tickets to people whose cheeks were swollen with infection. Her own cheek and neck were swollen and had been for weeks. The woman Dr.’s brown eyes met her own and she was quickly given a ticket and told to go through the gate for treatment. Success! The pain was intense and although she didn’t know what would be coming next, Aminata knew she was one step closer to help.

Once she had answered a few questions, Aminata joined fifty other patients in a large waiting room. They all sat on wooden benches and listened to another woman in scrubs talk to them about how to take care of their teeth. She also explained why Mercy Ships had come to Sierra Leone; to follow the example of Jesus. Names were called and one by one the crowd entered the procedure room. Occasionally an exclamation of pain would erupt from inside but it would soon be followed by a grateful patient exiting the room. Aminata grew tired as she sat, waiting for her name to be called. The infection had kept her from sleeping; laying down put pressure on her throat and it was difficult for her to breathe. It had also limited her ability to open her mouth so she had also been without proper food for days. As she began to drift off, her name was called. She rose and walked into a big, cool room. It was full of strange-looking equipment and tools. More people in scrubs were attending to patients lying in chairs all around the room. She was directed to a chair in the farthest corner of the clinic. Nervously, she sat down at the end of the strange chair. When it began to fall forward, she was told to sit further back and then to lie down on it. Two women with long brown hair bent over her observing and checking her swollen face as a local man began asking her questions. They asked her to open and she moved her lips to show clenched teeth, her jaw locked shut. Their limited exam revealed that three rotting teeth were the source of the infection. They would not be able to extract the teeth as long as the infection kept the jaw locked tight. The man explained that they would have to ‘get the bad water out’ to make the swelling go down. It would be painful but it would help. She braced as pain shot through her cheek, penetrating to the angry nerves and wild infection. The doctors held her hands comfortingly as they offered words of encouragement, “Well done, you’re brave-oh!” She relaxed, taking courage in their words that this would help and she might be able to sleep tonight. It was a painful few minutes after the injection as the doctors worked quickly to relieve the pressure, but then it was over. She was given several small bags of medicine, some for pain, others for the infection and instructed to take it three times a day, “morning, sun time and night”. She nodded, and met the eyes of each doctor in an effort to say thank you. They nodded their assent and repeated their encouragement, “You did well. It will take time but take the medicine and we’ll see you in 2 days.”        

When she returned, the swelling was somewhat improved. They drained infection from the cheek again and gave her thin wooden sticks to exercise the jaw muscle and encourage the locked jaw to open. Once again, they encouraged her to keep taking the medicine, drink the sweet milky liquid they gave her so she would stay strong and return in a few days. This visit became a ritual for over a month. Slowly, very slowly, the swelling was going down but with the source of infection still present it was a difficult fight.        

She always went to the same corner and was attended by the same doctors. By now, Aminata had begun to recognize the people in the scrubs. Today, she had exchanged her regular t-shirt and faded lapa (skirt) for a brightly patterned fabric and tied a long strip of it around her head. As she lay back in the chair, the doctors prepared for the usual ritual but today Aminata looked from one to the other, making sure she had both their attention with a mischievous look in her eyes. She had a surprise. As they curiously watched her, she opened her mouth to reveal a whole 2cm of space between her teeth! Her mouth was slightly OPEN! It was still painful and a very small space but it impressed the doctors. One of them announced, “Wow! Now that we can work with! We’ll finally be able to extract those teeth!!” Another injection, some pressure and a few tears later the teeth were out. True healing could finally begin. It was a victory the little team had won together.        

The next checkup showed significant improvement. Opening was still limited, her cheek was still tender to touch but it would only get better as time went on. She would live to tell of her experience with the Mercy Ship doctors and their journey together.                  


I will never forget this patient. She was a slender, petite woman in her mid-twenties, close to my own age, with big beautiful hazel eyes. The empathy I felt for her, and many other patients, is indescribable. The instant you see them twinge in pain, or a tear roll down their cheek you want to instantly make it better, erase the pain and restore their mouth and beautiful white teeth. I can’t imagine the pain she’s gone through, but I was blessed and so grateful to be a part of restoring her oral health and quite possibly saving her life as the infection could easily have killed her had it gone unchecked. It’s stories, small victories like this that make me fall in love with these people and my job over and over again. Thank you for making stories like this possible.