Southern California

Amigos de los Californios is a benefi ciary of the Foundation's support. Californios are a unique population of families that live on scattered goat ranches in the rugged mountains of Sierra de San Francisco near the middle of the Baja California peninsula. They are descended from the soldier settlers who came to Baja California with the Jesuit priests in the 1600's. They have very limited access to dental and medical care, until recently. A trip to the nearest town with a doctor requires a day's mule's ride out of the mountains and then a half day bus ride. A further barrier to any care is economic. Life in the mountains is a subsistence economy based on raising goats and making cheese from milk. Families rarely have enough cash to pay for transportation, let alone dental care.

In 1996 two San Diego dentists with a support group of six people and some very primitive dental equipment drove the 750 miles to Santa Marta to introduce dental care to the Californios. They were warmly received and appreciated. This group made a commitment to return each spring Their fi rst priority was to serve the children and then to treat as many adults as possible. The program involved dental health education, tooth brushing instructions, application of fl uoride and sealants, extractions, restorations, and a recent prosthetic service--acrylic removable partial dentures.

With generous grants from the PFA Foundation, in 1999, and again in 2001, they were able to purchase Aseptico folding patient-dentist-assistant chairs, supplies, and a lab motor for the dental technicians. Hayes Handpiece Repair built four custom dental units in one-foot cube boxes equipped with fi beroptic handpieces. Contributions from individuals and local Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs allowed them to add surgical headlamps, suction, compressors, and generators. In addition they assembled a portable kitchen capable of turning out 100 meals a day. The portable equipment is so complete that their clinic can go anywhere in the world and be self-suffi cient. The only item the local community needs to supply is clean water.

In their most recent clinic trip in March 2007, the staff numbered twenty-four and included a physician, an optometrist, two nurses, two lab techs, an oral surgeon, and a pediatric dentist with two general assistants, an instrument processor, a receptionist, and a kitchen crew.

The five-day clinics in each of the villages treated about 160 patients. The government recently sent in a team of public health offi cials to Santa Marta to assess the community's health needs. They were amazed at the outstanding dental health they found there.

The most recent initiative of the Amigos is collaboration with the dental students of the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California in Tijuana.

On a recent trip, using their portable equipment, some twelve dental students working under their pediatric professor Dr. Torres, rated 150 seven and eight-year-old children in San Quentin.

Amigos de los Californios is an all-volunteer organization with a mission to bring dental, medical, and health care to the underserved population of the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja, California.

Mississippi

Senior dental student Jason M. Jennings of the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry wrote a personal letter to express his thanks for the Foundation Scholarship Award.