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For more information about Global Dental Relief, call 303-858-8857 or visit globaldentalrelief.org.

Children are curious by nature about things new and unfamiliar, so it's no wonder the Cambodian youngsters were excited about visitors in their school. They chattered in anticipation and peeked into the field clinic's windows, happily lining up to experience something common — and often loathed — among American children: a visit to the dentist. 

"Going to the dentist over there is a much more joyous experience. It's exciting," says Laurie Mathews, director of Denver-based nonprofit Global Dental Relief (GDR). "The children we see have never seen a dentist, that's for certain ... Afterward, you'll see the kids in the courtyard, surrounded by other kids, with their mouths open and they're pointing inside. Everyone wants to see."

Such was the scene at Rolous Primary and Middle schools in Cambodia, which GDR visited in February to conduct what Mathews likes to call their organized "three-ring circus of dentistry" and provide care for a staggering number of those excited children. During that clinic, the all-volunteer team saw 800 students over the course of six days. 


Paul and Karen Richards, of Louisville, were among those volunteers. 

"When they mentioned that number at the beginning, I thought there was no way," says recently retired Karen Richards, whose Cambodia trip was her first with GDR. 

Delving deeper into the numbers, among the 800 youngsters seen, the clinic — a team of 16 volunteers and two team leaders consisting of dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and non-dental volunteers like the Richardses — performed 450 fluoride treatments, 555 fillings and 251 extractions. The sheer volume of care the organization provided in so little time and the difference it will make in the children's lives staggered Karen. 

Local farm women sell vegetables in a small market on the main road leadingfrom Siem Reap to Tonle Sap Lake.
Local farm women sell vegetables in a small market on the main road leading from Siem Reap to Tonle Sap Lake. (Laurie Mathews / Courtesy photo)
"I've never seen anything like it. They pulled a lot of teeth, because they were (filled with pus) and infected," she says, adding that their duties as non-dental-professional volunteers were nonetheless up close to such medical realities. She explains that the conditions could be adverse, with 90-degree temperatures, no air conditioning and sometimes physically demanding work. But then, with her next breath, Karen says, "But it's an amazing experience, and I'll do it again."

Karen and Paul Richards' trip is an example of humanitarian vacationing, often called voluntourism, which has been a unique pillar of Global Dental Relief's strategy since its first years of operation. Today, GDR has hosted more than 1,300 volunteers and operates in six countries: Nepal, India, Vietnam, Guatemala, Cambodia and Kenya. The volunteer hours have made a huge difference. 

"Since we started working, we've seen 84,000 children with the U.S. dollar equivalent of $16.5 million in donated care," Mathews says. Though the organization is based in Denver, volunteers come from all over the world and from all different walks of life. Half of each GDR volunteer team is made up of dentists and hygienists, but half are ordinary folks such as Karen and Paul Richards. 

"Travel is so popular, and then travel with meaning and giving back, you do it once and you're hooked," Mathews says. "It's a whole different relationship with the place you're visiting."

Paul Richards himself is proof of GDR's 60 percent volunteer retention rate. Though Cambodia was Karen's first such trip, her husband has participated twice previously, in Vietnam. He says his main reasons for participating were an urge to help the less fortunate, an interest in exotic travel and the opportunity to meet interesting people. 

"After going on the three trips, every one of those criteria exceeded my expectations," says Paul, a psychologist. "You're in the school system. You're not in some fancy hotel ... You're really seeing a whole different aspect of the country than being an ordinary tourist."

Cambodian students await the first dentalexams of their lives.
Cambodian students await the first dental exams of their lives. (Laurie Mathews / Courtesy photo)
GDR volunteer trips offer more than hard work. After the dental clinic, each trip has the option of planned excursions of a more recreational, traditionally tourist nature. In Nepal, volunteers can trek the Himalayas; in Vietnam, perhaps a boat cruise around scenic Ha Long Bay. In Cambodia, Paul and Karen Richards spent several days touring the UNESCO World Heritage site, Angkor Wat. 

"That's what is so cool about it," Paul says. "You match the hard work of volunteering with the fun stuff."

Of course, that hard work is immensely valuable seeing that dentistry is one of the quickest, most concrete ways to improve someone's life, Mathews says. 

"If you can imagine never going to a dentist and the kind of pain and chronic infection involved, then you see what a direct and easy fix it is," she says. As an example, GDR visited an Indian monastery to provide dental care for the younger monks, aged 8-14. As the organization often does, they revisited the same site two years later.

"They come in the first time and they have 4 or 5 abscessed teeth and chronic infections, and you take those teeth out and you save some of the others,'" Mathews says. "In two years, you see they're way healthier. They're not wasting their energy fighting infection. They sleep better, eat better, concentrate better. It really changes their quality of life in profound ways."

And it's the volunteer labor that allows GDR to spend only $10 per child for each to receive about $200 worth of dental care. It helps that, though the cost is tax deductible, volunteers pay 100 percent of their expenses, including airfare, lodging, transfers and meals. GDR does help by negotiating low group rates that are relatively all-inclusive. 

"We've grown about 50 percent in the last four years. Right now, we're running 16 trips and seeing about 14,000 children a year," Mathews says. She adds that rising interest voluntourism, especially among Baby Boomers, has definitely contributed to that growth, but that traveling with the organization is not the only way to support GDR. The organization also stages fundraisers and offers sponsorships of individual kids, whole schools or even entire countries.

After supporting GDR stateside for years, however, Karen Richards says going on the trip was far more transformative, pushing her outside her comfort zone and teaching her a whole new way to travel the world. 

"You see up close and personal what's being done. You're not sending in check and wondering if it just goes to administration or what it's going to," Karen says. "Besides doing something good and seeing someplace new, by actually being a part of the community, you see more than you would ever see from a tour bus."