From retirement to Rwanda
Gabriel Constans
Dr. James Hall worked harder after he retired than at any time during his forty years of dentistry. His career, which included years in the US military and work at a San Diego, California practice, was by no means light on the workload. But his recent, post-retirement stint with a medical team at a center for orphans in Rwanda was overwhelmingly exhausting.
In Rwanda he found over 400 young people who had never seen a dentist in their lives, let alone any oral hygiene instruction or care. “Connecting with the kids and making eye contact is amazing, like a universal language, ” says Dr. Hall, who saw up to 25 children daily.
Paying his own way to work at El Shaddai Center for Orphans in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, “felt like the right thing to do,” says Dr. Hall, Jim to his friends. He had the time, the money and most importantly, the skill and desire to make a difference in the lives of children who had survived the 1994 genocide and the AIDS pandemic. He had never thought about traveling all the way to Africa until a friend told him about a group that was going to provide medical care and trauma relief.
“It was like the day I decided to become a dentist,” Jim recalls. “I had just graduated from Purdue and gone to see my family dentist. He asked me what I was going to do with my life and said he ’d always thought that I would be a good dentist. When he said that, it was like a bolt of lightening that went up my spine. It gave me a chill. I immediately knew he was right, even though I ’d never thought about it before.”
The team Dr. Hall joined was part of a group that consisted of nurses, therapists, teachers, journalists and economists. They worked in the orphanage and at other teaching centers in Kigali. El Shaddai Centre had minimal facilities, a leaky roof and lighting that was dim to non-existant. A wooden bench served as a dental chair. With the help of interpreters, Dr. Hall asked each child to lie down on the raised bench so he could examine their teeth and gums. “Some people think being a dentist is boring,” says Dr. Hall, “but everyone that comes presents a new problem, a new thing to solve; a new communication. I learn something new all the time. ”
In addition to his passion for learning, Jim has a big heart. He spoke to each child as if he were the only person in the world and told the children how important their teeth were. More importantly, he stressed their importance as individuals. He reminded them that each of them was “a very special person.” Even though he said this hundreds of times, it was always sincere. The kids responded with nods, smiles and gigantic grins of understanding.
For three weeks, Dr. Hall sweated morning to night in the African heat, working to see as many children as he could. Tireless in his endeavours, he could not see all of the children and realized that something greater needed to be done. Before leaving Rwanda, Dr. Hall and another team member found some local dentists and were able to meet with the Kigali Dental Association.
“It seemed to me that it was better for us to pay for local dentists to provide ongoing care for the kids, ” Dr. Hall says. “Not only does it keep it in the community, with Rwandans helping Rwandans, but it also helps the local economy. ”
There are over a million orphans in Rwanda. Countless agencies, both governmental and private, are trying to ease the impact such a situation has on society by providing food, clothing, shelter and education. But there are still thousands of children living on the streets or temporarily housed in government centers, only to be released back on their own after three to six months.
Dr. Hall had no illusions that he was going to “save the world.” “If I can reach just one kid and they believe their teeth are really important,” Jim says, “I’ve done something. I know something good came out of this. I just trust the way the world works .”
Upon entering the abandoned automotive warehouse that is now used for El Shaddai, the team Dr. Hall travelled with was greeted with exuberant music and dance by the children, teachers and staff. They received the same gift upon their departure and were deeply touched.
“The sound of the music and voices was overwhelming,” Jim says wistfully. “I had tears running down my cheek.”
It is ironic that it is Dr. Hall who feels grateful for his experience in Rwanda, as much or more so than those who received his care. “Dentistry is so intimate,” he says softly. “I feel it is a great privilege to be a dentist. It takes such great concentration. Everything and everyone else is excluded. It keeps you in the moment. ”
Perhaps it is that sense of “being in the moment” that made it possible for this “retired” dentist to connect so closely with children and teenagers from another culture and country. Without being able to speak their language, he was able to look beyond their personal suffering, recent past, and present conditions and see them as precious human beings who want the same things we all do — to be seen, honoured and cared for.
