Vote for Your Favorite CNN Hero

Medical Marvel
Which CNN Hero profiled onair and online is your favorite?
You've seen them... been inspired by them... now it's your turn to vote for them by October 15th!

To vote for Dr. Trey Wilson and Tabasamu, go to http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/index.html

Tabasamu Night : Day 7 Addendum

Last night, we celebrated one of Kitale's annual highlights, the extravaganza known as Tabasamu Night, hosted by Team Tabasamu USA. Tabasamu Night is Tabasamu's "thank you" to our Kenya based volunteers and supporters. The BMCC Conference Hall was decorated in blue and green balloons, crepe paper, streamers and Chinese lanterns. It was an wildly festive sight for the otherwise reserved city of Kitale. Tabasamu's founder, Dr. Trey Wilson, opened the evening with a moving welcome and tribute to our volunteers and acknowledged Kitale as Tabasamu's second home -- "home is where the heart is." Rev. Emmanuel Chemengich was our incredibly capable and entertaining master of ceremonies for the second year in a row. Erin Prediger, Chris Hermann, Lynn Preminger and Jessica Pao presented a shortened version of the Tooth Tour presentation, including the puppet show, that we took to schools and churches. The crowd LOVED it. And our Kenyan volunteers offered up a seemingly humorous skit, which I am still trying to figure out!

An extreme amount of love and care was put into our dinner of goat, lamb, ugali, rice, spinach and carrots -- and we owe tremendous thanks to our BMCC hosts. They were THRILLED to be able to cater this event, with no stove, oven or refrigerator. We have only one more day in Kitale, and then we begin our long journey back to the States.

Amani,
Otho

Days 6 and 7: September 27 and 28, 2007

The Internet Cafe is still not in service.  Kevin Jennings has written today's blog entry via Blackberry:

As a twelve-year old in 1975, I was transfixed by the images of the final American pull out from Vietnam, with people clawing their way on to the helicopters as they took off from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.  That panic, that sense of desperation, terrified me. 

Here in Kenya, I have tasted a bit of that desperation this week.  After working in the Kapenguria clinic for three days, I was assigned Thursday to go on the "Tooth Tour."  We needed to stop by our other clinic -- Mt. Elgon in Kitale -- on the way, and Debbie Croll and I got out of the van to stretch our legs. Debbie was soon accosted by a Kenyan man who was frustrated by our inability to serve all who needed our services.

"Why can't you serve all of us?"

Nonplussed, Debbie began to explain that there are a limited number of us, that we are only here for a week, but got cut off. 

"Why can't you stay longer?"

Debbie began to explain that we all have other jobs, that we are volunteering our time, and that we have to get back to our regular lives.  The Kenyan cut her off once more, asking what older folks like me like to call the $64,000 Question.

"People in your country have so much.  Why don't more of you come to help us?"

Why indeed.

We began Friday at Kapenguria by explaining to folks that this would be our last day, that we could not serve everyone, and that those whose names were past a certain point on the list should go home.  But they didn't. They stayed, hopeful that somehow we could control the space-time continuum and serve more of them than is humanly possible given the time and resources we have.  In the early afternoon, as it became apparent that we were indeed closing down the clinic and that all hope was about to be lost, a sizable group formed and began to press closer and closer to the doors of our treatment rooms.  It felt a bit like that day in Saigon in 1975, with the privileged Americans taking off and leaving the less fortunate "natives" behind.  It was the hardest moment of my week as my privileges were so nakedly apparent.  For no other than reason than I was lucky enough to be born in North Carolina and not Nairobi, I get to go back to New York, knowing I have the money to call Dr. Trey whenever my tooth hurts and get him to fix it.  I was on the proverbial helicopter.  The Kenyans would be left behind.

"People in your country have so much.  Why don't more of you come to help us?"

Why indeed.

Kevin Jennings,
____________________________

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Executive Director
Oppenheimer Asset Management
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New York, New York 10166

Tel:  (212) 667-4322
Fax: (212) 667-4970
otho.kerr@opco.com
____________________________

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Day 5: September 26, 2007

Again, no power at the Cafe, so we are sending a Blackberry entry. While a blog entry from one of the clinic teams was expected by now, it has been difficult since they do not have access to the Internet. We hope to give you a clinic update tomorrow rather than another Tooth Tour update.

As I start the writing of this entry it is 5:05 PM and we (Lynn Preminger, Chris Hermann, Gary Rabinowitz and I) are sitting in a van in the middle of a dirt road waiting for a truck to come to our aid. We have just left a local church where we sat inside a half-constructed facility -- a brick church that will cost $4,500 all-in to build -- and taught a group of adults and children. My team's day of the Tooth Tour consisted of talking to one school of 1,000 children and visiting the aforementioned church of 50 people.

But we are trapped! All of the roads back to the Bishop Muge Conference Center have now become impassable due to heavy, heavy afternoon rains. (Each day we have been here has been warm and sunny, without exception, but the afternoons have ended with rain, only to be followed by clear evenings. The moon is waxing to full.)

It is now 6:00 PM. This is becoming an interesting afternoon! We have called for a truck to meet us a few miles up the road, but we still have to reach the spot where we are to meet the truck even though the roads are muddy, slick and treacherous to navigate, but the locals seem willing to help! The Kenyans seem to have an exceptional sense of supporting one another And they are keen to have any reason to stare at the foreigners, especially my white (muzungu) team mates. Whenever we have become stuck in the road, many people have come to our aid. As I write this, the local Kenyans are assisting us, running alongside our van for about 3 kms to make sure that we do not get stuck! But we do get stuck. And somehow we now have 50 Kenyans helping us. We have gotten out of the van and are now following it, as the locals push it for another 2 kms, the van sliding every which way as it is pushed. We are amazed no legs are lost! It is incredible!! I'm not certain what the source of generosity is, but we are told by a local vicar that the Kenyans have a strong cooperative social ethic. They really put themselves in harm's way to help us as the van slips and slides.

As we walk behind the van, the sun sets, it becomes dark, but we are serenaded by joyful, local young school girls who have joined the festivities. We are actually enjoying ourselves. How did we say "thanks" to our suitors? We gave them toothbrushes, of course.

By the time we get home, it is 9:30 PM. It took four and a half hours to travel about 30 miles! What is amazing is the spirit that was experienced by the whole team!

We are ready to go to bed!

Amani,
Otho

Day 4: September 25, 2007

Due to electrical problems in Kitale, Kenya, updates have been difficult. The Internet Cafe has not had access to the Internet for a few days. This is being sent from Otho's Blackberry. Full updates are difficult to type on a Blackberry. We had assumed that the Cafe would have recovered access to the Internet by now. We apologize for the inconvenience. But here is a general update.

For those of you following us on this blog, please know that the clinics in Kitale and Kapenguria have been extraordinarily busy, relying on generators for electricity -- of course! The two Tooth Tours have fought through hail -- the hail was pea-sized -- and mud and have already taught over 3,000 primary students and 1,000 secondary students. (And we have passed out as many toothbrushes, thanks to the Eavensons and Johnson & Johnson.) The primary students have screamed with laughter watching our puppet show, and the secondary students have been exceptionally attentive and inquisitive, surprised that processed foods and sugars can cause tooth decay.

Wherever we make a Tooth Tour presentation, be it a school or a church, we seem to be greeted with a song. And we have ended most of our visits by assessing people in pain. If a person is in need of an extraction, we present them with a voucher that pays for a free extraction at one of two hospitals.

After three years of serving the area, Tabasamu is becoming more of a household name. Folks want our dental services.

We have spent considerable time asking ourselves about the mission of Tabasamu, and we are beginning to think that the greater value is in the education that we provide. While the clinics are important, we seem to have a greater impact helping our Kenyan friends understand the importance of proper oral hygiene and diet. We are struck but the outstanding quality of teeth of the senior citizens versus the poor quality of the teeth of young adults and children who seem to have taken a strong liking to sugary diets. It's our mission to change this way of thinking.

The presumed upcoming election has been the talk of the people. There seems to be great interest in the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who recently met with Pres. Bush. The people we have met seem to be interested in eliminating corruption and creating more economic for the masses, and the opposition leader promises such a change in government. He is apparently very charismatic. We witnessed a rally at Kenyatta Int'l Airport in Nairobi in support of the opposition.

Our stay at the Bishop Muge Conference Center has been filled with love and hospitality. Our food is cooked over open flames and our clothes are washed by hand and hung to dry. Carbohydrates, including rice, potatoes and ugali, are big on our menu. You can rest assured as well that hard boiled eggs will be served at breakfast and included in our bag lunches. Chai tea is a daily offering before dinner.

Th moon should be full tonight in a sky that is spectacular. After dinner, many of us just sit and stare at the open sky and stars. The country is beautiful. The sight of a monkey, melon stork or mongoose is commonplace.

We are filled with a sense of gratitude for what we have and what we are able to share with others. But we are grateful for the generosity and hospitality that we have received in return.

Amani,
Otho and Chris

Days 2 and 3: September 23 and September 24, 2007

We've had a full two days in Kitale and although the stress may be high at times, the atmosphere is always light, which tends to be the case when surrounded by so many extraordinary people who have nothing but the best of intentions and the largest of hearts.
Sunday morning and the majority of the afternoon was spent at the largest, but most beautiful church service at St. Luke's Anglican Church. What stood out the most to me was the singing, first by the Sunday School children followed by the adult choir. The Tabasamu men also took part in the choir. After the service, we met with members of the church and enjoyed sandwiches and Chai tea along with a lovingly packed lunch by Maggie, who manages the Bishop Muge Conference Center.

Following lunch, Team Tabasamu met for the first time in its entirety, including both the American and Kenyan volunteers. The remainder of the afternoon and evening was spent getting both clinics in order and making sure the Tooth Tour people were prepared. Dinner back at the BBMC followed, where we spent most of the time laughing and expressing our excitement for the upcoming week.

For Richard, Otho, and myself, Monday was spent on a Tooth Tour with a stop at a secondary school and one at a parish. The Tooth Tour is a program to educate local Kenyans about the importance of dental health and how to care for their teeth.

We spoke in front of approximately 200 students at the Kwanza Friends Secondary School, where Otho received the most laughs from his imitation of how hard he brushed his teeth as a boy.

Our second stop was at St. John's ACK Church, where we spoke in front of a mixed audience of men, women, and children, with a special guest appearance by the town's chief. It was interesting to observe such an intimidating man dressed in a military uniform standing there with a black crop in one hand and a bright green toothbrush, given by the team, in the other.

The best part of today was the reception we received from both places we visited. The people were so warm, welcoming, and genuinely appreciative of our presence and the knowledge we had to share. I'm looking forward to sharing our stories tonight over dinner with the rest of the team and hearing how their day was spent at the clinics. I'm left with a feeling of anticipation and excitement about the remaining days; the places yet to visit and people still to meet.

Amani,
Erin Prediger

The Adventure Starts Tonight

At 9:25 tonight, Team Tabasamu boards Virgin Atlantic Flight #002 and wings its way from Newark Airport to London, England. The Team will arrive in London Friday morning, spend the day in London and then catch another red-eye to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving Saturday at 6:05 AM -- 11:05 PM EST. After a bumpy eight hour drive that will take the Team through the extraordinary Great Rift Valley and across the Equator, the Team will arrive in Kitale, Kenya.

If the technology is working, daily updates will be posted on this blog beginning Sunday, September 23rd!! Wish us luck!

Robin Roberts Makes Us Smile

One person who gives us a big smile every morning is Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC's Good Morning America. She's beautiful, smart, elegant, funny, gracious and compassionate. And she has a GREAT smile!! Robin recently underwent surgery for breast cancer and is undergoing additional treatment, according to ABC. But she continues to smile. We dedicate our upcoming mission to Robin and other women who have faced the challenges of breast cancer. Like Robin, our friends Chris and Donna have recently struggled with breast cancer but they have done so with courage and dignity, keeping us always smiling along the way.

One Month to Go!

The countdown begins!

Today, Dr. Paul Leventhal hosted the first of two training sessions for eight members of Team Tabasamu.

Through the generosity of our friends and family and corporate supporters such as Henry Schein and Johnson and Johnson, we have received at least $20,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

One month to go!

Support Tabasamu Today!

Tabasamu is proud to announce that 14 individuals have registered to travel to Kenya on September 20th for a 10-day mission to work with our friends in western Kenya. If you can't join us in person, please feel free to make a donation by going to http://www.searchingforsmiles.net/.

Say "hello" to Team Tabasamu 2007. We welcome Richard Ansong, Debbie Croll, Kyle Evans, Lisa Green, Chris Hermann, Kevin Jennings, Otho Kerr, Kaylyn Koberna, Dr. Paul Leventhal, Evelyn Pantuso, Jessica Pao, Erin Prediger, Dr. Gary Rabinowitz, Lynn Seiden-Preminger and founder Dr. Trey Wilson.

We're Going Back!!

Team Tabasamu 2007 is already making plans to fly to Kitale, Kenya on the evening of September 20, 2007. Stay tuned for our upcoming plans.

Dr. Trey Wilson on CNN: "Medical Marvel"

Tonight, CNN honored Dr. Trey Wilson as a "CNN Hero". To view the segment that was broadcasted and to view additional material available only on the CNN website, go to http://edition.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/specials/2007/05/29/heroes.trey.wilson.cnn

We welcome your support. To make a donation, please go to our website at www.searchingforsmiles.net

Dr. Trey on CNN May 31

Many of you have been kind enough to ask when CNN will air its segment "CNN Heroes", featuring Tabasamu's own Dr. Trey Wilson. The segment is scheduled to premiere on Thursday May 31st on CNN on Anderson Cooper/AC360 during the 11pm hour. Usually these segments air at the end of the hour, closer to midnight. This premiere could change if AC360 decides to do some kind of extended special report. Other airtimes are not set in stone, but after the premiere, the segment is set to air as follows:

CNN
Tuesday, June 5th
American Morning: 6am - 9am (usually in the 8am hour)
CNN Newsroom: 10am - 1pm
CNN Newsroom: 1pm - 4pm
Paula Zahn Now: 8pm - 9pm + any repeats
plus
Saturday, June 9th: 10am, 2pm, 5pm, 10pm

HEADLINE NEWS
Tuesday, June 5th
Weekdays: 6am, 3pm, 5pm, 6pm
Glenn Beck: 7pm, 9pm, Midnight
Nancy Grace: 8pm, 10pm, am
plus
Saturday, June 9th: 11:30am, 2pm

Today, Evelyn Pantuso and her brother Fred went live with our new website -- www.searchingforsmiles.net! (And they made it so easy to make donations. Give it a try!!)

Evelyn was in crunch mode this week to create the site in order to have it available by next Thursday, May 31st, when CNN airs a piece called CNN Heroes, which honors "everyday heroes" and references our site. Next week's featured hero is our own Dr. Trey Wilson, the visionary behind Tabasamu. This CNN global initiative showcases "CNN Heroes," ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary deeds in areas ranging from the environment to civil rights. Culminating in a year-end awards gala, the network will honor the most outstanding of viewer-submitted nominees from around the world.

But our excitement does not stop there. May 31st also happens to be the day that we host our Bucks County Tabasamu Night at Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury PA at 6:30 p.m. We plan to share our experiences from last year and recruit volunteer and financial support for our upcoming trip in September. We will duplicate the event on June 11, from 6 to 8 p.m., in the Reisler Room at Temple Shaaray Tefila (79th and 2nd Ave) in New York City).

Team Tabasamu 2006 Trip Report

Team Tabasamu has just returned from their 12 day dental mission project in Kitale, Kenya – exhausted and exhilarated from the experience, and enthusiastic about its future. The 12-member team included six members of Trinity (Kaylyn Koberna, Otho Kerr, Kyle Evans, Jerry Harbaugh, Megg King and Trey Wilson), three people from New York City (Dr Gary Rabinowitz, Rev. Cari Jackson and Lisa Green) and three people from Bucks County (Dr. Paul Leventhal, Dental Hygienist Tonia Richard and Evelyn Pantuso). Each person brought an array of gifts and talents that allowed our group to function as a team with only 12 hours of training time together. It was a truly awesome thing to see how the cosmic puzzle of personalities and abilities fit together and how things just got done.

Our mission was to provide free dental care and education for underserved communities in the Anglican Diocese of Kitale in western Kenya. In addition, our mission is to provide opportunities for cross-cultural exchange between the two communities. We established some very specific goals in advance of our trip. Here’s the breakdown of our goals and our experiences: (and yes, our equipment arrived on time and in place in advance of our arrival!) We hoped to provide actual treatment (fillings and cleanings) to at least 150 people, and our team of four dental professionals did just that!! We hoped to support local professional treatment for at least another 300 people (dental extractions). We actually examined and treated more than 500 people with the help of about 16 Kenyan volunteers!! We hoped to educate another 450 people on good oral hygiene and preventative techniques. Our “Tooth Tour” team actually made presentations to more than 5000 students at 14 academies and at the two clinics we operated!! Otho Kerr did a phenomenal job heading up the Tooth Tour (“Safari ya Meno” in Kiswahili). Our vans not only visited 14 schools but also some very small parishes in more remote areas of the Diocese. Our programs offered a wonderfully crafted puppet show called “How Tooth Became Healthy” that helped young people understand prevention and the role of diet in a very amusing and musical narrative. The puppet show was conceived by Doylestown’s Evelyn Pantuso (her husband has won four Emmys for his work on “Sesame Street” but she conceived the idea herself!) There were also visual aids and a panel discussion that enabled older children to learn about improving oral health.

The average Kenyan suffers from EXTREMELY poor oral health, which adversely affects them in a myriad of ways. Dental hygiene and dietary awareness are topics that get very little attention in Kenya. In addition, there is only one dentist for every 300,000 individuals. Knowledge of available dental resources is very poor and dental services most often accessed are emergent (e.g. treating infections and tooth extractions). It is a drain on an individual’s budget to have a tooth pulled ($1.30 US) and so many people live in a chronic state of pain and infection. Painkillers and antibiotics are also not readily available. Our goal is to help our dental community be aware of alternative treatments like fillings, dental cleanings and fluoride treatments and to offer those individuals that choice if the situation is not too serious. We also encouraged students at the academies to consider dentistry as a career and were met with a great deal of interest. We were encouraged by the curiosity and enthusiasm of the students and will maintain contact with interested students to support their potential career choice in dentistry. Kenya needs quality, affordable dental care and between the two clinics we opened for the week and the Tooth Tours, Tabasamu provided a service that the population clearly needs and values.

Some of the highlights of cross-cultural experience were: our first annual “Tabasamu Night.” We invited 40 people from the Diocese to a beautifully decorated banquet to say “Welcome,” “Thank-you,” and “Here we are.” Each table of four told a particular tooth story, some based on local folklore and others based on experience. Otho led the entertainment with a solo rendition, a capella, of his brand new now famous Broadway-bound rendition of Tabasamu sang to the melody of “Every Man has a Daydream.” We brought to the group’s attention that Tabasamu was not exclusively a Christian Mission and that we had all just finished experiencing the holy day of Yom Kippur with our Jewish friends on the team. They were very appreciative of this to say the least. As a symbol of the friendship, our two communities exchanged a friendship tile from the Moravian Tileworks in Doylestown and toothbrushes were given to every guest. Every day held endless opportunities to go outside of oneself and experience life through the eyes, ears and steps of Kenyans. Whether it was from the local dishes we ate, the music we heard, the open markets we visited, and the smiling faces we encountered everywhere, Team Tabasamu came away with an appreciation for how God’s Love is celebrated and shared in a beautiful corner of Kenya.

Trey Wilson

Jambo!! Today is October 1st, but each of us will be taking turns writing
about what we experienced the day before. Kaylyn and I are sitting in the
Cyber Cafe in "downtown" Kitale, Kenya wanting you to know that Team
Tabasamu made it to Kitale after flying five hours to London, flying eight
hours to Nairobi and driving seven hours to Kitale. (Former
Vice-presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was on our flight and said a
kind "hello.") Despite a little rain on the drive to Kitale, we enjoyed
witnessing the splendor and vastness of the Great Rift Valley, where
civilization began. We got chills as we crossed the Equator, and we saw
enough monkeys and zebras to temporarily satisfy our thirst to see some
African wildlife. We lost only one bag along the way (during the flight,
that is). We were greeted at the Bishop Muge Conference Center, where we
are staying, by Rev. and Dorcas Chemengich who have made this trip possible.
There isn't much to say about this first day except that the entire gang
is excited to be in Kenya and to do what we came here to do. We
anticipate a lot of living, laughing and loving over the course of our stay.
(Please be sure to scroll down the entire blog to find out more about what
happened prior to this trip.) Amani, Otho

MONDAY
2nd October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):
- Kitale Academy Secondary (9.30AM) and Primary (11.30AM)
- St. Mark’s Cherangany Girls (2PM) Boys (4PM)

TUESDAY
3rd October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):
-St. John’s, Chepareria A.C.K (10AM)
- Chepareria Primary and Chepareria Girls H.S.

WEDNESDAY
4th October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):

- Nasokol Girls’ School 3.30PM; (Morning)
- St. Francis School for the Blind School (12Noon)
- Shimolatewa (Morning hrs)
---------------------------------
EVENING (6:00 PM): Party BMCC
----------------------------------

THURSDAY
5th October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):
-Kapsokwony A.C.K /Kaptama (Morning)
-Kapsokwony H.S (Afternoon)


FRIDAY
6th October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):
- Osorongai H.S.
- Bishop Muge H.S.
- St. Patrick’s, H.S.

SATURDAY
7th October, 2006
Clinics: Kapenguria District Hospital and Mt. Elgon Hospital, Kitale
Safari ya meno (Tooth Tour):
- Safari ya meno Team divide to join dental doctors at Kapenguria and Kitale

SUNDAY
8th October, 2006
TEAM DEPARTS

Today, Rev. Marshall Shelly commissioned Team Tabasamu to go forth on its mission to Kenya. Team Tabasamu leaves in just four days!

The team is over the moon with enthusiasm. In the last week, Trey has conducted two four hour training sessions, preparing Team Tabasamu to enter the world of dental care in Kenya. Evelyn unveiled her incredible children's puppet show on taking care of teeth , which will have its world debut on the Tooth Tour. Otho introduced a new song into the Tabasamu songbook. The Kobernas and J&J are sending us with 1,000 toothbrushes. Lisa presented each team member with a team shirt. And everybody else has joined in to secure the final details. But the highlight of the week was our receiving an incredibly generous donation of much-needed medicines from our annual supporter, Dr. Roger Emert. Thanks Roger!

Well, say your prayers. We are ready to go. If all goes as planned, we will be sending updates on this blog beginning next Monday at the latest!! Stay tuned... OK

Kaylyn (sixteen years old) has been with Tabasamu from the start!

While Tabasamu is a dental mission, it has served as a wonderful catalyst for other projects that can help underprivileged communities in western Kenya. In the past several days, Tabasamu has received incredibly generous donations of fabric from several sources. Mary Kerr, Julia Kerr, Linda Sue Blue, Otho Kerr Jr. and Audrie Lavine sent separate shipments of fabric that will be used in technical schools that currently rely on paper (as shown) to teach young people how to sew. Currently, these schools can't afford to use real fabric, even for year-end projects. We hope that the provision of fabric will not only give the children a more realistic learning experience, but will also give them a chance to create marketable products, the sale of which may fund future purchases of fabric, creating a self-sustaining operation.