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Show Retired Dentist Continues to Give Service Around the World i '.""V i Several years before retiring retir-ing from his dental practice. Dr. David Dickerson and wife, Karen, of Pleasant Grove, were invited by neighbors to join a service project going to a small village in Mexico. He and two other dentists in the three bus loads of volunteers decided to take their own equipment and perform limited dentistry for the locals. The success of this venture prompted them to return re-turn the following year with a portable dental unit and ample suppli is. T.ie week of Thanksgiving Thanksgiv-ing 1998, more than 100 men, women and children headed to Mexico with computers and other materials to be used in a building they would erect next to the school. The dentists were surprised by the constant flow of patients wanting their services, servic-es, which made it impossible to help with the construction. Dr. Dickerson had purchased pur-chased leather gloves in anticipation antici-pation of handling the locally made cinder block, but never having the time to use them, presented them to the bishop of the small ward through an interpreter. inter-preter. As the former mission ary explained that the gloves represented Dr. Dickerson's gratitude for the help he had rendered throughout the week, tears rolled down the bishop's cheeks. He thought, "If a $13 pair of gloves can have that kind of impact, what can I do?" The Dickerson's have been doing it ever since. He and his dentist friends began looking for opportunities opportuni-ties to do dental work exclusively exclu-sively and became acquainted with Deseret International, a locally formed foundation that has created medical miracles in many third-world countries. From this connection came the inspiration to create their own enterprise, naming it AYUDA, which means 'help' in Spanish. The Dickerson's have traveled at least twice a year, mostly to countries where their services are in great demand, including Tonga, Peru, Nicaragua, Nica-ragua, Paraguay, Guatemala, Chile, Cambodia and The Dominican Republic. Heart-touching Heart-touching stories have emerged from each village and community commu-nity as dentists and their assistants assis-tants perform vital dental work on people who are often with- Dr. David Dickerson and wife, Karen, of Pleasant Grove travel at least twice a year, mostly to countries where their services are in great demand, including Tonga, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Guatemala, Chile, Cambodia and the Dominican Republic. out what American's consider bare necessities. The humility and gratitude grati-tude of these people have been the catalyst for the Dickerson's commitment to return year after year at their own expense. Over the past decade, many people have been drafted into this unique field of service, including in-cluding children, grandchildren, Scouts working on Eagle projects, proj-ects, and most recently a sister and brother-in-law who now act as Dr. Dickerson's assistants. The Pleasant Grove Lion's Club 'honored Dr. Dickerson in February at their annual Humanitarian Hu-manitarian Award's Dinner and were rewarded with a power point presentation highlighting highlight-ing ma ty experiences from the Dickerson's past 13 years of service. David and Karen Dicker-son Dicker-son feel they have been greatly blessed through the opportunities opportuni-ties they've had to share their means with those who are less fortunate. They are not looking for accolades, only volunteers to assist them in what they know is their true mission in life. |