On March 9, 2019, this year's D.R.O.P.S. Sri Lanka Mission started with a group of volunteers including doctors and pediatric dentists with helpers, teachers and translators.
1,200 km in 5 days | Over 2,500 patients treated | 9 different sites
The group impacted the lives of over 2500 people, 80% of whom were very poor and underprivileged, sick or disabled children. The sites included poor villages with broken homes with little to no education, medical care, or even basic necessities like soap.
A newly established village, basically just a small settlement of bamboo and leaf huts, with no running water, toilets or electricity and with the nearest school 7.5 km away; a cancer transit hospital; an extremely dilapidated home for the elderly; a children's community project in the middle of Colombo; an isolated and poor community built around a rubber plantation; an orphanage with children under the age of 5 (most children have severe congenital heart defects or other severe disabilities due to alcohol or drug abuse).
The focus of the D.R.O.P.S. mission each year is to make a difference today for a better future for the people who participate in the D.R.O.P.S. visits. To this end, important educational classes on brushing teeth, washing hands, personal hygiene, healthy eating and exercise habits are offered during the visits to reduce a variety of health problems and risks. Sri Lanka's lower classes are particularly exposed to these because they lack basic knowledge on these topics. This applies to both children and adults. Therefore, the focus is on imparting this knowledge to children and adults. People usually suffer from low blood sugar and in other cases sometimes malnutrition, diabetes, obesity, underweight, bad teeth or heart problems. The goal of the volunteers is to spread this knowledge to as many people as possible, so that they too become a drop that spreads this knowledge throughout the country, starting with one village/community at a time, in order to reduce the impact of as many diseases and illnesses that can be prevented as possible.
Doctors and dentists also provided important medical assistance and support, as they do on every visit - diseases and other problems were identified and treated (when feasible), and critical conditions were monitored by care teams.
Finally - while waiting for doctors - volunteers provided light entertainment and engaged in activities such as face painting, balloon animals, and coloring contests. A variety of toys were distributed to create a fun environment that brought joy and smiles in a sometimes very ugly and difficult world. Also some important donations such as umbrellas, water bottles, socks, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, baby clothes and diapers and soap were distributed to provide some relief and support for a better life.
Highlights and achievements during the D.R.O.P.S. Sri Lanka 2019 mission:
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