The children of El Rodeo, Honduras know how to greet visitors.
With melodic voices lifting up song, enthusiastic clapping and warm smiles mixed with a few giggles, nearly 100 children stood on the steps of their village school to welcome visitors from St. Basil the Great Parish. They had heard the visitors from Ohio were bringing gifts.
El Rodeo was the final stop during an afternoon of dental hygiene education. Using an oversized model of a mouth and a supersized toothbrush, parishioners demonstrated how to properly brush teeth.
“Twice a day,” Carrie Georgopoulos said in American-accented Spanish, urging the children to brush in the morning and at night. She was one of a group of St. Basil members who took time off from building a church to visit outlying villages.
“Circular, circular,” repeated Georgopoulos, as she moved the toothbrush over the huge plastic teeth before her attentive audience.
After the demonstration, each child received their own toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste with the hope that their families will continue to practice good dental hygiene long after the St. Basil folks leave the village.
Dental hygiene and medical care consistently have been part of the work of St. Basil parishioners since the first mission trip in 2000, said Father Walter Jenne, pastor. Now, when Father Jenne puts the word out in the parish bulletin that a group is heading to Honduras, toothbrushes and toothpaste begin showing up. They come from the parish PSR program, students at St. Michael School in Independence, which is affiliated with the parish, and parishioners who bring items to weekend Masses. Enough materials are donated to fill three or four large suitcases.
Three years ago, Father Jenne said, several dentists from the parish and their peers decided to support a Honduran dentist who would treat the residents of the city of San Francisco de la Paz. Based in a clinic at the compound where the St. Basil parishioners are based during their visits, the dentist offers a wide range of services to local residents.
A health clinic is also on site with a doctor providing basic care, preventative care and health education services.