GUEST ARTICLE
Greater Calling: Becoming a Global Change Agent learn more about the importance of dental hygiene, good nutrition, and overall healthy lifestyle choices.
Submitted by Orion T. Netsanet Partnership Development Representative, Greater Calling
Introduction We all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to work with passion and purpose to make the world better—a greater calling. The question may be, “Why can’t this be done through your workplace today?” Greater Calling believes it can. Greater Calling has over 25 years of experience in alleviating poverty in impoverished communities. Our data-driven model of community transformation is tailored and replicable. Our unique community-to-community model connects dentistry professionals in the U.S. with some of the most vulnerable communities worldwide, including Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Russia, and Uganda. Through oral health and hygiene programs, leadership academies, water projects, educational support, women empowerment, and grief and trauma counseling—your dental office can make an impact.
Many children who receive dental care have previously avoided dental clinics for various reasons, waiting until their pain is unbearable before seeking out care to. Children’s teeth are severely neglected and develop complications by the time they are seen. Most children who are orphaned only come to receive dental care once they require extensive treatment. Your partnership with Greater Calling can support the oral health and hygiene of vulnerable children and orphans in Russia.
Global Leadership Academy Uganda is the youngest country in the world, with 50% of its population under the age of 14 years old. This young population averages 5.8 births per female and many families live in child-headed households. These events, along with an HIV epidemic, claimed the lives of entire older generations, leaving younger generations with little guidance and mentorship. The Leadership Academy, along with development programs and vocational training centers, were designed to serve and train young people (ages 15-30) and community leaders with skills and practices that enable them to become transformative and service-oriented leaders within their community. Our objective is to
You become part of a community of leaders known as a Global Change Agents—someone who unlocks their human potential through corporate social responsibility while using their business to make the world a better place.
Global Dental Programs Currently, there are two (2) dental programs partnered in Russia located in the Kostroma and the Vladimir regions. Dentists at each clinic provide dental care to orphans on a weekly basis two times a week, six hours a day. Youth beneficiaries receive care for chipped and damaged teeth, cavity fillings, and plaque removal. They are also empowered and 24
WEST MICHIGAN DISTRICT DENTAL SOCIETY | WINTER ISSUE 2022
