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Last December 5, 2019, Virlanie Foundation, Inc. together with CS Star Foundation conducted a dental outreach activity in Delpan Sports Complex, Tondo, Manila. Volunteer dentists from CS Star have reached out to Virlanie beneficiaries hailed from the communities of Delpan, Parola and Aroma areas. The activity offered dental health check up services and oral prophylaxis treatments.
Dexter, 14, one of the beneficiaries who received dental treatments during that day, said, “In Parola, tooth brushing is not really a big thing. We don’t have enough water supply to take care of our oral hygiene. I appreciate that there are dental activities like these that will highlight our dental needs.” He added his hopes for his teeth as this can boost his self-confidence. “I hope too that there will be a chance to have my teeth fixed, ‘cause as you can see, I don’t look that handsome,” he shared.
Mommy Beth, 44, also from Parola, took the chance to have her and her children’s teeth checked.
“I want to take this chance to have my kids’ teeth checked and cleaned. I don’t want to miss it. I am also thankful for Virlanie because, dental needs are one of the biggest concerns in our community. We have a hard time accessing dental health care services because they are expensive,” she said.
Mommy Beth is one of the Community leaders in her area. She mentioned that she shared the dental activity to her colleagues to ensure that everybody gets a chance to have their teeth checked.
“If we can go to our dentists twice a year, why can’t they?” Among those who led the dental activity was The CS STAR Foundation’s Founders Carla Caramat and Emmylou Santos. CS STAR Foundation is a non-government organization established in 2014 to serve the special needs of marginalized populations in the Philippines. They partner with local organizations to provide direct outreach to individuals and families, to provide education, training and donation of goods.
“All plans started when I was still living in San Francisco, USA until it evolved with the help of my friends,” said Carla Caramat, Founder of CS STAR Foundation. “We want to focus on children with special needs… we did that for the past 4 years. We did a feeding program, we visited the Jade Home, the Elizabeth Home and we would take them out through an Educational outreach,” she added.
“My inspiration is, how can I get back and apply everything that I have learned through the course of my career? My exposure in working with the under-served, older, geriatric special needs population has always been near and dear to my heart. If we can go to our dentists twice a year, why can’t they?” she added.