Dana L. Yeoman, DDS

Dentures and Implants

The Power of a Smile to Transcend Borders Part 24

Morning found my Smile Alliance International team headed on a bus to another baby orphanage.  It was a bit of a drive so Tanya, our translator, passed the time teaching me how to count in Ukrainian.  That day I made it to a whopping 10.  I was getting my kindergarden education in numbers, and a college level history of the Soviet occupation in Ukraine to go with it.  Tanya happened to be a college professor in political science, world history, and the English language.  However, she made financial ends meet by taking on odd jobs like translating for a group of rowdy Americans.

This in itself floored me.  Tanya was a highly educated, skilled, intelligent, and beautiful lady in her early 30’s.  Her husband had gotten a job in Ireland where he could make enough money to support her.  She dreamed of joining him, but couldn’t get the paperwork approved through her government.  In Ukraine, she earned about $150 per year as a professor.  They could not afford to even consider children, even if he had lived nearby to try.

We stopped by an indoor swap meet to do a little shopping before going to work at the orphanage.  American women are crazy shoppers.  We go in with a mission to come out with something, whether we need it or not, just for the exhilaration of gloating over our prize at the end of the day.  Tanya patiently came with us, translating as we needed her.  Needless to say, she did not buy a thing, but recommended nice brands for us and negotiated with the sellers.

I noticed that Tanya was admiring a darling pair of pink flip flops with pretty little rose buds on them.  They had just barely started getting popular back in the States.  She mentioned that all the Americans in our group were wearing flip flops, and she would buy these if she could so she could dress cute like us.  She put them back on the table and walked on.  There was no way she could afford the $15 it took to buy something for “fun.”

While Tanya was involved with helping someone else, my friend and I split the cost of the pink sandals.  We giggled like two little school girls over the fact that we were going to surprise her with our present.  It was all we could do to contain ourselves and act like nothing was going on when we joined her again.  

We presented Tanya the package as if she were the Queen of England, with great flair and ceremony.  Our giggles were insuppressible.  We just knew that she would be elated!  But our gimmicks were cut short.  The unthinkable happened.  Tanya began to weep.  She was so touched by our generosity, that she could do nothing but cry.  Our gift cost more than what she earned in a month.  These may have well been the Queen’s jewels for all she could afford them. Tanya was deeply thankful at such a precious gift.  She wore them with enormous pride the rest of the trip, and became a steadfast friend. I was humbled by her response and the way we had tossed around $15 like it was nothing.

Back on the bus on our way to the baby orphanage, our leader, Vicki Nelson, was trying to prepare us for what we would see.  She had been to this particular orphanage on an earlier trip to scout the territory, taking stock of what was needed.  Vicki warned us that this orphanage was not so conventional as the last.  We were bringing several baby blankets, clothes, bottles, and diapers to deliver to a very needy place.  I could not understand why the first baby orphanage we had visited was overflowing with donations and hand-me-downs, while this one would lack the basic necessities.

When we got there, what we saw shocked us all, and answered (albeit poorly) my naive question.