July 08 Dental Civil Action Project in Djibouti

Ship in the Round-About
Today, myself, the medical equipment repair technician, a dentist and two dental techs went out on a Dent-CAP on a mission to deliver donated dental supplies and free technical support. The staff at the Adventist Health Center was grateful for the attention and assistance.



The dental staff offered their expertise in teaching Djiboutian children on how to brush their teeth. It was taught to children ages 5 to 16. The existing method of brushing their teeth is by using sticks. They would take a twig off a branch of a tree and munch on the end until it splits, then they would take that and brush their teeth with it. Not very sanitary, but it is better than nothing.

Another day in Paradise in Djibouti

I got to work on their dental chair that was built in the 1960’s. It was having intermittent problems with the controls in the chair. I discovered that the board was soaked in lubricating oil which was likely causing the loss in connectivity. I recommended that the board be sprayed down with electrical “contact fluid” which will dissolve all the oil and impurities. Otherwise, nothing can be done to fix it unless they change out the board, which is unlikely to still be in production, however it may be scrapped from an old chair from somewhere in the world. Or if someone could just donate a more modern dental chair, that would be even better.

Traffic and Cott Sales after two p.m.

With the overwhelming population of Djiboutians being hooked on the drug, cott. Dental hygiene is generally bad because the cott makes their gums rot and the result of that is that teeth can be pulled out with little or no effort over time. It is ironic that the number one cott seller in Djibouti is the President’s wife. Having the population addicted to cott keeps them all happy.

I was also educated that for a man to eat all the food on his plate is being greedy. A man should waste his food, because the man eats first, then the wife and lastly, the kids.


The supermarket in the heart of Djibouti I was told that this supermarket is the second largest market in Djibouti. It is roughly the size of a "Ralphs"(for you west coast people), "Piggly Wiggly" (for you southern folks) or "Giant" (for you east coast people). So yeah, it isn't that big. The owners are Saudi and they frequently travel to Taiwan to acquire goods to sell in the market.

Wild Djiboutian Goats

Meal at the All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant - A mix of Arabic and African cuisine

I also got to eat in a restaurant in downtown Djibouti. It wasn't too bad. It was a mix of Arabic and African cuisine. I was told that the menu changed everyday depending on what they can get. Sometimes they have ice cream, but today they had custard and watermelon.

Homes in Djibouti In this picture, don't be fooled. Most of the population lives in the homes made of tin and held together with rope, tires, et cetera. It is a third world country. I have no clue who lives in those big homes. I think it's the French foreign nationals.

Djiboutian Goats In the driver's class, they tell us that if you were to hit anybody with your car, hit a Djiboutian because it is cheaper to hit a Djiboutian than somebody's goat. If we crash and kill a goat, not only do we have to pay for the goat, we would have to pay for the goat and three generations. That's a lot.