Two second-year UConn dental students reflect on their work in Liberia over the summer

Seventeen years ago was the last time second-year UConn dental students Faith Joy Kollie and Asonyu Nshanji visited Africa. Kollie was born in Liberia, while Nshanji briefly lived in Cameroon as a child.

But this summer, both returned to the continent together, for one mission—to complete a five-day clinical internship and lead oral health workshops in Liberia.

The idea to go back to her home country came to Kollie after doing a few oral health workshops as a first-year dental student, seeing firsthand the importance of teaching oral health education in the community.

“After 17 years, I finally went home to Liberia this summer,” says Kollie. “The reason it took me so long was because I always knew that when I returned, I wanted to give back. Serving underserved communities has always been a passion of mine. Two years ago, I hosted an oral health workshop in the U.S., and after seeing how many people it impacted, I knew had to bring that same preventative care.”

She was joined by Nshanji, who had plans to go back to Cameroon this summer to do medical and dental outreach with her mother, a Doctor of Nursing Practice, under her nonprofit organization, Kindred Health Mission. However, those plans were put on hold due to the ongoing conflict known as the Anglophone Crisis, which has made travel to the English-speaking region where Nshanji’s family is from increasingly unsafe.

When Nshanji heard about Kollie’s trip to Liberia, she was moved by her mission and wanted to still have the opportunity to reconnect with Africa. So, she decided to join her.

After meeting with the Liberia Medical and Dental Council, Kollie and Nshanji were placed at a mission clinic called ELWA Trinity Dental Care, supervised by Dr. Jerene B. Sackie, an early-career Liberian dentist trained in the European country Georgia, to help gain clinical exposure.

Read the full story on UConn Today.