Sunday, November 3, 2013
Meet the 2014 Team
The 2013-14 UNC Moldova Project
Brenda Lopez, Rory O'Kane, Rebekah McPherson, Michael Cvelich
Brenda Lopez grew up in Mexico until age 11 before her family moved the beautiful small town of Asheboro NC. She began her higher education at Randolph community College before transferring to UNC Chapel Hill with the dream of attending Dental School in mind, where she is currently a 3rd year student. Her genuine love of dentistry is apparent to all who are lucky enough to know or work with her. Brenda truly puts the patient first whether in clinic or as an acting coordinator for SHAC, UNC's free dental clinic. Her hard work, passion for service of those in need and ingenuity will no doubt benefit the team.
Rory O'kane is a tarheel! As a boy growing up in Fuquay-Varina he remembers wanting two things; the first to attend UNC, the second to be a dentist. He is on is way having completed his undergrad as a tarheel and continuing on at UNC's dental school, where he is a third year student. He grew up with two brothers, and as any older brother fascinated with dentistry would do, he "extracted" his younger brother’s baby teeth that were near falling out, eventually his brother ran out of baby teeth and he was forced to close up shop. Where his interest may not have changed with regard to dentistry his heart has. His compassion is evident and his genuine nature and love of service make him a pleasure to work with. When his classmates were asked to nominate a member of their class for a scholarship based on character Rory won by more votes in the history of this scholarship at UNC.
Rory O'kane is a tarheel! As a boy growing up in Fuquay-Varina he remembers wanting two things; the first to attend UNC, the second to be a dentist. He is on is way having completed his undergrad as a tarheel and continuing on at UNC's dental school, where he is a third year student. He grew up with two brothers, and as any older brother fascinated with dentistry would do, he "extracted" his younger brother’s baby teeth that were near falling out, eventually his brother ran out of baby teeth and he was forced to close up shop. Where his interest may not have changed with regard to dentistry his heart has. His compassion is evident and his genuine nature and love of service make him a pleasure to work with. When his classmates were asked to nominate a member of their class for a scholarship based on character Rory won by more votes in the history of this scholarship at UNC.
Rebekah McPherson, the child of globally minded parents who
calls her siblings her best friends was born in Idaho but raised in the south,
Burlington, NC. She attended Appalachian
State University, where she never considered dentistry as a career. Years post-graduation, after traveling and
trying out different avenues of life the idea of dentistry did come to her and
she never looked back, she is currently a 3rd year dental student. She serves the Dental School as
vice-president of the student body. She has a love of experiencing life and a
desire to make a difference in the world that will benefit The Moldova Project.
Michael Cvelich grew up as the son of missionaries in Manila the capital city of the Phillippines until age 12 before moving to the triangle. After attending UNC Chapel Hill for undergrad he pursued a career coaching basketball for a couple years before altering courses and attending dental school, where he is currently a second year student. Michael is a thoughtful jovial type who will add laughter to the team. When asked to describe himself he very humbly expressed the difficulty many of us face when describing ourselves, he is never far from something kind to say about others, this in and of itself highlights some of the character traits that will make him an attribute to this mission.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The University of North Carolina
(for those of you who don't know)
is the home of the tar heel, nestled in the triangle of North Carolina
8362 kilometers or 5184 miles or 4504 nautical miles away four dental students will journey to...
*Theoretically calculated Distance
Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, is found in Eastern Europe bordered by Romania and Ukraine.
A Brief History of our cause
The first exchange between North Carolina Dental School and Moldova was in March 2000 where Dr. Hershey, Dr. Kriegsman, Dr. Mumford, and Dr. Mackler visited the country. After this visit there was a regular exchange of faculty and dentists and starting in 2007, dental students. The UNC School of Dentistry’s Moldova Project team consists of second- and third-year dental students from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry. Each year 3 or 4 students and 2 dental faculty members are selected to go to Chisinau, Moldova to volunteer at the Straseni Orphanage in March.
The medical clinic at the Staseni Orphanage was built in 2000 as a joint effort between the United States Military and the Moldovian National Army in the spirit of Partnership for Peace to provide a brighter future for all. The team will provide free dental care to the orphans during our spring break to promote better oral health to those in need.
Each year participants of the Moldova Project organize fundraising efforts to help the orphans in Moldova and ask friends and family of the dental community to help us by making donations. There are many ways to help, like donating dental supplies for use during the trip, raffle items used to fundraise for the trip and monetary donations.
If you would like to make a monetary donation please visit TheMoldovaProject and click the "Donate" link. If you would rather send dental supplies or raffle items or would like a Tax ID number for your donation please contact us at uncmoldovaproject@gmail.com. The 2014 team thanks you for your interest in our cause and for any donations you are able to give.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)