A group of students from Temple University School of Dentistry, accompanied by Dean Amid Ismail and Associate Dean Jo Ann Nyquist, visited Shalva for three days, to experience how children with disabilities have abilities. The multiethnic group, which included American Christians, Muslims and Jews, were joined one day by a group of dental students from Al Quds University Dental School, under the leadership of Dr. Musa Bajali. The group spent their time with all the different age groups at Shalva, getting to know the children and helping the staff. While there was some professional enrichment, both from Prof. Joseph Shapira, director of the Shalva Oral Health for Everyone program (OHEV), and from Dr. Ariel Tannenbaum, director of the Down Syndrome Center at Hadassah Hospital, the focus of the visit was hands-on with the children. They helped with the Purim carnival, spent time in the various pre-school classrooms and after-school groups, and even helped serve dinner. The idea was to get to know the children as children, and that they did. In the process, they learned that children with disabilities have many undiscovered talents – a valuable lesson for dentists and for us all.
