Our third trip of 2016 came early this year, in the month of May. This trip saw the return of Charity and her aesthetician training program that she now has down to a science. We also had more Funk than a New Orlean’s corner pub as many of Chris’s family members joined us on this wonderful journey.

This was the first time that we held a trip in April and it was because it was a special trip. I, (Dr. Brent) have three ‘worlds’ in which i spend my time: work, home and ministry. And on this trip, all three worlds collided in such a wonderful way. This was a Shine Dental exclusive trip!

I’ll be honest - this was one of my favourite trips. I’m not entirely sure why, but, perhaps it was because we had so many kids and young adults that jived better than you could ever imagine. They had their own little posse and even had a designated dining table every night. It warms my heart to think back about how well that worked out.

To precede our 2016 Shine Dental Trip, we held a mini trip with The Wongs and 3 staff from Shine Dental here in Winnipeg. Although it was one of our smallest trips, Bill, a regular on these humanitarian outreaches told us that it was his favourite trip ever. And that’s saying a lot, since I believe he’s been on almost 14 trips with us!

The second trip of the year and the third to our new location in Javillar, Puerto Plata, DR was a resounding success. Not only did our 33 participants come together to see 100’s in the medical clinic and build two brand new homes for deserving recipients in Javillar, we saw the continuation of our sustainable job training with Charity from Just Breathe Aesthetics.

A wonderful team of 45 loving and giving Canadians joining with at least as many selfless, hardworking Dominicans to truly became a family last week. Together, we built 3 homes (a single family home, duplex and triplex), trained 9 men as mechanics, treated & educated hundreds of people with medical and dental ailments, launched an after school program for girls, and taught positive parenting courses and, most importantly, built deep relationships.

New Beginnings! This trip found us across the water from Nuevo Renacer in the barrio of Javillar. Brent and Wendy felt that after 20 house builds in Nuevo Renacer and with 6 different organizations helping in this community, they would spread some love across the river to Javillar where no groups were helping and where the poverty levels were the same and even worse at times.

We just returned from an immensely rewarding and impacting trip with 47 people...our largest group to date!Wow, have things have grown since our early trips 9 years ago when it was brent, myself and a couple friends doing dental clinics.We couldn't have imagined that, in the next several years we'd bring dental and medical care to thousands in need, build 20 homes, and have teams of nearly 50 people spending their own hard-earned cash to join us...and make this all possible.

Our first trip of the year to Nuevo Renacer was an amazing trip! We had 39 participants from all across Canada. We were an adult team with only 2 children - my beloved boys, Jonah and Isaiah. Another 2 homes were built, making these our 15th and 16th homes in 3 years! So exciting!

This trip to Nuevo Renecar and surrounding areas of Puerto Plata was our largest trip to date. We had a contingent of 40 people from all over North America. Along with dental clinics in Nuevo Renacer and Playa Dorada, 12 medical clinics all over Puerto Plata, and midwifery clinics in much needed barrios of the DR, we built 2 homes for FOUR families! It was an amazing trip, indeed.

We were able to complete 2 houses in our favourite barrio and the medical and dental teams saw over 600 people, while still helping out, half-time, on the construction projects.

Every successive trip, we endeavour to improve on the previous trips.  This trip allowed for the dental team to participate in the construction of two houses throughout the week, instead of simply at the end of the week. We were privileged to have been granted access to perform our dental duties in the 'comfort' of the hotel this trip! Although our backs and wrists were still compromised from poor ergonomics, the working environment was a delight and consistent power was a plus!

The trip becomes a little more of a family affair as Trevor was accompanied by his wife and three children, Rod brought his daughter, Bethany and of course Jonah and Isaiah were with us.

This was a tremendous trip with 17 adults. Jonah and Isaiah were joined by 7 year old Samantha and 6 month old Gemma – both of whom were kind enough to bring their parents.Again we were able to build 2 homes working in daily temperatures of 32 – 34 degrees C with Humidex ratings of 45 C each day.We were blessed with 2 doctors from Winnipeg working with our nurses and Dr. Reg going from village to village providing medical services.