Three Santa Clarita Volunteers Make a World of Difference

In such a tight-knit community, we often focus on ways to help those immediately surrounding us.  As a result, Santa Clarita has one of the most successful, vibrant and dedicated non-profit communities around.  One of proudest, most defining characteristics, this community’s commitment to help one another is rare, unrivaled and a shining example of what the human spirit can accomplish.
The rest of the world, however, also needs our help and boundless compassion.  To shine a light on the international impact of Santa Clarita’s good-hearted people, élite Magazine found three local people who’ve made a world of difference.  Please join them in their quest to spread this community’s love further than we ever imagined.

Connecting Cultures a World Apart
High school student launches Help4Refugees
by Lindsey Andrea Arellano

Voulette Hattar, a senior at Valencia High School, is the founder and president of Help4Refugees, a club dedicated to spreading awareness and helping refugees from the Middle East.
“My passion and dedication to this pertinent issue began last summer when I visited my family in Jordan,” said Voulette.  “My cousin took me to the back of a small church where 90 Iraqi refugees were living.”
At the refugee camp, five people slept to a room the size of a restroom, and linen sheets acted as room dividers.
“They ran because Isis threatened to killed them,” said Voulette.  “They decided to flee from Iraq to Jordan, and most of them have lived their for three years.”
Voulette was able to speak to several refugees, and they all said the refugee crisis is indeed being recognized globally; however, their stories still remain silent and a mystery to most of us, as most media outlets don’t share their personal stories.
“Seeing how little they had, and how much was taken from them, I felt like I had to do something to help,” Voulette said.  “This experience led me to become more involved in my own community, within the context of this refugee crisis.”
On December 12, 2015, several groups worked together to make a difference.  The Valencia High School Theater Department, Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Gervais School of Performing Arts presented a Student Arts Concert to raise money for UNICEF.  All of the proceeds supported the Syrian refugee children for medical care, safety, clothing, education and shelter.  The concert was 100 percent produced by all three schools as a humanitarian and educational effort.
Help4Refugees also has raised awareness at Valencia High School by passing out lollipops with facts about the refugee crisis, as well as personal statements from refugees.
“Next semester we are hoping to have a refugee speaker come to our school and talk about the refugee crisis, so they can share their personal story,” said Voulette.  “But of course that is a long-term goal.”
Voulette will be applying to the University of Southern California and is planning on majoring in international studies with a concentration on Middle East studies.
“We are always looking for more community support,” Voulette said.
For more information about Help4Refugees, email Voulette at vhshelp4refugees@gmail.com.

Providing Relief One Well at a Time

by Lindsey Andrea Arellano

In impoverished or disadvantaged areas around the world, women and children spend hours every day collecting water from sources that are typically polluted.  They often have to carry a “jerry can” or other container that can weigh more than 40 pounds as they embark on the 3.75-mile walk home.
In 2008, seven 19-year-old friends living in Southern California decided to embark on a journey to end the global water crisis, and over the years, the group has grown to include volunteers from all over the world.  Today, the Thirst Project is the world’s leading youth activism organization that builds fresh water wells in Third World countries.
“In just seven years, the Thirst Project has raised more than $8,000,000 dollars and funded projects to provide more than 280,000 people with safe, clean water,” said Evan Wesley, Director of School Clubs for Thirst Project.  A Santa Clarita resident, Evan decided to partner up with Thirst Project after receiving his bachelor’s degree in environmental science at the University of Kentucky.
“I knew I wanted to help people, but I didn’t know how,” Evan said.  “I had a friend in college who grew up in Africa and would tell me about the ongoing water crisis.  After that, I found a new perspective on what the world looks like.”
Currently, Thirst Project’s goal is to provide safe, clean water and sanitation to the entire nation of Swaziland by 2022.
“There are two big things that separate us from other large water organizations,” Evan said.  “First, we are committed to ending the water crisis in an entire country, and second, we have the power and potential to start inspiring and motivating young people.”
To mobilize the next generation, Thirst Project partnered with several celebrities, television networks and directors to raise money.  NCIS and Twilight, as well as former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, are some of the few entertainment outlets Thirst Project has worked with in the last several years.
Last year, Thirst Project worked closely with Drake, who is widely known for his roles in Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, and Yours, Mine and Ours.  Drake and Thirst Project hosted a benefit concert on University of California, Berkley’s campus in March 2015.
Based in Los Angeles, Thirst Project is dedicated to building a socially conscious generation of young people who will help end the global water crisis.  Waterborne disease kills more children every single year – more than AIDS, malaria and all world violence combined.  Small children typically do not have a strong enough immune system to fight diseases like cholera, dysentery and schistosomiasis.  By providing a community with safe drinking water, disease rates can drop by up to 88 percent.  Thirst Project believes, with this generation, the water crisis will be pushed into the history books.
For more information or to volunteer, visit www.thirstproject.org.

 Making the World Smile

by Kirsten Quinn
They say love makes the world go round, but one local oral surgeon gets the job with a smile, too.  For more than 20 years, Dr. Dean Lang has been traveling the globe to protect the smiles that need him most.  And along his journey, he’s figured out how to use his skills, time and love to make the world go round: by providing volunteer oral surgery to children and adults in some of the most remote corners of the world.
“In most cases, our patients would have no chance of being cared for otherwise,” Dr. Lang said.  “In the most extreme cases, it can be lifesaving work.”
In 1967 Spencer W. Kimball – American business, civic and religious leader – founded global non-profit AYUDA, a coalition of dentists and other volunteers dedicated to improving and sustaining the oral health and social betterment of all underserved areas.  Providing and transporting their own supplies, the volunteers set up and tear down a temporary care center, administer treatments and medication, provide lasting dental education and ensure they leave healthier, happier smiles in their wake.
“The purpose was to provide needed services to indigenous people,” Dr. Lang said.  “We started working on the Native American reservations in New Mexico and eventually moved to Central and South America in the 80s. Today Ayuda’s humanitarian outreach has expanded, providing healthcare to underserved areas as far away as Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia and Kenya.”
Since Dr. Lang joined AYUDA in the late 80s, he has participated as either a surgeon, organizer or both for one trip each year.  Each service opportunity lasts about a week, and Dr. Lang gets his team – and the whole family – involved.
“I bring my wife, kids and nurses down with me,” Dr. Lang said.  “It’s a real system.”
Dr. Lang and his team have traveled to Mexico, Belize, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Paraguay.
“So we don’t compete with local dentists, we travel to people without any access to dental care.  In many cases, we travel beyond the reach of volunteer medical groups,” Dr. Lang said.
In such locations, the first goal is often education about good hygiene and nutrition.
“Some locations are extremely primitive, while others are Third World and very impoverished,” Dr. Lang said.  “Sometimes our patients live in huts made of sticks and mud.  Many children have never owned a pair of shoes.  Some kids have front teeth that are completely decayed by age 9 – they have access to Coca Cola but not to toothbrushes.  No one has ever told them how to care for their teeth.”
So how do they meet such an immense need in just four or five days?  A team of 25-40 dentists, dental specialists and volunteers band together for long days in strenuous conditions, treating 400-500 patients in just one trip.  Often only one oral surgeon – Dr. Lang’s role – is available per trip.
In addition to immense work, AYUDA dentists also are faced with less-than ideal conditions.  Most times, power is unavailable, so Dr. Lang performs large amounts of oral surgery using classroom chairs or tables, with nothing but a headlamp strapped to his forehead.
“When seeing patients, we prioritize what’s most important,” Dr. Lang said.
Much of the work is based in education and prevention, as dentists give a child his or her first toothbrush and teach them the basics.  If the patient’s condition is more advanced, Dr. Lang cleans and drains infections, as well as performs extractions.  And when it comes time to pack up and go, the AYUDA team knows they’ve made a real difference.
“The work is rewarding enough that my son-in-law went to school to become an oral surgeon, and our son is applying to dental school because they grew up doing this kind of stuff,” Dr. Lang said.  “It becomes a part of your life – it changes your whole perspective.  As much of a sacrifice as it may sometimes feel, you take away more than you could ever give.”
For more information about Dr. Dean Lang, please contact Heritage Oral Surgery and Implant Center at 661-253-3500 or visit heritageoralsurgery.com.  For more information about AYUDA, please visit www.ayudaint.org. 

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