FS_030917

frankfortstation.com Life & ARts
the frankfort station | March 9, 2017 | 27
Giving back to those who need it most
Humanitarian efforts
lead Frankfort
dentist to Honduras
James Sanchez
Contributing Editor
Every year in May, Dr.
Shane Sudman and his
wife, Sara, of Atrium Family
Dental in New Lenox,
host a free dental care event
for the community. Now
they’re paying it forward
more than 1,800 miles away
from their Frankfort home.
The couple traveled to
Honduras Saturday, March
4, with a group of other
medical specialists and volunteers
for a week-long mission
trip. It’s a journey that
hits home for Sara, who was
born and raised in Honduras
until she was 5 years old before
her family migrated to
the U.S. It will be her first
trip back to her home country
since she moved.
“I think it’s a very neat
journey for Shane and I
to go on because he gets
to know where I’m from,
and most importantly, apply
what he loves to do the
most,” Sara said.
From the moment she
found out about the trip
through the Illinois State
Dental Society, she said she
“just knew we had to do it.”
Shane will be seeing a
minimum 20 patients a day,
executing fillings or removing
teeth that aren’t salvageable.
Sara, who is the operations
manager at Atrium,
will serve as a translator and
a second pair of hands to the
doctors. She is the only one
in her family not to visit
Honduras after moving.
The families they will
serve survive on an income
of less than $1 a day, according
to a coordinator of
the trip. They will be traveling
to remote areas in
Honduras where healthcare
Dr. Shane Sudman (left) and his wife, Sara, of Atrium Family
Dental, went on a mission trip to Honduras Saturday, March
4, through Saturday, March 11. Photos Submitted
is needed the most. Sarah
knows about these struggles
firsthand. She said a trip to
healthcare specialists from
her hometown was about an
eight-hour bus ride, and it’s
even worse for other villages.
She grew up with missing
teeth and cavity issues
while living there.
“I never went to the dentist
until I was here [in the
U.S.],” Sara said. “My parents
never went to one when
they were kids, and it wasn’t
until they were adults and
could afford it that got them
to start going.”
It’ll be a different working
experience for Shane,
who has the luxury of dental
assistants and up-todate
equipment at his New
Lenox office. Instead, he
will be running a mobile
makeshift clinic with limited
resources, working on
patients who have more serious
oral issues.
This is the couple’s first
mission trip and Shane’s
second time out of the country.
However, the unknowns
of traveling to a developing
country is what makes him
anxious, he said, adding that
the work itself isn’t going to
be a problem.
“I enjoy what I do,” Shane
said. “I’ve always wanted to
[be a dentist]. Ever since I
was 12, I told my mom that
Pictured is Sara Sudman (center) and her family, (from left to right) sister Maritza Deras,
mother Maria Reyes and sister Mixabel Maley when they lived in Honduras.
was what I was going to be.
So if someone’s in pain or
someone’s got an infection,
because people can die from
teeth infections, and to help
them, that’ll be so rewarding
for me.”
As for Sara, she admitted
it will be an emotional
time seeing life in her home
country from an adult perspective.
It will be a culture
shock visiting the poor
Honduran regions. As much
as this is an opportunity to
visit relatives who still live
in the country, her attention
is fully focused on being a
philanthropist.
“One of the mission leaders
said once you go down
there, have an open mind
because God’s first, the people
are second, and you’re
last,” Sara said. “This isn’t
about you. And he’s right.
It’s more about being there
to help in any way we can.
I’m going to walk away
from this a better person.”