This Christmas, University at Buffalo (N.Y.) professor Othman Shibly, DDS, will travel to Lebanon to provide dental care for nearly 2,000 child refugees, according to a university news release.
From Dec. 25-30, Dr. Shibly, clinical professor and assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at the dental school, will visit refugee camps in Lebanon and provide services ranging from filling cavities to extractions. This will be his fifth trip to Lebanon and Kurdistan in 2019.
“People's needs don't stop when there is unrest," Dr. Shibly said.
Since 2012, the dentist has helped open and support more than 20 dental clinics for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and the Kurdish region of Iraq. He has worked with the UB Miles for Smiles program, and has been supported by the Henry Schein Cares Foundation, Colgate-Palmolive and Syrian American Medical Society.
Dr. Shibly also created a community healthcare worker training program in Lebanon, hiring six full-time healthcare workers from refugee communities thus far.