We thank you for another year of loyal support. International Health Emissaries has wonderful donors and volunteers helping us sustain our mission of providing dental health care and education to people far less fortunate than ourselves. As you know, it is our policy that IHE teams will only travel to very isolated places that have NO dental care available for the poor. We also offer our volunteers the possibility to become goodwill ambassadors by representing their country and to give them the opportunity to experience the joy of improving the quality of someone else’s life.
This past year, we returned to sponsoring all four dental missions again for the first time since 2019. It has been challenging because the governments of the countries where we serve have changed some of the procedures required for American health professionals to qualify to treat patients. Also, many of the people we had previously worked with as our hosts were no longer available. We had to “start over” with developing relationships with new and sometimes inexperienced people.
As you know, we had to cancel all 10 of our planned dental missions in 2020, 2021, and the first half of 2022. Finally in the fall of 2022, we returned to Belize and Guatemala. In 2023, we treated people in Peru and Belize, but were disappointed to cancel our team going to Guatemala at the last minute due to civil unrest. During 2024, we were able to complete three trips successfully to Peru, Ecuador, and Guatemala. In 2025, we have treated patients in Belize (March) and Peru (May) and will be treating patients in Ecuador (July) and Guatemala (November).
IHE’s Board of Directors will host our annual Fiesta for our donors and volunteers:
2:00 PM, Sunday, August 24, 2025
Jack & Tina Faia’s home
8 Sommerset Rise, Monterey
RSVP 647-8742 or fai32@comcast.net
We will have a signup sheet for future dental missions in 2026 – 2027. Missions are normally filled over one year in advance. The Fiesta gives participants of previous missions a chance to share their experiences with you and each other. There will be videos, slide shows, and plenty of great food and beverages. It is always a wonderful party, full of generous and adventurous people. We hope that you can join us. If you are unable to attend the Fiesta, but would like to participate in one of our dental missions contact Jack via email: fai32@comcast.net
Thank you,
John Faia
International Health Emissaries
Mission Statement
The first goal of International Health Emissaries (IHE), a private non-profit non-government organization(NGO), is to provide medical and dental care at no cost to indigent people throughout the world who otherwise would not have access to such health services. IHE also works closely with local health care providers and rural schools to support their local programs and to provide public health education.
The second goal of IHE is to provide an opportunity for American volunteers to positively and effectively represent the United States of America. Our volunteers are emissaries when providing these services and gain a special appreciation of the foreign country visited as well as an appreciation of our own country. We give our volunteers the opportunity to make lasting relationships with people throughout the world.
