Volunteering a family activity for Halifax dentist
Dr. Sura Hadad believes in helping others and paying it forward – an example she endeavors to set for her four children.
“I love helping people,” says Dr. Hadad, a practising dentist in Halifax, N.S. and a part-time instructor at the Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University. “I love to see people smiling.”
In the summer of 2018, Dr. Hadad and her 16-year-old daughter travelled to Kenya to help build a college for girls. Over about eight days, they helped to build the foundation for the college dorm. The initiative was through the One Woman group.
“There’s always goodness in everybody and people like to share that happiness,” says Dr. Hadad. “There’s enough cruelty in the world that we need to look at the good stuff.”
It was important to her to do something to help people and to show her daughter, so she can continue doing good things for others, she says.
They had the opportunity to visit previously built schools and hospitals and were welcomed by locals, allowing them to gain insight into their lives and to witness how little they have.
“It was sad. But they were happy,” says Dr. Hadad. “It was sad for us because we are fortunate to have a lot of things and they don’t have it.”
Simple things such as a clothesline brought happiness, allowing locals to dry their clothes away from the ground and insects, she says.
Access to water was also challenging. Locals would walk about four kilometres a couple of times a day to get water, carrying loads of around 20 litres on their backs. The water is dirty and is boiled before use, notes Dr. Hadad.
Dr. Hadad and her daughter helped to retrieve water, carrying around 10 litres each, she says.
Dr. Hadad and her daughter helping to retrieve water in Kenya. Photos submitted by Dr. Hadad.
At home in Halifax, Dr. Hadad has been involved with different organizations and volunteering activities including cooking for those in need. In 2016 with the influx of refugees, she dedicated a year of working to help ease their transition to a new place.
She aims to involve her children in as much of these initiatives as she can.
Being a dentist helped her to realize how many people really need help, she says, but she thinks giving back is for everyone.
“There’s always goodness in everybody and people like to share that happiness,” says Dr. Hadad. “There’s enough cruelty in the world that we need to look at the good stuff.”
