Technician Makes a Difference in War-Torn Afghanistan

For Michael Pointer, car bombs and dysentery are just part of his normal workday. Pointer is currently in Kabul, Afghanistan working as a technician and trainer with the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project (ADRP).

A 1977 technician graduate of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) who has owned and managed laboratories, Pointer had recently gotten out of the field to focus on his passion: painting. However, when the economy slowed and his art sales took a hit, he began looking for a new challenge.

He posted his resume on --a website dedicated to job seekers in the dental field--and was contacted by the ADRP. He learned that, in Afghanistan, there are about 200 dentists to treat 30 million people and oral septicemia is one of the leading causes of death. "Patients routinely present with multiple abscesses, many never having seen a dentist or owned a toothbrush," says Pointer. "The average lifespan here is 42--just a toothbrush can raise that by several years."

After...