My name is Tayana Nascimento da Silva.
I am a dentist, and I live in Belém, in Pará.
My name is Íris Sena.
I am a physician, specializing in family medicine,
and I live in Belém, Pará.
I am training as a dental surgeon,
but my routine involves academic study.
I am studying medicine as well.
I am a doctor in a town in the interior of Pará.
We assist families in a health center called The Family Health Strategy.
As a doctor and a dentist,
Dr. Iris and Dr. Tayana were excited
when they heard an invitation to join the Luzeiro 29.
I have seen people sitting in a plastic chair,
in the middle of the countryside, living in poor conditions,
and we did what we could.
Sometimes we could only make fluoride applications
and essential services.
When I arrived on the boat, I almost fell back when I entered
and saw the clinic structure.
I was so excited.
I would make videos and send them to my family.
I would say, "Guys, there's a whole office inside the boat."
I thought I was going to get here and not find that.”
A very capable structure for the services.
There's a lot of collaboration with donating medicines,
with supplies for the work in my area and others.
It was very encouraging.
Also, the work itself, which is the best of all.
In the most remote places,
there is a lack of basic health information,
so an essential part of the doctors' job is to educate people
with good health practices.
The most common thing that comes in is decayed teeth.
We do a lot of restorations, and unfortunately,
we do a lot of extractions.
If I find someone without cavities, I think they are infrequent,
just a few cases.
I think I can count them on one hand.
The most common in children, young people, is germs.
We talk about the purification of water, about the correct way to wash your fruits,
vegetables, legumes, and everything else,
to avoid contamination.
There is no point in giving medicine today.
Next week, they eat poorly again, use untreated water,
and unfortunately, they can get the disease again.
Sometimes, one toothbrush is used for the whole family
or more than one person in the house.
That's common.
Then, "No. Look, here's a toothbrush for you,
one for your father, one for your mother.
Don't let everybody use the same brush
because the disease you have will pass on to others."
The lack of information is so significant
that this information--
super simple for us, that we were born knowing--
practically, for them, it's new.
Íris and Tayana's stories began in different places.
They first met on this Luzeiro 29 adventure.
Their story is about how they cared for people,
but it is also a story of love.
I came as a dentist, and he came as a doctor.
We met for the first time in the van, going to the boat.
There, we started talking and started a friendship.
When we left, we did academic work with the data from here,
The friendship continued
until we started dating a few months later.
Then, after that, a little bit later, we got married.
Sometimes I feel like I'm inside a dream.
I don't know if you've ever had that feeling--
like you’re looking at your life from the outside.
You look, and you say, "Wow, it even looks like a dream.
Is it really true?"
When I look at the opportunity to be working here,
I feel like an active part,
like being an extension of God's arms.
I can tell you that it is a very great feeling of gratitude.
From Dr. Íris and Dr. Tayana's perspective,
it’s heartwarming to do good.
However, they recognize that there are still thousands of lives
that need care and the love of Jesus.
It will still take many miles of sailing and many years
to continue seeing, feeling, and living Project Luzeiro.
At the end of the day, however,
when we lay our head on the pillow,
we feel that sense of mission accomplished,
of duty fulfilled.
To be able to remember that I was able to help someone,
that there were people who left here smiling,
thanking me because they weren't feeling pain anymore,
because they were going to be able to sleep at night--
that's the best payoff, I think.