In speaking to an assembled crowd of students about the upcoming UNMC College of Dentistry Student Global Mission Experience spring mission trip to Kenya, set for March 6-21, 2026, Sharon Secor, the trip’s coordinator, said:
“Someday, you will have white hair.”
And what will you look back on? What will you be grateful that you have done?
This Kenya mission trip is officially endorsed by the college, and the first effort of the newly established UNMC College of Dentistry Dental Student Mission Projects Dedicated Fund. Secor and other organizers, including Richard Williamson, DDS, director of student global experiences, said it promises to be a momentous two weeks.
“When you experience something like this, your lives are changed,” said William Hunter, DDS, a retired dentist and University of Nebraska alumnus, who also is organizing the event. He and Secor have done similar dentistry and medical missions to Kenya for more than 25 years through their church. Now they are inviting UNMC dental students along.
“If you are going on an adventure with us,” Secor said, “be ready for an adventure.”
A wake-up-not-knowing-how-the-day-will-end adventure.
A “go to the bathroom in a place you never thought you would go” adventure, Secor said.
Mission trips are not new to UNMC dental students. As noted, Dr. Williamson heads an office dedicated to student global experiences. He believes students experience unique personal and professional growth when treating patients in an unfamiliar environment, different culture and especially with a language barrier.
But this upcoming Kenya trip, and the new UNMC College of Dentistry Dental Student Mission Projects Dedicated Fund, mark a renewed emphasis on students giving, and growing through mission.
“At the UNMC College of Dentistry, we are committed to educating not only exceptional clinicians, but compassionate leaders who understand that oral health is a global responsibility,” said Dean Gerry Kugel, DMD, PhD.
The fund was established to support dental students, dental hygiene students and faculty who are committed to serving underserved communities through mission projects, said Theresa Brown, director of development for the college for the University of Nebraska Foundation. The fund provides financial assistance to students and faculty participating in these trips, enabling them to offer essential dental care, education and outreach.
“This mission fund creates opportunities for our students and faculty to serve communities with limited access to care while developing cultural awareness, clinical confidence, and a lifelong commitment to service,” Dr. Kugel said. “These experiences change lives both for the patients we serve and for the future dental professionals who participate.”
Alumni are encouraged to consider giving to the fund. And they are encouraged to come along on the upcoming Kenya trip.
It was an alum who reached out to form this partnership and help make the trip possible. “All of the experiences I’ve had being a pediatric dentist I owe to Nebraska,” Dr. Hunter said. “So I am forever grateful.”
As noted previously, he and Secor are part of a group that have been making medical and dental mission trips to Kenya for decades. It’s been especially meaningful to bond with people who are rural, like they are. “We’re from North Dakota,” Secor said. They’ve connected with farming communities and those who must travel great distances for health care, as many in North Dakota (and Nebraska) do.
In Kenya there are 47 million people being served by only 1,000 dentists, according to the Kenya Oral Health Initiative, the nonprofit founded by Dr. Hunter, Secor and others.
Over the years the group has impacted the health of many, and, with the 1st Presbyterian Church in Fargo, helped build two dedicated dental clinics.
Dr. Williamson said his students have experienced the most growth when “they overcame a fear and felt good about helping somebody.” This trip checks those boxes, he said.
“Of course it’s going to cost money,” to have this kind of adventure, Secor said. “But don’t worry about that.”
The fund will help. And fundraising, too. And other support.
Anyone who wants to go, they will find a way to make it happen, Secor said.
The important thing is to take that first step.
“Traveling doesn’t happen if you don’t put one foot forward,” Secor said.
If you are interested in contributing to the UNMC College of Dentistry Dental Student Mission Projects Dedicated Fund, please contact Brown at the University of Nebraska Foundation at 402-209-1429 or by email at theresa.brown@nufoundation.org.
If you are interested in being part of the mission to Kenya, please contact Dr. Williamson, director of student global experiences, at rwilliamson@unmc.edu.