This post was originally written for the Travel column on SCJ; however, we believe it has appeal for senior citizens beyond travel interests. So we wanted to feature it here on Senior Moments. It is written by SCJ Travel Editor, Jim Becker.

I have had the opportunity to serve a medical group called Christian Medical and Dental Association. We served first in the Dominican Republic, then moved on in another summer to Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador. Each experience was very rewarding. I was a Biology/French major in undergraduate college and wanted to be a dentist. I ended up being a French teacher for over 35 years. With each group above I served as a dental assistant to some great volunteer dentists and, as I speak Spanish, it worked very well for me and the dentists who benefited from our experience more than any of our patients. CMDA provides free service to the needy throughout the world. Here’s how we travel and work to bring joy to those in dire

With all the bad news and increasingly sad events in our world, are you glad you are on the plus side of 70? I have often thought, as George Burns opined, that I’d like to be 18 again. Increasingly that desire or wish or fantasy seems less and less appealing. He lived long past 70 and lived well. Now, the opportunities for living are out there, but the circumstances seem to be less and less appealing.

The most horrifying tragedy currently stirring the waters, literally, is the huge disaster off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Humans, wildlife, economic conditions, employment threats and on and on have invaded a major part of the southern seaboard. Our need for energy has caught us in a trap from