{"id":1312387,"date":"2019-07-13T23:32:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-14T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation\/"},"modified":"2019-07-15T07:48:25","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T13:48:25","slug":"sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday profile: Glenwood resident Annie Zancanella known as \u2018Tanzanian Tooth Fairy\u2019 after 5 months in African nation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.6720720720721\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-983872-622\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Provided | Annie Zancanella of Glenwood Springs provides a dental exam to one of the villagers in the African nation of Tanzania during her visit last fall.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Annie Zancanella of Glenwood Springs provides a dental exam to one of the villagers in the African nation of Tanzania during her visit last fall.<\/strong><br \/>Provided<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419.jpg\" alt=\"Annie Zancanella of Glenwood Springs provides a dental exam to one of the villagers in the African nation of Tanzania during her visit last fall.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Provided | Dental and medical volunteers with villagers in Tanzania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Dental and medical volunteers with villagers in Tanzania.<\/strong><br \/>Provided<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dental and medical volunteers with villagers in Tanzania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Provided | Annie Zancanella with some of the village children in Tanzania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Annie Zancanella with some of the village children in Tanzania.<\/strong><br \/>Provided<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-2.jpg\" alt=\"Annie Zancanella with some of the village children in Tanzania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Provided | A tender moment with one of the village children in Tanzania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>A tender moment with one of the village children in Tanzania.<\/strong><br \/>Provided<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-3.jpg\" alt=\"A tender moment with one of the village children in Tanzania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Provided | Annie Zancanella, left, with some of the school children in the Tanzanian village where she volunteered last fall to teach and provide dental assistance.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Annie Zancanella, left, with some of the school children in the Tanzanian village where she volunteered last fall to teach and provide dental assistance.<\/strong><br \/>Provided<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/Zancanellafeature-gpi-071419-4.jpg\" alt=\"Annie Zancanella, left, with some of the school children in the Tanzanian village where she volunteered last fall to teach and provide dental assistance.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Brushing your teeth with a stick and salt is almost impossible to imagine, but that\u2019s exactly what kids were doing when Glenwood Springs resident Annie Zancanella arrived in Tanzania last fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMost of the students didn\u2019t own tooth brushes,\u201d Zancanella said after her return from visiting and teaching at a school in Arusha, Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Zancanella spent five and a half months in Africa volunteering in local schools and orphanages with the intent of working in child care, but soon discovered a bigger need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She quickly became known by the African children that she taught as the \u201cTanzanian Tooth Fairy.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"2\">\n<blockquote readability=\"7\">\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really helped form who I am and change me in the best possible ways.\u201d\u2014 Annie Zancanella, on her battles with cancer<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI thought I was going to go and help out and teach,\u201d Zancanella said. \u201cThen I realized what a valuable source I was for the dental knowledge that I had from all the years working in the field. It would be a waste for me not to use that knowledge while I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">kid connection<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Her dental career began in 2006, when she began working at All Kids Dental in Glenwood Springs. Since then, Zancanella\u2019s love and interests in dental education and helping children have only grown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI loved the pediatric side of it,\u201d said Zancanella. \u201cI always had a connection with the kids. The doctor was always like, \u2018You\u2019re the children whisperer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After her first day in a Tanzanian school last fall volunteering with child care, Zancanella was asked by the principal to examine 150 children. She quickly found that their oral hygiene was in a terrible state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It wasn\u2019t long before she began traveling to other schools in the area to spend a day with each class, teaching them about their health and hygiene needs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI realized that I needed to educate, starting at the younger ages before their adult teeth came in,\u201d said Zancanella. \u201cI would teach them the basics of brushing, supply them with a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss, make fun games for the younger kids, sing songs and just help teach them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">expanding the mission<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Soon after her discovery, Zancanella started her own program to begin bringing oral hygiene to the children in the schools and orphanages of Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She recruited other volunteers with various expertise, including doctors, nurses and other oral hygienists from Canada, Australia, Pakistan and Egypt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She also started working with the Imara Ministry Foundation (IMF), a Christian organization aiming to strengthen the church. One of its main focuses is to support women with HIV, working to empower them and teach them valuable skills in order to support their households.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With IMF members and fellow volunteers in the medical fields, Zancanella began traveling to nearby villages to help the residents that were in need of health education and diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe got together and went out there and realized how desperate these people are for some kind of medical help,\u201d Zancanella said. \u201cEach week we would go out into these remote places and more and more people were showing up at these little huts, traveling for hours to come and see us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">return trip planned<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Since she returned from Tanzania in December, Zancanella has been working seven days and 68 hours a week to raise the necessary money for her to continue her work and program in Africa. She plans to travel back at the end of August.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI came home and I was more motivated than ever to get back to Africa,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to get back there and help. I have a feeling for the next few years that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to be doing \u2014 going for a chunk of time and then coming back and just working, working, working to go again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">During her initial visit, Zancanella said many people sent her packages for her program, which proved to be difficult, time consuming and costly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She said the best way to support her program is by donating so that she can use the funds to purchase supplies while in Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Anyone wishing to contribute to Zancanella\u2019s program can visit <a id=\"N0x1525fb0N0x13846d0:N0x1525fb0N0x13dc8c0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/tanzanian-tooth-fairy\">http:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/tanzanian-tooth-fairy<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">going mobile<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of the most important components of her organization is it\u2019s mobilization. Her mobile program is called \u201cArusha\u2019s Mobile Medical and Dental Outreach, in Cooperation with IMF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When the demand became apparent in other villages for Zancanella and her fellow medical volunteers, the most important component of the program was initially finding an appropriate vehicle to navigate the African terrain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe spent a lot of time making sure that the mobile program had a good vehicle to help facilitate us out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Although there was a significant language barrier, Zancanella worked with the children and other local doctors to bridge this gap. She even began learning some Swahili and teaching the Africans some English at the same time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The language difference was especially difficult when her group of volunteers traveled to the remote villages to treat people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe got translators and local doctors that went with us each time so we could also understand,\u201d Zancanella said. \u201cIn Africa, a lot of medicines are called different things and we don\u2019t know a lot of the illnesses. We\u2019re not trained in Malaria and Typhoid and stuff that we don\u2019t have here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">loving people<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For Zancanella, her trips to Africa are about more than just the dental and medical work that she does for the locals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cFor me, it\u2019s the love of the people,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Africans totally embrace you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Throughout her first trip, Zancanella was surprised by the level of kindness that she was shown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou walk down the streets there and they come running up to you,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re hugging you and hanging off of you, and you walk a few blocks with kids holding your hands, then they trickle off back to their houses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Although Zancanella is a Glenwood Springs native, she found a new home that she is excited to return to in the villages of Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt feels like you have this gigantic family,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been in a culture where I\u2019ve felt so loved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">personal motivation<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Since 2009, Zancanella has had her own battles to fight, struggling on and off with cancer in five of her organs. Throughout her chemotherapy, radiation, experimental trial treatments and relapses, she has tried to focus on the bright spots in her life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s really helped form who I am and change me in the best possible ways,\u201d said Zancanella. \u201cIt\u2019s strange to say that such a horrible illness is such a blessing, but it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Zancanella sees her cancer as a source of inspiration that pushes her to remember the terrible circumstances that many others face.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThroughout my time, I\u2019ve tried to do things to try to help bring people peace or comfort in some way,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, there are so many people in the world that have it so much worse, and what I have is minuscule compared to others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Her volunteer trip served to bring a newfound purpose to Zancanella\u2019s life in the wake of her rocky health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI want to do good for the rest of my days,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so fulfilling. I get so much out of it and others get a lot out of it. I wanted to do something truly good in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Zancanella said her parents, Buzz and Gracie Zancanella, who have since passed, set a good example for her from a young age. She remembers them as very involved in the local community, never refusing to help a neighbor in need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThey instilled that in me to always treat people the way that you wish to be treated,\u201d she said. \u201cI want my parents to look down and be proud of what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">Savannah Kelley of Glenwood Springs is a freelance writer and student at the University of Denver.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/sunday-profile-glenwood-resident-annie-zancanella-known-as-tanzanian-tooth-fairy-after-5-months-in-african-nation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Annie Zancanella of Glenwood Springs provides a dental exam to one of the villagers in the African nation of Tanzania during her visit last fall.Provided Dental and medical volunteers with villagers in Tanzania.Provided Annie Zancanella with some of the village children in Tanzania.Provided A tender moment with one of the village children in Tanzania.Provided Annie [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1312387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-08 09:35:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1312410,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312387\/revisions\/1312410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}