Suche - Dental Aid Project

2The EDSA volunteer working group is dedicated to making a difference where it matters the most. Through volunteer programmes we are broadening the horizons and skill-set of European dental students and giving something back to the millions around the world in need of care.

Through initiatives such as the Amchi Programme we are committed to making a sustainable difference. We aim to deliver culturally sensitive, region specific healthcare solutions: Initiatives which are self sustainable and rooted in education and training, empowering local healthcare providers to make a positive change for their own society and population.

Our initiatives are in partnership with international centres of educational excellence such as our satellite centre Manipal University (http://www.manipal.edu) and world renowned NGO’s such as Wisdomtooth (http://www.wisdomtooth.org). These initiatives are entirely student led and organised, with supervision kindly donated by experienced dentists for the practical aspects of our missions.

Our 2012 outreach project has grown into the Amchi Programme which will return to the Himalayas in summer 2014. We will continue our important work of training local nuns in basic dental care, delivering preventative care and direct treatment to these remote, isolated communities where access to healthcare is limited.

Our aim is not only a sustained improvement in the oral health of the communities in which we train, educate and treat, but to help students realise how much they can do with their qualifications once finished studying… Every one of us can make a real difference.

All you have to do is take a chance and get involved!

Volunteer Work Officer EDSA 2013-2014, Olivia Johnson King
King’s College London University
4th year dental undergraduate at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals
Official EDSA delegate for the United Kingdom
European Team Leader for the Amchi Programme

Was treibt einen Zahnarzt an, für drei Wochen in Münster seine Praxis zu schließen und in ärmlichen Dörfern im Hochland der Mongolei unter spartanischen Verhältnissen zu leben und von morgens bis abends Füllungen zu setzen und Zähne zu ziehen? Ludger Steinhaus lächelt und öffnet auf seinem Laptop Bildergalerien, die Einblick in eine andere Welt geben. „Es ist der große Reiz, in eine völlig fremde Kultur einzutauchen und gleichzeitig Menschen zu helfen“, sagt er. Über die Vereinigung „Zahnärzte ohne Grenzen“ hat er sich erstmals gemeinsam mit 43 anderen deutschen Zahnärzten auf den Weg in das riesige Land zwischen Russland und China gemacht.

Fast drei Tage lang war er mit Flugzeugen und anschließend über holprige Pisten unterwegs, bis er an den ersten der beiden Einsatzorte in Bayantsagaan auf 2200 Metern Höhe ankam. Ein Dorf aus Jurten, die um ein paar offizielle Gebäude aus Stein gruppiert sind, darunter das kleine Krankenhaus, in dem sich Steinhaus gemeinsam mit drei weiteren Zahnärzten und einem Dolmetscher für eine Woche ein Zimmer teilen sollte. In zwei Behandlungszimmern hatte die Hilfsorganisation Behandlungsliegen samt -werkzeug vorbereitet.

Die Zahnärzte wurden bereits sehnlichst erwartet. Zur Feier des Tages, erzählt Steinhaus, wurde gleich eine Ziege geschlachtet. Einer der wichtigsten Nahrungsproduzenten. Fleisch gibt es fast täglich, da Gemüse und Obst in dem kargen Hochland Mangelware sind. Für die Zähne der Bewohner wäre das kein Problem, wohl aber der Konsum von westlichen Süßigkeiten, die seit der politischen Öffnung der Mongolei in den 90er-Jahren ins Land gekommen sind. Sehr zum Leidwesen vor allem der Kinder, deren Gebisse „oft schon im Grundschulalter kariös sind. Denn über den Sinn und Zweck von Zahnpflege sind die wenigsten aufgeklärt“, hat Steinhaus, der täglich 40 bis 50 Patienten behandelte, erfahren müssen. „Bereits bei Sechsjährigen hatten schon die ersten bleibenden Backenzähne Karies.“ Leider musste der münsterische Mediziner nicht nur Kunststoff-Füllungen setzen, sondern bei vielen Erwachsenen auch Zähne ziehen. Steinhaus: „Wir haben vielen Patienten Schmerzen genommen und viele Zähne für die Zukunft gerettet.“ Insgesamt 7200 Patienten haben die 44 deutsche Zahnärzte in elf Teams an unterschiedlichen Standorten behandelt.

Fasziniert hat Steinhaus, mit welcher Gelassenheit und Tapferkeit die Einheimischen ihr Leben meistern. Und die Erkenntnis, „dass man nicht gegen die Natur, sondern nur mit der Natur leben kann.“ Da es kein Holz gibt, wird mit getrocknetem Dung Feuer gemacht, um zu kochen oder zu heizen. 35 Grad im Sommer und minus 40 Grad im Winter – die Menschen dort sind Überlebenskünstler. „Ich habe gestaunt, was man alles Essbares aus Ziegen-, Stuten- oder Kamelmilch machen kann“, erzählt Steinhaus.

Allerdings habe der Klimawandel, der die Wetterextreme verstärkt habe, zu einer hohen Sterblichkeit bei den Viehbeständen geführt. Und da sich viele Menschen keine neuen Tiere leisten können, weiß der Mediziner, „führt das dazu, dass viele Nomaden ihr gewohntes Leben aufgeben und mit ihren Jurtenzelten in die Hauptstadt ziehen.“

Steinhaus, soviel steht für ihn jetzt schon fest, „wird es jedenfalls noch einmal zu einem Einsatz nach Asien ziehen“.

Mark Topley, CEO, October 15, 2013

Later this week we will once again be exhibiting at the BDTA dental show case at Birmingham NEC. It’s a great privilege for us again to be part of the A-dec stand, P02, amongst 350 or so other organisations all presenting and exhibiting what they do to the 10,000 or so expected delegates.

One of the things that has been in evidence over the last few years at BDTA has been the number of new dental organisations offering volunteering opportunities. This is a great encouragement for me – one of the reasons that I got involved with Bridge2Aid in the beginning was to help dental professionals who had a deep desire to do something positive for people in developing countries, to find opportunities which would be both a win for them in giving their skills, and a genuine win for the communities they were seeking to help.

croppedIt’s not always easy to tell from the photos or stories whether a particular opportunity is ticking all the boxes – it’s certainly very easy to get pictures and case studies of need, because it is so great. But although these trips do good work, not all do great work.

Over the past 10 years, having run over 40 teams and approaching 500 volunteers, I think have learnt a bit about what constitutes a great volunteering opportunity. I thought as we approach BDTA showcase, I’d jot down my top 5 tips to guide people in choosing something which will be both rewarding for them, and make a genuine long term difference to the communities they are seeking to help.
1. Is it sustainable?

Although travelling to a foreign country and practising dentistry that you would do in the UK may seem like a good idea, despite the fact that it will help the people that you immediately see, there will be little lasting impact after you have left, unless there is some kind of sustainability built into the programme you have chosen. Sadly this is something that I have seen time and time again since starting work in East Africa in 2003, as mission after mission has come and gone without leaving anything behind or changing anything for the long term for the community. So the questions to ask – will there be an impact after I have left? Does the programme create anything that doesn’t need external support afterwards?
2. Is it appropriate?

This is similar to sustainability. The responses that we need to choose as volunteers need to be appropriate to the situation. One of the major criticisms that Habib Benzian (World Health Organisation) made in his paper about dental charities in 2006 was that too many dental volunteers travel to a country and bring all of the same equipment and treatments that they use in the UK or the USA and simply practise this kind of dentistry in a developing country. There are two problems with this. Firstly, it demoralises the local health workforce who may not be able to perform such treatment and secondly, it uses time and resources which could be deployed on far more simple but appropriate treatments for a far greater number of people. In fact the WHO go as far as to say that treatments should be limited to extractions and ART (simple fillings that don’t need a drill, suction etc). What sort of work will be carried out? If it is more complex than pain relief and education, then there is a good statistical chance that it will be inappropriate.
3. Is it integrated?

Very often volunteering organisations and opportunities ignore the fact that there is already a government operating in the country which has a strategy for oral health. The approaches that they take and the way that they work often ignore this and instead seek to impose what the volunteering organisation would like to do, rather than responding to the needs the government have set out in their oral health plan. This shows a great lack of respect for the government and misses an opportunity to integrate through negotiation and relationship to genuinely increase capacity and serve the needs they are trying to meet at a sovereign government. Does the organisation have a base and a staff or partners in country who are in contact with the Ministry of Health? Have they created or agreed a plan together that the work the volunteers will do is at least wanted, and preferably strategic?
4. Is it ethical?

Sadly we have heard of many instances of volunteering organisations in this part of the world who arrive in the country without even registering with the local authorities. This lack of registration would not be tolerated in the UK where visiting dentists have to gain approval from the GDC to practise. So why is the situation not the same when we come to a country like Rwanda or Tanzania? There are laws here as in every other country that require dental professionals to prove they are qualified to practise and to register with the appropriate body. In addition, many volunteers do not contact their indemnity companies to extend their indemnity cover. Again this shows a great lack of respect for the communities the volunteer is supposedly coming to help, as any accident or malpractice would then not be covered for compensation. Does the organisation ask for your registration certificates and obtain a letter of good standing from the GDC before allowing you to practise? Do they insist on proof of extending indemnity cover?
5. Does it involve training?

This for me is the absolute key. Does the opportunity to volunteer provide any training for the local health workforce? Without training nothing will change. At Bridge2Aid we could bring volunteers into Tanzania every week of the year to treat as many people as possible, but this still would not solve the problem of the huge burden of disease that exists in the country. Volunteers simply cannot gain access to some of the areas in the country where people most need help, and yet the training of a local Health Worker in emergency dentistry could place just such a person within the vicinity where people are suffering daily agony – all for the lack of a simple dental extraction.

Of course volunteering that does not meet the criteria above (which of course are just my opinions) will carry on and I applaud anybody who chooses to give their time, effort and resources to help others in developing countries. But by adopting these 5 simple principles, the impact of volunteering efforts could be magnified many times over, and many more communities could gain access to sustainable pain relief and education that would change their lives in the long run.

We need to change the way we think about volunteering, and even about what constitutes dentistry for the masses in places like Tanzania. We need to say ‘I care’, but be prepared to engage with the issues in an intelligent way that really listens to what the needs are and focuses efforts on the vast majority of people who don’t have access to the few dental professionals that do exist. As Bridge2Aid approaches 300 trainees and 3 million people with access to emergency dentistry in Tanzania, I’m more convinced than ever that this approach works, and meets the need in the most sustainable, appropriate, integrated and ethical way.

Our focus in the Bridge2Aid family is on providing permanent access to simple, effective emergency dentistry and education to the vast majority of the population who don’t have access to a dentist, and never will. It’s not an alternative to dentistry; it’s an alternative to no dentistry.

To take part on one of our 2014 Dental Volunteer Programmes – click here

If you are going to the BDTA showcase, make sure you register and select Bridge2Aid as your preferred charity, and I look forward to seeing you there. We will be on stand P02.

Dr. Siegbert Kiese repariert unentgeltlich Zähne der armen Bevölkerung in Ecuador
Dieser Förderverein unterstützt unter anderem die Clinica Misional in Guadalupe/Ecuador im tropischen Regenwald, nahe der Grenze zu Peru. Dort existiert seit vielen Jahren eine katholische Missionsstation. Deren Leiter, ein österreichischer Missionar, hatte vor elf Jahren die Idee, der Bevölkerung medizinische und zahnmedizinische Hilfe zukommen zu lassen, die sie sonst nur für viel Geld in entfernten Städten bekommen könnte. Dieses Geld sollten die Menschen lieber in die Ausbildung ihrer Kinder investieren. Gesagt, getan: Mit Sponsoren aus der ganzen Welt wurde 2002 die Clinica Misional de Guadalupe eröffnet. Seitdem arbeiten dort rund ums Jahr Ärzte, Zahnärzte, Zahntechniker und Helfer. Die „Voluntarios“ (Freiwillige) zahlen ihren Flug selbst und arbeiten unentgeltlich. Unterkunft und Verpflegung werden gestellt.

Dr. Kiese war begeistert von diesem Projekt und realisierte seinen Plan. Da er noch Angestellter in seiner alten Praxis war, wurde er für diese Zeit freigestellt.

Bei kühlen zehn Grad landete er am 24. Januar in Quito, der modernen Hauptstadt Ecuadors in 2 850 Metern Höhe. Von dort ging es weiter in den Süden nach Catamayo, einem kleinen Ort am westlichen Abhang der Andenkette. Der Flug über die Anden mit ihren vielen aktiven und erloschenen Vulkanen war atemberaubend, so zum Beispiel der Cotopaxi, der mit seiner fast 6 000 Meter hohen Spitze durch die Wolken ragte. Dr. Kiese erinnert sich: „Die Anden sind teilweise von so intensiv grünen Matten bedeckt, dass das Auge sich erst daran gewöhnen musste.“

Der Kulturschock kam, als das Flugzeug ausrollte und der erste Blick auf die Ortschaft Catamyo möglich war. Einfachste Steinhäuser und Bretterhütten säumten die feldwegartigen Straßen. Danach ging es etwa sechs Stunden mit dem Autobus weiter Richtung Guadalupe.

Bis zum 23. März arbeitete Dr. Kiese als Zahnarzt in der Clinica. Die Arbeitsbedingungen waren gut: Die Assistenz übernahm eine angelernte und sehr engagierte Einheimische. Die Materialien und Instrumente stammten alle aus europäischen und amerikanischen Spenden und waren somit auf einem guten Niveau. Nur die hohe Temperatur von 25 Grad, verbunden mit einer Luftfeuchtigkeit von 93 Prozent und mehr, („Da Regenzeit war, regnete es jeden Tag mehrmals“) machten ihm in der ersten Woche tüchtig zu schaffen.

Und es gibt für einen Zahnarzt vor Ort reichlich Arbeit: „Aufgrund mangelnder Aufklärung, das heißt schlechter bis gar keiner Zahnpflege, einem sehr hohen Zuckerkonsum durch das Kauen von Zuckerrohr und Trinken von süßen Säften, leiden die Menschen unter einer sehr schlechten Zahngesundheit“, erzählt Dr. Kiese. Daher bestand die Behandlung im Wesentlichen aus Kariessanierung mit Füllungen und vielen Extraktionen von nicht erhaltungswürdigen und zerstörten Zähnen. Dank eines kleinen, einfachen zahntechnischen Labors und eines Zahntechnikers konnten kleine und einfachste Kunststoffprothesen angefertigt werden. Wenn es die Zeit erübrigte, leistete Dr. Kiese zudem vor allem bei Kindern und Jugendlichen Ernährungsberatung und Mundhygieneaufklärung.

„Die unglaubliche Freundlichkeit und Herzlichkeit, die Bescheidenheit und Dankbarkeit dieser einfachen und liebenswürdigen Menschen waren der allerschönste Lohn für meine Arbeit dort“, sagt Dr. Kiese.

Indes hat der Achimer die Flugtickets für seinen nächsten Einsatz schon auf dem Schreibtisch liegen: Vom 6. Januar bis 23. März geht es nach Huancarani/Bolivien, wo der FCSM im August ein neues medizinisches Projekt eröffnet hat.

Die ehemalige Praxis Dr. Kiese & Kollegen, heute Zahnarzt Düweling & Kollegen, Zum Achimer Bahnhof 25, ist stolz auf ihren aktiven Senior und unterstützt ihn mit zahnmedizinischen Hilfsmitteln. Ebenso fördert die Praxis den FCSM durch Goldspenden der Patienten, von deren Erlös wieder Medikamente und Hilfsmittel für die Projekte gekauft werden.

Manfred Zbrzezny will Symbole des Schreckens in Zeichen der Hoffnung verwandeln: Der Schmied betreibt im westafrikanischen Liberia eine Werkstatt. Dort fertigt er mit seinen Mitarbeitern aus alten Schusswaffen Kerzenständer, Blumentöpfe und Lampen.

Monrovia - In der dunklen Werkstatt stapeln sich Teile von Kalaschnikows, Bazookas und anderen todbringenden Gerätschaften. Auf den ersten Blick sieht es aus wie in einer Waffenschmiede. Doch hier, am Rand der liberianischen Hauptstadt Monrovia, werden keine neuen Gewehre und Panzerfäuste gebaut. Im Gegenteil: Der Deutsche Manfred Zbrzezny und seine afrikanischen Mitarbeiter verwandeln Waffenschrott in Kunst.

ANZEIGE
Die Waffenteile sind Überreste von Liberias dunkler Vergangenheit. In zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Bürgerkriegen von 1989 bis 2003 wurden in dem westafrikanischen Land 250.000 Menschen getötet. Zahlreiche Rebellengruppen bekämpften sich erbittert, verstümmelten, vergewaltigten und ermordeten ihre Gegner, setzten Kinder unter Drogen und benutzten sie zum Töten. Die körperlichen und seelischen Wunden aus diesen 14 Jahren sind noch lange nicht verheilt.

"Ich will Zerstörerisches in etwas Konstruktives verwandeln, Negatives in Positives", beschreibt der mit einer Liberianerin verheiratete Deutsche seine Arbeit. So werden in seiner Werkstatt aus Waffen Kerzenständer, Blumentöpfe, Lampen oder Skulpturen.

"Das war ein bisschen beklemmend"

Der Weg hierher war für Zbrzezny nicht einfach. Als er 2005 nach Liberia kam, war der Bürgerkrieg gerade erst zwei Jahre vorbei, als Schmied verdiente er kaum etwas. Doch dann baten ihn die Besitzer eines Restaurants, aus alten Waffen ein Geländer für sie zu schmieden. Eine Geschäftsidee war geboren.

ANZEIGE
Zbrzezny besorgte sich verschrottete Waffen aus dem liberianischen Abrüstungsprogramm und begann sie in Buchstützen, Stühle und Flaschenöffner umzuschmieden. "Wenn ich ein Teil in meiner Hand hielt, dachte ich darüber nach, was wohl aus den Tätern, die die Waffe benutzt hatten, geworden ist und was aus den Opfern. Das war ein bisschen beklemmend."

Eines seiner größten Werke ist der "Baum des Friedens", der seit 2011 in jenem Teil der Küstenstadt steht, in dem im 19. Jahrhundert befreite Sklaven aus den USA landeten, um einen neuen Staat zu gründen. Der stählerne Baum sei zu einem Symbol der Versöhnung geworden, sagt Momodu Paasawee, der das Kunstwerk bewacht. "Er erinnert die Liberianer daran, dass der Krieg vorbei ist und wir nie wieder Krieg haben sollten", sagt er.

Eines der Opfer des liberianischen Bürgerkriegs ist Emmanuel Freeman, einer von Zbrzeznys fünf einheimischen Angestellten. Der 28-Jährige musste als Kind mit ansehen, wie seine Mutter und sein Vater ermordet wurden. "Sie wurden mit Gewehren getötet, mit den gleichen Gewehren, die ich heute in andere Dinge verwandele", sagt er. "Ich bin froh und glücklich, das zu tun. Aber manchmal, wenn ich die alten Teile in der Hand habe, erinnern sie mich an das, was ich während des Krieges gesehen habe."

When a group of dental students arrive in Peru next week, they hope to create some smiles as well as brighten them.

Five College of New Caledonia dental hygiene and dental assisting students, along with instructor Heather Mohr and dentist Dr. Paul Comparelli, leave June 12 for a volunteer trip in Central America.

The group will work in a community centre in San Jose Obrero, about 45 minutes from the capital city of Lima, providing free dental care to children and adults.

"We'll provide restorative and preventative treatment, extractions, dental hygiene, as well as educational workshops," said Mohr.

That ability to provide a service to people who may not typically have access was a big draw for the students going on the trip.

"I've always wanted to do some sort of volunteer excursion. I just hadn't found the right outlet in order to do so," said assisting student Danielle Burton.

Hygiene student Chanel Alderton, who wanted to be involved with dentistry from the time she was five years old, was also looking for an opportunity to give back overseas.

"I just want to help people and you see different experiences there than you would ever see here," she said.

Planning for the trip began last September, with each student needing to raise about $4,000.

The group is volunteering through Developing World Connections, a Canadian grassroots, non-profit organization. They are bringing dental equipment, such as sonic scalers and hand pieces with them as well as 800 toothbrushes for their patients to keep.

It won't just be all about dental health for the volunteers, said assisting student Alyssa Petersen, who said she is looking forward to interacting with the children.

"I know there's going to be a language barrier but it will still be very exciting to get them involved and we also have crafts, so it's not always going to be about teeth," Petersen said. "We'll keep them entertained and hopefully change how they think about brushing their teeth."

With oral care not as high on the list of priorities as it is in North America, the trip will be an opportunity to shine some light on healthy practices.

"If they can have healthy, happy teeth, they can eat, they can nourish themselves - that's a huge thing for them," said Burton. "So it would be nice to bring that awareness to them and help them out with that."

This will be the second volunteer trip organized by the CNC dental program. Last February, Mohr took six dental hygiene students to Tanzania, which she said was a well-rounded experience.

"What I found with the students last year is that I got to see them work as a team and be able to do some health promotion and education. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the children in the orphanages," she said, noting they also brought crafts, balloons and face paints to spend time with and get to know the kids they were working with. Last year's group of six also worked in a regional hospital.

Even though she hasn't left yet, hygiene student Katelyn Currie is already looking forward to more experiences like the one she's about to embark on, and hopes to go on more trips with Mohr.

"I'm hoping to volunteer a lot more in my professional career as well," she said.

Dental charity Bridge2Aid provides emergency dentistry to those who need it most. Founded in Tanzania, Africa, Bridge2Aid’s Dental Volunteer Programme (DVP) allows dental professionals to pass on their skills to local Health Workers in East Africa’s rural communities, providing safe and sustainable access to dental pain relief.

After eight years, 260 trained local Health Workers and emergency dental care provided to more than 2.6 million people in East Africa, the first ever DVP was carried out outside of Tanzania, in Rwanda.

It is reported that there are currently only 11 dentists living and working in Rwanda – equating to approximately one dentist for every one million people, so providing dental care is vital.

Jeanette Grimley took part in the Rwanda pilot programme as a volunteer Dental Nurse. Jeanette had previously taken part in a DVP in Tanzania – the volunteers had to be confident in what they were doing so no first timers took part in the pilot.

The team set up camp in Kirambi, a rural area whose road from Kigali becomes completely impassable during rainy season, making it totally isolated during those times.

“Clinic is just a short walk away which is a real treat; no long journeys in 4x4s over dust roads means our training time will be longer [which is] an added bonus. As we approach a small group of buildings we are greeted by the staff of the health centre singing a welcome song to us; their voices the only music, the velvet choral tones completely harmonious. A spine tingling moment if ever there was one.

“We are located in the health centre which is a busy place with vaccination and baby clinics going on around us as well as blood tests and nutrition clinics. Imagine if you will a small cottage hospital without any of the technical equipment, a couple of four bedded wards which consist of just that; four steel framed beds with plastic mattresses in a bare room, a small window the only light. The floors appear to be concrete but I’m not sure if they are hard baked clay/mud.

“We quickly set to building our clinic. Volunteer dentists Judy, Peter, Barry, Graham and Neil organise the treatment room whilst Janine, Sarah and I organise the decontamination room and stock the stations with local anaesthetic, bite packs etc. It’s a slick set up made easier by the fact that we’ve all done this before.

“The rooms we use for treatment and decontamination are separated by a courtyard and initially I find this challenging. Having the two rooms apart makes it more difficult to assess what is needed in clinic in terms of support and head holding and stocking the stations but we soon work out a system, carrying clean and dirty boxes of instruments (CQC would be impressed!) between the two rooms whilst keeping an eye on the clinic needs. We work on a rotational basis as scrubbing instruments and putting pressure cookers on kerosene burners in a confined hot space can become intense after a while. Different personalities and high running emotions add to the challenge and we all work hard to achieve a calm working environment and support each other when necessary.

“As part of the training I was asked to deliver a perio seminar to the trainee health workers. This proved to be quite interesting as translation into French, Kinyarwanda and English was necessary. My French is abysmal, my Kinyarwanda non-existent and my Lancashire English accent didn’t do me any favours either! Luckily we have Neil, the Site Clinical Lead, whose French can only be described as fluent and eloquent and we also have a translator.

As well as delivering seminars, the volunteer Dental Nurses teach during the programme. During Jeanette’s turn to teach she says: “Being the hygienist the general consensus is that I should teach the oral health education section to the trainees after which they would deliver a talk to the waiting patients. It goes well and I’m so proud of the speed at which the nurses learn, they deliver the talk and one lady stepped forward to say something. I asked Innocent to translate and she said 'we like this education very much; it is so good, now we can go and tell the others how they can avoid the painful teeth.' I felt so elated.”

At the end of the programme, the trainee Health Workers take their exams after being taught by the volunteer Dentists and Nurses.

“As the papers are marked we nurses set to with the final sterilisation and packing away of instruments, counting and monitoring the condition of each so they can be readily identified for future trips. The pressure cookers are scrubbed of soot for the last time and the group of children that have been watching us all week help to carry the water. I will miss them all so much.

“The results are in and each of the trainee Health Workers has successfully passed the training programme in emergency dental care. Shouts of excitement echo around us, hugs and tears of joy! They are each presented with a kit of instruments, provided by Bridge2Aid, including the pressure cooker and kerosene burners for sterilising and beam with huge smiles, delighted in their achievement. The four Health Workers are responsible for more than 25,000 patients each, that’s a lot of people with access to emergency dental treatment and pain relief.

The volunteer programme is tough but definitely worth it, says Jeanette. “Awaking for mass at 5.30 am, sitting on hard benches, walking on hard dusty roads and sleeping on a cot with a foam mattress listening to flying termites buzzing in the room. Fighting with the mosquito net and taking it in turns to wash in buckets of water. Using the long drop loo when on clinic, breathing the unique odours, coping with kerosene fumes and steaming pressure cookers in intense heat. Riding the emotional rollercoaster that is DVP.

“I would have it no other way, I have relished every minute.”

The Bridge2Aid team based in Mwanza, Tanzania, is currently evaluating the pilot programme alongside the Rwandan Government. If successful, the team looks forward to revisiting Rwanda for a series of training programmes from 2014.

To learn more about Bridge2Aid, visit their website at www.bridge2aid.org

in 2012 a group of ten Dentaid dental volunteers spent a week working with Operation Smile in Morocco carrying out dental outreach clinics in children's homes and remote villages, and treating hundreds of children and carers.

The Dentaid team also fundraised towards the project and helped provide four portable chairs so that the project could expand its services to children in more remote areas.

Another opportunity arose to help Operation Smile again and in May 2013 a team of ten dental professionals (Mark Inman – group lead and dentist; dentists Hoda, Khadija, John, Nectarios, and Yordan; hygienist Laura and dental nurses Debby, Sue, Rachael) travelled to Morocco – a first visit for Essex dentist Khadija Bakali, who writes:

“I cannot describe how excited I was when I first found out that Dentaid was doing their first volunteering trip to Morocco, May 2012. This was at the BDA conference in April 2012 and since it was too late to apply for this first trip, I eagerly applied for the next year. I was filled with joy when I received the confirmation email that I was one of the chosen ones for the mission.

“Being born in Morocco, though living in Sweden since the age of four, this was an amazing opportunity for me to volunteer for the first time in my native country. Though I did research on the dental education, children’s oral health and traditional dentistry in Morocco, while studying Dentistry in Sweden, I did not know what to anticipate.

“On Saturday evening, we were welcomed by a warm and pleasant breeze at the airport in Casablanca. The Sunday included a visit to Hassan II mosque (which is the largest in the country and the seventh largest in the world) and stands on a promontory, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, with all its pride and astonishing architecture.

“We were invited to visit an American high school to attend their half term celebrations.

Being first welcomed by the delicious scent of Moroccan mint tea and bakery, we watched students’ presentations, theatrical and dancing acts and listened to their songs, all in English, only after less than a year’s studies. I was very soon filled with respect and admiration for these children, so grateful and ambitious and making the best out of the chances given to them in this developing country.

“At the end of the day we made our way to El Jadida, so we could start our mission, which included five days of various challenges. The mission involved everything from only being able to carry out extractions in a rural school (not necessarily on a dental chair), to actually being able to offer restorative work in a dental surgery - the Operation Smile Clinic. We also had a chance to treat children and staff from a Handicap Centre.

“The diversity taught us quickly how to be flexible and tested our ability to work as a team, which, consisting of six dentists and four assistants, was indeed phenomenal. We soon became one, like a family, despite our different experiences, backgrounds and cultures.

“Having the hotel located just by the beach made it possible for us to go for a swim, a walk, or even join locals for some bare feet beach football, before or after a hard day’s work. Where did we get all this energy from? I feel more tired after a normal 9-5 shift in the UK, than after a very early start, a very late finish, numerous hours of travel and field dentistry! The answer is simple though - the children’s bravery and appreciation were more than enough motivation.

“In total, with the aid of local dentists, we saw about 2000 children for triaging and carried out around 400 extractions. All children were very excited to get a toothbrush, toothpaste and oral hygiene instructions. Red noses and stickers were passed around and air bubbles were blown.

“Seeing the poverty in this beautiful country was heartbreaking. We are so lucky and privileged to have easy access to the NHS in the UK, and similarly in Sweden. The majority of these children had never seen a dentist in their life; the distance and economy did not allow that. But to see how brave and grateful they were for us being there and offering a helping hand, made me feel reborn and has changed me in so many ways.

A trip of a lifetime! Priceless and so rewarding! I cannot wait to go out there again next year!”