Ghana Dental Outreach 2011 – a huge success!

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Flying into Accra I couldn’t wait to get to the picturesque Lake Bosumtwi where this year’s Ghana Dental Outeach was located. It had been three months since I had met Mr Addei, Afrik and the other village leaders for the first time to discuss the possibility of organizing an outreach project based out of their village.

IMG 3032 150x150 Ghana Dental Outreach 2011 – a huge success!

The Ghana team

Arriving at the Bay View Lodge accommodation, set right on the lakeside, I met the 10 adventurous student dentists. They were all in high spirits and eager to start the treatment the following day having spent the first day visiting the partnership hospital in Kumasi and meeting the staff team and clinical supervisors. They had also had their first meeting with the primary school children they would be treating at the Adwafo RC Primary. All of the students were surpised by the warmth of the welcome they received from both teachers and students.

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Dental Outreach in Nepal – 2011 projects so far.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Our Work the World house is based in Pokhara city, so each year we try to set up the Dental Outreach Project in the Pokhara valley as this gives us the opportunity to provide free dental care in the communities in which we work. This year though we decided to also set up two projects outside of the valley in Nuwakot, just a couple of hours north of Kathmandu. We thought it would provide an interesting comparison and help us decide where we are most needed.

July 11 131 150x150 Dental Outreach in Nepal 2011 projects so far.

The welcome ceremony at Jurethum

The first camp was set up in Bidhur, a charming hill top settlement that overlooks a beautiful river valley with ancient temples scattered around the main village square. The last dental camp was conducted over a year ago by the rotary club, so it was a good opportunity for us to follow up on the good work. The community screening and the treatments were carried out at the village school with the portable dental equipments brought in from Kathmandu. ‘The Famous Farm’ was our student dentists’ home for 2 weeks – a restored Newari manor house, tastefully decorated with traditional Nepali furniture. The kitchen served wonderful local food and the cook also bent backwards to accommodate our student’s request for some western food!

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The Weekly Question – what has been your clinical highlight this week?

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Arusha Jasmine Koh 8 150x150 The Weekly Question – what has been your clinical highlight this week?

Newborn in Arusha

Whether it be the treatment of patients, rare and tropical diseases or progressed pathologies, an overseas placement is both fascinating and a great learning environment where students are often exposed to things that they have only read about in the past. Although we have asked this question a couple of times we always get different answers.

James in Arusha examined a patient with a hepatonegaly larger than any that he had seen in Hong Kong. “Another close second would be a multiple casualty car accident that caused 9 deaths.”

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The weekly question – What is your favourite in-country fact?

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
Natalie Wood Arusha 3 150x150 The weekly question What is your favourite in country fact?

Students on safari

As much as we try and prepare you for your time overseas, there are some things that you simply won’t know until you get there.  As well as the immediate contrast in clinical practice, each destination we offer provides a fascinating cultural experience so this week we asked the students what they have learnt.  We asked them “What is your favourite in-country fact?!”

In Arusha, Lucy learnt that “Fluoride in the water here causes the yellow stains on the teeth.  Before coming to Africa I thought this was caused by tobacco”

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Preparar el paciente para la operación……….ummmm……que???

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Now at first glance you may think “it’s another language, I don’t get it”, but have another look……. it’s not that hard to pick out words, and with just a little bit of initiative most of us would understand that “Preparar el paciente para la operación” simply means “prepare the patient for the operation”. And you thought you couldn’t speak the language!

Making Empanadas 150x150 Preparar el paciente para la operación..........ummmm......que???

Learning how to make Empanadas

Now try another…… “Tiene cancer, que come Usted sabe, es una enfermedad dificil pero se puede tratar”. A bit more tricky, but there are a couple of words that could be guessed……..

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Ghana Dental Outreach Project 2010

Friday, August 13th, 2010
P1000874 150x150 Ghana Dental Outreach Project 2010

Some of the kids

This year’s Dental Outreach Programme in Ghana took place in Jacobu within the Ashanti region of Ghana. It was about an hour’s drive south of Kumasi, which is the second largest city in Ghana and famous for its markets. The project spanned 3 weeks and consisted of seven 4th year dental students as well as (and for the first time ever for us) 5 dental hygienists. All the participants were studying or had finished studying at Cork and were therefore full of Irish vigour and energy!

The project was designed to provide free screenings and treatments to the school children of the local area. We had a bus and each day it would take us to the schools where the screenings were carried out and then bring those children that had been referred to the local St Peters Hospital for treatment. The screening process was immense! Just short of 4,500 children were screened during the project. We were privileged to have the dental hygienists during the screening process, they worked to provide education (of course with translators!) to all of those children that were screened by the dental students. This will enable the good work that took place to carry on after we left so that the children understand the importance of effective oral cleaning.

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Setting up the Dental Outreach project in Nepal

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

It’s 6pm. It’s pitch dark and I’m grasping for breath…. “I don’t think I can do this anymore…..” I call out to anyone that can hear me.  I climb a few more steps and ask a local lady about the village I am looking for  “it is just up that hill…. “ she tells me.  Hmmm…. at this point of time I really wished god had given me wings to fly. There are no wings though – I must have missed those at the same time I missed the last jeep to the village of Dhampus!

Villaers in action 150x150 Setting up the Dental Outreach project in Nepal

Villagers in Dhampus

The reason I have walked for 2 hours, 45 minutes through the trails into the jungle and out to the top of the ridge at 1700m, is because we are considering this village as a base for our first Dental Outreach project. The programme involves groups of Work the World dental students travelling to rural communities that have no access to dental care. They screen and treat the children for free under the guidance of a professional dentist from Pokhara, which is of huge benefit because very few rural children in Nepal have access to dental care. This can really help with pain relief and future problems.

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Win a two week placement on the Dental Outreach team in Kerala!

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Work the World Dental Outreach Programme 2009 found that 76% of children in rural Kerala need dental treatment, so are offering one student the chance to take part in the 2010 programme for free!

Tolu Ajayi India Surprise 150x150 Win a two week placement on the Dental Outreach team in Kerala!

Treating patients India 2009

The project continues in July 2010 and to boost awareness, Work the World are offering one fourth or fifth year dentistry student or professional the opportunity to win a two week placement in India with the Dental Outreach team.

The 2010 India dental outreach programme will send students to rural villages across Kerala to treat local children in makeshift dental clinics. Working under the supervision of qualified local dentists, phase one will see the team running oral hygiene workshops to educate the children in caring for their teeth as well as setting up an intensive screening process. All children with dental problems are then referred to the local hospital in which the project is based, with phase two dedicated to providing free dental treatment for each child. With students performing as much of the work as possible, this is a fantastic way for dentistry students to gain on-the-job experience as well as making a real contribution to the local community and having the experience of a lifetime.

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Abby and Omar head to the World Dental Congress

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Last week Omar and I were invited to attend the 56th IADS and YDW Annual World Dental Congress in Romania – the land of Dracula and the Cheeky Girls!

p1000523 150x150 Abby and Omar head to the World Dental Congress

Abby mans the Work the World stand

We were greeted at the airport by Ioana and Ciprian our team leaders and were taken back to the hotel to meet everyone and rest up before the Official Opening Ceremony.  During the ceremony we were treated to a Thriller-esque intro to the IADS committee plus a virtual tour around the new dental clinic at the university.  It was immediately obvious that we were amongst a wonderful group of friends as the students here attend these events every year.

The next morning I was very kindly given the opportunity to present our new outreach projects to the committee.  They were enthusiastically received and many students can’t wait to get involved next summer. We also took part in an international exchange fair where we met the wonderful Prof. Dr. Holger Jetsch from the University of Leipzig, Germany who was also talking.  The General Assembly and also the NEO- meeting of IADS, in fact all of it was such a success.

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Rogue gap year companies – what to look out for.

Friday, August 14th, 2009

The Times published an article this week about the problems of voluntourism and the exploitation of students that sign up to enticing sounding volunteer projects overseas, only to end up disillusioned and disappointed when their placement turns out to be of no real benefit, or is sometimes even deemed detrimental to the community.

dsc00819 150x150 Rogue gap year companies what to look out for.

Boys playing in India

Although Work the World send out gap year students on specific healthcare placements, and the Times article was focusing on companies that send volunteers to work on charitable projects, the message throughout the article about what students should be careful of when booking overseas trips to work in other communities, applies equally to us.

When Dave and Omar set up Work the World it was partly because they had met so many students in similar situations to those mentioned in the article. They wanted to start a company that actually did what it said on the tin and provided gap year students with an amazing experience, whilst at the same time creating a sustainable project in an overseas base that provided work for locals and was of benefit to the community.

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