Day 5

Diary for Tuesday 28th feb .

Woken by the car alarm birds .. Running theme that !

Left Kolping hotel at 8 am to travel the short distance to the university hospital of Malago.

Mark had a very bus morning for the students planned and had an in depth practice exercise for them to complete , this didn't need me so after having met the prosthetics teacher who had heard we were in town I asked if I could go and observe the students on his prosthetic clinic.

I asked if he minded me teaching the students and he said he was very happy as he had very little experience of prosthetic work .. He was the prosthetic tutor!!

The students had patients for dentures in the chairs and I discussed the pros and cons of leaving second molars off the full denture setups ... The senior student was initially unsure but her patient was complaining of a full mouth and thought she couldn't cope with the dentures . The dentures had been reduced as much as possible and when I convinced her to let me take the 7's off the patient immediately felt at Lot more at ease with her try in !

Another student I watched for 20 minutes scratching at a wax bite block ( used for recording the bite with dentures ) . I went to help her and within 30 minutes we had made new bite blocks , taken impressions and the patient was very grateful as she was facing having to make another trip of 6hrs ( round trip ) to get the impressions done as the student had told her she would not finish the required work at this appointment!!

On leaving the hospital Mark presented to Apolo the initial start of enough materials , and equipment for him to be able to start a basic denture laboratory , which is going to be called Melbo Lab, a fitting legacy for our trip here.

day 4

diary for monday 27th february

Again awoken @6am by the car alarm birds !!

Really looking forward to today as we get to go and see the Mulago dental hospital and the new dental technician training school.

On our arrival after yet another interesting journey through Kampala we were met by the dean of the dental school and some members of his teaching staff.

It has become clear that in Uganda there are 2 level of dental training , a 5 yr course and a 3 year publi dental health course. The 3 year qualified dentists have an emergency and pain relief remit and the 5 yr students have had a ugandan BDS equivalency ( on paper  --- I watched on final year student attempt to take out buried roots of a lre from a 6 yr old girl .... she hadnt managed to get local in and so with topical only was using an elevator to remove the roots .. despite the fact that the abscess wasnt coming  from the roots .. it was from the grossly carious lrd !!  shes 3 months off being qualified , but she has only been seeing patients clinicaly for 1yr ! )

The clinial dental school had been supported by Belmont and the level of equipment was excellent , although the cross infection control seemed to leave a lot to be desired !!

We were "fortunate" enough to see where the students then have to go to work for 1 yr after qualification .. ( have got some pictures but they wont upload ... ! )  -- no wonder in clinics like this the Vt's encourage the patients to go to see them at their private clinics.

A small partial denture here on the government price list are from roughly  one hundred pounds in cost.

The students seemed to really get a lot from the day and all said they really enjoyed it. Many thanks to all our sponsors for making this possible as we really are making a difference to the first batch of dental technology students in uganda. Hopefully from here the provision of dentures etc can get better.

After a busy day we took a couple of the students for a coffee and then it was evening meal & an early night !

Day 3

Diary sunday 25th feb

Awoken @ 6.30 by the car alarm birds !!

No clinics today .

Quite an interesting itinerary ahead today ... Barbara has arranged a trip into the Centre of Kampala to see more of Kampala and to go a church called the Wototo central central church.. They are a group of churches and cover the whole of Kampala.

The church service in wototo central church was full, literally to the rafters and even has an overflow seating area with a projector to show the service direct to those that couldn't get in!! The "congregation" we're full of amazing vibrant energy and sang and danced relentlessly to the incredible choir ladies and the central " band" . There was a lot of happy clapping and an immensely long sermon , timed to perfection by the use of countdown clock onto the back wall of what was a classic British old cinema as most of the buildings are British leftovers from the 1950's. As one service ended we left in a huge throng and the next mass of people awaited to get in!!

The church runs 4 services a day and Ran very very proficiently and the cost of the contents of the church seemed in very stark contrast to the income of the majority of the rest of the congregation .. The preacher delivered his sermon from an iPad!! I have views about this I won't post on here.

We left for Meal in nearby supermarket food court which is very nice.

The " best" shopping centre in Kampala was quite basic and had all you could need but at a basic level.

Mark and I wanted to visit the local craft market and we plucked up the courage to ride on a Buda Buda ( a motorbike taxi ... No helmets !! )

The craft market was all locally made gift type produce and the haggling was much fun, Mark made an offer on one item that had the lady ringing her boss to see if could accept it !!

Came back to kolping hotel & finished off our lectures / presentation in readiness for the following day presenting and lecturing at the university of Makarere , which is a division of the hospital of Malago.

Day 2 ...

Diary of 25th February 

Up early this am for Breakfast .. , 
Changed into scrubs for the clinic.

interesting Bus drive  into the slum, where a large collection of street children were all being occupied by tv.  There were Male & female mangers looking after the kids, which numbered roughly 150. 

The clinic was assembled from the variety pack of boxes stored in the bus. - pictures to follow
 

Clinic started at approx 10.30 

I treated a number of patients , all with wonderful  manners who 
Literally  have nothing . I also trained and worked With the Ugandan dentists , Ambrose , Fayed.
. 
Mark applied fluoride varnish for the first time and performed ( literally - bit of booty shaking!! ) an excellent role as DHE as we do want to leave a legacy behind so that they can help themselves and reduce the decay experience but sweets are so cheap , and coca- cola ( 2 ice cold bottles of coke , 3000 ugx = 90p. !!  ) the decay we see here is the tip of the iceberg the country will face on its current path Of an increasingly cariogenic diet.

The children were beautifully behaved & many spoke excellent English despite being some of the most poverty stricken children and all were very grateful for the use of modern dental equipment ( albeit in its most basic form ) 

The clinic finished & was packed away by approx 2pm.

The local people kindly provided us with lunch of rice and non spicy chilli con carne which is barbara's request from them as their gesture to us for the services we provide so that it is not seen as totally free. 

The experience and the gratitude expressed were humbling . 

After a quick shower and change from the scrubs mark and I went for a walk into Kampala , surprisingly our lungs coped very well with the acrid fumes and the smell of raw sewage and local food ... A heady combination !! 

Evening meal has been done and we look forward to another day tomorrow .. Albeit no clinics as we are spending some more time in Kampala.

Day 1 -

Diary of 24 th feb 2012.

Quite a relaxed start with a swim and spa at the hotel

Left for flight ba63 to entebbe airport And had a fantastic breakfast in waggamammas in terminal 5.

Flight delayed by 1hr but gave us the chance to get a couple of iPhone charge extender cases as when we're rural ...we really are rural !!

Arrived entebbe airport at 11.30 local time ( 3 hours ahead of the uk )

Barbara & driver met us in a large , typical African looking run down bus and then we passed out on the "m25" from kampala through a mass of shanty town like places with a party going on all the way down the road until we reached the sunset motel entebbe. We saw a nice big accident and were reliably informed that more people die of rta's than HIV here !!

Barbara told us about the child "prison" offically known as a rehabilitation centre for street kids who are " in the way" ... The officials deny its a prison but it houses children from 18 months old up to 12/13 and they apparently live in total squalor and have absolutely nothing.

A colleague of Barbara's is trying to sort out a project where she can , for 30 dollars a month remove , house, feed , love and educate these children. This lady on one occasion arrived at this place at the same time as a coach with some Americans on it bartering for the children .. They were to be sold for body parts.

Mya and Megan's clothes and toys are to go to some of the most needy children in existence and I feel very proud they have sent them , it's a shame I can't take some to give them personally , and see their faces Light up.. But maybe it's a good thing I don't see it as the images sound like they would haunt you for life.

Hotel is absolutely fine ... Has a shower & toilet & actually looks semi-appealing !! Room is very nice !

Unpacked all my stuff .. Didn't take mark long as he hasn't got anything with him ... Literally !! Mr 2 pairs of pants boy !!

Got the dental stuff all sorted into one case to leave on the bus and it all appears to have arrived intact !! Miracle!!

We have power here so were getting everything charged up to the max , and we are here until Wednesday , including doing some lecturing on Monday and tuesday at the dental / dental technician training college.

Barbara has sorted quite an interesting itinerary and I suspect that the hotel and all we've seen so far is lulling us into a false sense of security!

Alarms set for 7 for breakfast !! Our first Ugandan meal!

Very generous ba check in staff !!

Big thankyou to the check in staff .. One of the cases full of dental laboratory equipment Bag weight limit ..23 kg !! Bag actually weighed 28kg !!! Sat in wagamammas for breakfast !!!!

Flying out today

Cant really beleive the day has finally arrived !! Leaving the nice 4* hotel for the plane in a few mins .. Arrive uganda 11.30 ish local time then onto clinics tomorrow !! Will try to post from uganda !! Catch u soon !

1 day to go ...

The tops have arrived from J & A Internationl and look great !! Thankyou

Bags packed  now all ready for the off tonight !
Dont think theres anything Ive forgotten .. ???????

More generous donations ....

Great news , J & A international of spilsby have very kindly offered to sponsor our clinical wear for the duration Of our trip which is amazing !! Thankyou ! Philip odling of NFU insurance spilsby has also not only come up with the best cover of the many companies I tried , but also by far the best quote !! ( which he then very generously paid in full !!! ) Many thanks to him for His & his teams help this morning . 7 days to go and it feels like im getting 'sorted'!!

One week to go !!!

Were finalising things here . The anaesthetic is ordered .. Thankyou kent dental for giving me a good deal and a promise of A goody box .. So when it arrives ill post what they sent. We are packing the bags to go ... It is amazing just what 23kg is in luggage , Got so much stuff to take to give to the children in uganda its great . There is 23 kg of toys and clothes as were treating lots of children so i hope to be able not only to Help them dentally , but give them a toy as well . The feeling of slight apprehension is building now as were going to see a lot of things That mark & i have never experienced before!!! Ive got a meeting at J & A international from spilsby this morning with their charity committee to discuss The logo,d tshirts that mark & i plan to wear as our "clinical" tops so I hope theyre able to help us as times now running short . Still to do :- Holiday insurance !! But v difficult to find one that covers the cameras etc !! Im going to approach the NFU and see if they can help me !! Ill post later with progress from the day !!

12 days to go ....

Got some final bits to organise today 1) holiday insurance .... In the small print most companies wont cover my clinical camera!! 2) malaria tablets !! 3) hoping my head strap for my go pro camera arrives .. I want to film the places we go to do the rural clinics! And a full daylist at work as well !!

My daughters contribution ...

My daughters mya & megan have sorted out all their dolls etc and i now have quite a few toys & clothes to take with me. To uganda . I am also taking some clockwork toys to hopefully brighten the day of the children we shall be treating ... Maybe a bit better than a sticker !!!

And now from the iPad !

Just updating from the iPad I'm taking on the trip so I can keep everyone in touch with the progress of the trip .

Mobile blogging !!

Well it seems to have worked !!

Just trying the mobile blog update as im very new to this !!!

nettleham, primary school

have just been doing the first entry on the blog and I found a fantastic entry on the net by Nettleham primary school ... many thanks to them !!

Planning .. 2 weeks to go...!!

This is the blog about myself any my colleague mark Melbournes charity trip to Uganda. We have spent the weekend preparing for the trip !!! Ordered sun cream , mossie repellant etc & 3 large disposable bags which we can take all the very kindly donated equipment materials etc . The generosity of companies and individuals has been amazing , with one individual donating a thousand pounds. Skegness round table donated a thousand pounds as well which is incredible. Lots of smaller donations have Come in and all the money raised will enable to us treat a lot of Ugandan children , many of whom are orphans . I just read the story in the Lincolnshire press and was shocked to see 3 negative comments from people who had left feedback to the story taking the opportunity to say it was wrong for me to go to Uganda and try to help when people in the uk cannot afford dentistry!! While I empathise with their concerns about the cost of uk dentistry what they shouldn't do is use the fact that children in an underdeveloped part of the world are going to be helped and given pain free dentistry!! If they want to criticise the cost of uk dentistry then maybe they should go to university for 6 years borrow huge sums of money to enable them to be there, set up a practice with over 400k.s worth of essential kit and be governed by some of the most expensive regulations in the developed world whilst doing what is recognised statistically to be one of the most stressful jobs in the uk. But they probably haven't the intelligence to comprehend that.