Tanya in Uganda – Arrival and first few days
Perfection Plus’ very own Finance Director Tanya Richards is currently in Uganda, working alongside the amazing SmileStar team delivering treatment as part of their outreach programme.
After arriving in Uganda late on Saturday 11th July, Tanya has provided her first update giving an insight into what the first few days have been like since leaving the UK.
Day 1 and 2
After a very early start, and a night where no one seems to have slept, we managed to successfully all meet at Heathrow airport. Hellos and greetings were exchanged and it seems many people already knew each other from previous trips.
The transfer in Brussels was fun, as we missed the sign to the terminal, but eventually found our way to our connecting flight and then onwards to Rwanda for refuelling and staff change over before finally leaving for our final destination in Entebbe, Uganda. Food on the plane was both exciting and excellent!
Eventually we cleared through customs and met with members of the local Rotary club, Lydia and Agnes and our driver Mohammed. It was hilarious watching the bags being thrown in the coach window before all 18 of us squished on the tiny coach that is to be our new friend.
We all met for an excellent breakfast, then all bags loaded on top of the coach this time and we were off. 7 hours to Tororo! Little kids squished between parents on motorbikes, and whole massive bunches of bananas in the street on the side of the road. The little kids are just adorable, and we have waved at a few stood in open doorways.
4 hours out of Entebbe and the landscape is ridiculously green and getting lusher. I am trying to take photos but it’s a bit tricky from the coach.
The team so far have been the friendliest bunch I have ever met, ensuring I feel part of the team but are all warning me how hard we will work!
When we arrive tonight, we are being entertained by the MP of Tororo at his house so I must put on my best safari shirt!
I’ve brought far too much stuff to give out and my bags are definitely causing a nuisance, but I’m loving every second.
Day 3
Today was the first day of clinic in Tororo and there were a lot of people waiting already when we arrived. Marquees had already been set up for us with a few tables and plastic chairs which had to be wiped clean before we could start unpacking any of the medical bags. Each dentist set up a station with a couple of chairs and a plastic bucket with a bin liner in. I was working with Magdalena who showed me how to stand behind a patient and support their head and the best position to save my back!
She then showed me how to set up a tray initially with just a mirror, then when she looked in the patient’s mouth and made a treatment decision, we would go to the table with the instruments and select the necessary items. You could only select one of each instrument as once an instrument has been placed in the kidney dish for the dentist to use, it then had to be sterilised regardless of whether had been used or not.
Sterilisation involved a wash in a bucket followed by a disinfection in a different bucket and then into a pressure cooker to be sterilised. The process took a very long time and was very laborious for the three people who were tasked with sterilisation.
A normal treatment would be one mirror, one cartridge anaesthetic, one syringe, one pair of forceps and a piece of cut throat pack to act as packing.
On the first day we treated 354 dental patients and the two GPs with us treated a further 110 patients. These are mostly for ear infections, dry eyes or chest infections.
We left the hotel at 8:30am and finished for the day around 5:30pm when the last patient had been seen. All the kit then had to be packed away in the bags, the tables cleaned and stacked. A Team came and took the marquees away and the tables and chairs to be used again in tomorrow’s clinic.
Day 4
After some much needed rest, we travelled about half an hour drive to the second clinic location and enroute, we picked up another dentist called David who lives nearby.
When we arrived at the clinic today, there were already approximately 80 people waiting and they gave us the traditional ululation as a greeting. They were amazing at queueing in the tightest single file you will ever see. There were lots of children in the queue and lots of children peeking and watching us through their hedges all day. One boy stayed for about 3 1/2 hours just leaning against a tree and watching.
The patients today spoke very little English but luckily we had more translators. A man called Daniel who was very squeamish helped us in the afternoon.
Today we pulled two teeth out of a five-year-old boy who was so brave!
It’s all very similar in the treatment that we can provide though one little boy yesterday had an extra tooth growing right at the front that looked like a small unicorn horn. As he was only seven years old, Magdalena was unable to remove it and asked the mum to bring him back next year. I’ve never seen someone look so despondent.
Today’s clinic treated 247 patients, so slightly less than the first day, and we spent some of the downtime waving to an amazing group of children that kept growing, who were all given toothbrushes. They’re so inquisitive and fun.
Some of the tribe we met today bend down on one knee to say thank you, it’s incredibly graceful and humbling at the same time. We had an amazing lady with a blue headdress who thanked us in this way. Some of the children also did this when we gave them the toothbrushes.
Our teddy bear is now being referred to as Marshmallow and it seems to have stuck! It breaks your heart to show them the teddy bear and then take it back.
It’s now super late and I’m off to bed!
Make sure to follow @smilestarcharity on Instagram and visit www.smilestarcharity.com to learn more about the incredible work they are doing and to donate to support their outreach programmes.
Also follow Perfection Plus on Instagram (@perfectionplusltd) to follow Tanya’s progress and see loads of content and pictures from her amazing trip to Uganda.