Tanya in Uganda – More clinics, wonderful greetings and holding back tears

Now at the halfway point of her two-week trip, Perfection Plus’ very own Finance Director Tanya Richards continues to support the brilliant SmileStar team delivering critical dental and medical treatment as part of their outreach programme.

After a long few days of clinics, supporting the dental professionals who have given up their time to volunteer with SmileStar, as well as plenty of hours on the coach, Tanya has provided another update on her experiences over recent days.

Day 5

We didn’t see quite so many people today but had the same wonderful greeting of ululations and cheers when we arrived! The day started with a lovely blessing and an acknowledgment of how far we had travelled to be there and how pleased they all were to have us.

The marquees and tables were once again already set up and waiting for us, so all we had to do was get our equipment ready. Mostly extraction forceps, cutting gauze and popping anaesthesia out of packets ready to be used in bulk. This time we were organised and put the glucose and surgical equipment on a separate table in the other marquee. Needless to say that we ended up visiting that table with nearly every patient.

All the clinics are hosted at local village hospital/clinics and the patients Magdalena saw today all had difficult extractions. Twice we had to give glucose as the patients were dizzy. One was a woman who was six months pregnant with her sixth child. She blessed me and thanked god. I did point out that it was Magdalena who had put her out of pain!

Another was a grandmother who was 80 years old and it is just her and her grandchild at home, who is 5 years old. She was so concerned as to how she would be able to eat without her molars as 3 teeth were removed. Magdalena spent a long time with the woman explaining her options but that it was the lady’s choice. When I gave her the after-care advice to not eat or drink for four hours because her mouth would be numb, she said it’s okay it didn’t matter as it would take her that long to get home. It just shows what an amazingly strong and resilient people they are.

I gave her a ball, colouring book and pencils for her grandchild, and a toothbrush each. We explained she needs to brush his teeth now every day. This is just not done here. With restricted access to shops or amenities of any kind we discovered that if they do brush their teeth, it is often with salt or charcoal. Magdalena had to explain that these are both abrasive and will ruin the teeth. The local people, even our translator Daniel, were very surprised by this.

The GP’s were mostly seeing people with bad backs today, caused by carrying large containers of water from the well/water tower to their homes.

I’ve realised I’m quite tired today as I’ve had to hold back the tears on three or four occasions!

Day 6

Today we were in a very small village called Panyangasi. The lovely and now familiar greeting awaited us! It was about half an hour from the hotel (a Ugandan half hour!) but down a long straight dirt road. It rained in the afternoon just as we started packing up and there was a torrential river running alongside the road on the way home. People stood in it up to their knees, holding their dresses up! Made getting home a lot slower but at least we made it up to our hotel!

Not so many people were waiting but there was a steady stream of arrivals that kept us busy until 15:30. We are back there in the morning until around 13:00 and then a 7-hour trip on the bus back to Kampala.
We treated a little girl called Princess who was so scared, she managed the anaesthetic but then wouldn’t let us near her with forceps which was such a shame. After a lot of patience from Magdalena in the end, we had to say we couldn’t do the extraction because it wouldn’t have been safe for the little girl or Magdalena. She went away with some colouring pens and books and hopefully she’ll come back next year.

Magdalena told me last night, that the little boy with the tooth at the front from a couple of days ago has stayed with her as it really upset her that she can’t take it out for him. She told me of a boy in Zimbabwe with a tooth that was really healthy but not in the right place. Mitesh told her that either she takes it out with anaesthetic or a witch doctor would smash it out with a stone. It takes a lot of experience and local knowledge to treat the people in their environment.

In the evening we had time to pack and then met in the bar for a dice game, (which obviously I lost) and a cold beer or rum and Fanta. It’s a new concoction for me but nice!

Day 7

Today is the last day of clinics, so this morning bags were packed and we were out of our rooms for 8am. Plans were changed yesterday so instead of going back to the same clinic as yesterday we went back to the first clinic. By 11.30 we had seen the last patient! Today again the people we saw mainly has sensitive teeth.

Their diet consists of a lot of millet bread which grinds their teeth down to stumps as they get older. The only thing we can do is advise that they buy sensitive toothpaste and rub it in.

We saw a toddler with vitiligo and she was so very beautiful. It took me a while but I got a smile in the end! I think they had come to the hospital, rather than to see us.

We left just before 1pm and back to Cafe Shires for lunch. They have provided us with lunch and dinner every day in Tororo and I have to say it was all excellent!. The whole team came dancing and singing with a cake to our table. It was such a huge celebration!

Then all on the bus and off towards Kampala. Singing badly lost us an hour and nearly some of the guys who I suspect were close to jumping out the windows! We stopped at a services with a kiddies pool and play area and there must have been 200 kids having the time of their lives on a Friday evening.

To learn more about SmileStar, make a donation to fund their outreach programmes or apply to become a volunteer, visit www.smilestarcharity.com.

Be sure to follow Perfection Plus on Instagram (@perfectionplusltd) to continue to follow Tanya’s progress and see more of the amazing work being done by the whole SmileStar team.