Story
Hello everybody and thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.
I will be volunteering as part of a Dentaid mission providing safe, free emergency dental treatment to some of the poorest and most remote communities in Malawi! I will be going to South Eastern Africa from 30th March to 15th April 2023 as one of the dentists on that team, helping provide treatment to those who need it with no other access to dental care.
Dentaid is a charity which works in the UK and overseas, providing safe, sustainable dental treatment in poor and remote communities. The past couple of years have been challenging for us all, especially with COVID. Unfortunately, due to COVID many charities have been affected.
Have you ever had toothache? Have you ever been kept awake all night from pain in your mouth? Woken up with a swollen face due to a tooth infection? Risk of developing sepsis from an underlying tooth infection? Luckily for us in this country we can seek out help from a dental professional in a relatively quick amount of time. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, this is not an option, having no choice but to live with such problems.
There is a desperate need for dental care in Malawi – a country with fewer than 50 dentists for a population of over 19 million people. Our team will work alongside local partners to run dental clinics for people of all ages. Sadly, many patients will require extractions and several will have been suffering long-term dental pain and infections. The team will also run fluoride varnish and toothbrushing programmes and promote dental health.
These will be busy clinics and people will walk many miles to access treatment. In April 2019, a team of Dentaid volunteers worked alongside three Malawian dental professionals to provide emergency dental care for 1,400 people.
The members of the team will stay in basic hostel accommodation. There will be very few home comforts and there isn’t always hot running water or flushing toilets.
I am fundraising to cover the cost of the trip including flights, basic hostel accommodation in remote villages, provision of dental instruments, local anaesthetic and providing emergency dental treatment where it’s needed most. Any extra funds raised will be donated to the charity to aid dental need in the UK and around the world. Please if you are a UK taxpayer, tick gift aid with your donations, the charity will benefit with more income, at no additional cost to yourselves!
Thank you all so much in advance for your donations, me, the charity and the people of Malawi really do appreciate all the help.
Below is a link to a video of a previous Dentaid volunteering trip to Malawi, to show you what work this great charity does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxHlcgZ1sQ
Any donation would be greatly appreciated, no matter how big or small.