4th July 2013

TRAVEL TO KARAGWE AND TRAINING DAY 1

0630: Breakfast
0715: Depart Walkgard, drive to Karagwe
1000-1100: Setup (FULL)
1100-1600: Tooth camp/Training
1230-1330: Lunch
1600: Packup (PARTIAL)
1630: Depart site
1800: Arrive GSS and Faith Hotels
1900: Brief and Debrief at GSS Hotel followed by dinner
Evening: Free time

 

 

 The following day we set off very early from Mwanza and arrived two hours later at the first of two medical centres in which we were to work. News travels fast, there was a queue of people waiting patiently to be seen. We were introduced to the Regional Dental Officer, he is employed by the Tanzanian Government and works with Bridge2Aid to coordinate the training of the Clinical Officers we were  to meet. Our first clinic was to be in a  rural health care centre in a remote area called Karagwe on the far west side of Tanzania. This was more or less on the highway so we were spared any travelling over unsurfaced roads, today at least. The health care centre turned out to pretty much be a concrete building with neither electricity nor running water.

 

 

 

 

 

 The  6 Clinical Officers (5 men and 1 woman) were introduced to us and we soon learned that some spoke better English than others, however they were keen to learn all they could from us.  I think one or two didn't feel quite at ease at the thought of being taught by a women but soon came around to the idea. With them also was also Stella, a permanent employee of B2A in Tanzania, who has been interviewing patients as part of a Monitoring and Evaluation/feedback exercise. The COs had all received three years’ medical training to diploma standard and were already working in rural dispensaries, providing a basic level of medical care, including delivering babies and suturing but no dental training.. They had spent the previous three days learning basic dental theory in preparation. 

 

There was one large room available for us to set up the workstations. Patient privacy is not an issue here.  Everything was basic from the 'clinic' to equipment. No lights, no suction and a wooden upright chair more suited to a dining table. The dental light was a head torch. The Spitoon was a cardboard box. When you couldn't reach the patients mouth you stood on a crate.  Instrumentation used is an FDI kit with some simple forceps, elevators, hypodermic syringe available locally.  The reason we do that is because we don’t want to use anything that the COs aren’t going to be able to use once they go back to their own dispensaries/health centres. It became apparent as we started treating that some of these patients had been in pain, not for days but years. The highest number I heard was 12 years. It made the reality of how much we were helping almost overwhelming at times.

 

The exceptional teamwork and B2As organisation prove strong as everything came together in no time and we began to prepare for our first patients.  Feelings of anxiousness and excitement were shared amongst us volunteers as set up for the unknown in this unfamiliar work environment - let the highs and lows begin!

The provision of basic treatment in  this part of the world can have a big impact on quality of life. The impact of untreated decay and infection can be devastating – people simply cannot work when they are in pain. This has a high social and financial impact. The lack of facilities in rural areas often results in people having to travel long distances to the district hospital. Factors such as transport, cost, time out of work or school means many will avoid healthcare. Other more serious cases are not far from life threatening medical conditions resulting from poor quality dental care. One five-year-old girl, recently orphaned, has to cope with complications of HIV infection as well as pain from carious and abscessed teeth. Sometimes life can seem very unfair.

We have a short  break in the middle of the day then it’s back to work for the afternoon session of patients and training.