Mobile Swift visit to Banteay Meanchey Community

From July 12^th to 16^th  2010, the Mobile Swift Team of One-2-One CAMBODIA in partnership with the Denmark Dental Health Without Borders, visited the Banteay Meanchey Province for providing dental and basic health care to the residents in the community.

This trip was made possible with the generous sponsorship of Camkids. It was a fantastic co-operative effort along with the help Dental Health without Borders, Dental Students from International University of Cambodia as well as dental students from Ireland and volunteers from England. A reflection of how global partnership within the community in Banteay Meanchay making a huge difference.

 

The place was very muddy. On the day that our team arrived it rained non stop. As a result, it was very difficult and we were faced with challenging working condition. The villagers however made us so welcome and worked very hard with us to set up. Our team gladly rolled up our sleeves and got working.

Dental work: In total the team treated 470 patients including 73 adults (female 49, Male 24). We also conducted routine checks on 84 children who ended up not requiring treatments and 313 children who did have treatments. We had 11 chairs. In total, we treated 231female, 189male. In the 4 days that we were there,  the team carried out 423 Extractions; 79Filling; 13Scaling; 04 fluorides and gave out 470 toothpaste and toothbrushes. After the treatment our team gave gifts like sticker, balloons, and color books were handed out to the children.

Medical work: De-worming 470patients, 55 nits and 30 nail clipping. The medical team was truly a partnership effort, led by One-2-One staff.  We involved the local women and spent time teaching them basic healthcare like  how to look after their children's hair, finger nails, deworming schedules etc . It was a relaxed but very fulfilling experience  - seeing the same mothers the next day and knowing how much they appreciated our support and understood the importance of being able to help/support their own families and friends through the basic skills they acquired made all our efforts worthwhile.

Sport/Game activities: Two English students (Sam and Dan) spent time with the local children playing soccer while they waited to see the dental team. They were also invited into the school, behind the community church, to teach the children English and also to play some fun games.

The week was focused on the needs of the local village and their people. We provided dental treatment dental education for all ages, basic health and hygiene education with hands-on experience of nail clipping, de-worming, nit treatment and hand washing. Being invited into the classrooms and playing and working with local children has given us opportunities to build relationships, trust and to reinforce the messages of hygiene and sport/exercise as being important to good health and prevention of illnesses.

Last day at work: At the end of the day our One-2-One staff organized a small party to thank the overseas team and Cambodian students for the hard work. We gave each of our visitors a certificate for their hard work with One-2-One. After the formalities were taken care of, the Cambodian students taught everyone some traditional Khmer dancing. It was a night of fun…a fitting conclusion to a successful mobile trip.