Project Cambodia
ASSCID recently received the following email from Cecilia, founder of Project Cambodia's Dental Clinic. It's an inspiring programme, and you can get involved and find out more info here.
Dear ASSCID
My name is Cecilia, I am the founder of the Project Cambodia dental clinic. It was established in Feb 2009, I have been a dental volunteer for 3 years in Cambodia, and after exploring different cities and provinces, I came to Kampot, where, with the help of the Buddhist Library, I set up a dental clinic to provide free treatment for children in a poor rural area.
We started with one dental chair, and were only open when volunteers visited the clinic, and now, one year on, we have a full time local dentist, dental assistant, school dental program coordinator who visits schools, gives oral hygiene education, and arranges vans to transport children needing treatment to and from the clinic. We have had 4 groups of dental volunteers over the past year, with more trips planned for 2010.
100% of the donations we recieve go towards buying materials and equiptment (such as a new steriliser) and towards the wages of the dental staff.
In December 2009 I lead a team of 4 University of Sydney dental students on their elective program, and 3 dentists to Kampot for volunteering. We visited 3 schools and surveyed and screened 300 children to check their oral health status, and study their diet and oral hygiene habits. In the clinic we saw 30-40 patients a day for a week and a half, providing fillings, extractions, cleaning, treating children with trauma, abcesses, and oral health education.
I am sending you some photos of Project Cambodia in action, and also a poster i made with info about the clinic.
Cheers Cecilia
ASSCID made a donation to Project Cambodia in 2009...