Last week I took the day to visit one of the Dental Volunteer Programme Training teams working with us for 2 weeks. It’s something I find rewarding, exhausting and heartbreaking, even after 10 years. And this day was no exception. It was however fantastic to have our God-Daughter Grace with me. Grace is living with […]
Read More
We are delighted that the ITI (International Team for Implantology) have donated a stand at their forthcoming ITI UK and Ireland Congress which takes place in London next month (6-7 March). We are very grateful to the committee for allowing us to exhibit and attend the event which will give us the opportunity to see […]
Read More
We welcomed our latest Dental Volunteer Programme teams to Mwanza last night. Before they set out to the remote rural areas at different ends of the Lake Zone, we had dinner together on the shores of Lake Victoria. There are several returning volunteers on this trip, including Barry Devonald who is here for an incredible […]
Read More
Without any need for violins – last year was tough. This is a particularly difficult time to be running a charity (or anything for that matter), and especially a charity which works outside of the mainstream, and particularly when there are emergencies like Ebola contributing to ‘compassion fatigue’ in the UK. I don’t think I’m […]
Read More
It’s one thing for us to say what we do works. But what about the partners we work with, those on the ground with the responsibility of ensuring it does? We talked to Dr Samuel Kalongoji – the District Dental Officer who worked with us to set up the Dental Training Programme about his thoughts, […]
Read More
Last week I was on the road for the last time this year. Just 4 days that took in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital, and Dodoma, the seat of government and the official capital of Tanzania. It’s a bit like the Sydney/Canberra thing the Australians have, except that essentially Dodoma was chosen because it […]
Read More
Even amongst good friends I sometimes get mistaken for a dentist. Don’t get me wrong, I would be very proud to be a dentist. If only I could stomach the sight of blood, saliva etc then maybe I would have trained to be one. But being a layman and being asked dental questions can be […]
Read More
We recently recorded a 10 minute video with CEO Mark Topley and our friends Chris Barrow and multi-Unity Partner Colin Campbell about Unity Partnership. If you’ve ever wondered what it is and why it’s important, grab a coffee and sit back and listen to Colin and Mark talk about how it can be a win:win […]
Read More
3 years ago this month we shot a video with our friends JSP Media about Bridge2Aid and our pioneering work training local Health Professionals to provide a simple, safe but vital emergency dental service. I spent the best part of a week with Jem and the team, and we travelled to one of our training […]
Read More
I imagine I was not alone in being deeply impacted by the video below – a speech by 91 year old Harry Smith at this year’s Labour Party Conference. His recounting of a bleak time in our history not so long ago was heart wrenching, and his exhortation to protect the NHS, which remains one […]
Read More