There’s an old proverb that says, “.” How true that statement is! It is one of the foundations upon which all aid programs (and the TLDP) are based, and it’s all about sustainability and self-sufficiency. The TLDP’s overarching aim is to work with the Timorese people to improve their own systems so that one day, they will no longer need us. To achieve this requires investment in the skills of local people.
Hence, on May 1, with the help of the Australian Dental Association, the Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee, Eaglehawk Rotary Club and La Trobe University, the Timor-Leste Dental Program brought Dr Inda Zulmira Dias over to Australia for some much needed continuing professional development (CPD).
Dr Inda is one of the Timorese Dental clinicians whom the TLDP mentors. She is a Phillipines-trained dentist who works in Maubisse Hospital, supported by two dental therapists and 2 dental nurses. She has had no further formal CPD since she graduated in 2015 (Australian dentists need 60 hours over 3 years to retain their dental registration), so this was badly needed, especially in a country with only 5 functioning dentists!
Accompanied by Dr Blanche Tsetong over 8 days, Dr Inda attended the ADA Congress – the biggest dental conference in Australia – and spent 3 days at La Trobe University in Bendigo attending practical sessions and lectures, as well as discussing possible ways in which La Trobe could support her team in the future. There were also meetings with Eaglehawk Rotary to discuss the improvement of the layout of Maubisse’s dental surgery. The schedule was hectic, but the irrepressible, enthusiastic Inda took it all in her stride!
The TLDP extends our deepest thanks to the many organisations that helped make this happen!!!
Timor-Leste Dental Program 