Team 4 was the smallest team in 2023 after a member pulled out at the very last minute and proved too difficult to replace. The Australian contingent of Team 4 consisted of Dr Mary Tiutiunnik and Kayleen Alexopoulos, a very experienced dental assistant from Adelaide.

Mary had the additional administrative tasks which fall to the last team leader of the year, and also happened to be the first team leader in TL after the triennial changeover of the Carmelite leadership, so had ambassadorial duties as well. Hence, she arrived in TL one week early to meet with the Carmelite Sisters’ new regional superior, Sr Odette, and second-in-charge, Sr Joaninha, who previously managed the Maubara Clinic. She was fortunate to be able to touch base with our beloved founder, Sr Filomena, who now works in the TB clinic, and she also visited Sr Feliciana who the TLDP is currently sponsoring . Sr Feliciana seems to be enjoying her studies to be a dental therapist and is passing her course requirements.

The following day, Mary and Ana Paula met with Father Bong, the head of the Jesuit Mission in Railaco. He graciously took time from his busy schedule to show them around his clinic and give them afternoon tea. They then travelled up the road a bit further to  Gleno to visit Tino, our longest-standing mentee, who is a very skilled and popular government dental therapist. As always, Tino was extremely busy at his clinic, with a line of patients waiting to see him but unfortunately, there was no power. Despite his busy schedule, Tino often takes leave to travel with the TLDP teams.  After a quick look around Tino’s clinic, Mary and Ana-Paula travelled to Kasait to look at the  Jesuit clinic next to a large Jesuit school and college where Team 2 often works. 

The extra time in Dili was well needed to hunt for missing clinic supplies, some of which had failed to arrive despite being ordered over two months in advance. Mario, our friend from Rotarians Helping TImor, proved invaluable as he rang friends to find the best place to purchase the large number of gloves needed for the trip and for the clinic until a team returns in 2024. Dili had no small gloves to be found, and hand sanitiser proved very difficult to source since many people in TL thought Covid no longer existed and that hand sanitiser was now unnecessary.

On Sunday, the team travelled to the Maubara clinic, collecting Timorese team members Ana Tilman, Ana Martins and Tino on the way. After a brief stop to pack the vehicles, they were off to Maubisse with a welcome lunch break in Laulara at Ana Tilman’s home. After a night in Maubisse, Monday morning saw two more Timorese health workers join the team, Imelda from the Carmelite clinic in Maubisse and Ricardo, one of the dental therapists from Maubisse Hospital, both of whom had previously joined one of our teams several times.

The team then travelled another 2 hours to Hatobuilico at the base of TL’s highest mountain, Mt Ramelau. The countryside was extremely dry, with fires burning in all directions, which made for a very smoky and dusty experience. However, we were warmly welcomed by the parish priest and set up our clinic in the large church hall. The next four days saw a steady stream of patients who mostly attended with toothaches.

Friday and Saturday were spent back at the Carmelite clinic in Maubisse where the team mostly saw adult patients needing fillings, as the local hospital clinic had no working handpieces or any means of mixing filling materials. We met up with Dion the dental nurse from another NGO, Solar Smiles, who happened to be Imelda’s brother and a local from Maubisse. Dion kindly took Mary and Tino to their Aladdin’s cave of dental materials, where we were able to replace some of the stock that did not turn up in Darwin. Tino was also given a wonderful supply of materials for his government clinic in Gleno. 

On Saturday evening, the team bid Kayleen goodbye at the Timor Plaza where she was staying for a well-deserved rest before flying back to Darwin on Sunday. Sunday saw Ana Paula, Ana Martins, Tino, and two young nursing students from Dili having treatment at the Maubara clinic. The two young nursing students required 3 extractions, and restorative work and one had quite poor periodontal health for a 22-year-old something rarely seen in Australia these days. As Monday had been declared a holiday for a second round of local government elections for some districts, Nico and Ana Tilman were required to travel to their homes in Baucau and Ailieu to vote so the rest of the team did a stocktake and general tidy-up of the clinic.

On Tuesday the team set up at the nearby Catholic primary and junior high school, St John Paul 11 at Paurubo. Mary noticed a general improvement in the school since 2018 with renovations and the building of new classrooms; however, about 60 % of the children had decayed teeth. Sadly, the team was unable to finish the treatment at this school and it was hoped that the children would come to the clinic or the school could be revisited early in 2024. 

In total, Team 4 examined 396 patients; extracted 278 teeth, placed 172 fillings and did 76 preventative treatments.