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TEAM 1 FLOATS HOME

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Keith, Patrick, Sally and Peter
Keith, Patrick, Sally and Peter

Super-slick operators Team 1 have returned home after a hugely successful trip. As previously mentioned, the team consisted of Dr Peter Shakes, returning for the second time; equipment guru, Keith Mentiplay, on his 4th trip to TL; newcomers Patrick Fitzgerald and Sally Stephens, and their team leader, the ever-cool Dr David Sheen.

Sr Filomena doing a toothbrushing demo
Sr Filomena doing a toothbrushing demo

This team had the additional responsibility of sifting through the equipment and materials that we sent over earlier this year, determining which equipment was to stay in Railaco and transporting the rest to Maubara. After accomplishing this task on Day 1, the team spent week 1 in the Maubara and Loes districts with our indefatigable boss, Sr Filomena. They treated patients in the villages of Fau Lara, Trans and Guiço, as well as seeing the kids from Maubara Orphanage at the fixed clinic.

Keith works his magic
Keith works his magic

As usual, the team was confronted by equipment issues – a flat battery in T2, misbehaving generators and a troublesome compressor. Luckily for this team, they had a not-so-secret weapon – Keith – who spent all hours day and night fixing and upgrading our equipment, as well as installing the new chair and compressor in Railaco and fixing equipment issues in our Lions partner’s Klinik Pas. He did a lot of travelling – Keith had a hectic 6 days before leaving TL at the end of Week 1. He probably needed a holiday! Thanks Keith!

Father Bong with Patrick and Peter
Father Bong with Patrick and Peter

The following week, Sr Filomena handed the team over to the Jesuit crew in the Railaco. Lucky Team 1 had the opportunity to enjoy the unparalleled hospitality of the enthusiastic Fathers Bong, Bert and Phuong, Sr Rita, and the company of a chorus of others, including the high school principal, Michael, and a visiting Aussie nurse, Jenny. The team treated patients in Railaco Leten, Railaco vila, Cocoa vila and Gleno. This area has beautiful scenery and the temperate weather is a welcome relief from the sweltering coast. They were fortunate to have the help of friendly English-speaking locals, Victor and Noberto, who provided assistance with communication.

Tino and Victor at Cocoa Vila
Tino and Victor at Cocoa Vila

To the team’s disappointment, both Aida and Tino – the Timorese dental therapists whom we mentor – both had to attend a Dept of Health inservice for almost the entire time the team was in TL. Fortuitously, Tino (who is stationed  at Ermera) returned to base on the team’s penultimate day and everyone had the opportunity to work together. We first met Tino in Liquiça and is great to hear that he is still as dedicated and enthusiastic in helping his community as ever.

Superslick Team 1 in operation
Superslick Team 1 in operation

According to reports, this team never lacked for enthusiasm or the will to do some hard graft. Patrick, a builder by trade, proved he was a truly multi-talented individual, becoming an excellent dental assistant, sterilisation expert and roadie overnight, while entertaining the team with his Irish humour. Sally proved to be one of those dental assistants that we dentists refer to as Supernurses – able to handle anything and everything with good humour and ease. She kindly made her car available for the team’s use during the trip. Thanks Sally! Also,she is so enthusiastic that she has already volunteered to work with the next couple of teams as well as to do their inventories and sort out the clinic once they depart. We may have to decline or be spoilt forever. Peter Shakes (the quiet achiever and smooth operator, who gets the job done) and Sally were the ‘Dream team’, doing the bulk of the clinical work.

Thanks HSH!
David, Sally and Peter with kids say, “Thanks HSH! “

All up, the team saw over 356 patients. They extracted 305 teeth, and despite the breakdown of our remaining slow speed handpieces, restored 127 teeth and carried out 47 preventative treatments. Thanks to David, Peter, Sally, Keith and Patrick for all your hard work and adaptability. Your humble and helpful natures contribute to the building of peace and trust in TL.  Thanks also to Sr Filomena, Father Bong, Tino and all the other Jesuits and Carmelites whose dedication and patience continues to make this program possible. Lastly, thankyou to Henry Schein Halas for continuing to support our program with much needed materials and equipment, which allows us to continue to help the East Timorese people.

TEAM 1 to KICKSTART 2015

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This Sunday our first team for 2015 heads to Timor Leste’s sunny shores. The team, led by Dr David Sheen, has the important tasks of touching base with our network in TL, as well as the installation of the dental chair in Railaco, on top of the usual tasks of treating the East Timorese and mentoring Timorese Dental Therapists that are our everyday challenges. David is joined by new volunteer, Patrick Fitzgerald, and by Keith Mentiplay and Dr Peter Shakes. We are also very lucky to have Sally Stephens join the team for the first time. She is an Aussie dental nurse who currently resides in Dili.

We wish them a safe and productive trip and hope that their interactions with everyday East Timorese continues to build peace, understanding and resilience within this still very young nation.

Dental equipment reaches Railaco

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As promised, Father Bong and his merry band picked up the equipment for the Timor Leste Dental Program on Sunday and hauled it to Railaco. The heavy weight and unwieldiness of the items proved no obstacle to team’s determination and cooperative efforts to move them into the clinic. Thank you to Father Bong and his team and to Daryl Mills and his team, without whom these dental materials and equipment would still be sitting on the dock in Dili.Jan container 2

Container Arrives Unscathed

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Our amazing friend Daryl Mills, the hardworking Rotary Liaison in Timor Leste, has informed us that the container carrying our precious equipment and materials has arrived unscathed! Our partners in Railaco, Father Bong and his team, will be taking it all to Railaco for our first team to sort when they arrive. Just in the nick of time! Team 1 hits Timor Leste’s sunny shores on the 20th April, in just over a week.

As we are creating a new fixed dental clinic in Railaco, to be used by the team when in the area, the refurbished dental chair, drill unit and suction unit will be installed there permanently – Team 1’s Keith Mentiplay’s first job! The remainder of the materials and equipment will be taken by the team back to Maubara.

Equipment in TL must be hardy – it must be able to cope with the humidity, the heat, the dusty conditions and uncertain electrical currents. But its first challenge is to withstand Timor’s roads.

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DENTAL SUPPLIES HEAD TO TL

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Last Thursday, vital supplies for the Timor Leste Dental Program  were delivered to Rotary’s Donation in Kind warehouse in West Footscray, Victoria, where in two weeks, they will be placed in a shipping container bound for TL (via Hong Kong!!?) – an unwieldy way to get goods across to a country that remains without a postal system. Many, many thanks go to Ben Sheen, who drove the supplies from Sydney to Melbourne.

Blanche with a generous donation from Henry Schein Halas
Blanche with a generous donation from Henry Schein Halas

Amongst these supplies  are an electric dental chair, bound for Railaco, a portable suction unit, a dental drills cart and lots of consumables!  Many thanks to the amazing Keith Mentiplay for checking out the chair, to fabulous John O’Connor for overhauling the dental cart, to Dr Gordon Howe for donating the suction unit and to Dentsply for the consumables. Special thanks to Henry Schein Halas for the 15 cartons of gloves, bibs, and masks  etc- the Henry Schein Cares team really came through for us at short notice. Thank you Jessica and Kira! I know that our dental teams will truly appreciate NOT having to carry all this stuff to TL this year!

Our gear should arrive in Dili by March 22, where it will be taken in hand by our hardworking Rotary Liaison Officer, Daryl Mills, who seems to effortlessly, and tirelessly, juggle all the needs of all the Rotary Programs in Timor Leste. Daryl will distribute the gear – just in time for the first team which arrives in April! Thanks Daryl!

Like all volunteer programs, the Timor Leste Dental Program exists because of the efforts of a multitude of dedicated, generous, caring people. We are grateful for you all.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TLDP

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As 2014 draws to a close, one naturally reflects upon the year which has passed so rapidly. It has been an exceedingly busy and exciting year for all of us in the Timor Leste Dental Program. We have welcomed a whole bunch of new volunteers and said our sad goodbyes to those who have called it a day. It has been a year of outrageously intense fundraising and thanks to all our supporters, we managed to not only achieve our goal of buying a new Troopie – T2 – but we have been able to raise money that will carry us forward for the next few years. Your generosity and support has been overwhelming and we are grateful not only for your financial support, but also for  your ideas and advice.

Sr teachingAs this goes to press, we are preparing to transport a second hand dental chair  (donated by Dr David Sheen) to our new partners, the Jesuit Mission in Railaco. This chair will  be useful when our teams are in Railaco and we are hoping it will also be useful for Father Bong, a medical GP, for procedural work. With the chair goes a second portable suction unit, donated by Dr Gordon Howe of Manly, and a portable dental unit as well. We are also hoping to sneak in 119 boxes of gloves with the ‘package’ so the teams don’t have to lug around so much luggage next year. Fingers crossed! The ‘package’ will be sent to Melbourne by courier, to be placed on the next shipping container to Dili.

church bellWe have had an unprecedented number of volunteers putting up their hand for 2015, and I am happy to report that our increased profile has allowed us to send 5 teams in 2015 – we may even have a 6th! Our volunteer year kicks off in late April with Team 1 being lead by David Sheen, who will be accompanied by the super enthusiastic Peter Shakes and equipment guru Keith Mentiplay. Team 2, lead by John Moran and his talented daughter, Sam, will head out in early June.  Newcomers, Dr Mary Tiutuinnik and Beth Bowen  will join Team 3 in late July, with  Blanche Tsetong and jack-of-all-trades Wayne Pearson. Team 4, lead by super chilled David Digges, with dental legend, Geoff Knight, will leave late August. Team 5, consisting of Andy Moran (Snake), Gordon Saggers (Cowboy) and Alan Christie (Agatha) will head to TL in mid- September and will be the first of our teams to work in Railaco only. For advice on those nicknames – I am reliably told it is secret Railaco business – apply to Father Bong.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, our long-suffering families, our friends and supporters for everything you have given to the program this year. We wish you all a safe, very happy Christmas and a super new year! See you all in 2015!

MONEY MATTERS

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On behalf of all us who volunteer for the Timor Leste Dental Program I would like to offer a sincere thanks to the Chatswood Rotary Club for throwing us that marvellous bash earlier this year. Drs David Digges, David Sheen and Blanche Tsetong were invited to one of the club’s meetings at the start of this month. After giving a presentation to the attendees, they were handed a cheque for $53 000 – a significant amount of money that will help keep us going for the next few years. This is in addition to the generous donations we have received, and are continuing to receive, from our fabulous supporters.

So what are we planning on doing with the dough? We at TLDP central are planning on buying a new compressor, a new portable dental cart, paying off our loan for Troopie 2 and generally getting on with the job at hand. Thank you for your support! We could not do it without you!

A few fun facts about the program.

We sent 7 dental teams from Feb 2013 – Sept 2014

We treated 2895 Timorese people.

We extracted 2071 teeth, placed 1189 fillings and performed 1490 preventive treatments.

A conservative estimate of the cost of this treatment is $848 260.

We are in the midst of planning 2015, which is shaping up to be another exciting year! We have a whole new line-up of eager volunteers, thanks to our raised profile, and are planning additional trips!! Keep you posted!

(Picture from left: Club President, Dr Tony Basten, Dr Peter Kindred, Dr Dick Abbott, Dr David Sheen, Dr Blanche Tsetong, Mrs Coleen O’Neill, Mr Michael McQuillon, Dr David Digges)

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The lucky team returns!

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Our last team for 2014 returned from Timor Leste a couple of weeks ago, tired but triumphant. The team was exceedingly busy both weeks. In the first week our intrepid team, comprising Dr Hans Raets (Team leader), Dr Yvonne Huijser Von Reenen and Ms Breanna Martin, made the first dental visit to the village of Lebuletta, a 90 min 4WD into the hills above Maubara. We are not sure they will be invited back – by hooking up to the village’s brand new electricity supply, they blew all the fuses!

Hans, Yvonne, Sr FilomenaThat same week, the team also visited the nearby villages of Paurobo and Kaikasa where they were dismayed by the high levels of decay. They were also plagued by equipment failures – herniated air lines, seizing of high speed and slow speed handpieces and malfunctioning valves on the steriliser. Luckily the team had Breanna – a secret expert in battling recalcitrant equipment. She singlehandedly fixed both the air line and the valves.

hans team 2014In the second week, the team was joined by Dr Geoff Knight and his daughter, Anneli Knight, as well as Aida, the Timorese Dental Therapist that the program mentors, who works in Liquiça and Maubara.

The team took off to Bobonaro, a 5 hour rough journey with spectacular scenery. They made a stop in the infamous town of Balibo, where Rotary is building a guesthouse and clinic (apparently the rooms and food are 1st class! We have already volunteered to test them out). A lucky team, they were fortunate to be just in time to see the Tour de Timor cyclists cross the Stage 2 finish line!

In Bobonaro the team was swamped by work, which was dealt with most effectively by using a special treatment protocol which Geoff has helped develop. With Geoff’s tutelage, Aida, in particular, has become extremely proficient in treating decay quickly  with basic equipment. A return visit next year is on the cards to assess the 344 teeth treated in this way.

Catastrophe struck on the ‘lucky’ team’s second last day. The compressor kicked the bucket at the worst time – when they were treating Sr Fatinha, our Timorese coordinator in Bobonaro. A 5 min job became a 2 hour job. Well done Geoff!

hotspringDespite equipment failures and  the bells and the dogs of Bobonaro, the team managed to maintain their remarkable spirit and goodwill throughout the trip. Could it be because of Anneli’s sterilisation efficiency  keeping them amply supplied with cold steel? Or was it super-dental assistant Breanna, with her continual rendition of AFL songs? Perhaps it was the pilgrimage with Sr Mendes  to the hotsprings at nearby Marobo? No matter what the reason, they were a great team!

Another successful trip despite many trials. The team treated a total of 578 patients. They extracted 321 teeth, filled 226 teeth and performed 438 preventive operations. Well done Hans, Yvonne, Breanna, Geoff, Anneli, Aida,  Sr Filomena and Sr Fatinha!

Final 2014 Team READY!

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The last team of 2014 is now on-track to depart from Timor Leste in a couple of weeks. It has been a bit of a ride for this last team – administration problems, recalcitrant passports containing one too many numbers for online forms and scary health issues have all contributed to the stress of preparation for this team. Nevertheless, they are still going! You’ve got to admire the dedication!

The last team consists of returning clinicians Dr Hans Raets from Northern Territory and Dr Geoffrey Knight from South Australia, as well as three eager new volunteers – Dr Yvonne Huijser Van Reenen and Ms Breanna Martin, who also reside in the balmy NT, and Ms Anneli Knight, Geoff’s intrepid daughter. It is fabulous to see that this program has true national support, with dentists participating in the program hailing from all states (except Tassie – too far for them to travel, perhaps?).

The team will arrive in Dili on the 6th September. Their first job will be to fix the portable suction unit which was discovered to be leaking on the last day by the July team. Unfortunately, Team 3 possessed neither the tools nor the hand size for the job – thankfully Team 4 consists of taller people and has had the chance to head to Bunnings!

The team will, as usual, spend the first week in the Maubara/Liquiça subdistricts and then will be heading out the hills of Bobonaro for the second week. Lucky them! The area around Bobonaro is exceedingly beautiful and Sr Fatinha and her fellow sisters will make them feel right at home. The only downside are the bells…and the dogs….a very early wakeup call. Fair warning!!

http://https://vimeo.com/103895361

NB: This video was taken from bed. Note it’s pitch black!

 

 

 

ROTARY FUNCTION SUCCESS

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Those of us who attended last night’s function are still stunned by the sheer grandeur of the event. The huge attendance, the generous support from donors, and the fabulous MC, all contributed to making last night’s event a huge success. A MASSIVE THANK YOU to Chatswood Rotary Club, for putting in the hard yards for this program. Thank you also to David Sheen and David Digges for their hard work in putting together their tightly woven speeches, and to Sam Moran for a video that cemented into the minds of the viewers an idea of what it is we do over in Timor Leste. We are extremely grateful to the Prime Minister, The Hon Tony Abbott for sparing us some time out of his busy schedule to join us last night and also to the Hon Joe Hockey MP, and other dignitaries, for their support and goodwill. A heartfelt thank you to the Consul General of Timor Leste, Armandina Gusmão Santos and her admin officer, Ligia Ximenes for their grace and friendship. They were wonderful company last night.

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It is too early for the final figures to be finalised, but rest assured, dear friends and supporters, the fabulous, super efficient folks from Chatwood Rotary have thrown us an event that has raised us more funds than we originally anticipated! A BIG thank you to all of you who attended last night, who spent up big on those auctions and raffles, and to those of you who continue to support us from afar.

(Picture from Left: Dr David Sheen, Dr Blanche Tsetong, Timor Leste Consul General, Sra. Armandina Gusmao Santos, Prime Minister The Honourable Tony Abbott,  & Dr David Digges)