Flying Miles to Bring Smiles
Story by Chré Parnell, edited by Tracey Botha
Flying for Life and Mercy Air frequently join forces to bring hope to the hurting and vulnerable. On June 8, yet another mission was embarked on, this time to Ha-Makuya and then Tshiphse. Despite a severe lack of PPE and precarious road conditions further delaying these supplies, this dedicated group of volunteers persevered.
And this perseverance paid off – on the first day alone, the volunteers treated some 29 patients whilst attending to 22 on the 2nd day. '
A total of 61 extractions took place, bringing much relief to the patients who had been so desperately needing this intervention.
Some of the villagers had walked hours to the clinic to be treated by our volunteers – so thrilled that at last, they could be helped.
In remote areas such as the above, there is no access to even the most basic dental care necessities. The community at large simply do not know about Oral hygiene and the importance of building a solid foundation of proper care for teeth and gums with day-to-day brushing. In fact, so many adults suffer from significant health care issues that could have been prevented simply by starting a solid foundation of oral hygiene.
MercyAir and Flying for Life, take every opportunity to train, educate and ultimately uplift these communities by not only giving talks on oral hygiene but also physically handing out tooth brushes and toothpaste. The help? Tangible and the relief – long term! The good will generated? Too big to quantify.
One of the volunteers, Amanda Vilakazi was particularly touched when she met a 13-year-old boy who had multiple cavities was assisted and able to show off his beautiful smile once again. It is heart breaking to see however that so many extractions can be prevented just by maintaining a regular standard of oral hygiene, and in this way the work of Mercy Air and Flying for Life is solution orientated and indeed thorough whilst being holistic at the same time.
Flying for Life would like to thank Mercy Air, volunteers as well as our precious Donors for making vital trips like this possible. It means we can continue touching lives in these remote areas in the most practical ways going forward.
With additional support YOU can play an intrinsic role in our work too by:
Providing adequate PPE for our Volunteer Health care providers.
Assist in finding adequate accommodation so that the delivery of services is not delayed.
Invite and indeed educate clinics to treat patients in a more holistic manner.
Increase the prevention of oral hygiene through better education.
Help us reach more clinics who we can empower thereby boosting sustainability of the projects within the community.
And as one of our passionate volunteers’ dental clinicians says:
“There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born and how you become most alive. If you can’t figure out your purposes, figure out your passion for your passion will lead you to your purpose”