SIKH TEMPLE MAKINDU DENTAL PROJECT ANNUAL REPORT 2018 (posted March 2019)
The Makindu project enters into its 10th year of service since its inception in Feb 2010. It has been a long journey of providing service with a lot of activity, and approximately two hundred and fifty (250) visits. During each visit within the said period we have shared unique experiences, challenges, with lots of learning and fun.
The journey over the period has led to a lot of soul searching amongst the volunteer dentists as to how privileged we are in society and thus learning the importance of being there for those less fortunate. We have had the honour of serving on an annual basis approximately 1500-2000 patients – an approximate 15000-20000 people who have been attended to since inception of the project.
A key achievement has been the identification of various tumour related lesions and swellings which we appropriately referred to our only two referral centres i.e University of Nairobi Dental Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital. These patients (who previously could not access this treatment) have given the team a lot of pride and satisfaction. The project still continues to offer all other services to residents of Makindu and its environs of approximately 70km radius. This area is served by two public dental clinics which are poorly equipped and manned irregularly. This has led to a heavy influx of patients to our clinic. There are a lot of challenges within devolved units due to mismanagement and poor resource allocation. This has had serious implication on our service delivery as we are unable to handle the large number of patients visiting us on clinic days. It has also had a negative impact on our budgets and our minimal resources are being drained fast.
It is paramount to note that our project is fully supported by charitable donations. We are supposed to offer support service to public facilities but instead have become a main stream supplier of all oral health care whereby the public sector usually refer patients to us. We have been forced to go an extra mile to satisfy the patients as they have no alternative means.
YEAR IN REVIEW
2018 has been a challenging year for Kenya due to a shrinking economy and the introduction of many county laws governing the health service. The devolved units provide poor service especially in the health sector. This, as stated earlier, brought an increase in the number of patients yet the available resources – monetary and human – remained unchanged.
Amid all the challenges we still maintained our clinics twice a month and were able to attend 1,850 patients in the year. We continued to offer extractions, fillings, professional scaling, polishing (cleaning) and medication for free.
The major need of the patients is extractions, taking about 70% of the services offered. However, with oral health education given at every clinic there is a constant increase in uptake of conservative dental services. Due to the high content of fluoride in surface and borehole water (being located in the volcanic area) a lot of flourosed teeth (brown teeth) are seen within the community. The younger patients in the community are now seeking masking of these teeth to improve their appearances, a chance they have never had previously. It is very satisfying for volunteer dentists to see visible changes in the attitude and improved self-esteem of the patient after doing masking.
CHALLENGES
Heavy patient flow that the team of dentists find difficult to handle
Logistic challenges especially transport which has increased cost by almost 100%
Lack of technician to handle maintenance of our aging dental units
Increased cost of living within the nation thus increasing the people living for a dollar a day hence becoming dependent on free services
The above all translates needing more funding to keep the project viable for the next ten years.
The Makindu project enters into its 10th year of service since its inception in Feb 2010. It has been a long journey of providing service with a lot of activity, and approximately two hundred and fifty (250) visits. During each visit within the said period we have shared unique experiences, challenges, with lots of learning and fun.
The journey over the period has led to a lot of soul searching amongst the volunteer dentists as to how privileged we are in society and thus learning the importance of being there for those less fortunate. We have had the honour of serving on an annual basis approximately 1500-2000 patients – an approximate 15000-20000 people who have been attended to since inception of the project.
A key achievement has been the identification of various tumour related lesions and swellings which we appropriately referred to our only two referral centres i.e University of Nairobi Dental Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital. These patients (who previously could not access this treatment) have given the team a lot of pride and satisfaction. The project still continues to offer all other services to residents of Makindu and its environs of approximately 70km radius. This area is served by two public dental clinics which are poorly equipped and manned irregularly. This has led to a heavy influx of patients to our clinic. There are a lot of challenges within devolved units due to mismanagement and poor resource allocation. This has had serious implication on our service delivery as we are unable to handle the large number of patients visiting us on clinic days. It has also had a negative impact on our budgets and our minimal resources are being drained fast.
It is paramount to note that our project is fully supported by charitable donations. We are supposed to offer support service to public facilities but instead have become a main stream supplier of all oral health care whereby the public sector usually refer patients to us. We have been forced to go an extra mile to satisfy the patients as they have no alternative means.
YEAR IN REVIEW
2018 has been a challenging year for Kenya due to a shrinking economy and the introduction of many county laws governing the health service. The devolved units provide poor service especially in the health sector. This, as stated earlier, brought an increase in the number of patients yet the available resources – monetary and human – remained unchanged.
Amid all the challenges we still maintained our clinics twice a month and were able to attend 1,850 patients in the year. We continued to offer extractions, fillings, professional scaling, polishing (cleaning) and medication for free.
The major need of the patients is extractions, taking about 70% of the services offered. However, with oral health education given at every clinic there is a constant increase in uptake of conservative dental services. Due to the high content of fluoride in surface and borehole water (being located in the volcanic area) a lot of flourosed teeth (brown teeth) are seen within the community. The younger patients in the community are now seeking masking of these teeth to improve their appearances, a chance they have never had previously. It is very satisfying for volunteer dentists to see visible changes in the attitude and improved self-esteem of the patient after doing masking.
CHALLENGES
Heavy patient flow that the team of dentists find difficult to handle
Logistic challenges especially transport which has increased cost by almost 100%
Lack of technician to handle maintenance of our aging dental units
Increased cost of living within the nation thus increasing the people living for a dollar a day hence becoming dependent on free services
The above all translates needing more funding to keep the project viable for the next ten years.
STAFF AND PATIENTS
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REGISTRATION AND PATIENT EDUCATION
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Makindu Dental Project - history and 2018 update
Makindu played a prominent role as a service point when the Uganda Railway was completed in 1902 at Port Florence on Lake Victoria (which is now Kisumu). Skilled Sikh pioneers settled in Makindu played a prominent role on the railway’s advance from Mombasa. The project is based at the Sikh Temple Makindu which was built in 1926, though its roots are believed to have been present way before then. As a service to the local population, most of whom live below the poverty line, a hospital was added to the Temple Complex. There were neither dental facilities nor dental professionals in Makindu. (In the U.K. there is 1 dentist for 1500 persons, in Kenya there is 1 dentist for 40000 persons.)
Makindu is now a large township with a population of up to 35,000, 100 miles from Nairobi (the capital of Kenya) on the highway to the port city of Mombasa. Many of the inhabitants have no access to medical or other services and have historically travelled to the Sikh hospital. The nearest other medical facilities are in Nairobi and when your main form of transport is by foot and you are quite poor, such a journey is impossible.
In the year 2000, Rotarian Gurdip Bahra’s friends and relatives organised a Dental Camp at the hospital. Over 500 people turned up. A very basic check-up was performed with majority needing extractions carried out on ordinary chairs by three voluntary dentists. A rudimentary dental chair was donated to the hospital and regular quarterly Camps started taking place. In 2008 Rotarian Gurdip Bahra who was attending a religious function at the Makindu Temple took a team of dentists from his extended family from the U.K. to another successful Camp.
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead decided to adopt ‘Makindu Dental Clinic’ as a very worthwhile and cost effective Quadrilateral Project supported by sister Rotary Clubs of Bonn Sud-Bad Godesberg (Germany), Saint-Cloud (France), Tivoli (Italy). This resulted in equipping the Dental Suite with two new dental chairs, an X-ray unit and instruments. Then International Committee Chairman, Frank Knowles travelled to Makindu to inaugurate a regular Clinic in December 2009.
In the 9th year of operation, what started off as Consultation, Medicine and Extraction Camp is now a fully-fledged DENTAL CLINIC serving 60 – 80 patients every other week carrying out:
- Extractions
- Scaling/Polishing
- Prophylaxis
- Filling - anterior composites, posterior amalgam
- X-rays
- Providing medicines
- Referral of patients screened for oral cancers to national hospitals
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has continued to support the project and all treatments are carried out free of cost as the patients are too poor to contribute. Success of the project is also largely due to the management of Sikh Temple Makindu, that not only provides a safe and secure environment with excellent infrastructure but also provides free accommodation and food to the professional dental staff who travel to Makindu from Nairobi. Our very special thanks to Dr. Nduati who has been running the clinic for the last 5 years and to Dr. P.S. Jandu our project co-ordinator who has been involved with the clinic long before Rotary involvement.
Makindu is now a large township with a population of up to 35,000, 100 miles from Nairobi (the capital of Kenya) on the highway to the port city of Mombasa. Many of the inhabitants have no access to medical or other services and have historically travelled to the Sikh hospital. The nearest other medical facilities are in Nairobi and when your main form of transport is by foot and you are quite poor, such a journey is impossible.
In the year 2000, Rotarian Gurdip Bahra’s friends and relatives organised a Dental Camp at the hospital. Over 500 people turned up. A very basic check-up was performed with majority needing extractions carried out on ordinary chairs by three voluntary dentists. A rudimentary dental chair was donated to the hospital and regular quarterly Camps started taking place. In 2008 Rotarian Gurdip Bahra who was attending a religious function at the Makindu Temple took a team of dentists from his extended family from the U.K. to another successful Camp.
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead decided to adopt ‘Makindu Dental Clinic’ as a very worthwhile and cost effective Quadrilateral Project supported by sister Rotary Clubs of Bonn Sud-Bad Godesberg (Germany), Saint-Cloud (France), Tivoli (Italy). This resulted in equipping the Dental Suite with two new dental chairs, an X-ray unit and instruments. Then International Committee Chairman, Frank Knowles travelled to Makindu to inaugurate a regular Clinic in December 2009.
In the 9th year of operation, what started off as Consultation, Medicine and Extraction Camp is now a fully-fledged DENTAL CLINIC serving 60 – 80 patients every other week carrying out:
- Extractions
- Scaling/Polishing
- Prophylaxis
- Filling - anterior composites, posterior amalgam
- X-rays
- Providing medicines
- Referral of patients screened for oral cancers to national hospitals
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has continued to support the project and all treatments are carried out free of cost as the patients are too poor to contribute. Success of the project is also largely due to the management of Sikh Temple Makindu, that not only provides a safe and secure environment with excellent infrastructure but also provides free accommodation and food to the professional dental staff who travel to Makindu from Nairobi. Our very special thanks to Dr. Nduati who has been running the clinic for the last 5 years and to Dr. P.S. Jandu our project co-ordinator who has been involved with the clinic long before Rotary involvement.
