February 2015
Friday evening, Kapote and I were sitting on the front khonde (verandah) chatting over our sundown drinks as the light was fading. A well dressed young girl came around the corner and with a big toothy smile she called out “Uncle Doug”. It was Rhoda, Frazer's daughter, just back from the dental clinic in Lilongwe with her new front plate. She was so happy she couldn't stop smiling and giggling about her new look. She and her cousin, Gloria, the primary school teacher have not smiled in public for many years because of the big empty space where they lost many of their teeth including the conspicuous front ones. When their immune systems were weakened by HIV tooth decay set in on them, so they lost several teeth each.
That evening, they were so happy to sit in the dim evening lights and smile for us. Gloria had developed such a habit of covering her mouth when she laughed that it took her some time to restrain that reaction and allow here face to shine with the new teeth. Both of them were very happy to appear normal again.
It may not figure on many people's development priority list, but Nellie and I decided to put some money aside to help them get their smiles back in 2013. Something that would have been a simple series of visits to a denturist in Canada is however, an epic tale in a poor country like Malawi. We found a dental technician at the local mission hospital who removed the remaining rotted stumps so their gums could heal into place. He did not have the facilities to make replacement teeth. We were sent to the main regional hospital in Lilongwe where there is a very well furnished clinic and well trained dental people. But with the currency crisis caused by the corruption scandal known as Cashgate, there were none of the materials needed for moulds and plates available at the government service. The private clinics and mission hospitals could provide excellent service but it was at Canadian prices which were way beyond our means. We couldn't finish the work last year.
I really wanted an end to this tale and when we picked up the strands in January we found out that there were materials now available at the regional hospital clinic. We got there a couple of days after they had run out, but they proposed a very reasonable alternative. We could buy the materials from the local supplier rather than waiting for the hospital bureaucracy to replenish the stock and they would do the rest of the work there at the hospital. I was tight for finances, but before she had left, Karen Tennehouse had left me some cash for just this purpose. She had overheard my conversation with the women and offered to help. The dental technician was as good as her word. The materials arrived, the moulds were taken and we were told to come back in ten days. That was Friday when the two women came to show us their smiles.
I am quite sure dentures don't fit into the World Bank's development paradigm, but you can be sure these ladies lives will change greatly because of their new smiles.
Friday evening, Kapote and I were sitting on the front khonde (verandah) chatting over our sundown drinks as the light was fading. A well dressed young girl came around the corner and with a big toothy smile she called out “Uncle Doug”. It was Rhoda, Frazer's daughter, just back from the dental clinic in Lilongwe with her new front plate. She was so happy she couldn't stop smiling and giggling about her new look. She and her cousin, Gloria, the primary school teacher have not smiled in public for many years because of the big empty space where they lost many of their teeth including the conspicuous front ones. When their immune systems were weakened by HIV tooth decay set in on them, so they lost several teeth each.
That evening, they were so happy to sit in the dim evening lights and smile for us. Gloria had developed such a habit of covering her mouth when she laughed that it took her some time to restrain that reaction and allow here face to shine with the new teeth. Both of them were very happy to appear normal again.
It may not figure on many people's development priority list, but Nellie and I decided to put some money aside to help them get their smiles back in 2013. Something that would have been a simple series of visits to a denturist in Canada is however, an epic tale in a poor country like Malawi. We found a dental technician at the local mission hospital who removed the remaining rotted stumps so their gums could heal into place. He did not have the facilities to make replacement teeth. We were sent to the main regional hospital in Lilongwe where there is a very well furnished clinic and well trained dental people. But with the currency crisis caused by the corruption scandal known as Cashgate, there were none of the materials needed for moulds and plates available at the government service. The private clinics and mission hospitals could provide excellent service but it was at Canadian prices which were way beyond our means. We couldn't finish the work last year.
I really wanted an end to this tale and when we picked up the strands in January we found out that there were materials now available at the regional hospital clinic. We got there a couple of days after they had run out, but they proposed a very reasonable alternative. We could buy the materials from the local supplier rather than waiting for the hospital bureaucracy to replenish the stock and they would do the rest of the work there at the hospital. I was tight for finances, but before she had left, Karen Tennehouse had left me some cash for just this purpose. She had overheard my conversation with the women and offered to help. The dental technician was as good as her word. The materials arrived, the moulds were taken and we were told to come back in ten days. That was Friday when the two women came to show us their smiles.
I am quite sure dentures don't fit into the World Bank's development paradigm, but you can be sure these ladies lives will change greatly because of their new smiles.
