Dr. Carolyn Malon gave us an overview of how the "Well Wishes for Uganda" non-profit began, and what our Rotary Grant will do for the community.
From their website (www.wellwishesforuganda.org):
"Inspired by a conversation with Father Leonard Mukkibi of Uganda, Well Wishes for Uganda grew out of a desire to support children with life's essentials. What started as a simple lemonade stand fundraiser has grown into a non-profit organization that continues to support those efforts. Together with their supporters, Well Wishes for Uganda has focused their efforts on the people of Nkozi, Uganda and raises funds to benefit their education, nutrition and healthcare."
Carolyn gave us a tour of the community and introduced us to some of its residents. The present dental 'clinic' is one aging chair that half works. The Rotary Global Grant that pairs our West Hartford Club with the Rotary Club of Kampala Seven Hills District 9211 will be implemented at Nkozi Hospital and directly benefit over 100,000 patients in the community, over 100 health care workers of the hospital, over 2,000 University students in the dentistry practice and indirectly over 2,000 care givers.
Few of us in the US have any idea of how big an issue that dental disease is in the developing world. Dental infections can be life threatening and unclean water can cause bacterial and parasitic infections. The loss of teeth in children can result in poor nutrition and growth. In Uganda, despite the high levels of oral disease, utilization of dental services is very low as people usually only visit dental clinics for pain relief or emergency services.