Flying For Life - Dental Project

Mercy Air recently continued flying in support of Flying For life, this time taking a dental team up to a special needs centre in a very rural part of the Limpopo province in the north of South Africa.

Again, a very early start was required

Although the team was mainly dental Patrick, an artist also volunteered his time to work with the children.

Getting to know Patrick on the flight up

The team on landing at Tshikondeni

The centre was reached after a two hour flight and a 45 min drive through the drizzle and low cloud on muddy dirt roads in an old taxi. It still saved a three day round trip by road from Johannesburg though!

Parents bring their special needs children to the centre daily, while they are at work. Funding is being sought to upgrade the centre, which is barely large enough for the children they look after.

The dentists work through "Smile of Joy', an organisation founded to work with the underprivileged and special needs children.

First the children had a check-up to see what work needed to be done.

 Before the dentist saw them.

As the dentists were setting up, our resident artist Patrick started painting the outline sketch of the centre for the kids to 'colour in'.

 Meanwhile, in the dentists chair....

Eish, makes you shiver! But lasting relief is not far away

The waiting kids getting some colour on the wall

All the equipment was taken up in suitcases, which were then just opened out on a couple of chairs to work from.

A picture of the team with the kids and the wall painting at the end, perhaps giving some idea of the cramped conditions there was to work in.

We flew back at night to a local airport and collected the Kodiak the following day. This did allow for a photo-opp with our 310 showing the matching paint scheme.

Thank you.

Paul.

For the Mercy Air team.