Page 23 - ICD Newsletter November 2022 Final Draft6

Project Aims and Objectives Dental Clinics
• Purchasing and shipping a 40ft container of This RC Ballarat West project aims to make Tonga
requested donations of dental and medical self-sufficient in dental equipment and maintenance.
equipment Dental equipment sent in two DIK containers has
• Equipment to install new dental clinics in three equipped three new school clinics. Spare parts in the
secondary schools: new Rotary Dental Workshop will be used to maintain
◊ Queen Salote College (all girls,1000+, the dental equipment throughout the Kingdom.
some boarders),
◊ Apifo’ou College (Catholic, 1300 students) To read the full project report, CLICK HERE.
◊ Tupou College (1000+ boys, all boarders)
• Equipping first aid rooms in these schools, Smiles for the Pacific
including a 16-bed health clinic at Toloa
• New school libraries for the Queen Salote Pacifica Dental Conference
College (Junior and Senior) A Pacifica Dental Conference organised by Smiles for
• Donations of medical equipment and supplies the Pacific (SFTP) and supported by the Fiji National
for the Vaiola National Hospital University (FNU) was held at the Namaka Conference
• Converting the container into a permanent Centre in Nadi, Fiji on August 11 – 14.
maintenance and repair facility at the Vaiola
Hospital
• Providing emergency aid supplies for the
Tonga Volcano and Tsunami disaster
recovery

Over 150 delegates from across the Pacific islands
attended in person and another 50 zoomed in to
this very successful event. Everyone enjoyed the
comradery of a face-to-face meeting in the post
pandemic era.

We were fortunate to have an excellent line up of
speakers from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Subjects
2022 Tonga Rotary Volunteer team at Queen Salote College ranged from mid-facial fracture management to oral
medicine and all things in between.
televised opening with some of our Tonga partners; special
guest Queen Nanasipau’u of Tonga (seated on left)
Several SFTP committee members made the trip

RC Ballarat West dental projects in Tonga have to Nadi to help with support and logistics. This,
continued since 1996 and have established many combined with the generous offer by Fiji National
friendships and close contacts. Without this University to use their lecture complex at Namaka,
made for a conference which was both well received
established medical, dental and engineering support, and excellent value and may well act as a template for
it would have been extremely difficult to successfully further educational opportunities in the Pacific region.
implement such a varied project in just two weeks We have followed up the conference with organising
and during an active COVID epidemic. Our 2020 team another container of upcycled dental equipment and
consisted of a talented group of 14 volunteers with a consumables to Fiji to enable continued delivery of
variety of skills from several Rotary Clubs. dental care to underserved communities.

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