An update on some recent MalDent Project developments

In recent weeks, a number of the MalDent Project work streams have been making significant progress. This post provides some brief updates.

Collaboration with AMECA at Chilomoni Health Centre

Previous blog posts have introduced the collaboration we have established with the charity AMECA to enhance the physical healthcare infrastructure at Chilomoni Health Centre, just outside Blantyre. Ruthie Markus, the dynamic CEO of AMECA, was back in the UK for several weeks over the Summer and on 25th June I visited her for lunch at her home. We were joined by Paul Thomas, the Medical Director of AMECA …

… and by Chig Amin, who has been Ruthie’s dentist in the UK for many years …

Chig has a longstanding interest in AMECA’a work in Malawi and is now very keen to identify any ways in which he can engage with the work of the MalDent Project. To that end, I am extremely excited that Chig is going to travel out to Blantyre with me on 17th September this year and will stay for a week, which will provide a great opportunity for him to meet key players and to learn about our vision for the future.

In relation to the planned developments at Chilomoni, joint working between Jan Sonke, our architect in Malawi, and Chris Cox at Henry Schein Dental has resulted in a fully worked up plan for the new dental clinic:

The tremendous step forward is that Ruthie and the Trustees of AMECA have very generously agreed to provide £15k to cover the costs of the building work required to convert the identified space into the footprint shown in the diagram above. The work is due to commence in early September this year. My job, together with friends and colleagues, is to raise the funds for the equipment that is required and this exercise is now underway. We will provide regular updates on progress over the next few months.

Transportation of phantom head units and related dental equipment from Dentaid HQ in Southampton to Blantyre, Malawi

Last year, a large number of A-Dec phantom head units were removed from the University of Sheffield Dental School as part of a refurbishment programme. These very high quality units were generously donated by the University of Sheffield to our partner Dentaid for servicing and subsequent installation in the new building that is currently in the final planning stages for the Blantyre Campus of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (see below).

Dentaid arranged for the transfer of the phantom heads to Southampton and over a period of several months checked and serviced every unit meticulously. The phantom heads were stored in a shipping container, which also contained some additional items for the planned new building.

During a recent refurbishment of one of the clinics at the University of Glasgow Dental School, four functional A-Dec dental chairs were removed and placed in storage. Thanks to the good offices of Andrew Paterson, Senior Lecturer / Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, and Lauren Hughes, NHS Liaison Manager at the Dental School, these chairs were generously donated to the MalDent Project by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

On Tuesday 2nd July I hired a van to take these four chairs, together with a number of operating stools, down to Southampton. I hired from Little’s Vehicle Hire, a company I had not used previously, and they provided excellent customer service.

When I arrived at the Glasgow Dental Hospital & School building at about 08.20, Paul Deans and Robert Ryan, two members of the Dental Hospitals’s superb portering team, had already begun the process of moving the chairs up from the basement. As a result, we had loaded the van by 09.15 and I was able to make an early start on the road heading south. I broke my journey overnight at Membury Services on the M4 and arrived at Dentaid’s HQ in Southampton at 08.45 on the Wednesday morning. I was greeted by my good friend Stuart Bassham, Workshop Manager at Dentaid, and we enjoyed a coffee before starting the hard work. After coffee we were joined by Richard Hill, Dentaid’s Transport Manager, who accompanied us to the storage yard where the shipping container was located. We set about unloading the van …

… at the end of which the container was full:

As a link to the previous section of this post, the three brown boxes contain equipment that Ruthie Markus had acquired in the UK for use in AMECA’s work in Malawi and which I had collected when I visited her in June. Transportation of small consignments of bulky items to Malawi is a very expensive business and collaboration among partners when a container is being dispatched makes good use of a valuable resource.

It was very heavy work and massive thanks are due to Stuart and Richard for their efficiency and good humour.

We returned to Dentaid HQ for another coffee before I hit the road for the drive back to Glasgow. There were several pockets of congestion and road works en route but I was back in Glasgow by 11pm. Stuart has now prepared all the documentation for shipping the container, so the next time I see it will be later this year in Malawi!

Final stages of design for the new student hub and dental teaching facility at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.

The phantom head units alluded to in the section above are destined for the new building that is to be built on the Blantyre Campus of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. Previous blog posts have covered earlier work on the design together with the visit by Peter Lee, Studio Lead for John McAslan + Partners Edinburgh Studio.

Since Peter’s visit to Malawi in February, extensive work has been underway to finalise the plans within the $5.2m budget available from the World Bank. This has resulted in some modifications to the original concept but retaining all the functionality. The working plan now is for a cubical structure with a central atrium. The atrium acts as a solar chimney to draw out heat and pull fresh air through the building.

A model has been produced by the design team that showcases the planned structure:

The model can be dis-assembled floor-by-floor to show each level. Here is the model with the roof removed:

Here, the top floor has been removed to reveal the level that will include the dental clinical teaching facility:

Finally, this view shows the basement of the building:

Images of the external aspect of the building show the overhanging slats which provide some solar shading …

… together with the landscaping that will set the building in a pleasing green environment:

The plans are being reviewed by Blantyre City Council in July. Subsequently the steps required to procure a contractor can be initiated as the project moves towards commencement of construction.

Visit to Kamuzu University of Health Sciences by the CEO and Deputy CEO of the Scotland Malawi Partnership

As part of a two week visit to Malawi, Mr Stuart Brown, CEO of the Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) and Mr Chad Morse (Deputy CEO of the SMP) were able to visit the Blantyre Campus of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. They met Dr Mwapatsa Mipando, Dr Peter Chimimba and Mr George Chirambo, for discussions about the Scottish Government-funded Blantyre-Blantyre and MalDent Projects.

As part of their visit, Peter and Mwapatsa were able to show Stuart and Chad the planned site for the new student hub and dental teaching facility, as discussed in the section above.

Whilst the four sections of this post are separate items, they are linked by a common thread of activities to enhance the training environment for dentists and upgrade the physical infrastructure in which oral health professionals can use their skills to improve the oral health of Malawi’s people. It’s a long journey but as Vincent Van Gogh said:

Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together