Day 16 – Monday 9th September
For those who missed our previous blog posts about Esther and Chifundo’s visit to Glasgow you can find them at Week 1 and Week 2.
Week 3 began with a second tutorial on maxillofacial radiology, this one delivered by Dr Kirstyn Donaldson, Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Dental & Maxillofacial Radiology.
After the tutorial, Esther, Chifundo and I walked through Kelvingrove Park to the University of Glasgow James McCune Smith Learning & Teaching Hub to meet Professor William Cushley for lunch. Professor Cushley is Assistant Vice-Principal International and is a close colleague of Dr Mwapatsa Mipando, who was the original instigator of the MalDent Project when he was Principal of the University of Malawi College of Medicine. We had an interesting discussion, including the identification of potential opportunities for young Malawian dentists to undertake postgraduate degrees in Scotland.
After lunch, we crossed University Avenue to The Wolfson Medical School Building for a very enjoyable meeting with Professor Matthew Walters, Head of the School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing. Matthew has been very supportive of the MalDent Project since its inception and it was great that he was able to meet Esther and Chifundo whilst they were in Glasgow.
We completed the afternoon with a repeat visit to the African supermarket on Great Western Road where we purchased a top-up of nsima flour, to maintain supplies for Esther and Chifundo over their final week.
Day 17 – Tuesday 10th September
Day 17 was spent in Edinburgh. We walked to Glasgow Queen Street Station where we met Professor Lorna Macpherson who was joining us to participate in a Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) Health Forum, focused on Oral Health.
This was the first time Esther and Chifundo had experienced train travel, so there was a degree of excitement about the journey as we set out on the 08.45 Scotrail shuttle service from Glasgow to Edinburgh Waverley:
The weather was bright but there was a cold wind when we arrived in Edinburgh. We made our way to Edinburgh City Chambers, where the SMP has its offices. The Oral Health Forum was to be held in the Business Centre of Edinburgh City Chambers.
The Oral Health Forum was a hybrid meeting, with some delegates attending in-person and others, including colleagues in Malawi, participating on-line. Tea and coffee were available for those attending in person prior to the event commencing at 11.00am.
The programme comprised a series of brief presentations to provide an overview of the MalDent Project and associated activities aimed at improving the oral health of people in Malawi:
Chad Morse, Deputy CEO of the SMP, had set up all the equipment required to run the hybrid meeting, and at 11.00am the attendees were welcomed to the event by Natasha Adodo, the Communications and Engagement Officer for the SMP.
Natasha then handed over to Professor Heather Cubie, Chair of the SMP, who would lead the Health Forum. Heather gave a brief introduction, alluding to her own role over many years working in healthcare in Malawi, specifically in the areas of Human Papilloma Virus immunisation and cervical cancer screening.
Heather then invited Drs. Mwapatsa Mipando and Peter Chimimba to deliver the first presentation, which was an overview of the MalDent Project, funded by Scottish Government International Development. Mwapatsa and Peter covered the development and launch of the BDS degree programme, the creation and launch of Malawi’s National Oral Health Policy in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and the design of the new dental teaching facility to be constructed on the Blantyre Campus of KUHeS. They also touched on future plans, including the development of an exemplar dental clinic at Chilomoni Health Centre in collaboration with the charity AMECA.
The next presentation focused in more detail on the BDS degree programme. Dr James Mchenga, Acting Head of the BDS course, spoke first from Malawi, while Esther and Chifundo listened from the lectern:
It was then the turn of Chifundo and Esther to provide their own reflections on the course as members of the pioneer cohort of Final Year BDS students who hope to graduate early in 2025. It was uplifting to hear them speaking about their experiences, their aspirations to become specialists and their wish to become involved as academic staff in the Department of Oral Health Sciences at KUHeS. It was their visit to Scotland that had prompted Chad to suggest an Oral Health Forum and their contributions on the day were very well received.
Next on the agenda was a presentation by Dr Wiston Mukiwa, the Secretary of the Dental Association of Malawi, describing in more detail the National Oral Health Policy. Wiston had been a key member of the Task Force that created the policy.
One of the core threads of the policy is a focus on prevention of oral diseases. The recently completed National Child Oral Health Survey, which entailed examination of just under 3000 children, had identified that 47% of 6-year-olds and 23% of 12-year-olds had untreated dental caries. These data were presented at a child oral health workshop in Mponela in May this year, following which it was agreed that a multi-sectoral Task Force should be set up to develop a National Child Oral Health Improvement Plan. The Task Force would include representation from the Ministries of Health and Education.
The next presentation was delivered by Professor Lorna Macpherson in Edinburgh and Dr Don Chiwaya in Pretoria, South Africa. Don is an Assistant Lecturer at KUHeS who is currently undergoing specialist training in Dental Public Health at the University of Pretoria, and Lorna acts as an informal external mentor for him. Between them they covered the principles of the Scottish Childsmile Programme, the plans to develop a Child Oral Health Improvement Plan for Malawi, and the value to Don’s ongoing specialty training of his involvement in this work at a national level, which satisfies some of his academic course requirements. Furthermore, Don will be well versed in the details of the new Child Oral Health Improvement Plan when he returns to Malawi after his training in Pretoria, and will be able to play a key role in implementation.
Finally, there was a section which examined potential collaboration between the oral health and WASH agendas. There are similarities in the challenges of delivering hand hygiene and oral hygiene education and practice in Malawi. I opened this subject area, with subsequent contributions from Ms Maria Soko of Water Aid Malawi, who had participated in our workshop in Mponela, and Professor Tracy Morse, Professor of Environmental Health & Head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Strathclyde University. Both Tracy and Maria have extensive experience of operating in Malawi’s schools and those of us working in oral health have much to learn from them. The concept of joining forces makes a great deal of sense and will undoubtedly figure in discussions on the Child Oral Health Improvement Task Force over the next few months.
Following the presentations there was an opportunity for attendees to ask questions, and among those joining in was Ruthie Markus, the CEO of the charity AMECA which is partnering with us to establish an exemplar dental clinic at Chilomoni Health Centre.
Finally, Heather brought the forum to a close, after what had seemed a very quick 90 minutes. We are very grateful to the SMP for devoting this entire Health Forum to Oral Health, providing us with an opportunity to update attendees on the current status of the MalDent Project.
For readers who were unable to attend but would like to view a recording of the event, a time-stamped video is available on the SMP web-site here.
For those of us who were attending in person, tea and coffee were available after the event to allow further discussion and networking to take place. We were delighted that Niall McCumesty and Cameron Rogers from Scottish Government International Development had attended the forum and were able to stay behind afterwards for an in-depth discussion with Esther and Chifundo.
After all the excitement of the Health Forum, Esther, Chifundo, Lorna and I found a nearby Italian restaurant for a tasty lunch. Lorna then caught a train back to Glasgow whilst Esther, Chifundo and I took a trip around Edinburgh on an open top tour bus. The city looked beautiful in the sun – a welcome sightseeing opportunity which allowed us to relax after a busy but very successful morning.
After the bus trip, Esther and Chifundo spent some time wandering around the St James Quarter Shopping Centre before we took an evening train back to Glasgow.
Day 18 – Wednesday 11th September
Purely by chance, the World Endodontic Congress (WEC) was taking place at the Scottish Event Campus from 11th – 14th September. Professor William Maclean, Professor of Endodontology at the University of Glasgow, was the Chair of the Congress and through generous sponsorship by Wiley Publishing had been able to arrange complimentary delegate passes for Esther and Chifundo.
Following registration, Esther and Chifundo met Professor Maclean himself, who welcomed them to the Congress:
Shortly afterwards we also met Dr Asuni, who Esther and Chifundo know well, and we had lunch together.
Esther and Chifundo joined a pre-congress session on orofacial pain which lasted the whole afternoon.
They walked home from the congress with Dr Asuni.
Day 19 – Thursday 12th September
Day 19 was spent entirely at the World Endodontic Congress. It was a tremendous opportunity for them to attend lectures by world leaders and they both reported enthusiastically on how much they had learnt.
I collected them from the SEC just after 5.00pm and we drove across the Clyde to pick up Dr Petrina Sweeney from her home. Petrina was a Senior Lecturer / Honorary Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Glasgow Dental School until her recent retirement. In 2019 Petrina had accompanied me to Malawi for the launch of the BDS degree programme and to be part of the academic team that delivered an induction programme for the first cohort of BDS students. She had, therefore, met Esther and Chifundo previously and was keen to see them again as they neared the end of their undergraduate studies.
We drove to Giffnock for dinner at a restaurant called ‘Catch’, which has a reputation for first class fish and chips.
It was a very enjoyable reunion meal during which Petrina presented Esther and Chifundo with copies of a book entitled ‘Above Scotland’, which contains aerial photographs from across the country. These will be lovely reminders of their visit to Scotland.
Day 20 – Friday 13th September
The last working day of the week was spent in scrubs. In the morning, Esther and Chifundo joined two Restorative Dentistry Consultant Clinics, Chifundo pairing up with Dr Andrew Paterson and Esther with Dr Andrew Forgie. At the end of his clinic, Andrew (Forgie) brought Esther down to the Dental School Administration Centre, where Professor Christine Goodall was waiting to meet our two visitors from KUHeS.
A short while later, Chifundo appeared, following the end of Dr Paterson’s clinic, and we joined Christine for lunch in the Hi Café at the Dental School. It was Christine who, in her role as Dean of the Dental Faculty at the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow, had introduced me to Mrs Alison Lannigan, Chair of the RCPSG HOPE Foundation, stimulating a discussion that resulted in the funding of Esther and Chifundo’s visit. Without that introduction there would have been no elective visit, so this was a very important ‘thank you’ lunch!
After lunch it was back to the clinics, this time to spend an afternoon with BDS 5 students undertaking endodontic treatments for their patients.
It was close to 5.00pm when Esther and Chifundo were ready to leave the Dental School and walk home. That evening was the formal dinner for the World Endodontic Congress, which was to be held in the grand surroundings of the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. I dropped Esther and Chifundo at the venue at about 7.15pm, where they joined the other guests who were arriving for the event:
It was smiles all round after the dinner:
What an excellent way to round off the third working week!
Day 21 – Saturday 14th September
One of the Executive Assistants at the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow, Liz Breslin, had been exceptionally helpful with the organisation of the flights and accommodation for Esther and Chifundo. In addition, Liz had very kindly arranged complimentary tickets for us to visit the Glasgow Science Centre through her husband, who is the Chief Executive of the Centre. We arrived shortly after the Centre opened at 10.00am to begin our tour.
Level 3 of the Centre is called Body Works and covers aspects of human anatomy, physiology, pathology and treatment.
Chifundo immediately recognised the sensory homunculus model from diagrams he had seen in textbooks.
It was exciting that an exhibit on tooth structure, dental diseases and their prevention, together with treatment options, including endodontics, had been unveiled only two days previously as part of the World Endodontic Congress which Esther and Chifundo had attended. ‘At the Root of It’ has been created jointly by the British Endodontic Society and the University of Glasgow Dental School. It is a permanent exhibit and provides a legacy of Glasgow having hosted the 14th World Endodontic Congress.
Chifundo and Esther were soon busy with the interactive exhibits:
The pod incudes a detailed explanation of dental anatomy …
… information on the oral microflora and dental plaque …
… and some explanation of restorative dentistry options …
After viewing Level 3, we had some lunch in the Café at the Centre, before Esther and Chifundo continued to view the remaining areas of the building. Whilst doing so, they won a prize of a free cup cake, so returned to the café to claim it!
The visit to Glasgow Science Centre was a great success and we are very grateful to Liz Breslin and her husband for the opportunity. Before we left the Centre, we captured this quote by Confucius, which is so relevant for all those engaged in education:
Next, we headed to the Riverside Museum, formerly the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The striking building, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and opened in 2011, has a frontage onto the River Clyde. It houses a tremendous collection of trains, road vehicles, and ship models, the latter recalling the heyday of ship building on the River Clyde.
After the visit to the Riverside Museum I dropped Esther and Chifundo in Sauchiehall Street so they could spend some time in the city centre.
Day 22 – Sunday 15th September
We decided to leave Sunday clear of organised activities, to allow us to begin preparations for our forthcoming journey to Malawi. Esther and Chifundo spent some of their time back in the shops, making some final purchases before their journey back to Malawi.
Day 23 – Monday 16th September
This was the last day of activities in the Dental School for Esther and Chifundo. They started in a Prosthodontics tutorial with BDS 4 students following which they joined the students on a Restorative Dentistry Clinic.
At 11.15am, Esther and Chifundo were due to meet with Professor Shauna Culshaw to discuss some aspects of research in dentistry. Over the weekend, Shauna had developed respiratory symptoms and contacted me on Sunday to explain that she had tested positive for COVID. As an alternative to a face-to-face meeting, Shauna set up a Zoom link and the meeting was held on-line.
At lunchtime, Andrew Paterson and I took Esther and Chifundo for lunch at our old favourite, Café Anti Pasti. We encouraged Esther to order a calzone, which turned out to be a real hit!
Following discussion over lunch about the prosthodontics teaching earlier in the day, and how much they had learned, Andrew agreed to download a number of his lectures onto a memory stick so that Esther and Chifundo could take them to share with their colleagues back in Malawi.
We finished for the day at about 3pm and returned to our respective homes to tidy up and finalise packing
Day 24 – Tuesday 17th September
Several weeks ago I had booked flights for myself to travel to Malawi on 17th September for a three week visit. Unfortunately, by the time their various passport and visa issues had been resolved, providing confirmation that Esther and Chifundo could visit Glasgow, it was not possible to book them onto the same flights that I was using. Instead, they would fly home via Dubai and Addis Ababa, whilst I would take the London Heathrow and Addis Ababa route.
I left my own house at 10.15am to go across to the Airbnb apartment that had been Esther’s and Chifundo’s home for the duration of their stay in Glasgow. A taxi was booked for 11.00am to take us all to Glasgow Airport.
The taxi was punctual and following arrival at the airport Esther and Chifundo were soon checked in for their Emirates flight. I was less fortunate, as there was a massive queue for the British Airways check in and bag drop – it took me almost an hour. Esther and Chifundo had gone ahead through security and by the time I reached the departure lounge it was time for me to board immediately. Our final farewell at Glasgow was, therefore. a quick phone call rather than the relaxed chat over coffee I had hoped for.
Just as I was preparing to board my BA flight, I saw the Emirates flight from Dubai arriving at Glasgow Airport – the plane that would take Esther and Chifundo on the first leg of their journey home.
I am writing this section of the blog post whilst waiting at Heathrow Airport. On checking our schedules, I have just realised that all three of us will be catching the same final flight from Addis Ababa to Blantyre tomorrow morning. We will maybe still enjoy that final cup of coffee after all – in Ethiopia where coffee originated!
In June this year I had visited Ruthie Markus, CEO of AMECA, when she was back in the UK for several weeks. Ruthie had also invited Paul Thomas, the Medical Director of AMECA, and Chig Amin, who has been Ruthie’s dentist for many years, to lunch that day. Chig was very interested to hear about the MalDent Project and was keen to visit Malawi for a few days to see at first hand the wonderful work that AMECA is doing, and to learn more of the oral health developments in the country. It was subsequently agreed that he would leave on 17th September for a five day visit.
As a result, Chig and I met at Heathrow Terminal 2 on 17th September to catch the 9.00pm overnight Ethiopian Airways flight to Addis Ababa. The flight was smooth and punctual.
Day 25 – Wednesday 18th September
After landing at Addis, Chig and I passed through security and headed to Gate B4 to wait for Esther and Chifundo who would also be boarding the Ethiopian Airways flight to Blantyre. Their connection from Dubai was tighter than ours had been, but they joined us in time to be introduced to Chig and to enjoy that cup of coffee we had missed at Glasgow Airport.
The flight to Blantyre was very busy as we lined up to board for the final time.
On arrival at Chileka Airport in Blantyre we were greeted by a fantastic welcoming party of Ruthie Markus, Peter Chimimba and Nelson Nyoloka. It was the final stage of Esther’s and Chifundo’s elective visit to Glasgow, and very fitting that in true partnership style we had all arrived together in Malawi to be met by friends of the MalDent Project!
Acknowlegements
This elective visit to Glasgow by Esther and Chifundo would not have been possible without the generous funding from the HOPE Foundation of the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow (RCPSG). Massive thanks are due to the College President, Mr Mike McKirdy, and to the Chair of the HOPE Foundation, Mrs Alison Lannigan together with the Foundation Trustees.
The Acting CEO of the RCPSG, Mrs Linda Irvine, together with her team of staff including Mrs Liz Breslin, Ms Liz Mitchell and Ms Claire McDade provided outstanding assistance with booking of flights and accommodation, and visits to key attractions such as the David Livingstone Birthplace and the Glasgow Science Centre.
Attendance at the 14th World Endodontic Congress was kindly facilitated by the Congress Chair, Professor Will Maclean, with generous sponsorship from Wiley Publishing.
Massive thanks are due to the many members of academic staff in the University of Glasgow and colleagues in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, who welcomed Esther and Chifundo into their teaching sessions and provided an exceptional learning opportunity.
Frank Bonner, the Dental School Manager and his team of Professional Services colleagues all played key roles in delivering a successful visit for Esther and Chifundo.
Thanks are due to Professor Peter Mossey and his colleagues at the University of Dundee for an exciting meeting with Malawian PhD students studying there – an inspiration for Esther and Chifundo.
We are very grateful to the CEO, Stuart Brown and his Deputy, Chad Morse along with their team at the Scotland Malawi Partnership for the oral health-themed Health Forum, and to Professor Heather Cubie for chairing the event.
The brainchild of Nigel and Vicky Milne, to incorporate the Cowal Highland Gathering into the itinerary, made for a memorable day of Scottish hospitality and culture.
Finally, but by no means least, many thanks to Esther and Chifundo for engaging so positively with all the experiences and opportunities offered, which made hosting their visit an absolute privilege and pleasure.
So good to finally meet Chifundo and Esther in person at Chileka, on their return to Malawi, together with Jeremy and of course Chig. I have been reading about Esther’s and Chifundo’s amazing time in Scotland over the past few weeks and hope you have both had a wonderful and rich experience, both from a clinical standpoint and also culturally. I am greatly looking forward to catching up with you both this week and with the rest of your cohort. Congratulations to you all and to those who made this amazing experience possible. Kindest regards from us at AMECA.