Smiles & Hope Tanzania
This programme supported a small number of orphanages in Mwanza, in the north of Tanzania.
Due in large part to the proliferation of HIV/AIDS, Mwanza is home to thousands of street children. Thankfully the local orphanges take in as many children as they can, and many orphans have been reunited with their own families or introduced to new ones.
Prue Preston, a GCDFund ambassador and paediatric dental technician at Harley Street, travelled to Tanzania several times to work with the local orphanages. During her vsitis she has trained staff and cared for the orphans.
Through our colaboration with Prue our Smiles & Hope programme provided:
- Toothbrushes and toothpaste for babies and children
- Fluoride varnish
- Access to dental clinic care
- Educational resources and training for orphanage staff on the importance of good oral hygiene and nutritional health
Smiles & Hope Afghanistan
We are working in the city of Sheberghan with a London-based NGO ‘Global Partners’ (GP), who have run healthcare projects in Afghanistan since 1993.
With an estimated 1 dentist per 250,000 Afghans, it is not surprising that existing treatment plans tend to neglect children, particularly the most disadvantaged.
Our programme taught thousands of schoolchildren how to care for their teeth and gums, and provide them and their families with toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Smiles & Hope Timor Leste
Timor Leste gained independence in 1999 after a civil war with Indonesia. The country is beautiful but poor, and severely lacking in medical and dental provision.
We partnered with One-2-One Timor Leste to raise funds for capacity building of the local dental workforce. One-2-One is worked to bring in much-needed equipment and supplies, support the Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures school preventive program, start a prison dental service, and help support the training of dental therapy students at Dili University.
Smiles & Hope India
We ran multiple programmes in India.
Projects (part of The Indian Strategy)
This site highlights the best Indian voluntary dental projects - presently active or those that were undertaken in the past. In addition we invite future projects where individuals are seeking support.
Online Survey Questionnaire (part of The Indian Strategy)
We developed a strategy to engage with the worldwide Indian dental health professional community since 2010. This lead to a joint venture by us and GAPIO (Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) resulting in the publication of the book by Professor Raman Bedi, Dr Emma Davidson and Jing Jing Liu titled, “Indian Health Professionals around the World: a Common Agenda” in 2012. This book emphasizes the pressing need for a common platform for the Indian health professionals living in India and overseas to join hands in order to work together towards a common goal of improving the health status in India.
GAPIO Book
All profits from the book “Indian Healthcare Professionals Around the World – a common agenda” will be used for the Smiles & Hope programme (India) project which helps disadvantaged children achieve better dental oral health in the subcontinent.
