Taking care of the health of 100 boys is no cheap and easy task, and looking out for their dental health is no exception. Lucky for us we now have some help. Thanks to Human Resources for Health, an organization that pairs international health experts with Rwandan health institutions in order to improve their level of care, the boys of the Rwandan Orphans Project have been getting free cleanings and screenings as well as reduced cost dental treatment.
HRH volunteers Donna and Marie have worked hard to develop a partnership between the dental program at the Kigali Health Institute (KHI) and the ROP that will bring dental students near graduation to the ROP Center to perform cleanings and checkups with the oversight of qualified instructors, all free of charge to our program.
Because of this partnership we have become better informed of any dental problems our boys might be facing so we can deal with them before they become too serious.
And for any boys who do need follow up (and with 100 boys, it’s not unusual) Marie, Donna and KHI help us set up appointments and get us a discount on any work that is done.
As anyone would expect, not all the boys are thrilled about the visits, but we do our best to convince them that a little scraping and poking now will prevent serious problems from developing later.
Aside from the screenings, the KHI students conducted a presentation to all of our boys to teach them about oral health and risks of neglecting to take care of their teeth. Some of the pictures they showed shocked some of our boys into taking their brushing more seriously.
We’d like to send out a big THANK YOU to the KHI dental program, HRH and most of all Marie and Donna for working so hard to give our boys a chance to have healthy smiles for many years to come. Murakoze cyane!
Thanks for reading!
