2014 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION A Model Program for Improving Children’s Oral Health in Kenya, East Africa, & Beyond Tuesday, June 3, 2014 Moderator: PDG Bill Gray Panel members: PDG Laura Day, Dr. Stephen Irungu, Dr. Sheila Hurst Kenya Smiles
Jun 14, 2015
2014 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
A Model Program for Improving Children’s Oral Health in
Kenya, East Africa, & Beyond
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Moderator: PDG Bill Gray Panel members: PDG Laura Day,
Dr. Stephen Irungu, Dr. Sheila Hurst
Kenya Smiles
2011-12 District 7040 Governor Bill Gray
Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston
Endowment/Major Gifts Advisor, Zone 24 East
Director, Rotary Action Group for Microfinance & Community Development
The Rotarian, February 2014
prepare traditional grain- and produce-based meals. Team member Jim Green, a member of the Rotary Club of West Calaveras, Calif., expects that the 12-hour days the group spent in the field will pay divi-dends as mothers instill good habits in their children. “No mother in the world wants any-thing but good things for her children,” Green says.
The educational compo-nent is what sets Kenya Smiles apart from many other dental projects, says team member Maureen Valley, an ortho-dontist on the faculty of the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. Some tradi-tional dental missions tally success by teeth drilled and extracted, she notes. “There’s been so little attention to attacking the root cause with education and intervention.”
Peter DuBois, executive director of the California Den-tal Association, concurs: “This program is working with the dental community in Kenya to enhance the oral health of the Kenyan population” by lever-aging the resources of Rotary, governmental, and medical leaders. “I have never seen a program quite like it.”
DuBois, whose 25,000-member organization serves a state with roughly the same population as Kenya’s, arranged meetings with dental profes-sionals for the Kenyan VTT delegation and brought the team members to the floor of the California State Assem-bly, where they were recognized by lawmakers.
The project is good news in a place where “the only thing
they can do is extract teeth,” says Jeff Bamford, past Kenya country chair and charter pres-ident of the Rotary Club of Karen-Nairobi.
“Yes, we need more dentists and more mobile facilities, ”
Bamford continues, “but right at the beginning, we need to make sure that tooth decay happens as little as possible.” He is heartened that the proj-ect’s biggest evangelists have been the children themselves.
“I see the kids with great big smiles on their faces. When we talk to them, they’re so juiced about it. We can see the knowledge spread from one grade to another.”
– BRAD WEBBER
UP FRONT
In July, 5,000 children in Kenya received backpacks filled with items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and collapsible cups. The Kenya Smiles project also funds education for mothers and helps train local dentists.
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Fewer than 1,000 dentists serve the 44 million peo-ple of Kenya, from the far
reaches of the bush to Nai-robi’s vast Kibera slum. Den-tal hygiene is a rarity outside privileged urban regions. “In most rural areas, people have to travel long distances to see a dentist, ” says Stephen Irungu, chief dental officer at Kenya’s Ministry of Health and past president of the Ro-tary Club of Murang’a. “Most of the patients will go to the
dental clinic only because they have pain.”
Cultural norms suggest that “it’s OK if your teeth fall out, if your teeth are broken. They think people are not going to die from it,” says Past District Governor Geeta Manek.
Those perceptions belie the fact that tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood and a harbinger of health woes in later years, says Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, a physician trained
in pediatrics, preventive medi-cine, and public health with the Joint Medical Program of the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco. “We worry about AIDS and malaria and TB among the world’s poor, but tooth decay is so much more common,” she says. “Unfortunately, it’s always been neglected,” even as processed and sugared foods proliferate in develop-ing nations.
Enter Kenya Smiles, a proj-ect created by Sheila Hurst, an educational consultant and member of the Rotary Club of Redding West, Calif., and Laura Day, 2012-13 governor of District 5160. The partner-ship with the Rotary Club of Karen-Nairobi – which also received support from dis-tricts 9212 (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan) and 6150 (Arkansas) – was part of a global grant that brought a vocational training team (VTT) of six Kenyan dentists, including Irungu, to California in April 2013 for meetings, seminars, and training.
In July, 10 Americans, including Hurst, Day, and Sokal-Gutierrez, made the trip to Kenya, where they distrib-uted four suitcase-size portable dental operating units, educa-tional materials, and 5,000 Rotary-blue backpacks filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, and collapsible stainless-steel cups – dubbed “magic cups” by their young recipients. A $10 donation funded each kit.
The team demonstrated how to use the kits with a hippo hand puppet, an oversize tooth and brush, and a white-board game with magnetic cutouts representing health-ful and unhealthful foods and drinks, which pupils tried to swipe away. “The message was ‘which one is going to stick to your teeth?’” Hurst says. “There would be laughter and smiles when the food would slide off.”
The project is also fund-ing nutrition education for mothers, along with locally manufactured, energy-efficient Jiko stoves to make it easier to
K E N YA S M I L E S
Project gets to the root of dental problems
UP FRONT
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The Rotarian, August 2013
Kenya Smiles
Breakout Session at the Rotary International Convention
Sydney, Australia
How did this happen?
We’d like to describe how we
1. Identified a problem worth doing. 2. Identified some ways to address the
problem.
3. Found funding to help address the problem we identified.
Charter Member and Past President, Rotary Club of Murang’a, District 9212
Dr. Stephen Irungu Macharia
Chief Dental Officer of Kenya
�
Kenya
43 million people, 42 tribes
Kenya Ministry of Health
… is committed to Kenya Smiles and will give all the support possible.
Identifying the Problem
Kenya 43 million people 1,000 dentists California 38 million people 30,000 dentists
Canada 35 million people 23,000 dentists
We volunteer in rural clinics.
And in the slums of Nairobi.
We provide free dental care.
The Kenya Dental Association
takes its mobile caravan to schools.
teaching children how to brush.
Dentists Volunteer at Schools
Dental School Students and Interns
also serve the community in free clinics.
#1 Vocational Training Team of 6
From Kenya to Northern California - April 2013
#1 Vocational Training Team of 6
Dr. Jane Wamai Kenya Dental Association National Chairwoman Government Dentist
Dr. Stephen Irungu Chief Dental Officer
Kenya Ministry of Health
Dr. Regina Mutave Nairobi University Dental School Department Chair, Periodontology/ Community & Preventive Dentistry KDA Council member
Dr. Linus Ndegwa Dentist In Charge
Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi KDA Council Secretary
#1 Vocational Training Team of 6
Dr. Kimathi Mwongera Meru Dental Services Public Health Lecturer, Kenya Methodist University
Dr. Peter Gaitho Director & Dental Surgeon Everest Dental Group, Ltd.
Rotary Club of Meru
#1 Vocational Training Team of 6
UC San Francisco Dental School
UOP Dental School in San Francisco
University of California Berkeley
Henry Schein Dental Workshop in California
California Dental Association
Honored by the California State Assembly
Vocational Training Team of 10
Northern California to Kenya - July 2013
Both Vocational Training Teams in Nairobi
University of Nairobi Dental School
Instruction and training for faculty & students
Professional consultations and demonstrations
At the Kenya Dental Association
4 continuing education classes
Sheila Hurst
Rotary Club of Redding West, District 5160 Kenya Smiles Project Leader
Addressing the Problem
Improving the Oral Health Of Children in Kenya
through a Sustainable, Easily Adapted, Dental
Preventive Care Program
Kenya Smiles
Rotarians of District 9200/9212
2012-13 District 9200 Governor Geeta Manek
Rotary Club of Karen-Nairobi Past Country Chair Jeff Bamford
4 Aseptico mobile operatories
Dentists can better treat underserved children.
Equipment and supplies for children’s treatment.
Improved dental care for children.
New funding for children in Mukuru Slum.
Screening, oral prophylaxis, and dental treatments
The dental exam isn’t really scary.
Clean teeth = a bright smile.
Dental supplies are available & affordable.
How Does It Work?
Building AWARENESS Providing INFORMATION Promoting EDUCATION
Healthy foods and drinks are widely available.
Agriculture and food production are key economic activities in Kenya.
Other options are increasingly abundant. Inexpensive, sugar-based, highly processed
foods and drinks are heavily marketed.
Nutrition Education for Mothers & Caregivers Training the Trainers in nutrition education–
in rural villages near Meru Town
600 local women taught in their local language by local trainers.local
Nutrition Education Classes in Meru
Learning to grow and prepare healthy foods in healthy ways.
Learning to grow healthy foods.
Gardens grow in rows and around poles.
Preparing & enjoying healthy foods.
Energy Efficient Stoves
600 women now own and use locally manufactured jiko stoves.
A new series of classes has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Ramon. San
Ramon Rotary for a new Nutrition Education Course for women in Meru
Funding for More Nutrition Education
Water Pasteurization Indicator WAPI
Redding Christian Interact Club
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Anderson Built 600 WAPIs for Kenya Smiles
Nutrition Education in Mukuru Slum, Nairobi
Information and activities about nutrition engaged 300 mothers and caregivers.
Families in Mukuru Slum attend classes.
Learning about nutrition, oral health, and dental care.
Enjoying nutritious snacks at the training.
Starting a women’s baking program .
An energy efficient oven for Mukuru Slum, Nairobi.
Students listen carefully to the local trainer.
Taking notes on the process.
Preparing the ingredients.
Healthy and delicious results.
Nutrition for Life Bakery is open for business!
Educational materials can make learning fun.
Oral Health & Nutrition Tool Kit
English Swahili
Healthy Snacks Magnetic Game
Puppets from Folkmanis
Involving the families
In rural villages in local languages by local health workers.
Dental care lessons for children
In Nairobi classrooms
Dental care lessons for children
In outdoor areas
Dental care lessons for children
New Funding for Oral Health Lessons
Supported by the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek
New Funding for Loitokitok Research Project
Support from UOP Dental School
Radio broadcasts about oral health
Interviews & call in shows - Ghetto Radio 99.9 FM
PDG Laura Day
2012-13 Governor District 5160 Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley
Funding the Project
Ø A $200,000+ Rotary Global Grant project Ø $53,000 raised $10 at a time in donations from
Rotary Clubs and individuals Ø Contributions from Rotary Districts 5160, 9212,
and 6150 Ø Matching funds from The Rotary Foundation Ø Additional gifts and donations bring the current
funding total to $450,000+
Dental Kits for 5000 Children
Rotarians and others were invited to contribute $10 to provide a child in Kenya with a dental care kit filled with supplies, materials, and instructions for dental care.
$53,000 was the result. 5000 children received dental kits & oral health lessons.
Dental supplies and print materials
Colgate Palmolive East Africa
The magic cup
The Donor Card
We delivered backpacks & lessons
In small slums near Nairobi
We delivered backpacks & lessons
In the huge Kibera Slum in Nairobi
We delivered backpacks & lessons
In outdoor school assemblies
In small rural schools
And in large urban schools
In really large rural schools
Oral health lessons with the dental supplies.
In a small pre-school in Kibera Slum, Nairobi.
And for really large groups
The children were exuberant,
Curious, Fascinated,
Grateful, and Joyous.
Their very own… to keep.
Charter Member and Past President, Rotary Club of Murang’a
Dr. Stephen Irungu Macharia
Chief Dental Officer of Kenya
Gifts to the University of Nairobi Dental School
from the UOP Dental School and Rotarian Dentists in California totaled $150,000+.
4 New Scholarships for Dental Students
Solano Sunset Rotary
Dr. Jim Green
Dave Naro, Antioch Rotary
Dale Woodruff, Grants Pass, OR
Sponsored by
Materials printed in English, Swahili, & more
PDG Laura Day
2012-13 Governor District 5160 Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley
The Kenya Smiles style.
Another example.
Color, template, font, design
Cover of the Oral Health & Nutrition Kit
Sheila Hurst
Rotary Club of Redding West, District 5160 Kenya Smiles Project Leader
Kenya Smiles is Simple
• Basic premise easily & quickly explained • Preventive care avoids unnecessary pain • Universal appeal of children's needs • Locals identified a problem important to them • Involved experts, used best practices • Teaching 1 basic lesson for each group • Interventions can be learned in a short time • Relatively minimum cost to sponsor child
Simple
A New Rotary Action Group –
Health Education and Health Fairs in underserved communities around the world
Kenya Smiles is Sustainable
• Basis is Education, Information, Awareness • Support of the Kenya Ministry of Health, KDA,
and the University of Nairobi Dental School • Knowledge and learned skills change lives • Information is transferred to family, friends, and
other generations • New enterprises and jobs created • Funding for new related projects and activities • New scholarships for more dentists
Sustainable
• VTTs = new partnerships & collaborations • Samson Saigilu: new program & Symposium • Kenya Rotary Clubs expanding the program • Collaborations with other organizations • Testimonials
– Kenya Dental Association Camp – Nutrition Education Class Graduates
Sustainable
Soweto Kayole Area
Never too old to learn – May 30, 2014
KDA Camp in Soweto, May 28, 2014
Did nutrition education improve their lives?
A New Rotary Health Education and Health Fairs in underserved communities around the world
Kenya Smiles is Scalable
• Easily modified to different cultures and communities • Flexibility allows responsiveness to unexpected
opportunities • Materials and activities to be used in Mexico,
Ecuador, and Liberia • Initial meetings held in Tanzania • Some inquiries from Uganda • Plans for active participation in Rotary Action Group
Scalable: in Kenya and Beyond
Kenya Smiles is improving children’s oral health,
www.kenyasmiles.org - [email protected]
and many of its strategies and techniques can be used to create other successful projects.
We welcome your comments and questions.
Thank you.