Tusk me, I’m a Dentist

Two and a half weeks does not seem long enough to do any good in a country as desperately in need as Zambia, but half way through their trip the National Police Aid Convoys (NPAC) have already revisited many of the schools and clinics they have been delivering aid to over the years, ensuring all the items donated to their warehouses go to the people who need it most.

John Peterson, a dentist at The Minster Dental Centre (MDC), has joined them to set up a dental clinic at the Makeni Centre in Lusaka.

The Dental Centre raised a tremendous amount through contributions from patients leading up to a coffee morning and a guess-the-number-of-toothbrushes competition. Toothbrushes were donated by members of the Nottingham City, Newark on Trent and Donnington Rotary Clubs, and the prize for the winner, a beautiful blown-glass vase, was donated by Ingrid Pears MBE, President of Nottingham City Rotary.
Henry Schein has donated an impressive amount of dental equipment to supply the Makeni Clinic and treat patients in rural areas south of Mfuwe, Eastern Province.
Donations have also come from Newark and District Caledonian Society, Tallents Solicitors, QA Dental Engineers and Southwell Orchestral Society.

The chair and cabinets donated from MDC have already been set up and all the generous donations received have gone towards purchasing equipment and paying shipping costs for the huge 40ft containers that NPAC sends to villages like Mwape, along the Luangwa river.

There the Chieftainess distributes the baby bundles, books, furniture, clothes, toys, soap, shoes, school sports equipment, pens, and all the things people send to NPAC. It has been wonderful to see the benefit of all the hard work NPAC does, but there is always need for more! If you’re interested in donating your money, old furniture, or even time to help pack the containers, or if you just want more information about the work NPAC does, you can contact them through their website at: www.npac.org.uk.

You never know, you might be joining us for the 2016 trip! If you’d like to know how the trip is going and what you might be letting yourself in for, visit www.zambission.com and follow John’s blog or check out the NPAC twitter @PoliceAidConvoy.