East Timor

In 2013 Equal Health's team of volunteers provided 1,066 of the world's most vulnerable people with relief from dental pain in East Timor.

It's amazing the difference this can make to people's lives.

East Timor is known as Timor Leste to its citizens. Our local partner was Café Cooperative Timor (CCT). Dr Ross Brandon is Head of Clinic Café Timor which is the health branch of Café Cooperativa Timor and our local partner. He reported that all the communities visited in 2013 enthusiastically requested the program return in 2014 and beyond.

Dental services to Timor Leste's rural communities remain a rarity. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Equal Health for the benefit of these Timor Leste rural communities.

Plenty of cavities but with our helpers we saw 200 children in a morning at this school just outside Letefoho. – East Timor 2012 Volunteer -Bill Hawkes, Dentist, Subiaco, Western Australia

A visit in 2014 resulted in the following accomplishment:

The visit was very successful with 359 patients treated and 307 school children screened for dental abnormalities. 710 procedures were performed on the 359 individual patients. Unfortunately only 112 (15.8%) of those procedure were restorative Fuji fillings. CCT is aiming to increase the proportion of restorative treatments to extractions but there remain many patients with severely damaged teeth that need extraction. Joquina, CCT's dental nurse worked next to Dr de Figueiredo with Jacob assuming the dental assistant role. Thus a lot of teaching was achieved during the two week visit.

Our project was based completely on the willingness of Australian dental volunteers being eager to take the step and go to this wonderful country with incredible scenery, fascinating history … and in dental terms, practically no services available to the vast majority of the rural population. We worked in the cool mountains where coffee grows, we worked with a local team that will continue to be there whether we are or not. We worked to mentor − and in some instances received mentoring.

It proved to be an incredibly worthwhile contribution to the country and people of East Timor. It was also a valuable personal journey for all volunteers.

Find out about current Equal health volunteering opportunities.

It was a unique opportunity to experience the country and at the same time offer some services that are not often available to the local people. This type of trip makes you appreciate the things we take for granted at home. – East Timor 2012 Volunteer - Paul Stockham, Dentist, Bundaberg, Queensland

I would also like to take this oppotunity to thank Equal Health for establishing a fantastic progam which I was a part of and truely feel that it was a life changing experience for me.If I am finacial enough in the next few years I would love to organise another trip and take along work collegues whom I have shared my adventures with." East Timor 2011 Volunteer - Tracey Doble, Dental Nurse, Taylors Lakes, Victoria

East Timor and Australian dental volunteers

The seven year old Toyota Prado began the first of a dizzying array of hill climbs and, from the front seat, Ross glanced over his shoulder, and smiled. "No straight roads once we leave Dili." He was right. Dr Ross Brandon is the Chief Medical Advisor for Clinic Café Timor (CCT), the health care division of Cooperativa Café Timor, a member owned coffee processing and marketing cooperative. He has been working in East Timor for more than 11 years, and he is the key architect and manager of the Cooperative's health programme. Read the full story...

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