Last February I had the great fortune to return to Banjul (Gambia) with my partner, my daughter Lur and my son Kai. Ten years ago my partner and I were there for tourism, and we met a very special couple, Silvia and Malang. At that time they explained to us that they had in mind to start a solidarity project aimed at the women of their community: They wanted to give them more freedom through education and applicable knowledge.
Ten years later, M'Bolo is a reality
During this visit we have had the joy of verifying that the project is already a reality: It is called M'Bolo Association, which in the Wolof language means union, an achievement based on constant effort, solidarity and shared work. His main initiative is Fandema, a training and employment center for women in Tujereng.
In this community, which currently has more than 200 women, they learn for three years to apply their knowledge in the fields of food health, textiles (cutting and sewing, and tie & dye), and technology and renewable energies (the heart of the project is to become specialists in installation and maintenance of solar panels).
Our contribution
Our initial intention was simply to sightsee. But faced with this immense project, we wondered if we could share some of our knowledge, contribute in some way. And so we did: my partner as a trainer and coach, an expert in business organization, and I as a dentist.
So we got down to work. The first thing was carry out oral check-ups for the entire community, about 190 women, 80 boys and girls, and even the rest of the workers.
According to the data I collected, the main problem was caries: It had a prevalence of 85% in adulthood and 65% in childhood. 35% of children had four or more cavities. In addition, 55% of adults had one or more teeth missing, and 33% four or more teeth.
This gave us an idea of the preventive actions that could be carried out, which we transferred to those responsible for the project. In addition, we carry out other actions aimed at improving oral health:
- We give talks to the kitchen staff, eight women who prepare food daily for 290 people, and therefore play an essential role in the diet and oral health of the community. We recommend reducing the added sugar in their recipes, such as baobab juice, for which they use 500 g of sugar per liter of juice.
- We also give talks to teachers about prevention and hygiene habits. For example, we recommended that the whole community brush their teeth after lunch at school, since the habit until now is that they only brush their teeth once a day, in the morning and before breakfast.
- We give away a toothbrush and toothpaste to all members, so that they could leave them in the community and use them on a daily basis.
Our idea is, in the future, to be able to monitor short-term preventive actions. And who knows? Although more difficult to achieve, our dream would be to help open a dental clinic on site.
And that's how a tourist and pleasure trip became an incredibly rewarding experience, which we could share as a family —even my daughter Lur helped me with the revisions to the children of the school—. A vacation that unexpectedly ended up being perfect.
